Photo: Screen shots from Made In China ad.
I just spent 10 days in a local Chinese hospital without newspapers, television or internet. So when I got home I was disappointed that one of the first things I saw was the “Made in China” ad on CNN.
Although the 30 second ad was well made, the key message for me was that China makes other peoples products. Using overseas design, innovation, technology and style, so reinforcing a negative image that China is just the ‘factory of the world’.
If you were to ask the average person on the street what percentage of world goods are produced in China I think they would say between 30%-75%. Infact China produces 17% of the worlds goods closely followed by the US at 16%. Interestingly a few years ago the US was the ‘factory of the world’ producing 20% of the goods sold globally.
The problem for me is the message is backward looking not forward thinking, which might explain what Liu Libin, Director of China Advertising Association of Commerce said.
“We’ve had this idea for years, and we feel such an ad should improve the image of ‘Made in China’. We’ve invested tens of million Yuan on the whole process of filming and airing.”
And therein lies the main problem. The idea has been kicking around for years, but China has moved on since then. Five years ago the ad would of made more sense, but today it is already old news. As everyone knows that China’s advantage is in its low cost labour force, so why not communicate something new.
China is changing fast and starting to develop its own world-class brands. The message should have been more positive and visionary about China’s other advantages. Focusing on the design, innovation, technology and style coming out of China not just its manufacturing ability to produce other peoples products.
Short sighted and knee jerk advertising never works so lets just hope there is a longer-term brand strategy to reposition China. Hopefully one day that message might be ‘Designed in China For The World’.
{ 1 trackback }
{ 5 comments… read them below or add one }
Well, no doubt China is moving up the value chain but, no matter whether creativity and innovation is happening or not, the rest of world is concerned about sacrificing quality for value when it comes to China-made products. I think the message of this ad is target at people with a rather backward image of China and tries to create an awareness for China’s ability to produce high-technology/quality products and the MNC’s responsibility in scandals. Also, sounding too ambitious might would have scared the old world. Granting them a complimentary role as a contributor of soft knowledge looks like an effort to demonstrate soft power and maintain harmony to me…
The main problem with Made in China is too many fakes and bad quality products which damage China’s reputation.
Rather than reinventing or even attempt to re innovate China’s image through the ad, the ad is simply serves as a liability for the nation. it would be interesting to know who made this ad. Was it done by themselves or was it done in china with the help of some entity.
Ray,
I definitely agree that this ad could have been more forward looking. However, see here for a more positive impression of the ad.
I land somewhere in between; better to be known for original Chinese design and technology than simply manufacturing that of others. But also important to be known for quality manufacturing rather than making “cheap pieces of crap,” as many Westerners unfortunately perceive.
Maybe the thinking behind this ad is that first changing perceptions about China’s manufacturing quality control was a necessary precedent to changing perceptions about its own design, innovation, etc.
Greetings from Italy