A Chinese Girl Dilemma

 

Chinese Girl Dilemma by Han Junwei

Chinese Girl Dilemma by Han Junwei

 

Photographer Han Junwei illustrates in his last serie shots of a modern Chinese girl’s dating dilemma…

If you were a Chinese girl, would you rather date :

 

The Migrant Worker

The Migrant Worker

 

 

The Perv

The Perv

 

The Gross

The Gross

The Nerd

The Nerd

The Smooth Operator

The Player

The Obsessive Compulsive

The Obsessive Compulsive

The Queen

The Queen

The Matchmakers Parents

The Matchmaking Parents

The "Perfect Guy" (who doesn't give a s)

The "Perfect Guy" (who doesn't give a s)

Or would you just be happy by yourself?
 
Chinese Girl 12
April 23, 2010 | BuzzandtheCity | Tags: , , , | 3 Comments »

Social Media & Name-Dropping

12
 
 
Name-dropping, as in “using the name of someone famous or popular to let other people know you are yourself popular and have friends” is a tacky practice, especially when not done properly. By properly I mean knowing the person you are talking about and whose name you are using in an effort to promote yourself or add value to your opinion.
 
Lately I have been meeting with a lot of agencies and professional from the digital industry in China and I have noticed a really hot trend among these fellows : the “social media” name-dropping. Have you noticed too?
 
You get to talk with anyone involved in the internet business and then at some point you hear “Yeah, we do social media too”. I have the feeling most of them are just saying it for the sake of not feeling leftout in the digital game – on both sides, agencies and brands.
 
I’m like “Really? What do you do?”. Most times I get a “We go on Chinese social networks sites, blabla”. But it is no long before the conversation dries up.
 
So, before I typed the term “social media” into Google trends, I had a slight idea about how would look the graph.
 
 

Picture1

 
As we can see, there’s a lot of talk but who can walk the walk?
And who can moon-walk?
 
October 22, 2009 | BuzzandtheCity | Tags: , , , | 1 Comment »

Sexy and the Geek

Follow me Stockings

Follow me Stockings

 
Sexy, quirky and a great advertising for Twitter combining trends like hot legwear and Manvertising – in that case Womandvertising.
 
 
Social media has become so important that soon nobody would ask you what’s your name anymore, but what’s your TwitterName…
 

For 18$ on Etsy, you’ve got your conversation starter with the geek next door.

 
 
 
 
October 16, 2009 | BuzzandtheCity | Tags: , , , , | 1 Comment »

Advertising on Virtual Worlds

 

Happy October Holiday

Happy October Holiday

 
 
I just read an interesting article about advertising in virtual worlds on the Digital Marketing Inner Circle.
 
The article called “Innovative movie promotion on virtual worlds” introduces a general overview and a small case study for movies launch on 3-D singaporean environment Twinity – James Bond, Batman, The Spirit and Angels and Demons.
 
Virtual worlds are truly impressive both from a user and a marketer angle: the easthetics, the promise of an alternative reality, the integration of all kinds of media and interactive games…
 
But these platforms are really difficult to master. Just to customize an avatar, design and monitor a campaign requires a lot of time and people.You have to outsource to specialised companies and experts anyway.
 
 “Virtual worlds are a relatively new medium” article says, true, but I think it’s rather a relatively newly used medium.
 
3 years ago in my previous company in Europe we launched actions on Second Life for one of our magazine. SL was quite hot at that time  - politics were having their campaigns there and there even was cyberterrorism. We did our little experiment as we were trying a new toy and that was it.
 
Who should use virtual worlds for advertising ? In my opinion 2 kinds of people : firstly entertainment industry like media, music, movies and video games. And secondly the ones who want to create buzz and bring attention to their action – politics to show they’re cool and activists to generate PR.
 
I will only focus on how to use effectively this medium for the entertainment industry.
 
To begin, I don’t think regular release on virtual worlds is very relevant, even with features like buy items and engage fans in discussion. Interactive games is the very least you can do.
 
To quote the article introduction “The challenge of advertising in virtual worlds involves taking advantage of their unique features” This is rule # 1 : don’t just replicate what is done on other mediums aka make a magazine online or a traditionnal online advertising campaign on a virtual world with a little 3-D twist.
 
Take it to the next step.
 
To use effectively virtual worlds and its advantages here is what can be done in my opinion for those whose target is active on the medium.
 
x Create a teasing. Don’t just arrive on the world and paste your poster. This is what I call badvertising. Instead, start to give some hints. Create a relevant mystery, like angels and demons, but without naming yourself.
x Use influencers already active in the world or make sure you create yours sufficiently in advance. Two reasons : the complexity of these worlds make them difficult to master as I mentioned above and users on virtual worlds don’t easily trust newcomers (just like in forums)
x Spread your teasing, your buzz and engage more and more users without mentioning your brand/product at first. It’s better risk controlled if it doesn’t quite work out. Once the audience is fully engaged, then you subtly reveal the brand/product behind it.
x Reward immediately the people who engaged with you during the campaign. Give them something really valuable, not just an exclusive itw of Daniel Craig (he’s hot but who cares?). Give something in the real life (movie tickets, pass, free subscription, invitation to offline event..) to really bound with your audience
x Use viral and PR to leverage your action.
x Clean after you. Don’t just abandon all elements of the campaign behind if you must leave.
 
I’m really looking forward to see how this can be used in China where young people level of engagement with virtual is extremely high.
 
To be followed…
 
Sources
 
 
September 29, 2009 | BuzzandtheCity | Tags: , , , , , , , | No Comments »

Nightlife alert : Gosney and Kallman’s Chinatown

 
 

china_town

 
 

Last week when my friend invited me to his birthday party saying it was hosted in a new club, I said yes in a heartbeat. Friends, Champagne & new clubs are things I can’t resist to. What, in Hongkou? Even better.

 

Mind you, this guy is so cool his birthday was celebrated in a club that had not opened yet – the long time awaited Chinatown, a place so hip the Shanghainese glitteratis are going all the way to Hongkou to discover it.

 

We arrived in a dodgy dark street full of night restaurants, the kind of street that makes you ask “Are you sure it’s here?” and check the address 12 times. Then the doors of Chinatown opened and we got in.

 

When I bumped into a gorgeous Dita Von Teese look alike dressed up in a Brazilian carnival costume I fell in love with the place right away. In this old 3 floor David Lynch-esque theater seemingly resurected from decadent past times, I really felt like being in Twin Peaks – without the creepy little guy though (that’s fortunate)…

 

 Who are these people? This is what I kept asking to my friend when we were watching the show : Chinatown dolls performing french can-can, live music and jazz singers, burlesque and vaudeville entertainers interacting with a stylishly and appropriately dressed-up audience.

 

Gosney & Kallman’s Chinatown is fun & crazy, dreamy & real in the same time : just beyond what you expect to experience in China. But to really understand what I’m talking about you have to go. You’ll probably meet me there with friends & Champagne. What else? Book your table in advance.

 

Address 471 Zhapu Lu, near Haining Lu Reservations 6258 2078 Hours Wed-Sat 8pm-2am

September 20, 2009 | BuzzandtheCity | Tags: , , , , | 4 Comments »

Red is the new Black

 
 

Essence of Red by Kai Z Feng for Vogue China

Essence of Red by Kai Z Feng for Vogue China

 
I told you Red is hot in the Van Cleef post.
 
The People Republic of China turns 60th on the 1st of October and the Vogue China cover goes red : hip model Liu Wen features in a serie named ‘The Essence of Red’ photographed by Kai Z Feng in looks from Prada, Fendi, Nina Ricci, Alexander McQueen…and Christian Louboutin red velvet suede shoes (on pic)
 
This is what I call politically correct fashion and media positioning by Condenast : China Vogue and the Hunt of October Red ?…
 
 
 
 
September 15, 2009 | BuzzandtheCity | Tags: , , , | 1 Comment »
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