In China, Add a Caterpillar to the Dog and Pony Show†

Wall Street Journal, December 10, 2007 — Selling giant industrial machines in China sometimes feels to Mike Cai like living life in a traveling circus.

A marketer for Caterpillar Inc., Mr. Cai is working to crack the China market for earthmovers called wheel tractor-scrapers. Already a decades-old product in America, these dirt-scoopers, which weigh in at 38 tons, haven't made much headway in China, which still relies on the smaller "hex" — industry jargon for hydraulic excavator — and trucks on most construction sites.

To change that, Mr. Cai and his colleagues have eschewed traditional advertising techniques. Instead they've taken their show on the road, adopting a tactic popular in China's burgeoning market.