Here’s a nice bit of advertising technology that can be found in the back of taxis throughout Shanghai, China.
More than just a screen pushing ads, the interactive touch-screen device (or ipad as they’ll all be referred to as soon enough) gives the user something to do as they make their way across the city.
Reaching out to the audience in contexts where they have nothing better to do allows advertising to be seen as a welcome distraction opposed to an unwelcome interruption. New technology is allowing us to provide better experiences in such contexts. From TV screens above urinals to gaming at bus stops waiting has never been so much fun.
In the UK Hyundai is not a name that is readily associated with mobile phones. However, the brand known for it’s budget cars in the UK is a major mobile phone manufacturer in the East.
I saw this ad in China of a particularity interesting looking Hyundai mobile. Further investigation led me to find that it might not be long before Hyundai’s innovative looking line of mobiles hits the UK. It appears the mobiles are consistent with the brand values of modern technology at affordable prices.
It will be interesting to see how the brand perception changes in the UK with the release of Hyundai mobiles, perhaps helping to build the brand reputation as an innovator within the technological field.
Before I visited China I was aware of the high level of Internet censorship, or as many call it the great firewall of China. However, due to mixed reports and constant change I was unsure exactly what the Chinese web browsing experience would bring. As it turned out not all of my preconceptions turned out to be true.
I found that it’s our most popular social media tools that you will have most trouble accessing. Facebook, Twitter, and various popular blogging sites (no Trendplanner!) appear to have never existed, entering the urls will provide you with the same response as if you had simply hit the keys at random. Another constant block (while I was in the country) that I found a little surprising due to extensive promotion of Google in the country was the Google owned youtube. After entering the url you were often given hope by the sight of the familiar red and white logo, but this hope soon faded as it began to look like you were using a browser of yesteryear that was in no position to handle graphics or video.
Due to reports I heard around the time of the Olympics I had expected to find the BBC and Wikipedia blocked. However, the BBC was available for the majority of my stay, as were other western news sources such as CNN, and the majority of US and UK newspaper sites. Perhaps even more of a surprise was to have access to Wikipedia, including articles on the site that mentioned the controversial events of Tianeman square. However, I soon found that Wikipedia was not free from the constraints of censorship. I was unable to access various articles including an article on Internet censorship in China, and though perhaps coincidently after trying to do so I was unable to access any Wikipedia articles at all for several hours that followed.
It is possible to access sites behind the firewall, but not always with ease. Twitter and facebook can sometimes by accessed via third party sites, but as soon these are spotted these sites get blocked. Hootsuite worked the day I arrived but didn’t the next, in the end the only site that hadn’t been blocked was SocialWhale (thanks guys). The best way to get access is to use a VPN (virtual private network), however once you’re behind the firewall the best sites to download the software have been blocked, and even when you have the software you will often struggle to again access. The best free service I found was Ultra VPN which gave me access (some of the time) to a French ip address.
Having some of my most used sites blocked was a real inconvenience to me, but many Chinese do not see a problem. Facebook, Twitter, Youtube, and wordpress do not offer unique services, Chinese users have access to many social networking, and video sharing sites, many of which probably offer a better service than the aforementioned sites. What’s more in a society where all forms of media are under strict censorship rules, most people (though I found plenty that didn’t) seem comfortable or at least expectant of Internet restrictions.
It appears that the Chinese government is well aware that the Internet is vital to the continuation of the country’s rapid economic growth. They don’t want to restrict activity that could benefit the country, but at the same time they don’t want such activity to threaten their position of power. Therefore they ensure that Internet users have access to services such as social networking and video sites, but they ensure that these are sites and site owners the government considers ‘suitable’.
Chances are there are also various financial motives behind the blocking, there is a lot more benefit to China to see a Chinese social network flourish in China than the American owned service such as Facebook.
So the firewall can bring benefits to China, but issues of personal freedom aside, censorship could restrict real progress within the digital space for China. Chinese users have access to most forms of social media tools, but they might be missing out on specific services to use or perhaps integrate with their own (no facebook connect in China). Restrictions hamper innovation, and time will tell if the firewall restricts China’s progress in the digital world.
Blogging and tweeting is proving to be a little difficult while I’m behind the great firewall of China (more on that soon), but when there’s a will there’s a way…
So here’s the ten most popular twitter posts I sent out last month.
1. Social media in China – It’s a whole new world – http://ow.ly/CJI8
What do you do with massive poster ads that have been replaced? Well if your Sony Japan you turn them into jeans.
I spotted this great little campaign in the Sony building Tokyo. On the outside of the building there hangs a massive promotion poster which is changed monthly, Sony decided to take these old posters cut them up and turn them into a jeans.
Wanting to make sure I actually understood what they meant by ‘jeans created from a used ad’ I did a little searching and found this youtube video that shows you exactly how posters become jeans.
It’s a great idea that highlights the brand’s eco-awareness, furthermore the campaign helps attach Sony’s much desired values of style, creativeness, and individuality (think ‘like no other’) to the brand.
Last week I was having a bit of trouble finding a station in Osaka so I asked a lady for some help in finding the station. She didn’t speak much English but gestured for me to follow her and started walking, assuming she was getting to a better position to point out the station I followed her. However, to my surprise she was not simply pointing me in the right direction, after a few minutes of walking (through some impressive underground shopping centre) it became clear she was actually talking me to the station. She walked me all the way to the station as if it was her duty to do so, accepted my thanks, smiled and walked back the way we came.
Now that’s some great service and definitely went above and beyond my expectations. Consequently from this one event, I was given an extremely positive feeling about Osaka, and Japan. This feeling was not just towards the people and their behaviour, but to the country as a whole. This single event had largely defined my opinion on the personality (or brand) of Japan. If I was to have left Japan that day that’s the experience and opinion I would have taken with me and shared with other people.
The point here is that just one event can define a person’s attitude to all that event represents or can be associated with. When it comes to brands, just a single customer service situation could determine how people define your brand. Customer service tasks are not just a box to be ticked, but a real opportunity to exceed expectations and benefit the brand as whole. Exceptional or unexpected levels of customer service will alter the perception of the individual involved, but it can also alter and determine the view of others. Word will spread (particularly quickly these days) and if it’s positive it can provide some very powerful promotional material.
Getting back to Japan, I’m glad to say that this was not an isolated incident, the people of Japan are some of the nicest and most helpful people I’ve ever met. Just the other day someone offered to cycle round part of the city to look for our hotel!
Here’s a little picture of the toilet in my last hotel room that can be found across Japan. Some very interesting buttons and it was also a little odd to see a power cable going into the toilet seat!
Can’t see these appearing any time soon in the UK, more due to reasons related to the desire to use them rather than any lack of technological knowledge. It’s just one of the many examples that show the importance of culture in any form of technological advancement.
