University students in Shanghai have been hard at work pinpointing and correcting Shanghai’s “Chinglish” on signs citywide. ”Chinglish” is a humourous term to describe communication using a mix of Chinese and English. It can also mean English phrases that were directly translated from Chinese without taking into consideration English grammar or word/sentence structure (and thus, are often difficult to understand).
Armed with only a notebook, pen and sometimes a digital camera, students have been scouring 28 of the main public spaces in Shanghai, eagle-eyed and alert for erroneous signs.
These errors will be submitted to the city’s language officials for the signs to be updated before the Shanghai World Expo next summer. Changes will be made just in time for the estimated 5.5 million foreign visitors flocking to the Expo.
Says one student: “Shanghai is expecting several million foreign visitors during the 2010 World Expo. For visitors, poorly translated signs can be misleading and can possibly tarnish the city’s image around the world. So I, along with my fellow classmates, have volunteered to help the city make improvements.” (Quote Source: CNN)
Chinese Youth
As identified in Starcom’s Olympics Research, the Beijing Olympics helped prompt and also showcased China-pride in youth. 2008 was a year filled with major events – From the Sichuan earthquake to the Olympics; Chinese youth have had much on their mind.
Countless articles have been written about Chinese youth as “little emperors”, spoiled by their only-child status. However, we can see that they have grown to be a responsible and altruistic bunch. They showed an outpouring of sympathy when the Sichuan earthquake struck, physically going to Sichuan to help with the relief efforts, and raising money towards donations. The number of students who wanted to help out was so great that hospitals did not even have the capacity to handle all the students lining up to give blood after the disaster. For the Beijing Olympics, over a million youth volunteered. Now, we can see that they are once again stepping up to the plate to help Shanghai before the World Expo.
While they have appeared to glamourize the West and also follow the trends of Japan and Korea, this seems to be losing a bit of its luster, as a new shift has taken place and the feeling of China-pride is strong. Chinese youth are embracing their country and they are not ashamed to show it. In fact, we have found in Starcom’s Youth Surveillance research conducted this year that a higher-than-expected 40% of youth say that they prefer products that have a Chinese name or label. Also, 86% between the ages of 16-19 say they are “proud to be Chinese”.
In the last several weeks, I’ve been hearing and reading a lot about augmented reality. It’s as if it just popped out of nowhere all of a sudden and is now seemingly attacking with force. Every marketer is now keen on knowing more and getting involved. In China, there are increasingly more and more agencies exploring augmented reality innovation.
Augmented reality, simply put, is a mixed reality of real life + virtual computer generated imagery. It has been used in other fields, such as military or architecture, but is now breaking ground in the advertising industry. Marketers desperate to discover the next new way to connect with consumers are clamoring to get a piece of the action and see how it can be applied to their brands successfully.
It’s too early to tell whether augmented reality has staying power and will deliver ROI (how would it be measured though?) or if it’s merely a passing fad. I don’t think there’s any way this is just a passing fad. The implications and consumer involvement are far too interesting for it to simply come and go. Plus the number of computers and smartphones globally are climbing with rapid speed.
Here are some cool examples of recent augmented reality examples by some of my favourite brands:
1. Coke Zero + Avatar
Firstly, I have to confess to being the biggest Coke Zero fan. I was a Diet Coke drinker before Coke Zero came out and as soon as it did, I fell in love. I tried it as soon as it came out and told everyone I knew about it’s brilliance (Diet Coke that tastes like real Coke… what’s not to like?!). Anyway, I digress. We’re talking about augmented reality, not my silly obsession with Coke Zero.
Coke has partnered with Avatar for a cool cross promotion that is taking place globally. I recently noticed the ‘AVTR’ cans here in Hong Kong.
Coke Zero cans will be printed with the special AVTR logo and once you hold this in front of your computer’s webcam, you will see an interactive image appear on your computer screen and be able to “take a ride” on the Samson Helicopter from the Avatar movie. Coke is hoping this will create great buzz (it already has been!) and resonate with youth. Check out their TVC here for an example of how it works:
2. McDonald’s and Avatar
McDonald’s will be doing something similar, starting on Avatar’s opening weekend this December. It appears that they are offering Avatar cards that achieve a similar effect as the Coke Zero campaign. This time, with a robot. See this clip to understand how it works (whooa!):
3. Always Infinity “Magic Show” campaign
This campaign came out earlier this year and supported by print and also via a page on their website.
Once again, consumers hold a sheet up to their webcam, but on-screen a magic show appears on the paper. This is how it works (click here to see it in action on the Always Infinity site):
Still much more to see
There is still so much more in the wonderful world of augmented reality. These are just examples of computer screen based campaigns and capabilities. There’s the whole area of smartphone augmented reality that I haven’t touched upon yet. Will discuss that in my next post, cuz there’s just so much to talk about with that (hellooo iPhone applications!)
But seriously – this stuff is exciting right? It will change the way marketers think and interact with consumers for good!
The first post is always the most daunting – at least that’s what I’m hoping.
Do I post something weighty and important as the first post, or something funny and inane?
I know … here’s something I came across today.
Would you want to live in this? The world’s first/only (?) hotel shaped like… people!
This is the Tianzi Hotel (also known as the The Emperor Hotel, Son Of Heaven Hotel and in Chinese, 天子大酒). This 10 storey structure was built in 2000/2001 and is located in China’s Hebei Province.
Apparently this hotel won a Guinness World record for being the world’s “biggest image building”.
The design is a replica of the Fu Lu Shou. These are deities dating back to the Ming Dynasty who represent Good Fortune (Fu), Prosperity (Lu), and longevity (Shou) – All commonly seen in Chinese culture to denote the three attributes of a good life (the Chinese version, not the Kanye version)
Take a look at the Shou building. He’s holding a peach and that peach is actually a suite within the hotel and the two holes at the front are windows. Peach trees are symbols of longevity.
Legend says that the peach tree of immortality is located in the Kun Lun mountains. The eight Immortals of Chinese folklore would gather every 3,000 years (as the tree would only bear fruit once every 3,000 years) at this tree and eat the fruit in order to maintain their immortality.
I’m intensely curious about what the inside looks like but have yet to come across any photos online. Perhaps it’s better not to know so that I won’t be disappointed when it looks like an ordinary hotel and not a magical heavenly paradise filled with gold, incense, clouds, peach trees and old ancient Confucius-like men with long white beards…
Thanks for visiting! We're the research team at Starcom MediaVest Group China, bringing you the latest research and China news.
你好！我叫 Starcom MediaVest Group China Research Team 来自中国星传媒体，在这里为你带来最新最火在中国的媒介和市场营销的行业新闻。
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