Bai Fan has launched a website promoting British businesses to Chinese students. Having already founded a successful production and media company, and as a former international student himself, he shares his vision for the venture and thoughts about the new generation of Chinese students abroad.
The PIE: What is OKHIWI.com?
BF: At the moment it’s a one-stop platform for all outbound Chinese students, at every level, but we’re also looking to cover every Chinese going abroad to do anything, including tourists.
The PIE: What does “OK HIWI” mean?
BF: Hiwi means “overseas” so our website is Ok Overseas. We didn’t put the name in English because it’s hard for the Chinese to be able to spell overseas. Ok Hiwi is much shorter and easier to remember.
The PIE: What’s the aim of the website?
BF: We want to provide students with the best services to get involved with mainstream society, to walk out of their comfort and to really learn about British life. More than the certificate, when they go back I want them to be able to serve a proper British cup of tea or to be able to really talk to a British person and understand what British culture means. This website doesn’t just help them do fancy things, it also helps them with handy tips for day to day things like ordering a taxi.
“When they go back I want them to be able to serve a proper British cup of tea”
The PIE: Tell me about the Fresher’s pack you launched in June.
BF: It’s a guide book and discount voucher pack for first year students coming to the UK students. It also has a prepaid SIM card offered by China telecom. So any of the students landing in Heathrow will already have a UK SIM card to call their parents It’s for free to anyone who registers on our website or with our partners. They can collect them at education agencies or the Shanghai and Beijing airports or we can post it to them. We’ve given out already more than 10,000 packs of the 30,000 we started with.
The PIE: And how does the website correspond with the Fresher’s pack?
BF: It covers the whole student life all students, not just university students. We’re going to provide three categories of services: life, study and jobs and it’s also easy to extend the service to students’ friends and parents who come to visit them so we’re gradually getting tourism services as well.
“We will provide a bunch of Chinese clients to them because the demand is there”
The PIE: What’s your background? How did you come to be involved in the industry?
BF: OKHIWI.com was launched by C Cubed media, a company I founded six ago as a production and PR company catering to Chinese companies and organisations. In the UK, we worked with the BBC Chinese service to help them target students to get on their website and branding strategy. Also, we helped London Partners, which is part of the Mayor’s office, to organise their social media campaign and events to attract Chinese students to come to London.
We had many different resources through the events and projects that we had done and we thought as a media company with so many resources we could launch a media platform. We thought it would be great to do not only B2B but B2C services.
I was an international student 13 years ago and I know they are the one group that stay here for quite a long time and come back as tourists. They are also easier to target.
The PIE: What’s the website’s business model?
BF: The business model is that we will market our brand in China. So even before thinking about studying in the UK, we will let them know this is the website to use and we will supply them with all the products so they can buy the services online straight away. They can even rent a room through our website.
The PIE: So you take a percentage from the services booked through the website?
“Chinese students have opened their eyes”
BF: Exactly. That’s why I call it a platform because it can host all sorts of British suppliers. Businesses don’t need to change anything about their services. They just talk to us and we will provide a bunch of Chinese clients to them because the demand is there. In terms of the website and platform it’s nothing greatly new. We are using a format which is easy to understand it’s just filling a gap in the market
And it’s more than just online. We’re doing it through apps, offline events and also through our partner channels like local television stations and newspapers.
The PIE: Until now how many and what types of businesses have you partnered with for the website?
BF: Taxi companies, insurance brands, hotels, language training companies, sports activities, music and job preparation to help them write a CV. We’re still in talks with many because we are doing a hard launch of the site in September, but we have more than 20 confirmed.
The PIE: China’s position as the top student market is pretty solid at the moment, how do you see things changing in the next decade?
“This website format is very easy to take international because everything is digital”
BF: If things continue obviously there will be more students coming from China to learn and see more new things. But if you look at 10 years ago the biggest challenge for them was language. Five years ago it was how to get into a good university or get a visa sorted as quickly as possible. Now they have more freedom to do what they haven’t been able to do in China and experience a new life while abroad. There will be even more of that freedom and individual choice in the future I think.
That’s why OKHIWI.com is in the trend because we can provide something for them once they have that freedom and space. Chinese students have opened their eyes. Today more students are filling out their own applications whereas 10 years ago that would have never happened. They would have gone through agents. Before there weren’t that many students who would go have pints of beers with their friends after class. Today they have more individual ideas like Where do I want to go? What do I want to do? When I came I didn’t know much about the UK and what direction I wanted to take. I just followed everybody else.
The PIE: How do you target potential students in China to promote the website?
BF: The Fresher’s pack is one way because I’m not trying to promote it, a lot of people want it just because it’s free. And also through social media and offline sales channels. And all our Chinese media partners. But, making the brand well known in China is not difficult, that’s something we have in our hands already. The hardest bit is how to keep the students on the website and really provide the services we promise. If we call it a one-stop platform, we need to provide a one-stop platform.
The PIE: Any plans take expand internationally?
BF: Our main focus is for the UK at the moment but within this year we’re going to look into the US and Australian markets. This website format is very easy to take international because everything is digital. We’re not going to sell any products that need a specific delivery so we’ll do international websites for Chinese overseas students and travellers. The Fresher’s pack will be international as well.
