FOCUS: AGENCY OF THE YEAR AWARDS 2000 - China Ad Campaign of the year: Certificate of Excellence - Saatchis campaign helps NetEase soar to the top

Category: China Ad Campaign of the Year Cert. of Excellence: NetEase (www.163.com) Agency: Saatchi & Saatchi Even though it had been in the marketplace for a few years, Internet portal NetEase (www.163.com) had little brand character or value in the eyes of the consumer when it appointed Saatchi & Saatchi as its advertising agency in China last May. Today, however, Saatchis has made NetEase one of the best-known portals in China, and at the same time win a Certificate of Excellence in the China Ad Campaign of the Year category. Saatchis developed a carefully thought-out strategy, which has become the foundation of the entire branding campaign, and which will guide the evolution and development of the brand and its associated values through the foreseeable future. This strategy identified the importance of giving consumers respect. Respect for appreciating the value of NetEase, respect for its heritage, respect for being part of a powerful nation built on the strength of participation. National pride and patriotism were also seen to be powerful motivators which had to be taken into account strategically, especially when considering the fact that NetEase is essentially a local Chinese company which has developed world class, cutting edge technology, such as the development of the first Chinese search engine. As a company, NetEase was also committed to providing access to the Internet as a means of developing and enriching the lives of the Chinese people. This raised NetEase above the usual commercial aspirations of other portals. Consequently, the strategy takes into account this aspect of 'national betterment' instead of purely retail commercialism. The slogan "Power to the People" was therefore developed. Since it is a motivational slogan, it goes beyond pure rhetoric, promising the consumer 'power' through 'participation'. It has the feeling of self-gain and encourages individual usage of NetEase, yet also taps into the national pride of "people power" and the fact that by concentrating the effort of so many people, anything is possible. From this slogan, a range of different Chinese situations was considered to demonstrate this "people power". These included the building of the Great Wall, the Dragon dance, even the national sport of table tennis. The idea behind each scene was the fact that to be successful, they all require a team effort. One person alone could not have accomplished much on his own. It was this thought which became the core creative concept behind the "What if ..." branding campaign for NetEase. To date, television has been the main media used in the campaign, but the creative concept, through both text and visual association has been used in press and outdoor advertising. The campaign was launched last August and in the short time period to October, the campaign achieved very high levels of consumer brand awareness, according to independent research released in October. Specifically, NetEase had achieved the highest level of unaided advertising awareness with all participants in the research as well as the highest level of awareness among existing Internet users in China. To underline the success of the branding campaign, NetEase is now seen as the No.1 portal in China and among the top 50 of the world's most visited websites. Contrast that to its position in May before the campaign: it was the third largest portal in China behind Sina and Sohu.

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