London’s Olympic Doom And Gloom

by Ray Ally on May 14, 2012

Photos: Ray Ally

I just got back from UK, where it rained everyday and was the wettest April on record. But what was more disappointing was the general atmosphere of doom and gloom about the London Olympics.

I expected to find the city buzzing with excitement and sporting energy. However, most people didn’t seem bothered and lacked any interest. The most important topics were; the rising cost of the games; the impossibility of getting tickets and the worry about transport congestion during the event.

Most newspaper columnists also took negative views on the games. Discussing the ugly (and probably most hated) London 2012 Olympic logo; the mutant mascots, Wenlock and Mandeville and the Orbit Olympic sculpture, which has been likened to tangled piece of scrap metal.

With less than 80 days to go I was saddened by this reserved and slightly cynical British attitude to the event. This is the opposite of what I experience in 2008 before the games in Beijing.

At that time the city was covered with Olympic posters, billboards and advertising promoting the event. Every street hoarding and available wall space was covered with Olympic themed graphics celebrating China and the host city of Beijing.

There was a buzz in the city and everyone was excited about the upcoming event. People felt proud that Beijing was hosting the games and there was an emotional patriotic Chinese mood across the city. After all it was a chance for China to showcase Beijing to the world and show how modern, dynamic and progressive the country was becoming.

London has less to prove as it’s already a world-class city, but it’s people can be cold and cynical. Maybe it’s also to do with the grey, wet weather that has so far put a damper on the event. I hope as the weather heats up the doom clouds will disappear and the Olympic spirit and warmth of Londoners will shine through.

As a big Olympic Games fan and a proud Londoner; I will be flying the Union Jack flag in my little corner of Beijing. My only gloom about the games is that I couldn’t get any tickets. So with the seven hour time difference I’ll be staying up late or getting up early to watch the games on TV in China.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Shanghai’s Go-Fast Brand Image

by Ray Ally on April 13, 2012

Image: Ray Ally

This weekend the Formula One (F1) circus comes to China with the Chinese Grand Prix in Shanghai. Hosting global events is one of the many ways cities in China seek to enhance their brand image at home and overseas.

Sporting occasions are particularly attractive, but not every city can host an Olympic games (Beijing 2008) or an Asian Games (Guangzhou 2010) as they are expensive to organise and run. Often requiring large investments in infrastructure, transport and the building of new stadiums.

Shanghai’s International Circuit was purpose built for F1, at a cost of US$450 million and opened in 2004. It is one of the newest and the largest, fitting perfectly with Shanghai’s image as the most cosmopolitan and international city in China. Beijing is the capital, but its understated, government and  cultural position doesn’t fit with noise of F1 and brashness of the sport. Unlike Shanghai, which is seen as a big, bold, flashy and fast city.

One of the interesting elements of F1′s Chinese Grand Prix is the shape of the track. It was designed to reflect the Chinese character 上 “shang” from the city’s name Shanghai 上海, (which translates to above the sea). It’s a clever way to add a Chinese element, which makes it more unique and gives local relevance to the global event.

Despite China being the biggest car market in the world, interest in Formula One is not that high. Attendance at the Chinese Grand Prix has been falling since its inaugural event in 2004. The biggest problem is the high price of tickets, which can cost a months salary for the average Chinese worker.

Shanghai has just signed up to host the event for another eight years until 2020. So I expect the organisers will be looking at ways to address these issues and get more local people to the event. But for now, Shanghai has the fastest brand image of any city in China and I don’t see that changing any time soon.

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Changing Geography Of China’s Brandscape

by Ray Ally on April 9, 2012

Photo: Ray Ally

When most people talk about China, they often think of it as one country. After all Mao Tse-tung and the communist party have spent the last 60 years trying to unite the country. Creating one party, one political system and introduced one language, Putonghua (common speech) to achieve this goal.

However, for those of us that live and work in China, we think of it as being made up of smaller countries called provinces. Many of these are bigger than European nations, with far larger populations and have their own language dialect, customs and traditions.

When foreign brands first came to China they had a global “one brand fits all” approach to the market. Many of them learnt through calamity that this approach didn’t work. To succeed in China they had to tailor their brand positioning and products to suit a diverse Chinese consumer.

What really illustrates this scale and diversity is when you look at a map showing China’s topology. You begin to understand how nature has played its part in separating China and diving it into a country of two halves. The prosperous and developed lowlands of the East compared with the undeveloped and mountainous desert regions of the West.

On a macro level this may be an over simplistic view of the country. So you need to look deeper at a micro level to really understand the diversity of the region that is the size of Europe. As each province has its own people with their unique tastes and requirements for products and brands.

One trends that is having a big impact on the landscape is the rapid urbanisation of China. It now has more than 160 cities with populations of over 1 million and 10 megacities of more than 10 million. This urbanisation is creating a growing wealth across the country, which has a big impact on how people perceive brands.

At the low end of the market, consumers are enticed by quality and value proposition brands, that give added value and better results. The middle classes are still seeking aspirational brands with deliver higher performance to improve their lives. While at the top end the wealthy elite still use brands to show off and display their wealth and social status.

One thing is clear; that as China develops in the next 10 years these differences will become more polarised. To be successful in the future, brands will have to cater for a more urban and affluent population. But with more regional focus on the diversity of the consumers in China’s rapidly changing brandscape.

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Benetton’s Kissing Presidents: Make Love Not War

by Ray Ally on November 30, 2011

PHOTOS: BENETTON

Public displays of affection like kissing or even holding hands between the sexes use to be taboo in China. This gradually relaxed with the opening up of China in the late eighties, though attitudes to homosexuality remain in the closet. The latest ads from Benetton would definitely be frowned upon, as they show China’s President Hu Jintao kissing America’s President Obama.

While partnerships between the US and China has been improving, I wouldn’t say they were yet at the hugging stage of the relationship. However these controversial ads wont be published in China, as the government still exercises a strong control of the advertising and media industry.

Not that this bothers Benetton, who have never been shy from producing controversial advertising using graphic photography to shock. The company argues that it’s campaigns tackle serious issues head on. In the hope of changing people’s prejudices toward subjects of sex, religion, race, and war.

This latest campaign called “Unhate” was created to confront the issues of hate in the world between different peoples, cultures and religions. While trying to promote more peace and understanding between across the world. The ads feature world and political leaders with opposing views kissing each other. Benetton’s Deputy Chairman Alessandro Benetton explains:

“While global love is still a utopia, albeit a worthy one, the invitation ‘not to hate’, to combat the ‘culture of hatred’, is an ambitious but realistic objective…”

Fostering global peace and love is an overly ambitious yet noble cause for a fashion brand to take up. It shares some ideals of the “Make Love Not Love” campaigns of the 1960s, but with more modern edge. However these ads have again created more bad feeling among certain sectors of the public. But sometimes you need to shock in order to make your point, otherwise you message gets lost in the over saturated world of advertising.

On many occasions Benetton ads have been banned, most famously the image of the new born baby in the mid 90s. But all this has done is create more publicly and notoriety for the brand. Raymond Rubicam, the father of modern advertising believed that  “The only purpose of advertising is to sell. It has no other justification worth mentioning”.

I am not sure if these ads will have any impact on the sales in store. But they will connect with their target audience of urban and affluent twentysomethings, who think of themselves as independent and free spirited. It has also put Benetton’s brand back on the fashion map even though the ads may be banned in traditional media.

However, this is a campaign that will gain more impact and attention through viral means, especially among China’s 200 million internet youth. Advertising on its own can never bring about world peace but it can be a powerful medium to communicate the message. And with Benetton’s controversial approach it highlights the issue and gets people talking, which is always better than a war.

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No Medals For London’s Olympic Posters

by Ray Ally on November 24, 2011

The official posters for the London 2012 Olympics were unveiled earlier this month in London. Despite being created by some of Britain’s best artists, the response from the public and the press has been largely negative. With comments ranging from “absolute rubbish” to “my two year old baby could of done better”.

Art has always been subjective and even controversial. Dividing people between those who prefer a classical realistic style with others who favour a modern abstract approach to art. The British public may not be the best judge of art, but they have been very vocal in their dislike of the style of these posters.

The big issue for me is not the style, but the content of the posters, which seemed to have missed an important part of the brief. Firstly; to embody “the values of the Olympic Games” and secondly; and most importantly, to “celebrate the Games coming to London”.

This is the main reason why I think the posters don’t work. So we have ended up with a generic set of images than fail to communicate these two key themes. After all, the world is coming to London for the games and we have missed an opportunity to promote the energy, culture and colour of the city, which is a huge part of the Olympic event.

Perhaps I am overly London centric being a Londoner myself. But I witnessed the Beijing Olympics in 2008 and I know how important the art and culture of the city was to the spirit of the games. The posters for the Beijing Olympics combined the city’s ancient heritage and culture with a modern approach to art and architecture. Although the style was conservative, at least there was a strong idea, which captured the flavour of the city and the games.

The posters for the London Games were created by some of the UK’s leading artists including Bridget Riley, Howard Hodgkin, and Rachel Whiteread. All of whom are award winning and celebrated within the art community for their unique and if at times controversial work.

Sadly I don’t think any of them are memorable, inspiring and fully answer the brief they were set. Although if I had to choose one, it would be Whiteread’s, “LOndOn 2O12” because of the Olympic circles and it’s energy and graphic simplicity.

Overall these posters wont be winning any medals, as they are just a bunch of also rans and will soon be forgotten. Which is a shame as we have used some of Britain’s best artists, who are world class – but on this occasion have failed to perform. Lets hope our athletes don’t suffer the same fate, but bring home the medals on the day.

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Reinventing Foreign Brands For China

by Ray Ally on November 15, 2011

China has the most diverse and dynamic brandscape in the world. Fuelled by a growing population of over 1.34 billion and a rising middle class that’s aspires to luxury brands.

Consumers in China are more open to trying new brands especially foreign brands, even those that may seem tired and old in the west. Which is why many faded brands have been able to reinvent themselves in China and reposition themselves in a new light.

Eunice Yoon from CNN wrote China’s Miracle Markets about this issue, which featured a quote from me. It highlighted Buick cars, a brand in the US more associated with Driving Miss Daisy than The Fast And The Furious. However, in China it has repositioned itself as a younger, premium brand based on it’s great heritage.

This is similar to what the former British, MG car brand has done; after it was sold lock, stock and barrel to China’s huge SAIC Motor Corp. It’s been able to reinvent itself and position itself as a young, dynamic and sporty brand based on it’s racing heritage.

By cherry picking the brands best core values, it can forget all the negatives and failures of the brand that British drivers would remember. Most laughably sticking the MG badge on the Austin Metro, which damaged the brands credibility and reputation leading to its eventual bankruptcy.

In China brands like Buick and MG are given a new lease of life and are building a solid reputation among China’s new consumers. Many of who are still looking for the quality, premium design and kudos associated with foreign brands.

Stage one is to reinvent your brand for a new market and new customers, which is comparatively easy to do in China. However stage two, is to try and sell your reinvented new brand back into your home country. And that may be a harder, though not impossible miracle to achieve.

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King Kevin Rocks King Richard III

13 November 2011

Photo: Ray Ally Beijing receives many royal and foreign dignitaries, but it’s rare to have a Shakespearean King played by one of Hollywood’s royalty. Richard III opened last Friday for a special three night only run at the iconic “Egg” theatre, the National Centre For The Performing Arts. This version is a modern take on [...]

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Big Trend: Small Luxury Cars In China

9 November 2011

Photos: Ray Ally One the biggest trends in the auto industry over the last few years has been the introduction of small luxury cars. Audi is the last of the big three German brands to launch it’s own version. It went on sale last month and I saw it at an eye-catching exhibition stand at [...]

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Learning Mandarin For Branding

27 June 2011

Photo: Ray Ally It’s been almost three months since I started my career break from my branding career to learn Mandarin. I thought I would have more time to relax and do all those things I have been putting off like writing more frequently on this blog. However studying Mandarin six hours a day in [...]

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Smart’s Small Car Big Idea

9 April 2011

Photos: Ray Ally Take one of the smallest cars you can buy in China and one of the biggest basketball stars in America and put them together. Then you get the new multi-million dollar advertising campaign from Smart cars in China. Basketball and cars may seem an odd combination, but they are two of the [...]

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