Robots Wanted

I was struck by this post from a young Singaporean Woman I met in Bangkok earlier this year. It coincides with Rob's post earlier today, and makes it easier for people back home to understand why local Singaporean marketing agencies (and many Asian comms agencies) have a reputation for cadaverous creativity....Impetus Marketing Group in this instance.

Video Petitioning

I can imagine seeing more of this kind of 'signable' video petitioning emerging. This example is for the Copenhagen (COP15) Summit in Copenhagen during December. It brings to life the traditional petition format which looks a bit tired when adding a name to the email listings we've seen over the years. 

However Adam and I are having one of our most extensive comment threads over here on the subject of climate change on an earlier post and in some ways it's a personal exchange that we tried to Skype but which we've take into the open here and still has a bit to run as we untangle fact, fiction, evidence, logic and sentiment. Either way, if you're not thinking about this crucial subject you're probably avoiding it and one thing is sure. It's unavoidable in the final review.

Via Jessica

Sir John Hegarty & Chinese Advertising

I've had a soundbite about China since I last worked in Beijing. One that I hope reconciles the extremes while allowing for a Springboard away from the dull, middle of the road and bland marketing that practically every Chinese 'brand' takes refuge in (often at the encouragement of very influential advertising agencies leadership just chasing the dollar with little conviction for the effort needed to persuade clients about how to be interesting).

I've been saying that that China is both a couple of years old and a few thousand years old. It's a way of saying "look at the diversity of your contemporary culture". It's a unique one that is brand new and ancient at the same time. This is more than just words as you can feel it as well as see it. 

It's visceral.

I'm really pleased to see Sir John Hegarty of BBH articulate a lot of what I've seen over the years in mainland Chinese advertising from his recent speech at the China International Advertising Festival in Nanning on October 29th last month.

It's worth a read if you've anything to do with China and advertising. Here are the highlights:

You can read the full speech over at the IPA website here if you have membership.