‘Western media portrays Chinese as barbarians’
Campbell: ‘China is the most brand literate place on earth’
The Western media only covers negative stories that make Chinese people seem like “barbarians”, one of Asia’s most influential strategists told delegates at a conference in Sydney yesterday.
In a talk titled ‘You don’t have to be a sadomasochist to work in China but it helps’, Rob Campbell, Shanghai-based head of planning at Wieden + Kennedy, said opportunities for agencies and brands were being lost as a result of ignorance.
“China knows more about the West, than the West knows about China,” he told delegates at the Mumbrella 360 conference. “There are huge opportunities, but you have to understand the context and respect the culture.”
“Too few people give China the time or have the patience to appreciate its value,” he said.
He also said Australia is a “racist, inherently nervous country” that failed to understand Chinese culture and values.
Simon Baker in regional ANZ commercial
Campbell criticised Australian bank ANZ for its “arrogant” approach to advertising in China and elsewhere in Asia, using as an example an ad from the ‘We live in your world’ campaign – created by Whybin\TBWA\Melbourne – that features a banker at a bus stop.
“A banker standing next to you at a bus stop would never happen in China. Chinese people would expect him to be driving a Rolls Royce. To assume that just because something happens in Australia, it must happen in the rest of the world is as arrogant as it is ignorant,” he said.
“You can’t read books to understand China’s culture. You need to get off your ass and go there,” said Campbell, who moved to China three years ago to take his current role at W+K.
“It’s an amazing country where people love their country.”
“The West is no longer best in China.”
“And it is the most brand literate place on earth, because everything in China is about conspicuous consumption,” he said.
Campbell also defended China’s reputation for copying Western brands. “Though that may be true, the Chinese are incredible cumulative learners, and they’re the quickest developers.”
God, I went on a mad rant didn’t I?
Two things I should clarify …
1. I do not mean Australia is the only country whose media has an inherent prejudice towards China … sadly, most western nations adopt the same stance. My comment regarding Australia was because – well, I was there – and as a “Western” nation residing in the Asia-Pacific part of the World that continually talks so about being multi-cultural, I’d hope they’d be more open minded to the ways of other cultures on their doorstep.
2. With the ANZ example, I said that if people in Asia saw a banker standing with them at the bus stop, they’d assume he wasn’t very good because rather than have them “live in their world”, they’d rather they lived in the world they wished to inhabit … hence they’d rather see them riding in a Bentley than a bus.
This is not about dumbing communication down, it’s about maintaining creative standards while appreciating cultural context.
Right, now I have to make my Australian wife breakfast before she smacks me around the head.
ReplyAnd I hope you don’t mind Robin, but so people know my presentation was more about the lessons I’ve learnt living and working in China rather than things Australian business is doing wrong, the link to my presentation is here: http://tinyurl.com/k7wudec
That’s it. Thank you and thank you for letting me part of your conference.
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