Shanghai 2010 : Brand your Nation !

French know how to do Journalism

French know how to do Journalism

 

I see them. The big headlines, the well-investigated journalism politically correct and all, the tv anchor voice announcing with an ultrabright smile signed P&G

“With 70 millions visitors  expected to attend Shanghai Expo, some 200 participants are getting ready for the Pearl of Orient (wow, figure of speech)  counting from May 1st” …

Numbers are of great help when people have little idea what they’re talking about. Figures are thrown at the face of the public as a non-arguable authority and we forget to think : what is the big picture behind all this?

Recently when I came to think about World Expo significance, I had the vague feeling it was a traditional worldwide tourism event, only this time the little vacation will have a business flavor as it takes place in Shanghai. So I looked back..

Back in mid 19th century, Universal Exposition was about promoting industry development, trade and technology. After the 2nd world war, things went different for obvious reasons and World’s Fair shifted to encourage inter-cultural exchanges - until the 90’s. For the last 2 decades, World Expo has been about branding nations, influencing the perception on countries and nations.

How World Expo is supposed to be relevant  in our lives and how does it reflects our global world trends? Spending millions for building and entertaining  a pretty pavilion in our tough times – US only recently confirmed their participation, asks for some more relevance than some kind of big-scale badvertising event.

 

How will nations connect to the Chinese audience, and how will China brand itself towards the other nations ? This kind of branding reflects the diplomatic positioning of each nations for now and the next couple years. China will probably impress again, like it has during the Olympics, with its flawless organization and its ability to drive masses to events. Like courtesans, international participants will try to seduce Chinese visitors, some in more effective ways than others.

We’ll be surrounded by numbers, for sure. But I suggest we pay attention to details, people and actions, to what will be said and what will not. Those pretty pavilions are not only about design and architecture rivalry. Are they?

World Expo Official site

October 6, 2009 | BuzzandtheCity | Tags: , , | No Comments »

The extinction of Badvertising – Part I : The Dinosaurs

The article is actually longer than I thought so I organised my reflexion into several parts – here is Part I : The Dinosaurs
bd
 
 

Once upon a time, dinosaurs were fooling around and eating alive all kinds of preys. They were big, fierce, almost invulnerable. Until they extinct.  Among the few extinction theories – asteroid collision, climate change, geomagnetic reversal, my favorite one is the least in which dinosaurs became too heavy to move and, unable to adapt, died from starvation.

 

This little dino story occured to me when I was attending a conference about online advertising. See any direct relation ? No? Well I wish I haven’t either but I did.

 

Now I know I write in a playful tone but it’s not funny. I had gone all the way through Shanghai to Pudong (in which I was lost on my way back to downtown), let my team struggle with an incalculate number of issues, made phone calls on the back of the cab for what? Hear a guy proudly introduce intrusive banners on a ppt.

“This kind of ad is very effective”

he declared, pushing a button to play a video in which a Chinese robot-like male voice proclaimed a slogan. The whole room listened religiously and some nodded. I don’t know how many of you actually listen to these kinds of video ads. Personally I hate any unsolicited noise coming from my screen – and I like to think I’m not the only one.

 

At first I thought he was joking. This is Shanghai 2009, come on! I was waiting for him to introduce other advertising models. To say, maybe, “Brands, here are also some other ways to engage with your audience“…He did not. And I’m talking about the head of a big advertising agency in China.

 

Does the dinosaurs allegory make sense now?

 

Some big advertising agencies are dinosaurs. The T-Rex and his pals were having a good time when they were eating out big budgets from big companies. But then, a magnetic pole reversal occured as new e-marketing practices came in the picture. Some dinos are too slow to move. Now there is a crisis big time out there (asteroid collision, climate change anyone?) and companies are more cautious, more demanding about their investment.

 

If advertising companies don’t reverse their own poles, they won’t adapt. And it will be, I predict! the extinction of Badvertising. Finally..

Meanwhile, small, light creatures companies able to keep on innovating are under the big brands radar and thus, surviving.

 

To be continued…

 

 

 

September 29, 2009 | BuzzandtheCity | Tags: , , | 5 Comments »

Tweet me Tender…or Never

 

 

Twitter 

After several months off the microblogging, I am back cause my vpn works again  as BuzzandtheCity

I would love to share there articles I read everyday about online strategies, advertising, design, trends and what’s going on in China in general

However, I might tweet never, because Twitter is blocked in China which makes it hard for me to update the profile…

 

Anyway Follow BuzzandtheCity on Twitter

September 12, 2009 | BuzzandtheCity | Tags: , , , , | No Comments »

Workplace – Just Rowe it !

 

 

This is an office - Ogilvy & Mather Offices in Guangzhou

This is an office - Ogilvy & Mather Offices in Guangzhou

 

Some of us spend more time at the office than in any other place. To encourage creativity of their staff, Ogilvy & Mather had their Guangzhou office designed by M Moser & Associates around the theme “Carnival of Ideas”. Do you think the employees enjoy going to work? Ok maybe your company doesn’t have the budget, the space and the guts to put a carousel in the corridor. But let’s see how you can improve productivity and make the office a pleasant place from a management perspective.

 

ROWE stands for Results-Only Work environment.  Created by CultureX and applied by Best buy, this management strategy is focusing on results instead of working on a time-based measurement. Basically, it is about giving people more trust and freedom to make them feel more responsible and help them increase productivity.

 

How does that work? Although you cannot apply all these rules for managing your team – some people need discipline, you can certainly get a few hints. Basically it relies on results and trust :

 

Actions based on Results

x Optional meetings. Let the people decide if they need to go or not. Can they use their time in a more effective way? If they think so, let them do it.

x Base rewards on results, not on how much time they spend in the office. Is the guy always staying late the one that brings more productivity?

x Rowe has to be applied to everyone – including assistants and new comers.

x Stop interrupting people by walking around to check-in all the time. This is highly counterproductive.

x Plan ahead instead of sending urgency signals all the time to pressure deadlines. Eventually it will end up just like Peter and the Wolf, when nobody takes you seriously anymore.

x If facing an under-performance situation, talk to your people and focus on the work itself.

Actions based on Trust 

x It’s up to people to decide their own work-life balance.

x Don’t judge how people spend their time and make sure people within your team don’t do it either.

x Let the people decide if they can leave early – instead of allowing them to. The article talks about a snow storm, well in Shanghai it can be a Typhoon too.

x Trust your people like you trust yourself. I believe this means micro-managers are just bosses lacking of self-confidence.

x Try to make people feel good enough in the office so they actually want to come and work with you. Be nice. Enjoy.

  

September 6, 2009 | BuzzandtheCity | Tags: , , , , , | 1 Comment »

How to react in a “Nobody’s fault” situation

Discipline © Steven Klein

Discipline © Steven Klein

When I was a child I remember playing with my brother and sisters. Whenever something was broken – that happens frequently in big families, it was “Not me!” and “Nobody”‘s fault. Although I am pretty sure we weren’t lying blatantly, we, as children, didn’t take our responsibilities.

 
Responsibility goes hand in hand with maturity. As we grow up we hopefully get more mature and thus, take more responsibilities, meaning being able to hear criticism and change. A lot of people cannot do that because as my guru says “When it comes to Ego, most people can’t hear a thing. It’s like their brain is blocking information and rejecting it.”
 
One of the problems in the office is when you face a situation when it’s Nobody’s fault. There is a problem. It needs to be solved. But once you ask what happened, you hear endless justifications about how he/she did this and how nobody said before we should do that. I often hear foreigners in China complain about their Chinese colleagues or staff. What comes up the most is the “They never say no” “They don’t do basic things” or “We think differently”.
 
How to manage unresponsible people is about finding a balance between authority respect and nursing:
  • Never incriminate someone in front of other people, especially not a Chinese. It sounds easy. You think you understand pretty well the “face” issue. Now think about it with work pressure, deadlines…patience getting short : not so easy…
  • Breathe. Always be in control even if you want to defenestrate the person.You are supposed to be a role model not the psycho bitch
  • Speak to the person in private. Tell them you trust them (if you do), trigger their emotions to engage them in their actions.
  • If there is something wrong say it. Ask “Why do you think the situation is like this?”  and “What do you think we should do?” Listen and answer accordingly.
  • Give a perspective of how it could be if he/she listened to you – less overtime, a bonus, more interesting stuff, a promotion. Don’t make promises you can’t keep though.
  • Don’t assume once the target is reached it will stay like this. You have to be constantly on the back on some people, this is why there are leaders and followers.Repeat endlessly.
  • Give the good example. Someone in the army told me once “I’ll never send my guys where I won’t go myself”.
One guy in my team was almost fired before my arrival. I found out he was actually the best element, but because of poor management, his work quality was decreasing. After I encouraged him and gave him more responsibilities I am happy to hear that he is a different person :) And he changed from a “Not me” to a “somebody” in the company.
 
 
September 2, 2009 | BuzzandtheCity | Tags: , , , | No Comments »

This is a Man’s World

 

"Objectifying Men" © Kristina Sinutko

"Objectifying Men" © Kristina Sinutko

 

Recently I was talking with a man friend and he caught me by surprise when he said :
“You are advantaged as a woman because it is so much easier for you to make contacts”
Really?  
I do admit being a woman helps me in some situations, generally involving a door opening or a drink offering (ain’t it appeasing?). Also, I have less dinner expenses than other male colleagues because men tend to take charge - this should be interesting for companies : when you think about it, hiring women will lower your expenses..Ok, let’s be serious.
 
Even in our westernized work environment, being a woman is not easy. A woman has to win professionnal respect through a long, long way full of obstacles especially in the early stages of her career. She has to be careful about what she wears, how she talks, how she reacts to sexist comments/jokes without appearing like an uptight feminist. She has to be in control without looking like a Russian soldier. If she’s decent, she has to be smart enough to politely reject powerful jerks without compromising her career. 
In this game, a woman has to master skills a man will never have to. 
 
So please Gentlemen, try to treat a woman with the same esteem you’d give if she was a man – but keep on opening doors.
 
Ladies, any comments?
August 27, 2009 | BuzzandtheCity | Tags: , , | 1 Comment »
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