So the big question I’m getting asked more and more now is ‘Will the Chinese go to the Shanghai World Expo 2010?’ but the real question is ‘Do the real Chinese actually care about it? Fortunately the powers to be do – they have a lot on the line from an international standpoint. It is reflected in the amount of road works going on right now all across Shanghai, the media spend on outdoor billboards consumed with Expo promotional messages and the growing number of tender opportunities that are apparent.
The investment is large and China have a great ability in showing the world what a progressive country they can be, anyone who viewed the Beijing opening and closing ceremonies in 2008 would appreciate that. Even though, I have still been on the fence but the more I think about it the more I feel, right or wrong that simply the bulk of the local population (including Shanghai) won’t go and potentially couldn’t care less about it at all. But can it be changed? Social Media would be one way of bridging the interest with this community.
The key factors I believe the locals won’t embrace the Shanghai EXPO 2010 is simply:
Overindulgence and a basic need of survival
Overindulgence is something most of us do on an hourly basis. Simply sipping that cup of latte or the extra cardio work out would constitute an expression of overindulgence to over 95% of China’s population. The fact is they live (now more than ever) on a needs based lifestyle. To me, they simply do what is absolutely required of them to complete their days – overspending on gifts, food and more personal luxuries are not an option. What is popular is saving what you have and enjoying basic tings with your family.
They just don’t need to go to the Expo and they don’t see the point.
And to be honest I don’t blame them at all. Given the repercussions that followed the Mao period of the 1960’s, this generation of baby boomers are holding on to what ‘ever’ they have. Things were taken away and equalised. Any sign of luxury, overindulgence or simply ‘having more’ was forbidden and punished.
The next generation however are another story – but we are still at least two decades away before the cultural trend is exposed across a larger piece of the population in China. In addition this ‘younger’ more aggressive, urban, trend setting group seem to be a lot more into their own personal interests rather than pursue cultural and international agendas.
Even so I still believe the traffic will flock the Expo 2010. The local government have a lot riding on this so Im certain every school within a 300km radius will attend, many foreigners will be curious and the privileged guests will make a significant number.
The challenge for marketers is ‘how to get them engaged in the Expo?’ A difficult problem for traditional marketers but given what we have learnt in Social Media this problem can be addressed over time leading up to the Expo. Social media engages over time, building relationships, building communities and strengthening the connection between you (brand, Expo) and your target audience.
I just hope the key players in this expo realize this before it may be too late.
Related articles from around the web:
- World expo 2010 in Shanghai expects 60/70 million visitors (chinaherald.net)
- US no-show at Shanghai Expo: the hows and whys (jamesfallows.theatlantic.com)
- Top 20 anticipated pavilions at Expo 2010 (slideshare.net)
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According to research by Millward Brown ACSR there is tremendous enthusiasm for Expo 2010 among young urban Chinese. See below.
http://www.slideshare.net/worldexpoblog/world-expo-2010-survey-1561192
Montreal had 50 million visitors in 1967 … I think China can outdo that!
I have found that attendance at Expos has diminshed over the years due to the internet being a much more convenient way of reviewing products and connecting with companies.
@Grant
That’s a good point – if you can find the source i’d love to read it. the big pavilions like the USA, China, possibly Japan, etc will still get enormous amounts of traffic but a far stretch for the less prolific countries
I have fwd this article to my contact who is a “key player” in SH2010.
I agree that social media would be a very smart way to boost the traffic of the expo and target specific populations.
However, I believe what you call the “real” chinese will go massively to the expo, here is why :
- About overindulgence, everyone does it at some point and with different levels. The group of people you mention that little overindulge themselves, have little chance to travel, and SHexpo will be a way for them to access to foreign cities.
- the actual word of mouth effect will work right before the expo. Of course nobody cares now, everybody is tired of the construction everywhere and it’s still a couple months away. But imagine springtime, construction done.. It will be the talk of the town (unless something else happen), and even the ones who are not interested will go, because it will be a trendy alternative to cinema or going to the park.
For instance, I think young people will go for a date.
They are a lot of other factors such as national pride, but I’m trying to keep it short. The challenge will be more to control the flow : maybe it will be packed at the beginning, and empty by the end.
Cheers (btw didnt receive your email)
I like your point about an opportunity for those without the luxury of being able to travel to go and exp other cultures. It’s a valid argument. I hope they do recognise the importance and see that opportunity – though I’m still very doubtful. Let’s wait and see.
Appreciate all your comments, you are welcome to write a piece yourself and we can post it on here (social media) or in general advertising in China on (www.littleredbook.cn). Thanks.
Chinese set the goal to attract 70 million visitors to SHexpo, it is very clear, we want to beat the number the Janpanese created as 64+million in 1970.
I am very confident we could have more than that.
Chinese people are very pleased to be a part of the crowed. Where there are some people, there will be more and more people. in Chinese, this is called cou re nao（凑热闹）.
and Chinese people put family as a very important part of their life, and Shexpo is a nice chance for the whole family to go for, or come to for a day or two, travel to SH, by the way, to visit the EXPO.
Just tell the Chinese people, hey, come to have a look how powerful China is nowadays, they will be very pleased to spend that amount of money for the tickets.
Chinese people like to saving money, and they are also looking for some wonderful chances to spend their money. for SHexpo, no doubt, let’s go to the bank, take our money with us, and go to Shanghai.
My point exactly : national pride + a snowball wom (凑热闹)
The Q is the Expo is only for a snowball wom or it is more an education to the citizens? Will people change their behavior by learning from the others through the Expo or open their eyes widely to see the strength from other countries or just taking the photos and have a family day tour after a week or two totally forgot only left the Hai Bao (the blue toothpaste icon at home)?
The Expo is not just the face issue for the gov, there should be more deeper meaning behind the show.
Quality visit not Quantity visit.
@Paloma I agree w quality traffic (in fact we’d all love that)
What I learned is that one should never under estimate the seriousness of the face for the gov and for the people here. This is the deeper meaning : just look at how the Olympics were handled.
I believe what you call “deeper meaning” is “learning from the others through the Expo”. This is just not what is going to happen mainstream.
I think, the problem seems to be ‘ how to guide normal Chinese people to enjoy the importance of EXPO’ rather than ‘ attract them to come’.
I agree this is serious.
How to upgrade the Chinese people by the chance of EXPO, this might be another good problem to think about.
That’s a difficult problem to address; I think that while the Expo will entertain and bring the Chinese in as talked about above, I’m not sure how the overall impact of the Expo will fare on the Chinese; ie: just how much will they really be influenced by messages from countries participating in the Expo? From seeing some of the initial booth designs already, I get the feeling this will be a Disneyland-ish event for visitors. However, will any deep meaning be communicated? Or will typical country stereotypes be the only conversation?
Also I do agree with Andrew on the above; when you look at the Olympics, it was all about how China has reclaimed it’s position as a world leader. The Expo, though? THat’s a bit more like the world coming to China to say “Hey, we’re cool too!”. We can assume that the level of emotional engagement will be less than the Olympics; the overall tone has shifted. Will that adversely affect traffic? Time will tell.
yesterday, when I was taking a taxi, I happened to talk about SHexpo with the taxi driver, he said he and his family were looking foward for the 2010 SHexpo, because for him, there was less chance to travel aborad, and Shexpo was a nice chance for him and his family to experience foreign culture and history.
But, he was worried about one problem:
if the ticket is sold by date, how could he tour all the Exhibition Halls in just one day; and if the hall he is interested in has a long long queue, should he wait in line for hours.
According to his speech, he regard SHexpo as an event, which he could enjoy with his family, to see some new things, to have fun.
He also said, he had a question on whether the Chinese government could make money by holding such a big exihibition. He said the source he had came the news that the 2008 Beijing finaly found itself out of pocket. It is very clear, he had no idea about the deep meaning of holding SHexpo.
Well, for civilians like him, SHexpo is such a Disneyland-ish event.
While,
there is a friend of mine, who works in volkswagen Shanghai as an engineer, he says he is also looking forward for the SHexpo, he is urgent to visit the Japanese Hall to have a view on the robots made in Japan, and the what’s new in technique.
I think different people have different expectation on the SHexpo. but they are all looking forward to attend this exhibition. to all the Chinese people, it will be a good experience.
Seems like only time will tell how much people will actually go. Some people will see an opportunity to discover other cultures, some will go for professional/personal opportunity, some will learn from others and some won’t.
As we are on a blog promoting alternative ways of communication and related to the advertising industries, let’s take the conversation one step further.
World Expo reflects our global world trends : at the beginnings, it was about industry development, trade and technology. After the 2nd world war, things went different for obvious reasons and it shifted to promote cultural exchanges until the 90’s.
Today, it has been 3 decades that World Expo is about branding nations : it is about changing perception one can have about one country and its nation. So, of course, there will be stereotypes because they can be valuable heritage for catching attention. Stereotypes, however, should not be “cliches” otherwise they become useless assets.
Back to nation branding. To keep it short, Shanghai expo key questions will be how the nations will brand themselves to the Chinese audience, and how will China brand itself towards the other nations? This will definitely reflects how the guys has played and will want to play it in the next years. Shanghai Expo is a diplomatic event the nations should not miss, should it be to improve their image in China or work together to promote a better life for world citizens. This is, I believe, the true meaning of Shanghai Expo. The message is not only Shanghai or China’s responsibility, it is each nation represented.
Then, how aware of that are these “nations”, I have some ideas but it would be presomptuous to speculate about it here.
Back to nation branding + social media, it would be smart for a participant to create the buzz and spread a positive image at this point. But, will the administrations will ever keep up with what’s going on in the real world, technology and else wise?
I can tell you that many participating countries and corporations are developing social media strategies; indeed some countries have already begun but it might not be immediately obvious if you are not connected to Chinese social media.