From the category archives:

Outdoor

Wildaid; Shooting Glass with Money.

01.18.2010 Outdoor
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This recent campaign by Wildaid is pretty interesting; I’d venture to say most wildlife protection advertising is great; as their primary focus is to shock the crap out of you to get you to change your point of view. In this particular campaign seen in China’s subways; Wildaid shoots endangered animal posters with money, through [...]

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Kingston; Targeting China’s IT Stoners.

09.13.2009 Kingston
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Here’s a good example of a “Lost in Translation” ad; likely either done by a local agency, or the brand’s localized marketing staff.The original message is: “Set your enthusiasm on fire”; followed by an English sentence that says “WE  are HIGH”… now there’s a line that has some stopping power.
Now I know this [...]

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Jissbon; Condom Branded China Bicycles.

09.13.2009 Jissbon
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So I’m walking to the bank the other day and as I was waiting I spotted this bicycle parked on the sidewalk with a condom mascot on it.
Now I’m assuming this is just one of those things you see in China, but for the sake of amusement, and also to kill a little time before [...]

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Supergluing Shanghai bridge increases sales by 120% during first month.

07.07.2009 Outdoor
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Great outdoor ad mixes economic budget with maximum results. This PR stunt drove awareness from China media, magazines, newspaper, and websites (like this one). Brand awarness/recall peaked at 96% and sales figure for the period exceeded 120% beyond original targets. Looks like we have a winner here.

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Midea; Ad for electric fan… kinda blows.

07.06.2009 Midea
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When I first saw this I thought; that’s pretty creative. But then I realized that the main copy of the ad is in English; when targeted to a Chinese crowd, it’s probably better to use Chinese.
So your argument will likely be this: many educated Chinese CAN read English. Yes that’s true, but the target isn’t [...]

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ZhuJiang; Taxi Cab Beer Advertising.

06.24.2009 Outdoor

Our friends from the west will notice the “drinking and driving” conventional wisdom disconnect. The saving grace then is this is taxi cab ad, which implies that you are not the one drinking; you are the one rolling around drunk in the backseat as your driver speeds down a small alley dodging residents, bicycles, motorbikes, [...]

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Jianlibao; Promotional straws “plug” users into liquid energy.

06.22.2009 Jianlibao

This is great – simple and effective.

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Siemens; Washing the long tail.

06.17.2009 Outdoor

Great variation of a common sight in China. I’ve walked many a mall and have seen these long streams hanging from the face of buildings; they never really got my attention. However with Sieman’s easy twist, the common becomes alive. The communication is clear and sticks in the head.

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Donghua University; Are you more artistic than an earthworm?

06.15.2009 Donghua University

“Seek out anyone’s potential for art. If animals can become masters, so can you!”
Quite interesting art, with a bit of a “gross” factor; all art is made by creepy crawlies that would normally give you the heebie jeebies.
The pitch? “If bugs can make art, then so can you! Come to our art school”. Not so [...]

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China Mobile; Not-so-subtle mobile advertising.

06.11.2009 China Mobile

“See now this ad is really a statement on how mobile technology has taken such a large part of our lives as to become “giant” ie: so large that it then serves as the filter between self and object; it has in essence become not only an extension of what we are, but also a [...]

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Lipton; Impactful China subway advertising has a few strings attached.

06.10.2009 Lipton

Great concept and clear message: Lipton tea helps you lose weight.
I’m not sure how many people would buy into this extreme concept however, as I’ve always heard about green tea’s ability to help you lose weight; but is this claim really based on tea’s ability to shed pounds, or the fact you’re swapping sugar laced [...]

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Gatorade; Kinda weird… but to the point.

06.09.2009 Gatorade

I’m not quite sure I like this one; on the one hand, it gets the benefits of Gatorade through, but on the other, there is a definite “gross” factor to overcome; first with the “Is that faucet supposed to be his peni… oh! its coming out of his stomach!”, followed by… “ok so here I [...]

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Lux; No pain, No Gain.

06.04.2009 Lux

“Mall-goers coerced into torturing giant ice woman”
So here’s one of those creatives that makes you think “hmmm, nice idea”; but then you see the execution and the demons of regret start poking you with their little sharp pointy sticks.
Now I get the whole “super smooth” idea, but what do you think these mall goers are [...]

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Yplus; Yoga Yoga Everywhere.

06.04.2009 Outdoor

This creative gets progressively weirder the closer you get to 6 o’clock.
I’ve been planning to post a few more case studies/insight articles, but due to the recent increase in the Great Firewall of China, I can’t access a lot of the information I need to back up my subjective ideas. So… here’s some pretty pictures.
Y-Plus, [...]

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Nirvana; Turning outdoor advertising into common gym equipment.

04.28.2009 Nirvana Fitness

Nirvana is the largest chain of gyms in Beijing. In an attempt to recruit new members, they decided to opt for something unusual. Instead of simply placing an ad in the local newspaper, the entrance gate near the gym was shown as a makeshift chest expander.

The idea of going to a gym to pump iron [...]

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STDecaux; Ads for ads; Shanghai subway ads weave Chinese four-character idiom and graphics together.

04.16.2009 Outdoor

Clever advertisements sell advertisement space in Shanghai subway. These photos were taken at the Jingansi station and East Nanjing Rd. station, and the series of ads are commonly seen when people walk in any of the subway lines.
A full exhibit of the creativity subway ads can offer to ads. The ad integrates the idea of [...]

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Construction cranes in the bamboo forest; Balancing nature and urbanization in China PSA Advertising.

04.13.2009 China EPF
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Great PSA ad campaign focuses on China’s preference  for urbanization over environment. This style of Chinese landscape painting is very traditional, and can be seen pretty much anywhere in China.
By mixing elements of urbanization (ie: construction towers, etc) the message twists from the “seen that painting before” to “whoa, wait a sec”; the implication of [...]

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Nike; Targeting Chinese youth with Kungfu hiphop culture.

04.07.2009 Nike
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This is an older campaign (circa 2007) but looked pretty interesting – and gives some insight into Chinese youth culture. Focused on a 3-on-3 basketball tourney and centered around the 9 gates of “Old” Beijing, we see the obvious fusing of western and eastern pop culture to create what I guess would be hiphop kungfu.

I’ve [...]

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Pond’s; Thinking out of the lightbox.

04.03.2009 Outdoor

Great outdoor lightbox ad by Pond’s. As you know, Chinese women like keeping their skin as white as possible; there is an endless list of products in China that promise whiter skin.
Standing out of the pack is Pond’s with this visually arresting physical metaphor of Pond’s USP. A familiar pitch sold in an unfamiliar way. 

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Shanghai’s Home; Lessons from social media applied to Shanghai outdoor subway advertising.

03.19.2009 Outdoor

“Dear Spiderman: who do you think should be the Green Goblin? 1. Tom Cruise 2. Pairs Hilton 3. Michael Jackson; The actor could receive a surprise trip to wine town to experience wine-brewing during a three days and two night trip. -North four swordsmen”
Love these ads; pretty much completely different from Chivas’s slew of “elite” [...]

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GM; When their viral videos dominate Chinese internet, GM decides to make a few more.

02.19.2009 General Motors

You go girl.
Several videos featuring “anti-social girl power” went viral on the Chinese web last year; viewed and discussed ad infinitum, many Chinese netizens argue these videos were created by GM’s China advertising agency, rather than random passerbys on the street.
I side with the “China advertising agency created videos”; each show GM’s cars in a [...]

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Citizen; Watches, not for telling time, but for marking great events.

02.17.2009 Citizen

“Discover new sensation. Last second, farewell to a family; next second, establish a family”
Watches just aren’t as necessary as they used to be; beepers, then cell phones really removed the need. Therefore, Citizen’s China advertising campaign focuses not on the everyday casual tracking of time, but rather those precious moments that define our lives.
Great way [...]

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