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Be more imaginative about TV commercials

By Hong Liang (China Daily)
Updated: 2008-12-02 07:47

Watching television the other night, I came across a commercial of a hamburger restaurant (not McDonald's) which was reasonably well done with nice scenes and a refreshing looking cast. But the ad turned me off.

The commercial opens with an idyllic scene of a clean-cut young farmhand, wearing a broad smile, tenderly massaging an almost perfect looking cow standing restfully under a shed in what appears to be a manicured lawn rather than a rough pasture. The message is nice and clear, up to that point. The next scene shows the healthy young man taking a lunch break on a log munching a juicy hamburger with the voice over bragging about the quality of the beef from the cows in the background. I can't really think of a more callous way to sell a food product.

But then again, most TV commercials on mainland channels are unimaginative in style and mediocre in presentation. Some of them, especially those selling health supplements and mobile phones, are decidedly offensive. The mindset of the marketing people working at the domestic and foreign vendors on the mainland, and their advertising advisors, seems to have gone out of sync with that of the increasingly sophisticated Chinese consumers, especially those in the large cities. Overcoming this shortcoming should be of particular significance to many Chinese vendors at a time when they need to vigorously push domestic sales to offset losses from dwindling export demand.

To counter the impact of the global financial crisis, the Chinese government has taken positive steps to boost domestic expenditure, including various initiatives to generate consumer demand and promote consumer spending. Success of a program cannot be assured without the cooperation of the many vendors of goods and services, who must, for their own good, chip in to heighten consumers' spending desire.

Marketing people would agree that advertisement is one of the most effective means to help create consumer demand. But before spending the next advertising dollar, the advertiser should take some time to study the changes in consumer profile and market environment. In China's increasingly competitive marketplace, a crude and offensive ad on TV can stick to the brand like a cheap suit for a long time.

Hard sell seems to be the only tactic many Chinese advertisers know. Some of them appear to have gone to the extreme in believing that if you repeat the message often enough, people will believe it. As a result, TV shows can sometimes be interrupted by half an hour of commercial time repeatedly showing one single ad. In one of these mind-numbing ads, a couple just keep yelling almost hysterically why everyone should buy a hand phone studded with fake diamonds.

I wonder whether anyone would be moved to buy a particular brand of face cleanser after watching its ad on TV featuring a close-up, 100 percent enlargement of a pimple on somebody's face. In another equally repulsive commercial, a pharmaceutical company tries to tout its ulcer treatment drug by showing an animated X-ray of the inside of a stomach, where a hideous-looking cartoon character is drilling a hole through the wall. Yuk.

I can go on, but you got the point.

Of course, there are some pleasing, and even entertaining, ads on TV. But they are so few that I can't really think of one offhand. I am sure there is no shortage of creative talents on the mainland and in Hong Kong who are perfectly capable of producing ads that are pleasing to the eye and will do justice to the brand. If only their clients will listen.

E-mail:jamesleung@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily 12/02/2008 page8)