CBN's sombre TVC promises ethical business journalism to Chinese society

The new online video cum TV spot by Ogilvy & Mather Advertising aims to reinforce CBN’s responsibility as the 'fourth estate' to its readers, viewers and effectively society at large.

The 75-second commercial weaves in and out of different scenes depicting the most pressing challenges facing modern China. It begins with a woman returning her wedding band to a crying man, with subtitles reading “When love becomes a transaction”.

Five other scenes illustrate harsh, yet typical, urban realities, including clips of an elderly man who cannot afford shelter in his own hometown due to rising housing costs caused by property speculation; a coach who puts a young girl through rigorous athletic training for fame and fortune; and a cyclist who wears a face mask to filter out heavy pollution.

Each scene ultimately leads to CBN’s key message that the current state of Chinese society, due to rapid economic development, has come at the great cost of the values of love, respect, empathy and morality being stripped away.

With this backdrop, CBN wants to remind consumers that it remains committed to its mission to seek the truth and offer accurate, fair, balanced and comprehensive reporting.

“CBN has conviction in what they believe in,” said Francis Wee, executive creative director of O&M Shanghai. “We chose to shoot the film in black-and-white at a measured pace to give it the sense of gravity it deserves. This video isn’t just about a newspaper or a magazine; at the heart of it is the essence of media ethics.”

The video will be shown for two years on the CBN Channel and Ningxia TV across mainland China (Ningxia TV cooperates with CBN to broadcast all its TV programmes everyday), as well as on CBN’s website and other video sites such as Youku.

CBN is considered one of the top business-media brands in China. Competing media in the same class are broadly listed as 21st Century Business Herald, Caixun, Caijing, Businesstime.com.cn, and Economic Observer Online.

CREDITS
Project Title: Stay True to Your Values
Client: China Business News
Brief: To create a campaign that shows the brand’s core values and raise audience awareness
Creative Agency: Ogilvy & Mather Advertising, Shanghai
Account Management: Yong Yuan, Vivian Tu
Chief Creative Officer: Graham Fink
Executive Creative Director: Francis Wee
Creative Director: Simond Chew
Copywriters: Thomas Zhu, Rocky Hao, Elaine Jin
Art director: Zhang Chao
Agency Producer: Anthony Lee
Production House: The Shanghai Jobs
Film Director: Chen Yong Xiu
Production House Producer: Colin Lai
Exposure: TV, online