Is it just me or are the lyrics to this rather tacky pop song a bit sinister?
People of every skin colour, People with hair of every colour
What they’re reading, what they’re saying,
Chinese is becoming the new trend
How many years did we painstakingly practice English pronunciation and learn their grammar?
For a change, now it’s their turn to get their tongues all in a knot
How smart the Chinese are! And how beautiful our language is!
The whole world is learning Chinese
Confucius’ words are becoming world culture
Our language makes the people of the world listen up
The first question this raises is exactly who in the world is learning Chinese other than a handful of business men and language students at university? An audacious statement perhaps but doesn’t quite represent the whole world to my mind, although they got the part about it being a ludicrously difficult language to learn correct!
Aside from being a little naive what’s perhaps more worrying is that this was one of the main performances at the 2008 Chinese New Year gala broadcast on CCTV (the state controlled TV network in China). If there was ever a subtle way to try and get your message across about intentions of world domination then this sure isn’t it!
Ironically the group (S.H.E) are from Taiwan and were formed in a talent contest, rather than having any artistic ideals. Just another cog in the propoganda machine?
On my first full day in Beijing I had planned to visit the embalmed Chairman Mao in his hideously ugly Mausoleum, which lies in the centre of Tiananmen Square, however that plan was thwarted by the National People’s Congress which was being held that week at the Great Hall of the People on the west side of the square. At other times of year you may see this notice:
“Not always open when the corpse of the Great Helmsman requires attention.”
…which I find rather hysterical for a dead guy more akin to hitler than God!
The general public was definitely being kept at arms length from the communist big-wigs with identical looking PLA soldiers stationed along the length and breadth of the surrounding roads. With this in mind I decided to take a stroll through one of my favourite places in Beijing: the Forbidden City. Since my previous visit restoration work had come on quite a long way but I found it slightly sad to see that the Chinese definition of restore seems to be “good as new” rather than preserving the original paint work etc.
Whilst wandering about the many magnificent buildings which lie within I was particularly put off to hear an American tourist proclaim in a self-important tone that there was “nothing much to see here” at the same time as complaining that her Blackberry wasn’t working! This seems to be a trend amongst some American tourists who I’ve noticed many times being impatient, disrespectful, rude and generally condescending towards local cultures. It all makes me wonder why you bother going on holiday if you’re just going to stay at the Marriott, complain that locals can’t understand your thick accent and eat at McDonalds???! BOCTAOE
With a skyline somewhat obscured by a thick blanket of pollution the view from the top of the hill in Jingshan Park was almost non-existent. The park, which sits opposite the northern entrance to the Forbidden City, was witness to the suicide of the last emperor of the Ming dynasty and a sign still marks the spot where he hanged himself from a locust tree. Today the park is popular with older generations playing games and the odd lost traveller!
After a short break to consult my torn and battered map it was time to continue my journey north…
Have you ever clicked on an online ad purposefully? I never have and over the years have instinctively learnt to filter them out subconsciously; I simply don’t give them any focus or attention, I go straight for the content. I may possibly be atypical but this begs the question of whether pouring money into online advertising really brings a worthwhile return on investment. A recent study adds more fuel to the fire as it found that “only 6% of people online are contributing 50% of the clicks to display advertisements” and that the majority of these click-throughs did not convert into sales.
I don’t click on web adverts/sponsored links ever, if you force a pop-up ad on me goodbye
I don’t buy the special offers in supermarkets unless it is something I was planning to buy anyway
I don’t window shop, I know what I want before hand, I go get it (sometimes after viewing online)
I don’t follow fashion, I use things till they are worn out usually (exception: Apple)
I don’t read spam, you better have an unsubscribe option for your newsletter
I don’t like personalised advertising ala Facebook Beacon but I don’t mind Amazon style recommendations
I am not a marketers dream. Maybe it’s a male thing?
Aside from this unfortunate reality there is a side to marketing in general which I find particularly unethical; playing on peoples sensibilities to sell them things they don’t really need or want. It also sometimes feels like a lot of these things are targeted at those most vulnerable (e.g. children / those with low income) which is pretty deplorable if we contend any notion of social responsibility. Even the concept of viral marketing has been sabotaged by those wanting to make a quick buck making me even more cynical about the whole business.
Coming full circle, the only real way to build audience or a brand is to provide something which is genuinely useful to the consumer (What is good content?). If you can manage this then to an extent it will market itself. Gimmicks/promotions only have a short life cycle and presentation will only get you so far; once the illusion is gone those valued eyeballs wont be coming back…
Feel free to comment if you disagree or have a different point of view
For goodness sake America sort it out. The rest of the world is relying on you to elect someone who will end Bush’s rain of terror and downright stupidity. If you don’t there is only one direction the world is going and it isn’t pretty.
The London Underground (or the “Tube” as we like to call it here) has arguably the most iconic map in the world. The circuit-diagram style map invented by Henry Beck in 1933 paved the way for the way in which most modern metro/subway systems portray their transit networks today. Its success in aiding the traveller to find their way from A-to-B is a testament to it’s simplicity and as the saying goes “it it ain’t broke, don’t fix it“.
As the underground has expanded and changed over the years so Transport for London have updated and tweaked the map. Fair enough, but unfortunately it appears that their designers have got a bit carried away and with every new version it seems to be getting more and more complex and cluttered.
For an idea of what I mean just compare the 2004 & 2008 editions of the map:
London Underground Tube Map 2004
London Underground Tube Map 2008
I think you’ll agree that the differences are striking. The main things things which come to my mind:
Adding background shading to show the zones is irrelevant and distracts the eye; when was your decision to go somewhere last influenced by what zone it was in?
Adding the blue step-free access signs only helps a tiny fraction of the maps users and actually removes detail as you can no longer tell which stations are interchanges; why not have a separate map showing disabled access provisions?
The new “London Overground” lines are a glaringly poor addition; they feel like they have been drawn around the existing map rather than integrated with it - is trying to bring together over & underground maps really a good idea?
The tiny red symbols, indicating “Check before you travel” in the key, are completely pointless and only add more visual clutter; they look more like crucifixes to me!
So there you have it - how to ruin a design classic in four easy steps!
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