Effective Advertising in China

More traditional mediums for advertising such as television and print ads have shown to be a less effective way to reach the younger generation. As Gary Wang (founder/CEO of Tudou, the leading video portal in China) explains, a recent Netpop survey found that 58% of purchases are the result of positive word-of-mouth consumer reviews, blogs, and product ratings sites. In China the population of the highly-targeted group of 18-28 year olds is 176 million! And among them it is said that video-sharing sites are becoming more popular than TV.

So what is the best way to target this population especially with the up-coming 2008 Olympics? Banners and pop-ups have become a inefficient use of advertising budgets because of their lack of flexibility in shape and creativity and the emergence of hundreds of products that preemptively block them. The company Tudou recommends wallpaper ads and 3 second screen insertions to more effectively reach your target audience without the annoyance factor associated with pop ups.

Whichever methods are chosen it is of the utmost importance to understand user behavior and know your target audience in order to best choose which platform will best suit your product and budget.

Source:
How To Effectively Advertise In China; Gary Wang; Adotas.com 2008