Our weekly feature, Weibo Wednesday: and this week it’s a Valentine’s Day special!

As Valentine’s Day is nearing, Weibo opens up the window of romance for all

Give our single policemen a match

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In Chengdu, young policemen are recognised for the sacrifice they are making to protect the nation and people. Time sacrifice is cited as an issue that directly affects their chance of meeting potential partners.

The Chengdu police and Sina collaborated to ‘rescue the single policemen’. Within a week, this initiative became a hot discussion topic. There were many entries, responses and enquires. Tonight, Weibo will be conducting a mini-online interview for five short-listed single policemen.

While the idea of match-making is a rather traditional way of approaching a romantic relationship, it is interesting how technology and social media has evolved to make match-making so much more interactive and appealing. The thought of meeting someone for the first time is not as daunting as before, though the value of trust regarding information has also been diluted.

Publicly declare your love on Valentine’s Day 

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As Valentine’s Day approaches, Weibo creates the space for people to re-evaluate your own romance.

This year, the public transport organisation is going to lend you a hand. You can publish your love declaration on the public train newspaper on 14 February. Lonely hearts can take the opportunity to express their love for the one that they have been dreaming of for a long time. Dating couples can take the opportunity to propose to your partner.

‘Declaration of love’ 示爱 is very common – it is not embarrassing for people to express their love for someone they have feelings for.

Everyday, there are over 5 million commuters on the public train. While this is a dramatic way of ‘showing’ love, some would rather be more private and understated.

February – movie buff month

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There are over 20 international and local movies vying for people’s attention in February.

To no surprise, the mood of love sways people to vote for movies like “I Do” and “LOVE”. Both are Chinese movies that talk about archetypal romance stories we have heard of many times. While there is no originality in the storylines, during this romantic month people will likely be seeking validation or some kind of emotional payback.

We’re happy to announce the next Flamingo Big Ideas Breakfast will be held in London on the 29th February, with the theme as “The new language of consumerism”. Our guest speaker will be Charles Leadbeater,  a leading authority on innovation and creativity and the source of many breakthrough ideas about how institutions and services must break with conventional thinking to better connect with people.  We’ll be asking him to apply this thinking to how people, culture and brands respond to crisis in the developed world.

Although the topic is more obviously linked to the crises of the ‘West’ – we’ll be following up with our thoughts on how this topic plays out in China.

The event will be available to watch live via a webcast – details to follow.

Over the recent Chinese New Year, Pepsi launched a mini web movie titled, Bringing Joy Home (百事2012贺岁大片-把乐带回家) gaining strong resonance amongst Chinese consumers by tapping into a culturally relevant theme that transcends time, yet affects modern reality – the desire to return home during the festive season.

Consumer sentiment on Sina Weibo was generally positive with one Weibo user becoming very moved with its message to even follow its advice and bring Pepsi products home!

The story depicts the rapid changes modern China underwent over the past three generations. Represented by famous celebrities from the Post-70s generation (Zhou Xun), Post-80s generation (Show Luo) and Post-90s generation (Angela Zhang) – each of these characters initially chooses to forgo the Chinese New Year for different reasons.

Though each story highlights generational differences, one common theme that emerges is the enduring nature of selfless love from their parents – sought after by each generation because of China’s constant motion and transience.

One can argue that featuring such heavy codes of home and parental love is contrary to Pepsi’s youth-oriented values that embrace possibilities and joy. However these are not opposing thoughts at all – especially in China where an individual’s pursuit of success is often supported by a larger family network.

In the movie, Pepsi’s array of products becomes a bridge between what Chinese society is today and what Chinese society once was. As Chinese youth are starting to question the meaning of material progression, we see that it’s becoming more complex than a blind rush for progression. It raises the question if Pepsi’s brands can continue to be a mediator between the transient and transcendent to help young people navigate in this New Year.

Pepsi’s examination of cross-generational themes feels like a play for Pepsi to assert its brand association with the Chinese New Year. Much like Coca Cola’s strong Christmas association (and subsequent advertising saturation) it isn’t farfetched to imagine future Chinese New Year’s to be linked with Pepsi.

What can we learn from Pepsi’s approach this Chinese New Year? We identify three lessons:

1. This form of communications signals a shift away from traditional, heavy handed advertising by allowing people to make their own connection with the themes. Consumer reaction has been strong regarding this.

2. Communication must allow people to connect with what the brand stands for – especially in occasions where the product is just the bearer of deeper emotions; rational product benefits are ancillary.

3. Names can be formidable mnemonic devices, especially when the context reinforces it. Pepsi’s ad uses this device to clever effect through its Lays placement (乐事), which also reads as “joyful news”.

Following on from Chinese New year and our earlier post on migration – we wanted to present a short photo essay on ‘Brand Mules.’  The essay explores the goods migrant workers typically choose to take home for their families. Despite living in progressive and modern cities; migrant workers have little access to international brands, and most often the products they carry are pragmatic, everyday, domestic brands.

Whilst there’s a physical migration, there hasn’t been a mental one.

You can view below, and also download our FYI Migration app for iPad here.

Having visited Minsheng Art Mueseum this week, I was particularly struck by the work of CIaire Fontaine and Julio Cesar Morales that explore the theme of migration. Claire Fontaine’s work “Foreigners everywhere”, has been translated previously in Greek, and other languages. It’s neon lights signifying the anxiety that culture can experience with migration issues.

In Minsheng, it’s translated into Chinese and put next to a set of Morales’ watercolours that showcase how Mexican immigrants hide themselves when crossing the US border. This powerfully illustrates that migration is no longer an issue just affecting Europe and America.

In the case of China, the issue is more about internal migration of people ‘outside the region’/ 外地人 that typically provide cheap labour. However the dilemma is the same – a societal need for additional labour but potential societal intolerance to disturbance from migrants. For China, middle class locals –  particularly in first tier cities – have an intolerance that likely comes from the desire to set themselves apart from struggling migrants. Locals don’t want to be reminded that they may face the same problems plaguing these migrants – inequality in welfare, bullied by local bureaus.

Coincidentally it’s the time of the year again that China experiences mass internal migration. This year, more so than the last few years, I’ve experienced a sense of growing empathy towards the plight of migrant workers. So much so, that a three-part short film was made to highlight the travails migrant workers go through to get home for CNY by motorbiking for more than four days.

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Post by Keyue

Here’s the weekly weibo round-up…

Damn it, this is the ideal lifestyle!

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It was reported that Hong Kong celebrity Tony Leung spontaneously booked a flight to London, fed the pigeons at Time Square, and flew back to Hong Kong in the evening. Tony Leung exclaims, “This is life!”.

This created a lot of discussion on Weibo – what’s your kind of ideal lifestyle? Fill in the blanks in the following context:

____ has leisure time and is feeling bored, in the day he/she will spontaneously go to _____, freely do ____, for example, _____, individually _____, don’t speak a word, in the evening ______, as though nothing has happened, suddenly feel that “damn it, this is life”.

From the many posts, many are inspired by Tony Leung – lots of people want to spontaneously leave the city for somewhere else, even if it is only for the day. The ‘ideal’ experience is often something that they are less able to experience on a daily basis – for example, going to North Pole to feed the polars, going to Amsterdam to witness the trading of prostitution and drugs, and going to a deserted house to smoke marijuana.

Seems like the ideal experience is also pretty subversive!

This idea of solitary and private spontaneity seems to mirror the alter ego of people – while some do sound a bit crazy, there’s no harm pondering on it – after all, Tony Leung did it.

Journey to the West by Zhang Ji Zhong – the best adaptation  

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Be it the film, TV series, or comics, most people are familiar with Journey to the West. It is a fictional account of the legendary pilgrimage to India by the Buddhist monk, Tang Sang Zang to obtain sacred sutras. During his journey, he was protected by three disciples: Sun Wukong, Zhu Bajie and Sha Wujing. You can read more about it here

There is a long list of adaptations of Journey to the West. I recall watching the TV series of Journey to the West (1996) that starred Dicky Cheung as the Monkey King. I can still fondly remember the scenes when the Monkey King, known as ‘Sun Wukong’ uses his magic power to change in shape and size to escape or fight the evil spirits. The Sun Wukong’s cheeky demeanour makes watching the show more enjoyable.

Zhang Ji Zhong’s latest 66-episode TV series work is listed as one of the best adaptations, which still encapsulates the original stories of the Journey to the West.

Certificate or advertisement? 

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A local primary school in Yucheng, in Henan province, started placing advertisements on students’ certificates. The advertisement is about signing up for an english camp in the winter holiday.

The school has been reprimanded for being driven by monetary payback rather than genuine concern for the students development. It appears that the primary school involved also receives commission for placing the advertisement on the certificates. Be it professional psychologists or parents, they want education to be given a clean slate – it should remain as a platform for learning, not commerce.

Also, parents are proud to put up their child’s certificate on the wall to remind their child of his/her achievement. But with the advertising loaded certificate, the idea is no longer appealing. In addition, with parent’s continuous effort to lower their child’s stress at school, the idea of a winter holiday to english camp is not so popular. While parents want their child to excel, this initiative is really not very tactfully executed.

With real-name registration, the officials can better track down users who post sensitive or malicious attacks on officials.

Seoul was first to adopt real-name registration, but the system is not fool-proof – hackers managed to exposed the personal details of the users, causing greater issues.

Beijing is going to be first to roll out this new system – we shall hear more about it work out.

We’ll have twice the space to put to good use. Along with accommodating an ever growing Flamingo Shanghai family, we also plan to hold events and exhibitions in the new space.

More updates to follow.

I was not just surprised to see Liushen in Singapore, but that it is flourishing! In the current issue of Women’s Weekly, Liushen emerged as a winner of ‘Best Beauty Buys”.

It was more shocking that Liushen is championed by its whitening products in Singapore – winning this award. In China, Liushen is well-known for its refreshing benefits, and of course, it’s anti-mosquito spray.

In any case, congratulations and three cheers to Chinese brands.

On the second day of my trip at the Lugu Lake in Yunan, I followed the funder of an organisation called ‘Edu-aid in Yongning’ to this primary school. Recently, the team from this organisation worked hard to raise funds for the shower room project and it finally materialises. The teachers and volunteers taught the children how to use the shower facility.  For many of students, this was probably the first time  warm shower they had. After the shower, their innocent smiles shone under the blue sky.

However, there are still a lot of things that need to be improved. For example, currently the school doesn’t have canteen. The children hunker over their lunch in the open. If it rains, it will be a disaster for them. Also, a lot of them don’t have enough clothes for winter.