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Confucian Confusion. With its emphasis on "individualistic youthful irreverence," Nike's 'Just Do It' campaign just doesn't do it in China, reports Frederik Balfour in BusinessWeek (4/25/05). Nike's famous attitude may be a hit in most other places, but it is "a no-no in Confucian China." Just as bad (or worse) was a Nike, nike.com.cn, ad in which LeBron James beats "a computer-generated Kung-Fu master." Chinese consumers were insulted "and Beijing banned the ad last December." Nike's not alone on this particular learning curve, though. The Chinese don't care much for Colonel Sanders, either. And Toyota blew it with one ad in which their Land Cruiser was "towing what appeared to be a Chinese military truck, and other featuring stone lions, a traditional symbol of power in China, bowing down to Toyota's Prado GX. Not surprisingly, some of China's 1.3 billion citizens "balked at the perceived insult to their armed forces and at the notion of bowing down to anything -- even a car -- representing Japan."
Such lessons are important, since China, "by next year ... will be the third-largest ad market in the world." Since 1979, when China lifted its ban on ads, the market has grown to "as much as $16 billion ... an increase of at least 20 percent over 2003, according to MindShare. The expansion is expected to accelerate with the 2008 Beijing Olympics, as well as the lifting later this year of a ban on foreign ad agencies, which until now could operate only under joint-ventures with local shops. While some agencies benefit from the cultural insights of their local collaborators, others are anxious to be rid of sub-par partners, who may not be in a league with big, multinational clients like Procter & Gamble, pg.com.cn, for example. P&G's Oil of Olay skin cream is, in fact, "the most advertised brand in China" today, and among the most successful, too.
P&G's Alfosno de Dio says success in China, like anywhere else, depends on understanding the consumer: "In Shanghai, where women are more cosmopolitan and sophisticated, we cater to a daily regimen of skin care with Oil of Olay," he says. "But in Urumqi we sell women Safeguard soap and Crest first. It's a question of needs." It's also a matter of message: China's second-biggest spender, a domestic brand of calcium tablets called Gai Zhong Gai succeeds via a "simplistic approach and constant repetition." Comments Quinn Taw of MindShare: "They did everything that an advertising textbook in the U.S. would tell you not to do ... They created a whole awareness about calcium and bones." Nike, meanwhile, is catching on. It's now running "a 10-second spot that features a school kid impressing classmates by spinning a globe on his finger. Yes, there's a certain "playfulness and bravado" but, says JWT's Tom Doctoroff, "there's no rebellion." JWT, in China, "gets about 35 percent of its billings from Chinese companies today, up from zero five years ago.
Tim Manners, editor
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