The right channel is more important

The "Made in China" ad campaign on CNN, according to some Chinese media, "provoked a heated public response" abroad. Since the target audiences of the commercial are foreigners, any evaluation should be based on their feedback.

Perhaps the telecast frequency of the ad wasn't enough, for most of the Americans I have talked with hadn't seen the commercial.

The Chinese media may show great interest in the commercial, but the foreign media seems to lack interest. Page reviews of this commercial on video sharing online networks are not high, either. There are few comments on the ad on these networks, and we can easily tell that Chinese people have written most of them.

On the contrary, negative coverage of China always has a rather high click rate on such online networks, and they almost always spark heated public debate among foreigners.

This is the first time an ad campaign has been launched to build the image of China and Chinese products abroad. And on the positive side, the commercial indeed shows a series of details that cater to the taste of foreign audiences, which should be encouraged.

But we should rethink why this commercial hasn't achieved the expected result: Either it has failed to reach the target audience, or it did not impact them. So for long-term promotion of the national image, we'd better find a stronger way to tell our story.

It should be open to discussion whether it was a good idea to choose CNN as to launch the commercial. It is true that CNN is watched across the world and is an influential TV network in the US. But it does not cover the majority of American audiences.

Drew Thompson, a famous China expert, told me that it might not have been a wise choice to launch the commercial on CNN because many ordinary consumers in the US - the ad's main target audience - don't watch the channel quite often.

If the ad campaign is continued, I hope we broaden our vision. Before starting the next campaign, we should research our target audience and choose the best channel to reach them.

In order to shape the national image, China should issue interstitial ads on the Internet. This will help it reach its target audience more effectively and accurately.

Opinions differ, but we should learn from such comments and suggestions. In the age of globalization, we cannot afford to keep away from the outside world. To realize the goal of the commercial, "cooperate with the world", we should first solicit the views of the audiences.

Admittedly, the ad campaign is a step forward in the country's image-building exercise. But to really improve the image of China and Chinese products, we need to improve on our homework.

The author is a journalist with Xinhua News Agency's Washington bureau.

(China Daily 01/05/2010 page9)