Creative passions

In a wall cabinet sit 20 antique or limited-edition cameras; on the desk stands a picture of a huge air balloon; a set of golf clubs rest against the wall in a corner while the sound of DIY Hi-Fi-delivered melodies quietly fills the room. That's the office of Zhu Qingchen, an advertising tycoon.

As chairman of domestic leading ad company Topsun Communications Group, Zhu admits he is a man with a wide array of interests and hobbies. "It's the broad interests that inspired me to tap the water of business and inspires me to go on," says the 42-year-old entrepreneur.

On his name card, in addition to his business title, Zhu is also identified as a member of the China Photographers Association, the Aero Sports Federation of China, and chairman of an amateur golf club, the Multi National Corporation Club.

Some people might say excessive attention to playthings saps the professional will, but Zhu believes a career and interests need not be mutually exclusive but are indeed mutually beneficial, especially for ad people.

"I need money to take photos, ride air balloons, play golf, which stimulates me to initiate and expand my business to earn money," he says. "On the other hand, the hobbies help me widen my view and inspire my creativity," he explains.

With 15 years' development, Zhu's Topsun does ad campaigns for a series of domestic and foreign big names, such as Motorola, HP, Coca-Cola, China Unicom, IBM, Lenovo, ABB and Lining.

In an annual IAI (International Advertising Institute) Creative Competition of Advertising Companies list, Topsun was ranked among the top 10 for four consecutive years and at the sixth spot in the most recent ratings.

In "Retail Promotion in China" competition organized by IAI, Topsun has been ranked No 1 in the last two years in China among domestic and foreign counterparts.

Photography

Zhu's first hobby was photography. His father is a shutterbug, and when Zhu was a child, he regarded cameras as mysterious equipment. During his school days he also read many books and magazines on photography.

After high school graduation, he got his first camera, a Yashika FX7 tagged at 700 yuan, with money borrowed from his father. With the money needed for film and developing, photography became a costly hobby, Zhu recalls.

Then, 18-year-old Zhu got a job as a printer in China's currency printing plant with a monthly salary at around 100 yuan. He worked hard to earn money to repay his father and buy film and photo developing equipment.

Zhu says he felt fortunate in 1988 to get a job at China Youth magazine as a photographer where he could get free film and combine his job and hobby.

But Zhu eventually found that attractive as free film and employment was, he was not creatively free enough to take pictures he liked and could not realize his dream of publishing his own photographic collection.

He quit the job in 1991 and became a freelancer. In the next one and a half years, Zhu did some advertising photography in a bid to save money to buy high-quality equipment and film and work on his book.

"I found the ad industry is interesting and that operating a company could make me money more quickly, so I joined hands with a media photographer to register Topsun in 1993," says the tall, tidy middle-aged man with gentle voice, who looks more like a refined businessman than a stereotypical rough, cool photographer.

For the first two years, the company's business performance was only so-so with an annual revenue at only 20,000 yuan. Zhu had more opportunities to take ad photos, but spent most of his time riding his bicycle around Beijing to visit clients, negotiate with vendors and do various trivial things for his startup, especially after his partner left the company in 1994.

"Anyway, I could not give up my business for the sake of my staff, and for photography," says Zhu, who admits that his most pronounced characteristic is his earnestness.

Topsun's turning point was a sealed deal with Motorola in 1995. During a pitch with other agencies, Topsun stood out due to its Chinese-style design. At that time Motorola, a US-based multinational company, was seeking to localize some operations in China.

Zhu and his employees carried out comprehensive market research and was bent on making every detail perfect. Though Topsun earned little money from the deal, its work won Motorola's appreciation and trust and the electrical products giant became a long-term client of Topsun through the present day. It is also the company's top client, as Topsun generated 4 million yuan in revenue from Motorola last year, compared to its annual profit of 8 million yuan.

In 1996 and 1997, Topsun designed and produced a corporate brochure and a 10th anniversary book for Motorola. The latter, also named The Red Book, achieved tremendous success and compliments.

The book's design motif was traditional Chinese paper cut patterns, which symbolize both a celebratory atmosphere and the company's dedication to China. It became the visual icon of a series of public relations and cultural exchange activities for Motorola.

Bernd Schmitt and Alex Simonson praised the book in their book Marketing Aesthetics. It says that The Red Book used Chinese symbols and proverbs to represent the multi-faceted development of Motorola in China.

For example, "the phoenix" represented happiness and fortune; "the tiger" power and mission; "the sailboat" good business; "plum, orchid and bamboo" for courage, honesty and agility, as well as Motorola's strong foundation in China. Chinese proverbs were also used to emphasize Motorola's $1.2 billion investment (up to 1997) in China and its commitment to future development of China.

For the design, Zhu says though traditional arts were used, his photographic skills did help him. During the months of working on The Red Book, Zhu recalls: "I know, in my staff's eyes, I am fussy and nitpicking. But I am that kind of person and it cannot be changed. When I do something, I must do it well."

The Motorola account also gave Topsun needed clout within the ad industry to help propel its growth with other high-level clients.

Hot-air balloon

In 1998, Zhu did aerial photography from a hot-air balloon for a client. For the advertiser, the flight was love at first sight.

From then on, Zhu often awoke at 4 am and drove two hours to rural Beijing with his camera, to climb to higher areas and take photographs from a different view.

"I don't think there is another sport like hot-air ballooning - both elegant and spectacular. People climb high gradually into the air and overlook the earth with a bird's eye view," says Zhu, stressing that he especially likes the feeling of tiny human beings controlling a behemoth hot-air balloon, which is often as high as seven to eight stories.

"It's free in the blue sky and under white clouds, with the wind caressing your face. It calms my spirit amid the competitive and busy business environment," says Zhu.

Hot-air ballooning is an expensive sport, as the price of a balloon is around hundreds of thousands yuan and each flight costs hundreds of yuan. When he realized he was becoming stuck on the sport, Zhu started considering how to use hot-air balloons to make money, in a bid to not only continue his new hobby but also to expand his business.

Indeed, hot-air balloons as well as blimps such as the internationally famous Goodyear blimp, have become a mobile advertising carriers. Gabai, a small Japanese city, is also famous for its hot-air balloon festival, which attracts millions of tourists from home and abroad and generates millions of US dollars of ad revenue with advertisements on balloons.

Taking a cue from Gabai's balloon fest and after years of preparation, Zhu launched the annual Haikou Hot Air Balloon Festival in the capital city of the southern Hainan province in 2007. "Last year we had only 10 balloons," he says. "This year, the number stands at 40, from all over the country."

The 2008 H1 Hot Air Balloon Challenge China was launched on April 25, and brought competitors for a balloon race across the Qiongzhou Strait.

Zhu is also launching a similar festival in Inner Mongolia soon, which he hopes will also become an annual affair. And he will host a marriage festival simultaneously with the Hainan balloon festival next year as the island province is a hot honeymoon travel site in China.

Though the chairman denies revealing what Topsun has earned the hot-air promotion activities, he says it will be a fresh profit engine for his company and support its business expansion.

Broader prospects

This is Topsun's 15th anniversary. The ad-centered company has moved into a new office facility and broadened its business pillars from advertising to public relations, retailing and publishing.

And Zhu's new hobby is golf and his best score is 78. "During the craziest days, I played golf six times a week," he says.

The businessman acknowledges that this sport not only helps him relax but also helps him to network with fellow golfers in his circle, usually successful businesspeople and celebrities.

So far, there are more 100 members of the Multi National Corporation Club, including many senior executives of world giant companies, such as IBM, Microsoft, Intel, Siemens, Ericsson and Nortel.

"One day, when my company is on a sound development track, and my staff can operate it and have good lives, I will have time to realize my ultimate dream," says Zhu, who wants to drive a pickup with his hot-air balloon and camera to travel around the world.

With annual growth rate at over 20 percent in recent years, the company forecasts its profit will exceed 10 million yuan this year.

But some of his employees say their boss may explore some new hobbies, given his rich and broad interest in life and will continue the business in order to afford his hobbies.

Zhu says that the driving force to his career is a happy life, while the happy life really inspires his creativity and strength to pursue business success.

(China Daily 06/23/2008 page12)