JayT Posted July 25, 2008 Report Share Posted July 25, 2008 Western Olympic Ads Cheerlead for China By DAVID BARBOZA BEIJING â?? It is becoming increasingly clear which nation global corporations will be rooting for at this summerâ??s Olympics: China. Or at least thatâ??s what it looks like from advertisements here. McDonaldâ??s is running a â??Cheer for Chinaâ? television ad. Nike ads feature Chinaâ??s star hurdler, Liu Xiang, and other Chinese athletes besting foreign competitors. Earlier this year, Pepsi even painted its familiar blue cans red for a limited edition â??Go Red for Chinaâ? promotion. The campaigns for Western companies are part of an advertising blitz the likes of which this ostensibly communist nation has never seen. Ads are papered over bus shelters, projected on giant outdoor television screens and plastered on billboards. Commercials even flicker at commuters as they zoom through subway tunnels. China, already the worldâ??s second-largest advertising market, after the United States, is a dream for consumer product companies. â??For most international brands here, China is the growth market for the next 10 years,â? said Jonathan Chajet, strategic director at Interbrand, which consults on brands. A record 63 companies have become sponsors or partners of the Beijing Olympics. Olympic-related advertising in China could reach $4 billion to $6 billion this year, according to CSM, a Beijing marketing research firm. â??Youâ??ve never seen the Olympics in a market that has such domestic, commercial scale,â? says Michael Wood, the chief executive for greater China at Leo Burnett, the global advertising agency. â??When the Olympics were in Los Angeles and Atlanta, the U.S. market was already fully developed.â? The promise of selling a billion bottles of Coke to Chinaâ??s 1.3 billion people is no longer a pipe dream; last year, 24 billion bottles of Coca-Cola were sold in China. KFC, a unit of Yum Brands, has more than 2,000 stores here. McDonaldâ??s and Starbucks are ubiquitous. And Nokia, the cellphone maker, sold about 70 million phones to Chinese consumers in 2007, racking up sales of $10 billion. Now those global brands are trying to extend their reach beyond Chinaâ??s wealthiest cities. But Chinaâ??s growing economic clout and increasing nationalism among its youth â?? as well as the newfound strength of its homegrown brands â?? pose challenges for foreign companies trying to woo its growing middle class. â??For most international brands, this is a double-edged sword,â? said Mr. Chajet of Interbrand. â??Theyâ??re premium, high-tech and status brands. But thereâ??s rising nationalism, and the Olympics is a rallying cry for the Chinese, who are looking for a reason not to buy foreign.â? To win over Chinese consumers, Adidas, which already has more than 4,000 stores in China, has new television and print ads showing legions of everyday Chinese guiding the countryâ??s top athletes to gold medal performances. The campaign won a top award at the Cannes Lions advertising festival in June. Erica Kerner, director of Adidasâ??s Beijing Olympic Games program, said, â??This is about rallying the nation.â? Gatorade, which is owned by Pepsico, has a television ad featuring Chinese athletes counting down to the year 2008. It concludes with a group of children, around age 7, at what looks like an Olympic training center, hitting table tennis balls in unison and counting down to 2012 and 2016. A Volkswagen campaign encourages people to â??honk for Chinaâ?Â; McDonaldâ??s ads say â??Iâ??m Lovinâ?? It When China Winsâ?Â; and Nike, though not an Olympic sponsor, is the official outfitter of more than 20 of Chinaâ??s teams. Link Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flashermac Posted July 25, 2008 Report Share Posted July 25, 2008 Armour sausages should have some good ads for the Chinese Olympics. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Torneyboy Posted July 25, 2008 Report Share Posted July 25, 2008 A Volkswagen campaign encourages people to â??honk for Chinaâ?Â; McDonaldâ??s ads say â??Iâ??m Lovinâ?? It When China Winsâ?Â; and Nike, though not an Olympic sponsor, is the official outfitter of more than 20 of Chinaâ??s teams. I wonder if that should read *bonk* for China Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JayT Posted July 26, 2008 Author Report Share Posted July 26, 2008 Armour sausages should have some good ads for the Chinese Olympics. Not familiar with their ad campaign. How does it go? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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