Chinese Advertising Culture A World Apart

Frederick Olsson from Miami's Gothenburg recently returned from a trip to Shanghai where he observed advertising trends in a culture very different from our own. Dabitch from Adland spoke with Olsson upon his return an found the rules of advertising to be quite a bit different.

Firstly, the Chinese government doesn't like marketers to know too much about citizens and therefore any type of participatory public event held by a marketer that involves interactivity is labeled "market research" which is forbidden by law. Secondly, while no law against guerrilla or alternative style advertising is one the books, it's frowned upon but if caught doing it, Ollsson says punishment is very likely.

In terms of creativity, Olsson says "Chinese advertising is rather infantile if you're looking only at creative." He says this is due to the simple lack of experience the culture in general has had with capitalism and the marketing arm that goes with it. Conversely, Olsson says the work that is produced is meticulously executed , "extraordinarily good looking and technically advanced."

Also alive and well in Chinese advertising is what we would deem sexist. "A lot of macho gruff for the men and pink fluffy stars for the women," says Olsson.