Nation Branding China

A Negative Reception.

Many comments and observations have been made about the recent ‘Made in China’ adverts, the Chinese government’s first branding campaign. The 30-second ads debuted on Asian and global networks towards the end of 2009. Beyond the impact the campaign had as a topic, we’ve been following the conversations and developments since with interest.

In case you haven’t seen it, here it is.

The ad was commissioned by the Ministry of Commerce in partnership with four industry groups: the China Advertising Association of Commerce, the China Chamber of Commerce for Import and Export of Machinery and Electronic Products, the China Chamber of Commerce for Import and Export of Light Industrial Products and Arts-Crafts, and the China Chamber of Commerce for Import and Export of Textiles.

The stated purpose of the campaign was to assert the quality of Chinese made goods to the global business community by emphasizing their interaction with foreign companies, and (by extension) to refute any negative perceptions of cheap Chinese-produced goods.

“The global setting and international elements in the ad provide a new angle for the world to reflect on their stereotyped assumptions about Chinese products,” Zhao Yumin, a researcher with the MOC, said in Xinhua.

Much of the criticism has suggested that the advert reaffirms perceptions of China as the ‘factory of the world,’ and should in fact have emphasized China’s increasing status as a creative (rather than manufacturing) hub in its own right.

There has been a boom in nation branding over the last few years, not always with positive results. Other nations have been criticized for ill-advised forays into promoting their countries. VisitDenmark’s provocative attempt at self-promotion resulted in 800,000 YouTube hits, but after numerous complaints from they were forced to take down the video which featured a woman looking for the father of her child after fling with a tourist. It was claimed as a stunt, but people believed the story was real, and the idea backfired.

The intention, we’re told, was to promote Denmark as a country where “a nice and sweet story about a grown-up woman who lives in a free society and accepts the consequences of her actions” would not be (mis)construed as, “you can lure fast, blonde Danish women home without a condom” as one sociologist commented.

So, there’s a fine balance in nation branding between emphasizing dominant myths, and attempting to show a different image of your country.

Mostly, the ‘Made in China’ ads have been criticized for erring towards perpetuating dominant myths, despite their collaborative twist to that narrative.

“Does it make you feel better about Chinese quality? Not really. The idea behind it seems to be that while things are made in China, they are designed elsewhere (a fact that Apple makes very clear on the back of its iPods). So you shouldn’t worry about your shoes, fridges and clothes. Just because they are made in China doesn’t mean they are Chinese – they are still reassuringly foreign”, said Malcolm Moore of the Telegraph in his article.

From Chinese media, a similar critique is made. Fu Yunwei pointed out in an article in the China Daily that it’s precisely China’s ‘creativity’ that needs to be championed. His point is echoed by the reality of the industries mentioned in the advert: in fashion design, software development, R&D and transport technology Chinese creativity is booming.

And it’s even more odd to celebrate your manufacturing base when we are just starting to see Chinese brands make their mark on an international scale: Li Ning expanding globally, and jewelry brand Qeelin flipping the syntax of the Made in China campaign – their products are designed in China and produced in France.

The circumstances that contextualize the ad haven’t helped its reception either: screening was delayed in the wake of the melamine scandal, causing consumers around the world to inevitably lose faith in the quality of Chinese goods.

Not all bad?

Yes, it’s true that ‘Made in China’ as a campaign is structured around depicting the country’s ‘manufacture’ persona versus the ‘creativity’ of the rest of the world. That idea is locked into the syntax of the tagline: Made in China. (Designed / developed / innovated elsewhere). And yes, to many this seems surprising, in a context where, for example, Huawei beat Ericsson to win the contract for developing the 4G network in Sweden (of all places – indeed, Huawei’s success was attributed to ‘dependable technology and service,’). Why credit foreign nations with ‘creativity’ needlessly? Shouldn’t China try to move up the value-added food chain?

We, however, think that by understanding the campaign in a broader and ‘slower’ context, it’s pretty savvy, and, well… good.

This is the first time the Chinese government have produced an international campaign, and the act of doing so says something in itself about a desire to promote China on a global scale. It was also commissioned by departments who focus on commerce, trade and export. As an initial campaign, this lays the foundations to showcase the role China plays in the production of covetable, luxury and groundbreaking products – iPods, French couture, cutting edge technologies.

And China still views itself as first and foremost a manufacturer: it is primarily a manufacturing nation. Playing on high-end design and ‘creativity’ could well have come across as just plain false, indifferent to the reality of the Chinese economy. It’s much better to be honest (both to home-grown and foreign markets). If the Chinese seem to just be lying about their economic base, that doesn’t suit anyone – and manufacturing is overwhelmingly the economic base of the country. Not recognising that could have been perceived as delusional.

And there is probably a very important stakeholder in all this: the Chinese government. Given China still depends on export revenue and employment on manufacturing, it makes good sense for the government to reassure the world that Made in China doesn’t stand for shoddy quality. Until China accumulates enough Huawei’s, then reassuring the world that its manufacturing is top notch is probably not a bad strategy (even if it is only a first step).

We would also argue that for many consumers in the West, being reassured that the products that are made in China are actually being designed by people from their own country will make them feel better about buying Chinese goods. The recent recession has seen many anti-Chinese campaigns pop up in America (China’s largest export for many of its goods) and this may very well be a way for the government to fight back from afar (see here). If China wants to be a global leader, it has to talk globally, and being clear and straightforward about its main role in global economics is probably a good start.

China also has reason to be proud in its manufacturing, only at the end of the year did Chinese workers come runner up in TIME magazines person of the year…

Lessons to Learn.

Chinese brands need to grow their self-esteem and show confidence in  ‘created in China’ on an international scale. We see some brands beginning to do that: Huawei in technology, Qeelin in the luxury jewellery market and Lu Kun in fashion are the most obvious examples.

Furthermore, we agree with the commentators who often talk of a ‘burgeoning’ creative community in China that is now coming to the fore and that there is a need for brands to espouse belief in their own creative potential; to talk more about ‘conceived, researched, developed, created and made in China.’

Indeed, we hope the government has a follow up campaign that supports the growth of industries and brands in China with a greater focus on creativity. This would mean championing creativity on a brand-to-brand basis. When you look at what Singapore Airlines has done for Singapore’s brand building, you can see how cherry picking some strong creative brands to showcase China’s creativity could work well.

At the same time, however, Chinese brands would do well to follow the government’s lead and be honest. If making T-shirts is what you mostly do, tell people you do it well – At the end of the day, people will need tangible proof that China is teaming with creativity. Just saying it won’t cut it.

The question is really one of avoiding hastiness – let recognition of Chinese creativity flourish gently and come into its own when it is ready. After all, how many failed cases can we think of where a claim to ‘creativity’ was called out for being little more than bluster?

Title image credit: Designer Direction

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This entry was posted on Friday, January 15th, 2010 at 7:19 pm. It is filed under China, Geography, Video and tagged with advertising, featured, nation branding. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.