The Chinese opinions on Elon Musk might still go to extremes in both directions, but his mother Maye Musk did win many Chinese hearts and souls. Marketing expert Ashley Dudarenok explains why Maye Musk did so well in NBC News.
NBC News:
Much of her popularity stems from her 2019 memoir, “A Woman Makes a Plan,” which was translated into Chinese the following year, said Ashley Dudarenok, the founder of ChoZan, a China-focused digital consultancy based in Hong Kong.
The book traces Musk’s “unconventional career path,” Dudarenok said, as well as her struggle to provide for her three children as a single mother after divorcing their father, Errol Musk, at age 31.
“She basically did it her way,” Dudarenok said. “That was one message that resonated very strongly.”
The other appeal, she said, “was that people wanted to figure out, how do you actually give birth [to] and raise billionaires?”
The book has found an audience among working women in China, who are increasingly resistant to social pressure to get married and have children, even as the Chinese government clamps down on the feminist movement and says it is up to them to boost the national birth rate.
“A must-read for all girls! Thank you for showing us the resilience and strength of women,” one Xiaohongshu user wrote.
Though much of the initial interest in Maye Musk came because of Elon, “she is really becoming kind of her own personality,” Dudarenok said.
Older Chinese, who in the past would have devoted all their spare time and money to their grandchildren and other family members, have in recent years realized “that they have this whole life ahead of them, 20, 30 years ahead,” Dudarenok said.
“They have hobbies, they look after themselves in terms of fashion, nutrition, skin care and whatnot,” she said. “And they love to see those role models of somebody who is aging gracefully.”
For Musk, that means appearing on magazine covers and lots of opportunities to endorse products. She has walked the runway for Chinese apparel brand JNBY and appeared at an event in Shanghai this year for the sportswear brand Fila.
She is also a global brand ambassador for Chinese mattress brand AISE Baobao, attending a store opening in Shanghai this month, and has appeared in smartphone advertisements for Chinese consumer electronics manufacturer Oppo…
Maye Musk’s positive image, Dudarenok said, “helps to make Elon’s future political career and business success in China even more human.”
Ashley Dudarenok is a speaker at the China Speakers Bureau. Do you need her at your meeting or conference? Get in touch or fill out our speakers’ request form.
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