In the wake of continuing events in Xinjiang, the decision by the Chinese government to move forward with a planned global advertising campaign designed to boost confidence in Chinese products might might seem a bit ill-advised. Trying to convince people around the world to trust Chinese products while disturbing images and stories are coming out of the west risks (at the very least) undermining the effectiveness of what will likely be an expensive campaign, and casting the government as insensitive to - and out of touch with - their global audiences.
All of which is fair. But for reasons China’s leaders may not be considering, I think they need to get on with it.
First, this ad campaign is a piece of a much larger global program designed to improve China’s credibility. If the world’s reaction to what has happened in Xinjiang and to China’s explanation of those events prove anything, it is that China’s credibility among most outside audience is in desperate need of enhancement. China cannot hesitate: the process needs to move forward, even if the early steps are shaky ones.
Second, even if the campaign falls flat, that will be a good thing, if for no other reason than the nation’s leaders will use the feedback from early efforts like this campaign to understand what resonates with their target audiences and what doesn’t work. The realities of China’s political culture mean that the leadership will have to learn all of this the hard way, and the sooner they can work their way up that learning curve, the better.
Is the timing wrong? There will certainly be vocal reaction along those lines from audiences who think so. Is an advertising campaign, however well executed, the right way to boost confidence in Chinese products? The only way to know is to give it a shot.
China should be applauded for starting at last its public dialogue with the world, and we should give that encouragement not least because it is going to be a harsh and occasionally brutal process for the nation’s leaders, just as it has been with the companies and clients many of us have served. But as with our commercial clients, China will grow and benefit from this effort, and as it learns to express itself in ways we all can appreciate, so will the world.
This entry was posted on Monday, July 20th, 2009 at 3:19 pm and is filed under Advertising, Brand. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
Media Hutong
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July 21st, 2009 at 1:28 am
Timing may be wrong, but the stimulus to the ad industry is welcome. Thank you, China.