China 2.0

Here's what I would do if I was serious about marketing in China. China has the largest internet population in the world, and it's still growing. The shift from television screens to internet screens on computers or mobile phones is the largest media exodus ever. More people will engage with the internet on a mobile phone in China first than in any other country. The numbers go on for ever really. China is all about the numbers.

However Chinese internet isn't really Web 2.0 yet. The Western model of identity and profile through Facebook and Myspace et al simple doesn't work here, but use of BBS is unbelievably masssive. I wrote about it over on Kaiser Kuo's excellent digital China blog some weeks ago here. The most dangerous focus group topic I ever raised was identity versus anonymity here in Beijing with quite progressive University students. Even mentioning that 99.9% of China's internet voice is completely anonymous on Bulletin Boards (BBS) against the thought of 'appearing' on the net as themselves was enough to silence a room full of respondents with fear, as if I were interviewing them for Komitet Gosudarstvenoi Bezopasnosti in Soviet Russia. I'm not exaggerating.

Whether its the State, or the group or the family there's something about being identified or attaching a face to content that terrifies Chinese folk. Face is a big deal in Asia. However the internet is a very valuable and highly appreciated part of middle class Chinese ability to express themselves and articulate their thoughts. Sure a lot of it is flame wars but I think we all know that flaming is part of growing up on the net. Its not hard to wind people up via the interweb is it? Once that realization is discovered, we tend to move on. Possibly to identity/reputation management which is definitely the new game in town now that Google is in charge.

So here's the thing. 70% of Chinese BBS is built on a platform called Discuz which is owned by Comsenz. They just had another million bucks thrown at them by those guys at Google. Now the killer thing about Discuz is that it is partially open source. Open source is almost an heretical idea in Asia. The notion of 'sharing' is antithetical to the Asian mindset. Secrets and information are valued beyond anything else to the point that sometimes it would appear that some would prefer suffocation than sharing their oxygen supply with other parties. I really mean that, it also explains a lot of the copy mentality that exists in this part of the world. That's the irony to the insane fixation on secrets and not sharing stuff; nobody does anything really new and so everyone is watching everyone else to see if an incremental change or new direction is taken. It also explains why only one or two Asian brands, including Japan have brands that stand out.

But with Discuz there is an opportunity to create a mini platform between profile driven social networks and BBS topic driven net activity. I would suggest writing some code for some widgets to sit on top of Discuz driven BBS and then we have a half way house to facilitate cross networking of BBS and profile/identity management that exist with traditonal social networking sites. I'd even go so far as to encourage all the flamers to pick up a new moniker and treat it like they're in front of their family at all times. Like it's their new 'face'. ....Start afresh like!

So the trick now is to figure out where brands should hang out on the net with their customers and their respective communities. Nobody actually has a full breakdown of this information although Sam from See I See/China Internet Word of Mouth knows more than most.

A proposal I made was to do a standard quantitative research project of the top 500 BBS communities on the Chinese net. If that seems like a lot then hold steady because China is massive and there's more. I think the top 500 BBS communites across the metrics of 'most affluent', 'most populous' and 'most influential' would make sense. Then I would segment all those groups across the usual community interests that advertisers are most interested in, moms and families, car lovers, tech lovers, political, travel and all the usual useful-in-a-rough and-ready-way segmentation seen on those standard tick boxes we are asked to fill in when we subscribe to internet services.

Once this 'new digital media planning data' is available I'd then put forward a China 2.0 media plan. Using the fundamentals of Transmedia Planning and some viral work that embraced volume seeding, Lo-Fidelity video and the upside of risk, as talked about back here in the post Black Swan (and here too) I'd think about developing a plan for engaging with existing customers and potential customers on the basis of being interesting or useful to them. That plan should be strategically built on a broadcast to narrowcast basis or vice versa depending on the rationale for engaging/reenforcing something at an internet dialogue level first or television's monologue model. Its quite exciting when I start to think about creative briefs written with the net first or telly first as a rolling narrative direction. Lots of opportunities there.

The only part I'm still trying to figure out is how to 'represent' in those tens or hundreds of 'communities' on the net where it's important to be useful or interesting for specific clients and their needs. I've given it some thought and my instinct is to identify the people who are most active in and respected in the community. The trick is NOT to buy them, because they then lose their authority and respect (Shills they scream!), but to build up their reputation by giving them the ability to 'share' through either reputation enhancements of information sharing or favour dispensation such as Skype credits or Taboa (China's Ebay) coupons as an idea. It's crucial that all actions are transparent, open, honest and authentic otherwise it all falls apart. Brands aren't very good at that short list of Web 2.0 guidelines and it explains why most marketing 1.0 peeps and planners 1.0 types don't get it.

Ideas like the one above are unlikely to be implented here though any day soon. One of the most frustrating aspects of working in developing economies is just how many bad habits are picked up from the West and then applied cookie cutter style over here. The advertising format is pretty much the same for lazy/untalented marketers and agencies (insert pretty model with product implying that you too can be cool/beautiful/powerful). And then the methodologies for assessing the effectiveness of those campaigns are just lifted from the West without much thought to the notion that Asians have a different perception of the truth or how to articulate it. Even the focus group dynamic is completely stuffed given that cultural differences like Guanxi in China or Grenjai in Thailand exist. This is where even the sharing of inconsequential information is considered reckless and stupid. I did write back here how I would approach Asian research with a fresh mindset because the same old companies come back with the same old rubbish and its not hard to figure out better ways.

I've pointed out that a lot of the advertising people in China have sat on top of 15% GDP growth for 10-15 years and are at best unremarkable and at worst believe their own P.R. but I'm guessing that one or two might read the above and see the seeds of China 2.0 in there. It's all very exciting when I think about it - The End.

Update: I see that some of these ideas have started to materialize over on CWR blog.

Voir la vie en rose

The Chinese people have always seen (through the eyes of the State media) the Americans as the traditional global bully, and so it came as some surprise to discover that the recent protests in France were made by 'friends' of China. The average Chinese person felt hurt and personally betrayed and so they have taken their protest to boycotting Carrefour and it seems French people in general. As there is no pluralism of opinion, it's difficult for the Chinese to understand that a protest is just that. A difference of opinion by a bunch of people in another country. From where they are sitting (with the help of State media) it looks like the whole of France just mugged a wheel chair bound amputee Chinese national, representing her country in the Olympics torch run. Picture from Shanghaiist

Affairs of State

Posted on a bulletin board in China. Found by the excellent Shanghaiist.

PS3 vs Wii

Via Alvin

The Growing Pains of China

I've been giving a lot of thought as to why the Chinese seem to react so hysterically to any hint of criticism from the outside world. I think I know some of the reasons but first I want to outline some conversations I've been having with my Chinese colleagues. The Government here are responsible for yanking the largest number of Chinese people out of poverty and internal strife and into a modern 21st century environment ever. No other group of people have singlehandedly done so much for one country. Therefore the general view of Government by the Chinese is that they have done a sterling job.

Who could dispute that?

However in order to achieve that stability and meteoric growth a number of the usual freedoms which have evolved with many different institutions over several centuries in the West have needed to be limited. The discussion in the mainstream media is never critical of the Government, but I'm assured that within the privacy of the home it's quite normal. The point made to me earlier is that if China's backbone or the migrant worker classes were subjected to a mass media message more critical of China's own shortcomings, it would lead to massive instability. Our news institutions in the West are critical of our own failings but that's because the maturity to handle the criticism is generally there.

OK back to hypersensitivity of criticism. The Chinese are only ever exposed to the 'Good News' provided by the state run media, of success after success. It then comes as a bit of a shock when criticisms are leveled against this country despite the successful nature of accelerated wealth accumulation conditions provided by the State. It is even more of a rude affront as those criticisms come from the outside. No family can handle criticism from any outside party when constructive criticism from within is stifled and curtailed.

The video above prompted me to write this post because its weakness is the obvious. The author never ever concedes that China may have some responsibility for anything at all, at any time. I think it would be wise for the West to become better at admitting its own shortcomings in a more public manner with the institutions of our governments and their diplomatic agencies. Internal debate and criticism may be endemic in the West but unfortunately the Chinese get to see very little of type of content that makes it into the "comment is free" section of The Guardian. If the West were a little smarter about getting its message across to the Chinese, they'd be making Chinese language viral videos with the type of criticism we subject each other to on a daily basis.

It will probably take a few more years yet though, for the West to intellectually accommodate the East as an equal sibling and also for the East to come to terms with the responsibility of being on the word stage. The Olympics in China's case will be a good start for getting to know each other. However do expect more growing pains.

And The Spring Comes - 立春

I've just had the amazing good fortune to watch an important Chinese movie in all its cinema glory. I'm a film fan but pathetically handicapped about what I can watch and so the last full movie I saw was the awesome German Language 'Counterfeiters' on the flight from London to Shanghai in November last year. I'm back in love with movies after this because there is so much in this work that will help anyone trying to understand China, while at the same time telling a moving and relevant story.

It's quite a surprise that this film, And the spring comes - 立春 which is principally about artists and art in China, made it through the censors (SARFT) as although there are only a couple of scenes where the State reveals its ugly and invasive side the operatic leitmotif is pretty much that art is everything about truth and beauty the State has reason to fear the most. It's the unveiling of the human spirit in its purest and most uncontained form isn't it?

Aside from the homosexuality and sexual craving, even the mild partial nudity comes as a surprise in this movie after the recent blacklisting of Lust and Caution star Tang Wei from working in China. I found the operatic parts hugely moving with the end super bringing tears to my eyes. I don't want to say that its completely brilliant throughout as the narrative on occasions was a little patchy although sometimes deliberately so judging by the colour palette on the film poster

The photography, while good isn't say on a par with my favourite director Wong Kar Wai, although I think I could easily die quite happy if I expired while immersed in a scene from 'In The Mood For Love'. The colours in this film are a little washed out in the way that the light in Beijing really is most days. It's captured depressingly accurate, although when Beijing is unpolluted and shines it really does.

The lead actress Jiang Wenli is nothing less than a tour de force with one of the most powerful performances I've seen in a long time. She is married to the director Gu Changwei (Farewell my Concubine) and I understand put on considerable weight to fulfil this role. She acts so well that its difficult for other cast members to come across as better than average.

I want to give some additional thought to the scenes that I think are most important and so I'll probably come back with an update to this post but in the meantime here is a no subtitles clip from Tudou the Chinese version of Youtube and a strong urging that you try and see this important and definitive movie that encapsulates so much of what I love about the Chinese and yet why freedom of expression has yet to be fully understood and also why until it is fully embraced, movies like this will largely be a rare exception. More here too.

Going

Going


Going


Going


GONE!

I took these pictures over the course of about a week or so, as the air in Bejing has been thick with dust from endless construction and demolition. I need to buy a face mask to enjoy my electric bike ride around the city in the evenings - Either that or I don't want anyone to recognise me.

I have read comparisons that Beijing is like Tokyo in the sixties for construction with almost all of its architectural legacy being wiped out. There are still a few Hutongs left, although that courtyard and dimly lit, narrow alleyway type of life is now present in only scattered pockets behind the construction of super huge buildings. Beijing does gigantic urban sprawl with large buildings very very well.

Cadbury Creme Egg

Via Faris where there is another version too.

China Protest

On Tuesday, I was tipped off that an SMS was being passed around encouraging people to place a heart on their messenger and boycott Carrefour in protest at the Olympic flame's experience in France. Sure enough my messenger now looks something like this.

There's no need to have an extended commentary on this except to say that nobody questions the Chinese people's love of their country. There's a lot to love, and I'm particularly fond of the people of Beijing. However all countries/governments get it wrong at some point and the real journey in life begins when we begin to love and trust ourselves.

I think this young Chinese man who blogs in English has an international and mature perspective that corresponds more closely with the Olympic Slogan of One World One Dream. I blogged about it over here and questioned the sincerity and logic. Nothing would please me more than if the Chinese people proved me wrong on this.

Punk Planning Banned in China

I guess it had to happen. The blogging platform Blogspot has been switched on and off since 2003 but I've managed to finally draw the attention of someone somewhere and been placed on the list, along with the greats like Robert and Sean (ahem), of Banned blogs in China.

Blogspot and Blogger

mace

Looks like Blogspot/Blogger, my blogging platform is accessible again in China. Here's the run down of censorship for just this platform and remember that Wordpress and/or Typepad are also affected meaning I can't leave comments on some of your blogs even though I often want to.

Blogspot blocked again April 14, 2008
Wikipedia and Blogspot unblocked April 1, 2008
Blogspot unblocked and blocked again January 14, 2008
Blogspot blocked again — ongoing saga June 1, 2007
Blogspot unblocked again March 29, 2007
Foreign blog providers (including Blogspot) blocked March 20, 2007
Blogspot working in Beijing again November 23, 2006
Blogspot blocked again October 27, 2006
Blogspot unblocked August 9, 2006

- Blogspot was first blocked in 2003

This article comes via the excellent Danwei.org

AWE5OME - Jing Kuek

Don't we all dear! By Jing Kuek via AWE5OME

"That's Rocking"

I've pointed out elsewhere that we're probably living in potentially the most exciting times for TV advertising. Dwindling attention and exploding media options leaves advertising with only a few avenues left to explore. I believe these could well be placing feelings in front of facts and spirit in front of logic.

Of course everything is contextual including the market's media literacy, the product, the category but if I was going to paint a broad stroke Fallon are body popping when it comes to advertising. Bravo!

Via Scamp and Wal

Finger Pointing

We're all good at it aren't we. You only need to go on the BBS and IRC to see the screaming, shouting and finger pointing going on. I guess it all comes down to binary thinking. Stuff like 'Four legs good two, legs bad' which is from an allegorical tale called Animal Farm, that intelligent people from around the world should have access to read (that and Down and out in Paris and London). I can appreciate some of my Chinese American friends who were raised with pluralism of opinion and free access to any countries' media including China, feel that the picture below and doing the rounds on the net, is the sort of managed message that makes them feel uncomfortable.

One sent this to me: "In the streets of the March 14th event, the government is using these signs to promote 'unity' again in the country by saying, "Tibetans and Han Chinese are daughters of one mother. Our mother is called China."

Here is the poster with that slogan on being posted in Lhasa and on the Net


I couldn't help looking at it in a simple semiotics kind of way. Why is it illustration? Are those national costumes? Is there room for only one flag on the poster? Is there even a flag for Tibet? I did a quick search to find out and this is what I found?


It's quite distinct isn't it?

The British are famously reluctant to haul out a flag and wave it because we've seen how symbolism gets people fired up in the wrong way in tense situations. Nazi Germany springs to mind, and particularly memories of the ugliest people gathering round symbolism as if it were worth more than life itself which it most certainly isn't.

Just for reference here is Hong Kong's flag which is unquestionably part of China and has returned back to the fold under the good guidance of Chris Patten who was vilified at the time by Beijing as "sinner for a thousand generations" and is now broadly welcomed by the PRC as having managed a tricky job quite even handedly.


I wrote back here that what happened in 1949 is history and the riots on March 14 2008 were news. Separating history from news is important for constructive dialogue because the news in this instance was that the ethnic Tibetans rioted in Lhasa and attacked the ethnic Han Chinese. If we're going to be brutally honest, history discussions aren't embraced in China because pluralism of opinion isn't accepted, in much the same way that discussion of the Rape of Nanking isn't debated in Japan or Extraordinary Renditon, the loss of Habeas Corpus and the ugly stain of Guantanemo Bay for the 'Enemy Combatants/Bin Laden Clique that the Neo Conservatives and their unholy alliance with the Christian Fundamentalists have to smash and crush isn't accepted.

Look at that finger pointing in one direction and notice the other three pointing back at you.

AWE5OME

These guys are popping. I particularly like Steve Lawler's work and don't forget to take a sniff round Poolatwork

Basso Profundo/Hugh & The Rabbi

Via Johnnie Moore who is really doing some of the most inspirational podcasts called "Hugh and the Rabbi" along with Mark Earls about subjects like authenticity in organisations and of course their marketing. Check them out and more over here.

Daily Stats

Depressing really, my own colleagues don't find me Interesting at all! Or maybe it's because Blogspot has only recently been allowed in China! Seriously though the unsung secret of Blogging is Google Analytics. It's the only quantitative evidence I am hopelessly addicted to. It'sa deep diving internet analytical tool that has taught me a lot about how to think through e-commerce, click through and bounce rates, search engine optimization and all the other features and benefits that will appeal to even the most creative planners amongst us. The numbers above don't reflect the RSS subscribers I have, although I intend do a post about Feedburner (and/or Feedsky for China) soon because its interesting and also the political implications of RSS readers and subscribers are quite considerable in places like China where pluralism of opinion is often anathema.

Porn for the Blind

Via the ever alert and delightfully smutty Angus Whines

Qik - Part II

I left a comment on Robert's blog some months back about QIK because I could not access it in China without the aid of a proxy server and also because I couldn't get a QIK invite, which I thought was something to do with being in China. QIK got in touch with me and gave me an Alpha Tester or something, and I was off and away with live to the internet streaming from a Nokia N95. When I showed it to Nokia in China they were blown away as I demoed it in their offices but as usual with the future, too many clients are buckling under the present to be truly inspirational.

Anyhow an immediate thought was how controversial this could be if I was in the wrong place at the wrong time or the right place at the right time depending on the context (everything is after all contextual) and I think the recent spotlight in China has highlighted that.

I had a low key QIK incident of my own when making my way to the Forbidden City. I saw a crowd gathering around the kind of vehicle that only the very rich and powerful can afford to own, as ostentatious luxury cars in Beijing are frowned upon more so than Shanghai. The police were on the scene already, and I took a glance as I walked by only to see a young Caucasian male stuck in a crowd of 20 something Chinese who were looking on intently.

I thought he seemed like he needed some help and made my way over to offer a hand. He had a cut finger, the car was scratched and he explained to me that it had knocked him off his bike. I could see that the police were at a loss for what to do because they didn't speak English and both the boy wanted to get on his way and the car owner was eager to accept the cost of a spray job and avoid bureaucracy escalation. I called our brilliant HR Manager Grace who is way more of a planner than most planners in China, to see if we could get the cops to put the pad away and save everybody a few hours. But you know how it is with those who are used to orders. Once the pad is out its not worth their job to put it away and also the Olympics mean that they are very binary about sticking to the rules. Once I'd done all I could I thought I'd whip the N95 out and do a QIK scene which was beamed straight to the web. Those of you who follow my Tweets are immediately alerted to the live streaming nature of QIK (Althought China is still waiting to go full-on 3G)

Here it is:

And without further ado here's a cut and paste from Johnnie Moore who should take you to the next level of why I am inspired by the tools that are created by the people and for the people. Way more so than Marx had in mind when pushing for the workers to acquire the means of production and why I don't have a problem calling it Socialist Media

If you get excited about where social media might take us all, you'll probably enjoy this post by Grumblemouse: San Fran torch relay is a social media extravaganza. The notion of a guy helping to organise a protest in San Francisco by watching a livestream of NBC and sending updates via Twitter, from his kitchen in London, is pretty cool, I think.

I think today is going to be the social media event of the year as I hear that the Rick Roll flash mob thing is happening in London and you can watch it live from Jamie's phone too if you can't make there. Rumour has it that a brand is involved and I'm wondering if Nokia were paying attention to the presentation Rob and I wrote back in London. We'll see later today.

Ladies & Gentlemen - The Kaiser

| View | Upload your own

This is why we all think The Kaiser is destined for greatness. Ahead of his time and destined for glory. It's destiny I tells ya. Brilliant!

And Who Could Blame Him?

Via Hugh

Is Greater Mexico The United States' Tibet?

I'm having an email discussion about the difference between using the word success or win in a tagline and trying to explain that it doesn't really matter because both options are bland. Anyway I think Absolut Vodka have stumbled into ahem, a territory (intentionally or otherwise) that I believe some brands should think about, because the level of internet participation and debate says to me that contentious issues should be embraced, and that quite possibly there is a role for brands to host that debate in a constructive and meaningful way. Far more important than the meaningless endlines that are constructed to cause offense to nobody and ultimately please nobody. We are after all in the business of engagement.

I also wrote about this topic over here because I think we use the word brand values when the corporations who often are the most powerful forces in our lives (work and environment) claim 'values' that are rarely committed to anything of consequence. This is a huge missed opportunity I believe. I also said over here that I don't think the U.S or its leader 'the great decider' have any credibility left in the eyes of the international community to define what is right or wrong (particularly in Tibet) given their own track record, and I think Absolut have tapped into that debate with this ad for vodka which highlights the history of Mexico as stolen land by the United States.



It has now had to be withdrawn because we all know that the United States are hypersensitive to criticism that ranges from the American Indians, to the Mexicans and then Slavery. It has always had a propensity to protect its own God given wealth and the American dream (Illusion?). How long is it before we see U.S. government announcements of intent to 'smash and crush the Mexican clique responsible for this malicious falsehood? Of course I've got my tongue firmly planted in my cheek (I'm very fond of many people from the U.S and especially its political history), but equally I don't think we should ignore that thousands upon thousands of people all round the world are ignoring our well crafted endlines and joining in on this debate about Mexico and the United States on the Internet over here and elsewhere.

I do believe that its better for the flamers, pious revisionists and neoconservative right-wingnuts to let off their steam in an internet forum than in real life...why? Because I know from experience that they then feel they have had a chance to voice their opinion, that they've been heard, that maybe someone cares about what they feel - Even if nobody gives a fig. We all like the sound of our own voice when we're off on one don't we?

Update: I see Dos Equis have also tapped into this sentiment before Absolut

We Are What We Share

I"m not sure about you but I've been spreading the love for as long as I can remember. Whether people wanted it or not ;)

Via Asi

Fifa Street 3

It just gets better and better doesn't it?

Chain Surfing

Via three billion

Beijing Fashion and Trends

I got caught in Xidan again last weekend. That flat peaked baseball hat thing that was hitting London when I left may not have arrived full-on in Beijing yet, but I do like the perched and slightly tilted action going on below with subverted logos .

These guys really made me think I'd lost my antenna for what's going on because their piercings and punk goth look had in my opinion overstepped what Beijing tolerates as acceptable. Its one thing to be rebellious but in my estimation their look (even though its ace) would surely lead to some kind of 'social alienation' in this part of China. I think Vivienne Westwood collector and fashion lecturer Robert De Niet in London would be particularly pleased with those bondage trousers which, like the rocking shoes she designed, are somewhat impractical but look insanely good. Clothes for heroes indeed.

I bumped into them later in that cheap clothes mall I've been raving about and had a chance to ask them a few more questions where they told me in quite good English that they were of Canadian/Korean descent and here to learn Chinese. This kind of pleased me because I couldn't believe how much attitude their style had, although I will always be slightly disappointed in a city that doesn't have room for a few Punk Goths. I understand that Worcester wasn't the sort of place to wear this stuff in 76/77 either!

Here are some examples of those insane T Shirts I've been going on about.

Does Linda know?

Thus adding another dimension to the uncanny valley.

I have no idea what Beverdially Sweetbones Brondnated Beveriseeds means but its the sort of thing I'm beginning to enjoy and expect from Xidan. One of the things I like about the cheap shops is the resourcefulness they put into making them hip, and here in the Jing it seems that using magazine photography covered in glass on the floor is one way the young can inexpensively add some attitude. A lot of the shops also take pride in having rare trend curiosities to attract people in. Although that is a post for another day that I'm keen capture.

Walmart And China

The figures for Walmart and China are colossal. The United States' ability to voraciously consume, coupled with China's unsurpassed capability to produce has led to the fastest input output game in history with considerable impact on the planet's resources. There are still many people who would rather ignore the moral impact of our work without knowing that there are ways to square the circle, but it takes some thinking, and some conviction otherwise there really is no point just gushing 'awe' at cute babies and bunnies and things because that's just programming on your amygdala which you can overcome with your selfish gene and get on with the business of senseless consumption.

John Grant has done a much more courageous job of showing the way forward with his excellent book The Green Marketing Manifesto and also his blog Greenormal which is a must-read for those who like the communications business and dig frugality dictated by the brutal logic of finite resources.

Some time back, we talked on his blog if Walmart or M&S would insist on environmental standards in the distribution and supply chain, it would have an impact on both China and the rest of the world. If you're not sure how this works, it's enough to know that Walmart single handedly pushed the world into using barcodes when insisting on its suppliers using them.

The same applies for pretty much anything else they put their mind to.

Now Walmart are famous for being miserly with suppliers and parsimonious at best with employees but there is a strong Christian ethic that runs through the organisation and its values, which when misguided are unpleasant but when constructive can be a force for good.

Following on their news last year to become the largest purchaser of solar panels ever, thus creating economies of scale for others, I read today in the essential China Digital Times that they are making a push in October for all their Chinese suppliers to follow environmental and sustainability guidelines. This will likely be a future trend for China and its suppliers, but if embraced can drive wealth creation that is not at the expense of the planet and is surely the single largest opportunity for making money in our lifetimes by rewiring the economy for sustainability. Anything else is just loose change isn't it?

Emperor's New Clothes

I love this quick presentation by Anil Dash. There's something pernicious about the powerpoint effect that for many clients goes something along the lines of 'for each change of slide' we are getting agency value-for-money'. No it's not, its illusory value.

Via Angus Whines

Twittercloud

Tweet clouds - The bigger the word the more often I have twittered it. I am looking forward to coming back to this maybe in six months. Very revealing.

Via Russell Davies

Beijing Another View

I've never done a post like this but an email I received sparked such a good response that I asked if I could share it because I think it adds some really good flavour to the question what is Beijing like, through the lens of its vibrant music scene. Here is the response from Chris Emmerson which should really be seen in the context of two links that were sent prompting a private email exchange between three people, and which he has kindly agreed to allow me to share here. The links that sparked the conversation are:

http://www.demos.co.uk/publications/atlasofideas

http://arts.guardian.co.uk/china2008/story/0,,2264116,00.html

And here is Chris' response:

Finally got to these after a weekend off the intensive Mandarin. The science one was interesting: I did a study on perceptions of scientists back in the UK for a course I was doing, and the bitterness amongst that community is startling, particularly amongst biologists and biochemists. Scientists feel they have no status in the UK, and to do the 'good work' they all dreamt of as idealistic undergraduates they have to spent 15-20 years working in study groups they don't believe in, so that by the time they've reached the point at which they have the chance to set their own agenda they're politically conditioned to mark out and defend their own specialist territory, regardless of the value of research. A number of them suggested that since there was so much politics in funding, it was as well to have politicians actively running the show, since at least they might be expected to see the bigger picture and do politics well.

A lot of scientists end up in the private sector spending their lives tweaking established treatments so they can be re-patented: a fabulous waste of talent that was the elephant in the room as far as the article was concerned. So yes, China may have lucked onto a model that makes the most of a particular moment in its political and social history. I'd start on cancer if I were them, since living in this city is the equivalent of smoking approximately eighteen blue Drum roll-ups per day. I know because I smoked about eighteen blue Drum roll-ups per day until the day I left the UK, and my respiratory system has benefitted not one iota in two months.

As for the music: well....yes. If you're going to judge it in entirely musical terms....yes. And if you're a music critic, that's what you'll do so....yes. But personally, I'm finding the music scene here enormous fun. Possibly it's just that being in a foreign city gives you license to behave like a teenager sometimes but it's been a long time since I enjoyed going to gigs as much as here. The combination of aching cool and accessibility is striking. The bands all look like the cover shoot for your choice of cutting edge fashion mag the month after next, but you can wander up and chat to the lead singer after the set, even if you don't share a common language (you can also, in no particular order, learn a Taiwanese drinking game, teach a barman how to make popcorn in a microwave, discuss ska with a guitarist who thinks you're cool because hardly anyone he knows has even heard of Elvis Costello and get impressively drunk for under a fiver; although apparently if you're a Guardian music critic, you're above all of these things). There's also a bond with the audience that doesn't devolve into cloying sentimentality and I-saw-them-first one-up-manship which seemed to be an increasing feature of the London 'scene' the last time I was a hip young thing (which was, admittedly, never). And god knows, if most of them haven't got an original idea in their pretty little heads, at least they know how to put them together in a way that's entertaining.

In fact, I have wondered if it is the barriers to 'getting big' that keep things fun. Everybody's asprirations are on a similar scale; no-one's going to become U2 overnight. Having watched many documentaries about CBGBs, and then finally seeing the horror it had become in its final incarnation two years ago, D22 and its peers are the closest I've come to feeling how I imagine that scene was.

Right then. Now I've sorted out the future of science, politics and music I'll go back to my homework......

Go check out this post on the Guardian for more on the Beijing music scene and Ed's intelligent blogging on the subject.

Freedom To Move

 

Just because I love it so much to this day. The Music is Bach's Sarabande and the Director is Michael Glazer. Ad by by BBH.

Chinese Advertising

One planning topic that needs some understanding in developing economies is media literacy. Mary Goodyear has looked into this subject extensively, and you can read all about it over here and Fredrik did a splendid post related to the topic over at his.

From the outside it may seem that the creativity is often lackluster in this part of the world and for sure, it is in the main, like pulling teeth to coax the clients (and agencies) to go the extra mile and explore some of the dimensions of advertising that can be achieved. Forgive me if this seems like I'm pulling out unremarkable ads but this is one of the first commercials I came across that stood out.

This is actually quite a big deal for a paint ad in Asia. I can just see the spreadsheet marketer saying stuff like "you want to show people throwing my paint around?" or "what have birds, hay and diving got to do with my brand?", "why isn't there a paintbrush in the picture?", "can't we have a basso profondo voice in the ad?" and so on and so forth. The reason is that the people who frequently manage marketing and advertising in Asia are often the kind of people who can cope with high volume but really struggle with ideas like metaphors, feelings, emotions and expression. I should call a halt to this right now because I could go on and on but suffice to say that a lot of people have made a lot of money managing that huge growth and volume over the last 15 years or so and are at the top of their game without actually ever squeezing out a creative puppy.

So I think its a big deal that Saatchi & Saatchi advertising got this through and I believe it was subsequently awarded an Effie which pleased me if only because championing creative is so hard and because it won for those very same reasons I listed above, that I believe most China based marketeers and agencies are simply not geared up for. Clearly Chinese customers felt differently than the average marketing whizz often does, because they voted with their wallets and gave a 46% increase in sales value of high end products nationwide and more than doubled the targeted 20% increase. There are however a few problems before we pop the Veuve Clicquot, because the ad is way clearly an homage at best, and rip off at worst to the Fallon ad for Sony Bravia, which I think is even better than Balls. Here it is.

So you can park that Effie and all the planning plonk that goes into saying how good the agency and/or planner and/or creative and/or client were because all they did was probably add extraneous process between looking in the right direction for inspiration and actually getting on with ahem 'copying it'. I would however like to see more emulation of the good stuff and a stiff brush to sweep away the marketing mediocrity that needs to make 5.5 (million dollars) by 55 years of age....you know who you are! The problem is that a certain genre of adman has made a tidy living out of punting the lamest of the lame creativity and the emperor needs calling out on the absence of threads.

Sticking out is a big deal in Asian culture. There is an expression that the nail that sticks out gets hammered in, and yet it is my belief that this cannot pertain to advertising. The nail that stands out gets noticed in advertising or can even be outstanding. I've spent a lot of time listening to greatly opposing forces in meetings with spadefuls of advertising spiel and waffle that talks a good game on words such as creativity, brand values and vision but all boils down to the infinitely bland. Why is this happening? Take a look at that Joy Island's photography and the last few seconds of the Nippon paint ad and you'll start to make the connection because as soon as I saw it on the web, I knew I needed to know the story and find the photographer.


Lovely isn't it? There's more...


Brutal huh? Probably not for marketing communications but maybe another day as one of my more challenging traits is that I like to press buttons. Its only when someone explodes that I know their breaking point that I understand what they care about. One of my closest friends had exactly the same characteristic as me. We were both political junkies and we'd be at each other's throats over CNN and BBC world news. As early risers this would sometimes happened before before 6 AM when we shared the same apartment. Great times looking back, but returning to my point, through a process of saying the wrong things and seeing where the greatest sensitivity lies I've uncovered an uncomfortable truth about the powerhouse economy which isn't really a brilliant insight as its all been said before. It is however the most raw nerve in China. Innovation is not a trait that springs to mind in the PRC but the one that created the darkest face was when I rationalized the extra 40 slides being asked of me as along the lines of "so what you're saying is to copy other brand's mediocre strategy?"

I've since found that the "copy" word is like a red rag to a bull, like spilled blood to a boxer, like throwing paint around to a paint marketer (ok I'm exaggerating) because in the absence of innovation all that is left is correctional marketing and 'the middle way' between too much emotional and too much rational in a brand. Then stick it through the research process designed to remove any of the interesting bits and lastly link test it so that if there is a shred of an idea remaining, we can drill it out and stick in something the respondents wanted instead. I ask you, why don't we just give our TARGET market some pens and watch them under the cross hairs with a snipers bullet until they have written the ads themselves?

Maybe this is why some people don't want the blue collar migrant workers as their customers because WHO would want those people in our nice focus group room with free snacks and refreshments, even though they are the backbone of the country. I mean, their media literacy sucks anyway doesn't it?

I always thought that the point of really good advertising, as with any facet of popular cultural expression is to lift people in some way through humour, feelings or observation because ulimately it elevates us all in the end doesn't it?

Or as a very clever and young person said to me last year. Confusion makes you smarter.

Basic Beijing

Until I came out here, I didn't know that Beijing has some ancient celestial and terrestrial alignment going on its layout, which explains its destiny to rule the entire Universe and beyond for practically ever and ever or at least till the water runs out.

But you don't need to know all that because I'm going to give you a run down of basic Beijing layout. First off, that square in the middle is the forbidden city and as you can see the roads are laid out neat running north, south, east, west except for those ring roads which are like motorways carving through the metropolis (much bigger than the A40M for those inside the M25)

Then as we get closer you can the Forbidden city which has a heavier outline because of the moat that surrounds it, and below that is a star on Tiananmen Square. They say it holds a million people if you want to get some scale of the action that kicked off in 1989. Just a wee bit to the left (or West) is an egg shaped structure which is the National Theater for performing arts I took pictures of over here

Just an inch or so north of Tiananmen Square on the pic below is the famous Chairman Mao portrait.

Yes, I've been playing with Google maps this afternoon and I got bored of checking out the military installations and started sniffing around my neighbourhood. I'm going to have a housewarming party called 'Forbidden City/Naughty Nights' and I've got the invitation card semi thought out already....me being in advertising and all that.