Chinese Guerilla Advertising
In China a lot of business is done below the radar in the informal sector but while these businesses may be faceless their advertising is not. Littering the pavements and walls of almost anywhere you go you’ll find gazillions of stickers and stencilled signs bearing mobile phone numbers with a short description of the services offered. Most are borderline if not downright illegal. The government employ people full time just to try and clean them off but its an impossible and endless task.
A quick perusal of some in my local vicinity with someone to help translate turned up the following services:
- Locksmith
- Fake certificates
- Resident permit
- Plumber
- Fake ID card
- Loans
- Exam papers
- Backstreet clinics
- …and other unmentionable things
Many of these activities seem to be a direct consequence of the incredible bureaucracy of the government who require people to follow horrendously complex processes with copious volumes of even more complex forms to do even the simplest things (whilst at each step earning a tidy profit to administer it all). Added to this a large and relatively poor migrant population and the conditions are fertile for this kind of activity. If my experiences with getting a residence / work permit were any indicator of the norm I’d almost be tempted to call them myself!
China has a household registration system called “Hukou” which is required for a person to work legally in a given city. It’s basically used by the government to try and ensure structural stability of the population and keep tabs on people the Party classes as politically dubious. Transferring your Hukou to another city or province is a major headache and is generally considered unfair and responsible in part for creating the poor underclass which further explains why a black market has grown up around it.
You’ll also notice people standing on the streets squawking ”Fa piao, fa piao, fa piao!” to everyone who passes. This literally means “invoice” (of the fake variety) which they will be happy to sell you for a fraction of their real value (typically about 3% apparently). In China invoices are usually given as pre-paid tax receipts which businesses require to claim back on their expenses. By buying fake ones you can effectively claim back on money you never spent in the first place. Highly illegal but evidently commonplace.
The many layers in China’s society are quite facinating and no doubt the above is just the tip of the iceburg in terms of dodgy goings on. If I wake up one day in a bathtub full of ice and my kidneys missing then I’ll probably have scratched too far 
Online Marketing
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.
Photo by dnorman
This is what my marketing profile looks like:
- 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 