NOW

This article I wrote for Campaign Brief Asia, the leading publications for all advertising creatives in Asia. The funny thing is that Kim Shaw, the editor in Chief, so far has not made any effort to include anything interactive into Campaign Brief. It is so traditional, that even he makes jokes about it.

The current issue has a special feature about creativity in China. So he invited me to contribute something general, rathe rthan too interactive, haha. I didn't want to go down the traditional route of writing about our own stuff, so here is my take on what will happen in the near future to creativity in China:

In the 60's when China launched its first TV network there were approximately 12 thousand black and white sets dotted throughout the country. In a lack of understanding on how to structure and design the TV programming, the government looked to Russia and East Germany for advice. The outcome: a glittering evening's entertainment of factory workers discussing the current five-year-plan and the National Ballet performing the revolutionary 'Raise the Red Lantern'.

It's now 2006 and after 40 years of a shadowy media industry, China is fast tracking. The current generation of youth has skipped video recorders for Div-X movies; CD players for MP3 players; landlines for mobile phones and monopoly for World-of-Warcraft. They're as digital savvy as their counter parts in Europe or America and they're a whole generation of early adopters. The digital lifestyle has brought this generation an ease of access to information, connecting to others and limitless opportunities for self expression. The digital generation in China is not only the most informed and best connected ever, it is also the most creative.

This new generation of young creatives is growing up – almost unnoticed – in the cities, towns and villages. They use their computer to express their emotions. They sit in internet cafes for days and weeks to create animations in flash, which they then upload on community sites to be seen by hundreds and thousands of peers. They form small design collectives and produce posters for local parties, packaging for around-the-corner shops, brochures for real estate developments and CD covers for their bands. They create toy figures, customise jeans and sneakers, print t-shirts and publish magazines. Most of it for very un-commercial reasons. Why: because it's a way of self expression, a way of making a point, leaving a mark in the Chinese creative landscape.

This generation comes from a unique background: as part of the one-child-policy, their parents grew up during the Cultural Revolution, with its hardships and destructive attempt to suppress anything creative and innovative. They were born in the '80s and grew right into Deng Xiao Ping's open-door policy. They were the first generation with access to foreign music and literature, with the means to build an informed opinion, to be influenced by western culture. They were eager to break free from the rigid lifestyle their parents were living. They were part of the progressive plan to growth and witness the transformation from ancient China into a glass-and-steel high-tech capitalist world. They've experienced more change in their 20 years of life than most westerners have in their whole lifetime

Now these kids are getting organised on design websites, in Chinese design magazines and in nationwide design exhibitions. They're connecting to the rest of the world. They're hungry to learn and they're willing to experiment. They're influenced by the top visual artists in the world: at the same time they're proud to be Chinese, to build on their thousands of years of cultural heritage. They've grown up in one of the most dynamic markets in the world and they have something to say, they're real, they're authentic. They will create a creative landscape in China that will be very unique in this world.

It will take another few years, but there will be a creative generation in China that will easily compete on a world stage. They will know the rules and they'll begin to set standards as they start to create their very own unique style. It's up to us in the advertising industry to recognise this movement, to value this generation and bring them close to our work.