ANALYSIS: Advertising - China consumers aren't so very different Advertisers will suffer if they generalise about China.

Perhaps more than any other ad market in the world, received wisdom rules in China. Anyone with even a passing acquaintance with the Chinese market will know that the rules, strictures and ways of doing things that creep into advertising practice the world over are particularly well developed there. It springs from a set of generalisations about the Chinese consumer which often go unchallenged: that the Chinese are literal-minded, like lots of information in ads and can't deal with subtlety, fantasy or metaphor, for example; or that that they like celebrity endorsements and advertising that reflects a glamorous, aspirational lifestyle. The problem is that most of this is patronising and wrong. Chinese consumers aren't somehow radically different from consumers elsewhere. According to Ad Savvy China, a new piece of research from Leo Burnett, Chinese consumers respond to ads in much the same way as anyone else. The research, which was both quantitative (400 interviews in five major Chinese cities) and qualitative (11 focus groups in four cities), found that most of the myths can pretty easily be debunked. The favourite ads by spontaneous mention among the consumers interviewed were all multinational brands, with Coca-Cola, Pepsi, McDonald's and Budweiser coming out top. The reasons interviewees gave for liking them were nearly all in direct contradiction of received wisdom about Chinese advertising preferences. An ad in Budweiser's "Ants" series, for example, featuring the insects stealing and drinking beer, was widely praised for being memorable; the level of fantasy was perfectly acceptable. A Pepsi ad, in which a young child asks for football star David Beckham's shirt and then wipes the rim of his Pepsi can with it before handing it back, was seen as humorous and appropriate - debunking a celebrity, and using a foreign one, was fine. Conversely, consumers were sceptical of a Konka phone ad starring Chow Yun Fat because the star was deemed to be wrong for the brand and in too many other ads, and because the ad gave no USP for the product. So much for the obsession with celebrity endorsements. This may be common sense - but even a cursory look at Chinese ads reveals that the majority of advertisers haven't caught on yet. They're still making all the old assumptions - it's easy to conclude that the Chinese are getting the sort of advertising they prefer. But it's not true. Linda Kovarik, Leo Burnett's senior planner for Greater China, believes that the situation has partly sprung up because of the dizzying pace of change in the market. "When you start writing down dos and don'ts, it's dangerous," she says. "We tend to have it fixed in our minds what China's like, but it's changing very quickly, and today's behaviour isn't yesterday's." The assumption that the Chinese want lots of information, for example, sprung from the sparseness of advertising in its early days. It was easy to achieve cut-through - whatever was on television, sold. Ads were believed; then consumers became sceptical; an under-developed market caused a thirst for information; and now consumers have that information, ads can move onto a more emotional level. That they largely haven't is a function of advertisers clinging to assumptions which are no longer true. Dennis Wong, the agency's China/Hong Kong CEO, believes that this refusal to drop outdated verities is partly advertiser caution, and partly agencies trying to make advertising in China into a black art. "A lot of the conservatism is coming from clients," he says. "They're very conscious about how they spend their money. Those who are brave can take the lead. But also, agencies tried to position themselves as China experts. They say: 'You can't do that; you don't understand China.' "A lot of people see a unique Chinese culture and think there's a certain way of advertising there. But Chinese consumers are no different from consumers in other parts of the world, either in developed or developing countries." The marketing industry's tendency to rely on received wisdom about the correct way of advertising particular products to particular consumers reaches its apogee in China. It means that there's a massive opportunity for advertisers to stand out from the crowd - if they're prepared to credit consumers with a bit of sophistication. ATTITUDE TOWARDS FAVOURITE AD BY CITY Guang- Zheng- National Shanghai Beijing zhou Chengdu zhou My favourite ad Agree 97 99 96 99 96 94 presented the brand in an Disagree 1 - - - - 4 interesting, original way My favourite ad Agree 85 81 86 94 84 78 made me want to see the ad again Disagree 2 1 4 - - 4 My favourite ad Agree 62 54 63 88 55 53 made me change my attitude Disagree 16 10 21 1 23 23 towards the brand My favourite ad Agree 59 49 58 86 50 54 made me feel as if I wanted to Disagree 13 15 9 3 18 20 buy/eat some straight away My favourite ad Agree 48 33 56 68 41 44 made me feel: "That's what I'd Disagree 25 38 14 3 40 29 like to be" My favourite ad Agree 34 20 28 73 13 38 made me feel: "That could be Disagree 41 53 38 11 63 39 me in the ad" ATTITUDE TOWARDS MOST DISLIKED ADS Gender Age Income Total Male Female 15-24 25-34 Low Mid High My most disliked Agree 68 65 70 69 67 66 66 71 ad presented the brand in an ordinary Disagree 67 17 13 16 14 11 17 16 and boring way My most disliked Agree 67 60 73 66 67 68 74 58 ad made me feel: "That couldn't be Disagree 13 14 11 12 14 11 8 9 me in the ad" My most disliked Agree 51 50 53 53 50 47 55 52 ad made me feel: "That's what I'd Disagree 16 17 14 16 16 18 11 19 not like to be" My most disliked Agree 49 48 49 52 46 44 52 50 ad made me never want to see the Disagree 15 18 11 14 15 17 12 14 ad again My most disliked Agree 34 36 31 33 34 35 33 32 ad made me change my attitude towards the Disagree 25 25 25 24 27 24 27 25 brand My most disliked Agree 31 29 33 34 29 33 33 28 ad made me feel as if I will never want to Disagree 35 37 33 36 35 3 38 33 buy/eat the brand

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