Guess who's back?

Hi all, 

after some months of absolute silence, here I am again!

Many things happened in the previous months, and I am glad to announce my new position as Lecturer in International Promotional Cultures at Middlesex University, London. 

Despite the silence, I have actually been collecting materials in order to upload new posts and keep the content of the blog up-to-date... there could be some changes in the blog, but not in the immediate future - let's see!

I would like to share with you another piece of news: the review "2008: The 'Long March' of Chinese Brands" will be screened in London, University of Westminster, at the Contemporary China Centre tonight, at 6 pm. The review was created and screened last year at the Ca' Foscari Short Film Festival and also during the Communication Week in Milan. Therefore, it is the first time in is screened outside Italy!!!

Check out the link:

http://www.westminster.ac.uk/contemporary-china-centre/events/giovanna-puppin-the-long-march-of-chinese-brands-2008-and-beyond-seminar

Hopefully I will be more constant with posting,

I will try to keep up my word,

Giovanna

CTR Report on CHINA'S ADSPEND in traditional media (2012)

Good morning, all! As I am writing a brief on Chinese advertising industry, I thought it was interesting to share with you this link:

Buongiorno a tutti! Sto scrivendo un brief sull'industria pubblicitaria in Cina e ho pensato di condividere con voi questo link interessante:

http://www.ctrchina.cn/ctrwebsite/en/News_Article.php?articleid=412

It is the latest report from CTE on China's Advertising Spend in 2012... I copy and paste it here. Briefly: in 2012 the traditional advertising annual growth was 4.5% (the lowest in the last five years). The top 5 industries to invest more were toiletries, business & services, beverages, foodstuff and pharmaceuticals. The TOP10 advertising spenders in 2012 were L’Oreal, KFC, Olay, Wahaha, Yili, China Mobile, JDB, Dali, McDonald’s and Master Kong. 

Si tratta dell'ultima ricerca, condotta da CTR, sulla spesa pubblicitaria nel 2012...copio e incollo. In sintesi: la spesa pubblicitaria cinese nei media tradizionali l'anno scorso ha visto un aumento del 4.5% (il più basso degli ultimi 5 anni). La televisione continua ad essere il medium con la spesa pubblicitaria più alta. I 5 settori che investono di più in pubblicità sono: igiene, business & servizi, bevande, alimentare e farmaceutico. I brand più "spendaccioni" sono: L’Oreal, KFC, Olay, Wahaha, Yili, China Mobile, JDB, Dali, McDonald’s e Master Kong.

China’s traditional media advertising market growth dropped below “5” in 2012

January 31, 2013 Beijing, China

The GDP growth rate in 2012 was 7.8%. This is the first time for the annual GDP growth rate lower than 8% since 1999, and the annual growth rate becomes the lowest since 1998. According to the latest CTR publication on China adspend data, traditional advertising annual growth in China market 2012 was 4.5% only, which was the lowest in the recent 5 years. With the influence from economic environment, the forecast on China advertising market depression in the beginning of 2012 came true eventually at the year-end.

Advertising expenditure-Media

TV media keeps its advantage on traditional media in 2012. Its advertising overwhelmed with large share steadily. The adspend had 6.4% growth over last year, whereas CCTV cut down 8.9% of advertising duration, comparing with last year. Its rate card expenditure indicated 1% of slight decline accordingly. Provincial satellite TV only reduced 2.1%, yet its rate card expenditure showed 16% of annual growth. The largest deduction for provincial terrestrial channels was 11%. On the contrary, its adspend continued climbing to 5.8% annual growth.

By political influence, the advertising capacity in TV drama from various channels dropped substantially. At the same time, it enhanced the growth of the advertising capacity in News/Current affair programs.

Radio continued leading the traditional media with 8.9% annual growth, but it appeared to sag sharply after 27.8% of accelerating growth last year. Under the economic environment and the shrinking consumption in automobile, there was an adjustment on the adspend of Business & Service and Automobiles. As the key industries in radio advertising, their adspends directly affected the entire radio advertising growth. The consecutive development in radio advertising resource should be attentive. It reduced 12.8% yearly in 2012 after the growth in previous years.

With the influence from 17.2% advertising resource reduction and the advertising depression in Real Estate, Business & Service and Automobiles, Newspaper rate card adspend fell 7.5% over last year. In Top 10 ranking on newspaper advertising, only pharmaceuticals and personal items were growing. The industries which had the fastest magazine advertising growth were Personal items (31.0%), Computer and Office Automation Products (14.7%) and Alcohol (66.2%). Eager advertising from these industries keeps building the elegant image in magazine.

The advertising growth in traditional outdoor media was exhausting, with 2.0% growth over 2011. With the rapid development of the urban railway system in Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou, Metro and light railway advertising showed high growth with 13.2% annual increase rate over 2011.

Although the result in new media varies in the whole 2012, its entire growth slowed down. Public transport TV and LCD building adspends were 2.2% and 14.8% respectively. Fast-food restaurant brands like the leading brand KFC still have the passion on new media advertising. On the other hand, some Internet brands like Shanghai Yi Supermarket, Alibaba Taobao and Zhenai were interested in new media advertising, while cosmetics/toiletries weaken their advertising on LCD building.

Advertising Expenditure-Industries

All industrial advertising in 2012 decelerated their growth, some of them even have negative growths. Only beverage and alcohol growths overtook 2011, by 12.4% and 31.9% respectively. Alcohol led the market contribution in all industries, by 33.0%. More and more alcohol brands began to concern on developing brand image, advertising become the first choice. 

Advertising Consumption-Brands

L’oreal became the top brand on traditional advertising with 24.5% growth. It was followed by KFC, which traditional advertising was slowed down, with 7.6% growth. McDonald grew 25.0% relatively in traditional advertising. These two Fast-food brands are competing intensely by different strategies. JDB was outstanding in 2012, from 7th position in Top 10 brands on traditional advertising and attractive growth (118.3%).

Editor’s note：Illustrations of the data background

1． Advertising aggregate in all years, mentioned in the report, is the absolute amount of the current year. The yearly growth is based on previous year.

2． The advertising expense is based on the media public price, excluding discount. 

3． Free Items are not included in the ad expense.

4． Monitoring Media includes: TV, Newspapers, magazines, radios, outdoor, metro etc.

5． The monitoring time on TV channel advertisements: 17:00—24:00

LEARN CHINESE DOUBLE YOUR WORLD (4) - WHO'S NEXT?

Here we go with the last post of this saga! I will now - very briefly - give space to some other countries, cultures and languages, some of which were actually present in the show, some of which were not.

Eccomi qui per l'ultimo post di questa saga! In velocità, vorrei dare spazio ad alcuni paesi, culture e lingue, alcuni dei quali hanno trovato spazio all'interno dello show, altri no.

Apart from Japan and Korea, Russia seemed to be the next outcoming cultural and linguistic power, at least as far as investment was concerned. Russia has still a long way to go in order to dismantle stereotypes: apart from the language tasters (where Russian was present in 2 out of 3) and one language intensive class (against 2 of Chinese but - incredibly - zero from both Japan and Korea!), Russia was the protagonist of two events: a music performance, held on Day 1, and a "language in action" seminar, entitled: "RUSSIA - DON'T BE AFRAID OF HER!", promoted as follows:
"Russia...the vast country with its language, society and culture where everything that you see happens for historical reasons...but what's Russia like today?With free traditional blins (pancakes), shortbreads and vodka".
Oltre al Giappone a alla Corea, la Russia sembrava essere il futuro potere culturale e linguistico, almeno in base agli investimenti fatti. Ma la Russia ha una lunga strada da percorrere per liberarsi dagli stereotipi: a parte gli assaggi linguistici (era presente in 2 su 3) e un corso intensivo di lingua (contro i due cinesi e gli "zero" del Giappone e della Corea"!) la Russia era la protagonista di due eventi: una performance musicale, il primo giorno, e un seminario "language in action", intitolato "RUSSIA - NON AVERE PAURA!", promosso come segue:

"Russia...il grande paese con la sua lingua, società e cultura, dove tutto ciò che vedi succede per ragioni storiche...ma com'è la Russia oggi?Con blini (pancake), shortbread e vodka locali". 

Among the other "exotic" languages, I was going to expect more from Hindi and Arabic.  Arabic was present in a linguistic taster and in 2 beginners courses, while hindi was the protagonist of only one language taster. No cultural events. And what about Italy? Well...it was protagonist of two intensive classes (on the second day), and of a taster (held on the last day!!!). No related events, be they related to culture, dance, food or whathever.

Tra le altre lingue "esotiche", mi sarei aspettata di più dall'hindi e dall'arabo. L'arabo ha promosso un assaggio linguistico e due corsi principianti, mentre l'hindi è stato protagonista di un assaggio linguistico. Nessun evento culturale. E l'Italia? Beh...ha promosso due lezioni intensive (il secondo giorno) e un assaggio linguistico (il primo giorno!!!) Nessun evento, nulla su cultura, danza, cibo o quant'altro. 

Another thing that stroke me? And, to be honest, not only me but also my friends? The total abscence of African languages...nothing at all. Not scheduled! Well, if the show had taken place in Italy I would expect so, but being in a city like London, not at all. A city that promotes a huge African Film Festival (I saw my first Nollywood movie there, Phone Swap, I thank A.J. for spreading the news!), fashion-related events (Africa Fashion Week), music festivals, like the London African Music Festival...
Un'altra cosa che mi ha stupito?A dire il vero non solo me, ma anche altri amici che hanno visitato lo show? La totale assenza di lingue africane...niente. Non contemplate! Ecco, se lo show si fosse tenuto in Italia me lo sarei aspettato, ma in una città come Londra, assolutamente no. Una città che promuove un grande African Film Festival (lì ho visto Phone Swap, il mio primo film di Nollywood e ringrazio A.J. per avermi allertato!), eventi di moda africana (Africa Fashion Week), festival di musica, come il London African Music Festival...

I had the pleasure to assist to the first episode of the Afrobeat Educational Roadshow, organised by Strictly Entertainment Music (SEM) and held at the University of Westminster, on December 12th, 2012 (see brochure above). I was glad to hear that the African country I find more interesting from a popular culture perspective is "going up": Nigeria is doing great not only in cinema, fashion and soccer, but also in AFROBEAT MUSIC, where the genre actually generated.
Ho avuto il piacere di assistere alla prima tappa dell'Afrobeat Educational Roadshow, organizzato da Strictly Entertainment Music (SEM) e tenutosi lo scorso 12 dicembre, presso l'Università di Westminster (vedi locandina sopra). Mi ha fatto molto piacere sentire che il paese africano che mi interessa di più in una prospettiva di cultura pop "sta salendo": la Nigeria sta andando alla grande nel cinema, nella moda e nel calcio, ma anche nella MUSICA AFROBEAT, dove questo genere è nato. 

Bracket ft. Wizkid, Girl 

And Nigerian artists are getting famous abroad, also through collaboration (think about Akon and P-Square and MayD in Chop My Money). Despite this, "Gangnam style" reached 1355307253 views, while the videos of Omawumi, Wizkid or Iyanya lag far behind (even though they are cooler from many other points of view... not by chance, D'Banj's Oliver Twist entered the UK TOP10). But these guys are getting big are reaching an international audience, which is not only the Nigerian diaspora. And making them dance along. Exactly what is China wants to do, without success. Time to chance the tune?
E gli artisti nigeriani stanno diventando famosi all'estero, anche attraverso collaborazioni (pensate ad Akon con i P-Square e MayD in Chop My Money). Nonostante questo, "Gangnam style" ha raggiunto 1355307253 visualizzazioni, mentre i video di Omawumi, Wizkid, Iyanya, ecc. sono ancora indietro (pur essendo cool da vari punti di vista...forse non è un caso se Oliver Twist di D'Banj è entrata nella UK TOP10). Ma questi ragazzi stanno diventando big e raggiungendo un audience internazionale, che non si limita solo alla diaspora nigeriana. E lo fanno ballare. Esattamente ciò che la Cina vorrebbe riuscire a fare, ma con scarso successo. Tempo di cambiare musica?

Learn Chinese, Double Your World (3) - JAPAN AND KOREA

Before I start the third part of the posting on the presence of China at the Language Show Live 2012, let me wish you all a HAPPY NEW (CHINESE) YEAR，新年快乐，恭喜发财! As you probably remember, in this post I will write about the presence of other Asian superpowers... Japan and Korea.

Prima di iniziare il terzo post sulla presenza della Cina al Language Show Live 2012, auguro a tutti un BUON ANNO CINESE, 新年快乐，恭喜发财! Come ricorderete, in questo post scriverò della presenza di altri super-power asiatici... Giappone e Corea.

Let's begin with Japan, that was present with just one stand: JAPAN FOUNDATION AND JP - BOOKS. The stand was very small compared to the Chinese one, but it was full of visual things and pretty crowded.

Cominciamo con il Giappone, che era presente con uno stand: JAPAN FOUNDATION AND JP - BOOKS. Lo stand era molto piccolo se messo a confronto con quello cinese, ma era pieno di cose visive e alquanto trafficato.

Japan was the protagonist of one event on the cultural area (on Saturday, 20 October), entitled: "FEEL THE RYTHM! JAPANESE TAIKO DRUMMING PERFORMANCE". From the brochure: 

"Taiko means 'drum'. Tamashii means 'spirit'. Experience this exhilariting and spectacular performance of Japanese Taiko and have a chance to play the drums yourself!"

Il Giappone era il protagonista di un evento culturale (sabato 20 ottobre) intitolato: "SENTI IL RITMO! SPETTACOLO DI TAIKO GIAPPONESE". Dalla brochure:

"Taiko significa 'tamburo'. Tamashii significa 'spirito'. Segui questa performance esilarante e spettacolare di taiko giapponese e prova anche tu a suonare!" 

Japan also offered a language taster, but on the last day of the show!

Il Giappone ha anche offerto un assaggio di lingua, ma solo l'ultimo giorno dell'evento!

Now, let us turn to Korea.

Korea offered just one day Korean language taster (on Saturday, 20 October) and, on the same day, it offered a show on the cultural arena entitled: "TAEKWONDO - HARMONY OF BODY AND SPIRIT". From the programme:

"See this spectacular performance of one of the Korean's most systematic and scientific martial arts. Try out some of the fighting techniques and learn how to enhance your spirit by training your body and mind".

This event was promoted by the Korean Language Institute Council.

Passiamo ora alla Corea.

La Corea ha offerto solo un taster di coreano (sabato 20 ottobre) e, lo stesso giorno, ha organizzato un evento nell'area culturale, intitolato: "TAEKWONDO - ARMONIA DI ANIMA E CORPO". Dal programma:

"Assisti a questa spettacolare performance di una delle arti marziali coreane più tecnica e scientifica. Prova alcune delle tecniche di combattimento e impara come guidare il tuo spirito attraverso l'esercizio  del corpo e della mente."

One of the things that attracted the visitors to the Korean Language Institute Council was a big screen placed outside showing K-pop and Taekwonmu videos, as you can see here. Very loud!

Una delle cose che attraeva i visitatori al padiglione coreano del Korean Language Institute Council era un grande schermo che, nella giornata di sabato, proiettava video di K-pop e Taekwonmu. Ad altoissimo volume!

As a matter of fact, the Korean stand used a great amount of popular cultural elements, if compared to China. And this strategy seemed to work! From the leaflet of the Korean stand: 

"For this year's London exhibition, we aim to introduce Taewkwonmu working with the song 'Kangnam Style'. Take a chance to learn more about Korean music and its movements through a fun song..."

Infatti, lo stand coreano ha usato molti elementi di cultura pop, se confrontato con la Cina. E questa strategia sembrava funzionare! Dalla brichure dello stand coreano:

"Per lo show di quest'anno, abbiamo pensato di combinare Taewkwonmu con una canzone 'Kangnam Style'. Impara a conoscere la musica coreana e i suoi movimenti attraverso una canzone divertente..."

Speaking about "fun", even a simple look at the brochure of the stand owners - China and Korea - let us understand the difference between the two countries promotional strategies. China chose a big promotional booklet, size A4, written FIRST in Chinese THEN in English, whose first page showed the building and explaination of Hanban, in a very official, serious and institutional way (see below).

Parlando di "divertimento", un semplice sguardo alle brochure dei due standisti - Cina e Corea - ci fa capire subito la differenza tra le strategie promozionali dei due paesi. La Cina ha scelto una borchure grande quanto un foglio A4, scritto PRIMA in cinese, POI in inglese, la cui prima pagina mostrava la sede e la descrizione dell'Hanban, in maniera ufficiale, seria e istituzionale (vedi foto).

Korea, on the other side, chose to emphasise fun and pop culture, like these pictures demonstrate (they too are taken from the brochure and the first page). 

La Corea, invece, ha scelto di puntare sul divertimento e la cultura pop, come mostrano queste due foto, raffiguranti la copertina e la prima pagina della brochure. 

Possibly, it is useless to ask you which of the two countries, together with its language and culture, seems more "fun".

I thought this was gonna be the last post, but there are some interesting facts about other countries, too!So bear with me... 

Probabilmente, non ha senso chiedervi quale dei due paesi, con la sua lingua e la sua cultura, sembra più "divertente".

Pensavo che questo fosse l'ultimo post, ma ho scoperto cose interessanti su altri paesi!Restate con me...

Learn Chinese, Double Your World (2) - CHINA-RELATED STANDS

Sorry for the delay in posting the second part of the "Learn Chinese, Double Your World" saga!

Apart from Hanban - THE institution for the teaching and diffusion of Chinese language and culture - there were other stands involved with Chinese language and culture:
Scusate per il ritardo nel postare la seconda parte della saga "Learn Chinese, Double Your World"!
Oltre ad Hanban - l'istituzione per antonomasia coinvolta nell'insegnamento e nella diffusione della lingua e della cultura cinese - c'erano altri stand coinvolti:

- Dragons in Europe 

http://www.dragonsineurope.com

If you have a look at their website, you will see that they describe themselves as "The Mandarin Chinese Specialists", with a logo that represents Europe and has a Chinese character - 龙 long, "dragon" - superimposed. They mainly teach Chinese in schools in the UK and also publish a variety of textbooks and manuals. They are based in London;

Se visitate il loro sito web, vedrete che si descrivono come "gli specialisti del cinese mandarino" e hanno un logo che raffigura l'Europa con un carattere - 龙 long, "drago" - sovraimposto. Le loro attività si concentrano nell'insegnamento della lingua cinese nelle scuole in Gran Bretagna e pubblicano anche vari testi e manuali. Hanno sede a Londra;

- Xihaha (喜哈哈)

http://www.xihaha.co.uk

This is a bookshop, also based in London, that specilises in books for the teaching of Chinese language to children... under the slogan: "Mastering Chinese the Fun Way" (玩中学，学中乐).

Si tratta di un negozio di libri, sempre con sede a Londra, specializzato in libri per l'insegnamento della lingua cinese a bambini...sotto lo slogan: "Mastering Chinese the Fun Way" (玩中学，学中乐).

The Language Show Live! also included a "Language Taster" session, where visitors could literally "taste" some foreign languages (compared to the variety offered, for example, by the Language Centre of SOAS - the School of Oriental and African Language, University of London - this was really poor! For example, no African language was offered...).

Language Show Live! includeva anche una sezione di "Assaggi linguistici", durante i quali i visitatori potevano letteralmente "assaggiare" qualche lingua straniera (tuttavia, se messe a confronto con la varietà di lingue offerte, ad esempio, dal Centro Linguistico della SOAS - School of Oriental and African Language, Università di Londra - erano proprio poche! Nessuna lingua africana, ad esempio, veniva offerta...).

Among the language tasters, Chinese language was the one that was offered everyday - together with English, the British Sign Language, French and Spanish. 

All'interno degli assaggi linguistici, la lingua cinese è stata offerta ogni giorno - assieme all'inglese, al linguaggio dei segni inglese, al francese e allo spagnolo.

The first taster was carried out by the University of Westminster, while the following ones - on the 20th and the 21st - by the Hanban.

All of them were entitled "Chinese - Get the basics" (if you click on this link, a vocabulary of basic Chinese - explained during the taster - will open).

Il primo assaggio è stato offerto dall'Università di Westminster, mentre gli altri - rispettivamente il giorno 20 e 21 - dall'Hanban.

Tutti erano intitolati "Cinese - acquisisci le basi" (se cliccate qui, si aprirà un vocabolario di parole ed espressioni elementari, utilizzate durante la lezione).

In the three days of the show, two elementary Chinese intensive courses were run (for these, one had to pay).

Durante i tre giorni dello show, due corsi intensivi di cinese elementare erano stati attivati (questi però erano a pagamento).

Among the seminars, there was one entitled: "Teach with Disney China!" (aimed at introducing the possibilities of teaching English in China via Disney...mmmh) and "Sweet and sour...tasting Chinese", from which I propose the description of the event (I took it from the leaflet of the event):

Tra i seminari, ce n'era uno intitolato: "Insegna con Disney China!" (dedicato alla presentazione delle varie opportunità per insegnare inglese in Cina con la Disney....mmmh) e "Agro-dolce...un assaggio del cinese", di cui propongo la descrizione (tratta dal programma dell'evento):

"China is a country where the preparation and appreciation of food has been developed to the highest level. Chinese culture considers cooking an art and the preparation of food a craft. From Northern and Southern cuisines to 'medical food' discover the variety of the cooking traditions, dining etiquette and its taboos. Including free drink and food tasting"

"La Cina è un paese dove la preparazione e l'apprezzamento del cibo è stato sviluppato al livello più alto. La cultura cinese ritiene che la cucina sia un'arte e la preparazione del cibo un'opera. Dalle cucine del nord e quelle del sud al 'cibo curativo', scoprite la varietà delle tradizioni culinarie, dell'etichetta e dei tabù a tavola. Comprende un drink e un assaggio.

On Day 2, Dragons in Europe had the chance to speak about the experience of learning Chinese in a panel, the presentation was entitled: "Learning Chinese...app-solutely brilliant!" This is a small description of what was discussed:

Il secondo giorno, Dragons in Europe ha avuto occasione di parlare dell'esperienza dell'apprendimento del cinese nel corso di un panel, la presentazione era intitolata: "Imparare il cinese...app-solutamente fantastico!". Questa è una breve descrizione di ciò che è stato discusso:

An exciting opportunity to see the basics of Mandarin taught through an app & e-portal platform (www.primaryschoolchinese.com), which is currently helping thousands of children to start learning about this fascinating language and culture.

Una meravigliosa occasione per vedere come si insegna il cinese attraverso un'applicazione e una piattaforma e-portal (www.primaryschoolchinese.com), che stanno aiutando migliaia di bambini ad imparare questa lingua e questa cultura affascinante.

This talk was followed by a presentation by EF English First Language Training Shanghai Co., entitled: "Did the Last Emperor Speak English?". This was the catching content they promote: 

A seguire, una presentazione di EF English First Language Training Shanghai Co., intitolata "L'ultimo imperatore parlava cinese?". Questo è stato il contenuto che hanno promosso:

From chopsticks to cutlery: How China is learning English and what emerging trends there are in language education.

Dalle bacchette alle stoviglie: Come la Cina sta imparando l'inglese e quali sono i nuovi trend nell'insegnamento delle lingue.

This presentation was run also the following day, together with another China-related seminar: "Careers for English Language Teachers in East Asia", run by the British Council:

Questa presentazione è stata presentata anche il giorno successivo, assieme ad un altro seminario sulla Cina: "Carriere come insegnati di inglese nell'Asia Orientale", promosso dal British Council:

and, last but not least, the dance spectacle "The Art of Chinese Dance":

e, infine, lo spettacolo di danza "L'arte della danza cinese":

Enjoy this amazing dance performance, explore the language of movement and discover the beauty of Chinese culture.

Godetevi questa fantastica performance di danza, esplorate il linguaggio del movimento e scoprite la bellezza della cultura cinese.

Having seen the size of the Chinese stand, as well as the variety of language tasters, seminars and activities related to Chinese language and culture, Language Show Live! must have been a golden opportunity to show off! But what about the presence of other Asian Exhibitors? Stay tuned for more...

Viste le dimensioni dello stand cinese, ma anche la varietà degli assaggi linguistici, seminari e attività collegate alla lingua e cultura cinese, Language Show Live! deve essere stata una opportunità d'oro per esibirsi! E per quanto riguarda la presenza di altri standisti asiatici? Rimanete connessi per saperne di più...