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15 million unique visitors, 8.5 minutes on the website and a click through rate of over 4 percent! Those are numbers that I hear frequently when I judge a Chinese campaign in a regional or international creative award show. These shows are an interesting mirror of both, what is going on creatively in China and how fellow judges from around the world perceive campaigns coming out of China.

For the latter, big numbers are not any longer favorable criteria. On the contrary, those numbers raise eyebrows and doubt about the work’s creativity. Broad effectiveness doesn’t necessarily translate into brilliant creative thinking. Therefore it is fair to say that the more niche a campaign is targeted, the more difficult to reach the audience, the better the creative product has to be.

In the case of China, I think this is what is going to happen over the next year and beyond. While digital channels, and especially online have certainly reached a mass medium stage, it will be the very targeted campaigns that will set the creative standards, which then in return will be copied and re-used for broader campaigns further down the road.

Over the past 12 months we could already see things going his way. Many a campaign website has seen a significant increase in production budget, which enables creatives to work with talents from outside the own office: 3D artists, music composers, illustrators and camera men and directors. These websites create buzz, word of mouth even without spending much money on media, and are well known even beyond the target audience.

Especially in China entertainment has been high on the list of things people do online, and with a more figured out situation in the video sharing industry, branded content and brand entertainment will certainly be a thing to watch for in the next 12 months. Partnerships with professionals from outside the industry – script writers, actors, and directors – will play a significant role in creating successful online content.

Mobile is rumored to have a breakthrough in 2009, what this means though I don’t know. My personal opinion is that mobile will always be a difficult one to crack when used as a mass medium. In targeted situations this medium can become a real killer though. Social networking, location based services, flash players, high resolution cameras and many other new innovations will make for great use for in more targeted campaigns.

The global killer application on the internet is social networking and while xiaonei and kaixin are expected to grow their user base to unprecedented heights, there is still plenty of room for marketers to weave a smart SNS component into their campaign. Especially useful applications and widgets will give brands a positive appeal amongst the networkers. But the real opportunity here lies in the power of word-of-mouth, turning consumers into evangelists and spreading the word without investing big dollars in media.

Finally I believe a big trend that comes from Japan and Europe will make a significant debut in 2009 in China: the cross-over between the virtual and the real. Campaigns will increasingly make use of interaction other than with the mouse. Webcams are a hot item, when used properly they can really add the fun element into any campaign. Convergence through mobile phones and also digital outdoor that is connected to the internet will be something agencies will certainly look at.

2009 will be another year of growing up in China. While the numbers will get even more gigantic, it will be the ones who have to reach a sophisticated audience that have to be creative. Like Bill Bernbach said in one of my favorite quotes: “… the future, as always, belongs to the brave.”

Posted by dirk at 08:55 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

No doubt the games are the most exciting event for anyone in Beijing who has stayed here for any length of time. Seven years in my case and for almost the entire time the government has systematically prepared me for this event.

Many things have changed, as no doubt you will know. We’ve torn down an entire section of this city as big as my hometown to construct an all new central business district. The same for the Olympic green, where tens of thousands of residents have been moved to places not mentioned. We got a new CCTV building and a new opera, we built an entire new subway system, an airport which couldn’t be any bigger, and made it rain on command. A lot of change indeed.

One of the things though that go rather unnoticed is the visual change in details that came along with all this. What seems granted for Olympic tourists and the people seeing Beijing through the eyes of a TV camera is in fact something rather special for us Beijingers.

It starts with the city’s cab drivers who have undergone a complete make-over. While the old and trashy cabs have been banned off the street over the past three years, it wasn’t until August 1st that the taxi drivers themselves got a visual upgrade. While these guys used to live more of a cowboy live before, dressing as they pleased and even shaving while driving, they now all sport the same yellow and blue uniform with matching ties. When asked about it, they are all very happy with the new shirts and pants and give a thumbs up for their 100% cotton comfort. Only the ties are a bit of a drag and usually stowed inside the glove compartment. It took this gentleman a few minutes to make it work.

Also in the comfort of the night to August 1st another amazing thing happened across the city. Suddenly every shop front, in every road and on every corner, featured a standardized signage. Where before a wealth of more or less creative signs pointed out what to expect behind the doors, now a unified size and a standard set of colors and fonts make every street and every shop look the same. I can only imagine the amazing logistics behind such a feat. Even McDonalds and KFC had to comply with this new regulation, though they could keep their logo on the board.

Walking though the Olympic streets of Beijing reveals another detail to the trained eye: flowers everywhere. This I have to admit took a while of trial and error though, as flowers in all kinds of shapes and forms have been put up and down throughout town for several months. It is a real treat, wherever you go you can play flower spotting, written in tulips or roses you find anything from “Welcome to Beijing 2008” to “Use civilized behaviour; create a new atmosphere”

But of course it is all about the sport and the organizers really have managed to apply a total Olympic 360 branding to the city. The Beijing Olympic logo, the colorful signage with the lucky clouds, the 5 mascots and countless slogans are applied to every bridge, every fence and every billboard that sat empty after the non-sponsors’ advertising was removed. The Olympic branding really is a welcome change in design and typography to this usually rather grey city. I only hope that when the factories are turned back on after the Olympics, that some of Beijing’s new art direction will stay for a little while longer.

Posted by dirk at 04:28 PM | Permalink

My favorite Asian TV spot from the recent past is from India. It advertises the Happydent White Chewing gum, you probably have seen it. It is the very likable and funny story of a Rajah’s palace in India where all light bulbs are replaced by servants chewing the gum. The product makes the teeth so shiny white that they illuminate everything from chandeliers to the car’s headlights. The spot is hilarious and the Bollywood soundtrack is so contagious that you find yourself humming it immediately. TV commercial storytelling at its best.

When I think of my favorite Asian digital campaign from the recent past it gets a little more difficult. Sure, there are plenty of industry events, creative award shows, marketing seminars and digital summits where I am exposed to a wealth of campaigns and case studies. But when prompted to pick my favorite I have a hard time. I think about successful campaigns I remember, campaigns that involve great banner advertising. Campaigns that stretch beyond the web into mobile or digital outdoor or campaigns that engage through games and online story telling. Many campaigns come to mind, though not one stands out as much as the TV spot from India. We can definitely improve a little when it comes to creating memorable digital campaigns, so it seems.

To the credit of our profession though, digital campaigns are not as easily stored and told as quickly as a 60 second TV commercial. They tend to be built around complex strategies that involve multiple channels, have built-in mechanics that facilitate a brand-consumer-dialogue and try to stretch digital innovation to deliver a fresh and surprising approach. But here is something they could learn from this TV commercial: don’t take yourself so seriously, be simple and have a little fun.

There are four simple and easy steps that can be taken to make sure a digital campaign gets as much recall value as a good TV spot.

First of all it’s about human insights: a universal truth should be underlying the idea. Too many times digital campaigns are built around pure demographic data rather than real insights into the specific target audience. What drives them, what motivates them, what are the daily issues they are facing? Only an idea that is built on a consumer insight can really cut through the clutter and deliver a memorable message. One of the examples that come to mind is the campaign for the Philips Bodygroom. Created over two years ago by Tribal DDB this campaign is still remembered amongst many male and hairy friends.

Then, of course you say, a strong idea is the basis for a successful online campaign. And this is true: without an idea the campaign will not make it past any brand recall study. If you look around though, how many truly big ideas come to mind when thinking of a digital campaign in Asia? Many times we get lost in the execution; focusing on getting the mechanics right, adding complex backend technology and putting mechanics in place to measure the campaign’s success from every angle. The real issue at hand is to create a compelling and memorable idea that lives beyond the next click. Something that gets passed on and talked about, not just in an online forum or on MSN, but at the water cooler, in the real world. Viral spots I believe were conceived to do just that: to provide a branded story that is compelling enough to forward or have a chat about. But it shouldn’t stop here; an idea should be bigger than a spot on YouTube. When looking in my memory’s archives for a great digital idea then Subservient Chicken springs to mind, still. An idea that combined a brand story with cutting edge technology, an idea so strong that it was and still is talked about way beyond digital media.

The third ingredient that makes for a memorable campaign is good storytelling. While copywriters and art directors in traditional agencies are trained to do exactly that, most digital agencies are not equipped to tell a compelling brand story, be it on- or offline. The fact is that digital savvy talent comes from a more rational approach to building a brand: delivering a customer or user experience across multiple digital channels, from websites to mobile phones to in-store installations. Digital creatives are mostly visual designers, technology engineers and experience architects. They sometimes could do with a magic spark, a creative leap that leads to a story that can be experienced and re-told many times over again. Great story telling online however is different from what it is on TV. The user is part of it and the story cannot happen without him/her. A great example of this is lonelygirl15, a story that has been running for nearly 2 years and which involves an audience of over 70 million in its ever evolving story play.

Lastly there is simplicity. Especially in digital marketing it is so easy to get lost in complexity. New technologies emerging daily, more and more fragmented channels for the consumer to hang out in, social networks and web 2.0 are all factors to consider for a campaign, but are they necessary? If so, which ones? It is the nature of technology to be complex, but it is our task to make the complex simple. It is great to experiment, to drive the acceptance of new communication models. It is imperative though to do so without loosing the potential impact of the campaign.

In the end the most memorable campaign will win. It will win over the hearts of the consumers more so than their minds. A digital campaign that makes me laugh out loud, makes me think or question my behavior, one that touches me on an emotional level, I will talk about and remember the next time I am prompted for my favorite digital campaign from Asia.

Posted by dirk at 02:49 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

The thing that I noticed the most about New York is its clean air. Most New Yorkers actually complain about the air quality. They have houses in Connecticut and upstate NY where they retreat to on the weekends to go snowboarding or mountain biking or fishing. Its an hour drive and you are one with nature. You can always bring your iPhone though so you are connected and this is the second thing I noticed in New York. IPhones everywhere. So much that it was sold out and I couldn't join the movement. I have to buy one on taobao.com I guess.

The two weeks were very impressive. The main reason to come to New York of course was the Oneshow judging, which consumed basically one entire week. The 25 other judges and myself all together went through 3125 entries to find the few Golds and several Silvers, Bronzes and Finalists. The voting process is secret and you dont know what the other judges are thinking about a particular project until it actually makes it to the final round. So it was fascinating to go through all the entries and then o the last two days see what made it and what hadn't.

The work I saw was of very high quality. Almost everything that made it to the second round was worth to be put into the book. A strong upper middle class I would say. Many pieces in there very inspiring and a privilege for me to see all the submissions with all the strategic background that went into those campaigns. Here are a few of the pieces that I really liked:

1) Music in a bottle
Many of the campaigns now actually require physical user participation. I think this is great, making use of your webcam or microphone can really engage with the brand. And if the product come into play as well, then you have a digital brand experience that goes beyond just clicking with your mouse. This campaign for Bitburger beer makes clever use of the webcam, however I think they could have thought for a better pay-off.
http://www.jvm.de/oneshow/interactive/music-in-a-bottle/

2) Blog runner
This one comes from Japan and what I like about digital campaigns from Japan is their constant push for innovation. They really figured out how to take available technology and make use of it in a totally fresh way. This campaign for example is build around the story of a runner. The story unfolds in video, and is spread across many participating blogs. Its a kind of widget, but its not really a widget either. Its just .... well, Japanese. Take a look
http://joga.nike.jp/boy1/

3) Arcade Fire
This one caused some discussion during the judging. While it is not necessarily commercial driven advertising, it really pushed the idea of having an emotional experience on the web. 95% of all digital experiences are still so rational, even if they are funny they tend to be quite cold and distant. Neon Bible from Arcade Fire managed to re-frame what emotional experience means online.
http://www.beonlineb.com/click_around.html

4) Water bead battle
I dont know why but I really like Japanese thinking. This one made me smile.
http://ibc-award.preview.i-studio.co.jp/2006/04/index.html

5) Brailleliga
This is an idea more apt for a titanium lion. Brilliant: How many times have you by accident dialed the first number of your mobile phone book? Now you can replace it with a different number, and all call's fees will proceed to a foundation supporting the blind!
http://www.ablindcall.be/

Of course there is a ton more of great work. Have a look through my bookmarks and let me know which one you like!

Posted by dirk at 03:48 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Hundred seventy five and a quarter of a day to the Olympics and I am on a plane heading for New York. I haven’t left the country for over a month now and especially the past two weeks were quite tense. Intense. Also today we had the worst weather and pollution in Beijing since the winter started five months ago. Pollution covered in dust, as a friend pointed it out in his MSN nickname.

One fact in particular kept coming up over and over again, in media abroad, in comments made by friends and also by really getting the firsthand feel of it: the Great Firewall of China. While it has always been quite tiresome to live without access to blogs hosted on blogspot, pictures on Flickr, Google at occasions and never Wikipedia, this time the censors went as far as a total access restriction to Youtube.

The reason is Tibet and the way the government is controlling the public’s access to 3rd party information. BBC, CNN, news.google.com – sometimes they work, sometimes not. There must have been some serious movies on youtube, I might have to catch up on that while I am my New Yorker Hotel room.

The real annoyance though was me judging the Oneshow Interactive. This is the second time I have the honor to do so, and it is a heavy task indeed. Both, in responsibility, as it is arguably one of the two most serious and prestigious award show for the digital creative industry, and also by the sheer amount of work you have to consume, watch, read and understand in order to make your informed judgment. This year the organizers gave the judges 9 days to complete the first round. I just finished it, 503 entries in over two dozen categories. I counted every one of them from my ADSL connection behind the Great Firewall, I counted them and the hours that it took me to go through all of them: 52.

The judging is always the biggest eye opener of the year, it is the moment when you see your own work rubbing shoulders with the campaigns of some of the smartest brains in the industry. I get a constant rush of inspiration from dozens of amazing ideas that I can simply click through. But I also feel ashamed and stupid that some of the ideas I might have thought of before but never put them into reality. Out of laziness, probably, and if indeed I would have executed them, would they have been as brilliant as the ones before me?

Here are a few initial learnings after my first glance through the 503 campaigns

1. Video. Basically all major brand websites make heavy use of video. Hereby it is not just enough to use video, but to actually do so professionally. Actors, directors, producers, script writers. The internet turns into one big soap opera. Some of it done brilliantly, as smart as some of the best TV spots. Others not as good, amateurish, a bit foolish. The trick is, no matter the execution, still the idea shines through. Just now the ideas have to be executed brilliantly. Take a look at the Axe site "let the game continue".

2. Brands do use facebook. At least according to the submissions at the Oneshow. There must have been almost a dozen or so facebook applications to judge. Some of them as part of a bigger campaign, some of them as stand alone. None of them was particularly impressive though I thought and I doubt that the fact of simply creating a facebook app will win you an award. We shall see.

3. Web 2.0 is at another level. There have been a few sites that really impressed me with their smart use of web 2.0 features. Tagging, commenting, community, blogging etc all at a new level. The good ones really master to make the complex simple. They act as a tool, as a very smart, likable and powerful facilitator of communication and interaction between brand and consumer. Check out the Scientific American. Some of those sites were even done in flash.

4. Entertainment and branded content are huge. The branded content category was one of the largest in fact and it looks like the lines of media, content and advertising are really beginning to blur here. That is probably where we have to start the discussion whether or not the big advertising idea is still relevant in the online world. Ideas here are not as simple as in a banner or on a brand site. They come in the shape of entertainment, video, games, sequels, quests and competitions that span multiple channels and platforms. Check this out
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Posted by dirk at 10:23 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

One of the last projects I worked on at OgilvyOne was Motorola's Q9 campaign. The Q9 is a PDA phone similar to the Blackberry. We were looking for an idea that would connect with the online Zeitgeist in China, and after a bit of research, Momo's Tuzki became the personification for the product: An omni present bunny that around 50 million Chinese netizens use to express their emotions instantly.

Here is an article from Asian Wall Street Journal about the Tuzki campaign.

Posted by dirk at 06:27 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

So this is my sixth week into the new job. It's been great to see a few of the 14 offices in Asia (so far I've been to Shanghai, Hong Kong and Kuala Lumpur) and meet all the new people. Everyone is very excited! The offices are all very young and so are the creative teams. But what they lack in size they make up in passion. I haven't experienced so much positive thinking and excitement for the work in a long time. I don't think it will be that difficult to create a few campaigns that get talked about. And that's really the thing with DDB, they call it talkvalue. I think it makes total sense, the idea is not to spend all the money on media but rather create something that is culturally relevant that the community is so interested in that they start to spread it on. Tribal DDB in the US and especially also in Germany is doing some great stuff in that direction. A good example is the now quite old Philips Bodygroom site which basically everyone in the industry knows of.

But even more remarkable was the Horst Schlaemmer campaign in Germany, where Tribal signed Hape Kerkeling, one of Germany's most famous comedians, to play Horst Schlaemmer, a small town journalist on his quest to get a driving license. Basically the whole nation logged on to his blog (now hosted on MSN's comedy channel) and fevered with him to pass his test. Once he got his license, Volkswagen made him an official present with a brand new VW Golf and it turned out the the brand was all along behind the campaign.

It might be a bit too German for any non German to get this, but if you want then check his youtube hits here, some of them have well over a million views.

Posted by dirk at 05:43 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Tiger Translate is a branded platform for young and emerging artists from east and west to get together, create and showcase their work. My good old friend Steve Lawler is organizing their events over the past year or so and this time he brought the brand and the artists to Beijing. The event was held at space gallery in 798, which is normally about the hottest place in Beijing during summer time. No wonder they gave out free cold Tiger beers to around a thousand sweaty guests.

It was great to see so many people turn up to an event like this. About two years ago it would not even been half the people present at the Get It Louder, which shows that visual design culture came a long way since. The best part though was that it was almost a hundred percent un-pretentious, something very Beijing!

Posted by dirk at 01:20 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)