NOW

This Article I wrote for Campaign UK magazine. It was published somewhen in late August 2006.

Twenty five years after Deng Xiaoping made the decision to experiment with demographic engineering, with the introduction of the one-child policy, a generation of digitally savvy consumers is coming of age: according a 2005 population estimate, China had almost 275 million people under the age of 14. Roughly equally the USA's entire population for that same year.

Pretty much anyone you speak with today under the age of 30 is part of the one child generation, a generation who grew up without brothers or sisters, but with two caring parents and four loving grandparents who pool their rising disposable income to meet this one child's every need – and want. Why: to provide a better life than they had; they're determined to give them a life more comfortable of any generation. Studies have estimated that up to half a typical urban Chinese family's disposable income is spent on, or by, the child in the family.

The pressure is on. For the bigger part of high-school this generation has to perform to ensure they qualify for the limited spots available at the city universities each year. If not, years of comfortable favors from family members have been borough. So they study. They study so hard there is no time for anything else. No friends. No fun and almost no life outside the study room. Their only luxury is a digital connection to the world, a PC in their room, or if this is not affordable, daily visits to the closest internet bar.

The connected computer becomes the focal point of this generation in China. They grow up with a computer that links their study room, filled with pressure and the desire for freedom, to the outside world. Days and months are being spent in MUD games like World of Warcraft and Legends of Mir. Friends are being added to the much important buddy list on MSN and QQ, China's version of an Instant Messenger with 80 million users. Stories are written, are drawn and animated in flash, and are being uploaded to flashempire.com and flash8.net where they find hundreds of thousands of viewers. E-magazines on niche topics are published anywhere in the country and read by millions of young reader. MSN spaces host millions of private blogs, customized homepages full of emotions and self expression. E-flyers are sent out that bring people together in real life, to punk concerts and hip hop parties.

This generation of young Chinese consumers is more connected than any generation before them had ever been. They skipped over video recorders for DIV-X encoded mpeg movies; CD players for mp3 players; fixed landlines for mobile phones; film for digital cameras and arcade games for multi-user online games. The digital lifestyle is present everywhere and the numbers speak volumes: more than 100 million connected PCs - half of them broadband - link kids' study rooms, students in university and white collar workers in office buildings together. 400 million mobile phones send billions of SMS, with another big revolution looming when China enters into 3G communication at the end of the year.

Technology is liberating those young Chinese. It allows them to reveal a true inner self, to be emotionally open, express their feelings and ambitions and be in charge of their own personal space.

The current revolution is obvious: it's digital. But it's happening so fast it's difficult for communication and marketing specialists to keep up, to stay relevant. What's in our favour is the knowledge that Chinese think in terms of community – they see themselves as members of a group, which is why the digital lifestyle amongst this target is so prevalent – Chinese society is a relationship society; they listen to recommendations and emotional appeals, they're big readers and talkers. Word of mouth branding works well, but messages need to address motivations; tell a story and have a strong identity.