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Dick van Motman, President and CEO of DDB Greater China, is featured in the latest CampaignAsia article. 

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Building brand trust

'For Dick Van Motman success in China requires brands to be respectful, transparent, and responsible in order to gain consumers' trust.'

Can I be honest with you? Chinese consumers are just not that into us - foreign, domestic, big or small. We try to win their hearts with poetic propositions when we can't even gain their trust with the simplest of products. They're looking for more security than we've been offering thus far. Communicating respect for the consumer and responsibility for everything brands say, and do.

Once upon a time there was plenty of trust. A decade or so ago, celebrities were gods and foreign brands could do no wrong. Three years ago, we asked teenagers in tier three cities about advertising on television. "If it's on CCTV, it must be true," said one girl, and "CCTV is government TV. They censor everything."

Times have changed. Trust is on life support. With a smorgasbord of life-threatening foods on the tip of consumers' lips (tainted milk powder, paper-filled buns, contaminated pork and exploding watermelons), should we be surprised? In a recent interview with a group from Chengdu, one man said, "Nothing's reliable anymore. I feel like I can't even believe the weather report. Is there anything we can still trust?"

Are we moving too fast, buying and borrowing brands rather than carefully building them? Are we neglecting our responsibility as brand guardians to be fully committed to the safety and quality of the products that walk the brands' talk?

One high-profile CEO of a major Chinese internet company recently lamented that so many companies in China were sacrificing their people in the pursuit of pure profit; this after discovering that some of his staff had allowed 2,300 fake storefronts to swindle customers out of US$2 million and on hearing, in the same week, that four children, in an unrelated incident, had died from melamine-laced baby formula.

It is not just the root of the problem that has caused the crisis of trust but our response to it. We talk about how the customer is king, yet we treat him with great suspicion.

The recent debacle by a world famous cosmetics brand is illustrative. After traces of harmful ingredients were found in one of their flagship products, they offered customers refunds, albeit not immediately, if they signed a document saying that nothing was wrong with the product. Consumers in China have begun to brand together to keep companies on the straight and narrow. With few official and effective outlets to voice their concerns and complaints, they are turning to each other for support and action. And the internet is helping them to do it, coming together on a shared grievance, planning a course of action and executing it with precision.

A recent case invoking a giant German electronics company and a microblogging celebrity is a perfect example. After receiving a number of complaints about a refrigerator door that would not shut, the company issued a statement via their microblog saying they were in contact with the complainants, there were no design flaws and that they would not recall the product.

For the microblogging celebrity and his disgruntled followers, this response was the final straw. Last month, they marched on the company's office with sledgehammers in hand and refrigerators in tow and smashed them to smithereens. We should expect more of these responses as consumers begin to see the power of concerted acts of protest.

How do we re-build trust? The operative word is 'build'. There are no shortcuts. We have to do it brick by brick. Trust starts with respect, responsibility and transparency.

Respect: we give lip-service to respect for the customer. We can hear it in how we talk about, characterize and value him. To many, he is simply a faceless digit in a promising cluster. We should spend the time to uncover reasons to respect and like him, beyond his profit potential.

Responsibility: for better or worse, we are the sum of all associations we have in our ecosystem and we are only as strong as our weakest link. We should extend our influence and values to our associates and take responsibility for their actions, not just our own.

Transparency: one of those rare and prized finds in China. We should create opportunities to demonstrate transparency to gain trust and admiration for their courage, candor and authenticity.

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LET'S PARTY ALL NIGHT LONG!

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13th Jan, 2012, DDB MTV Night is here! 

Our theme is to bring 'live' MV performance on to the stage for this celebration. Let's get the party started!

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Click here to view the video from outside China.

SHANGHAI, CHINA (December 21, 2011) -- China's reputation as a global powerhouse has focused mostly on its economic growth, but the mainland's creative agencies are slowly earning credibility for producing good local ads.

China has become more important for advertisers, which has an impact on agencies, said Dick van Motman, DDB Group's president and CEO, Greater China, this week on "Thoughtful China."

Even so, he added, China still is not on a par with the best creative markets in the West. Brazil's population is just over 190 million, "but in terms of where it performs in the creative ranking, it's very high," Mr. van Motman said. China's 1.3 billion population, by comparison, "has a long way to go" to match the work produced by the world's top ad markets.

The lack of great creative work produced by agencies in Shanghai, Beijing and Guangzhou can't be entirely blamed on agencies or their clients. A shortage of pop culture in China is also to blame.

"For all of China's size, there are relatively few stories or characters that the whole country knows. Neither Mao Zedong nor the Monkey King makes great marketing. This poses a big problem, since it's still a mass market economy," said P.T. Black, Thoughtful China's senior creative director. China's broadcast mass media "is like adults crowding into a kiddie pool -- restrictive boundaries, shallow content, and not enough of it, so advertisers don't have much to work with."

China's ad industry has hit a handful of significant milestones already, including top prizes at the prestigious International Festival of Creativity, also known as Cannes Lions, starting with China's first-ever Gold Lion in 2008, won by TBWA at the Cannes Lions film festival for an Adidas campaign. DDB won China's second Gold Lion in 2010, for a China Environmental Protection Foundation campaign.

This year, JWT won China's first-ever Grand Prix with a Samsonite ad, while the WPP agency's Lo Sheung Yan, executive creative director, Northeast Asia and chairman. China, was named the first Chinese jury president. Mr. Lo will lead the Outdoor jury in 2012.

In a special year-end episode, we examined what it takes to create great ads in China that resonate with local consumers and whether Chinese agencies can match the best work from the West.

Three of China's most-awarded creatives -- Mr. Lo, Kevin Lee, executive creative director and partner, Leagas Delaney, Shanghai and Fan Ng, Saatchi & Saatchi's executive creative director, China -- were invited to a panel discussion to share their favorite three campaigns produced in China this year.

Barred from presenting any ads created by their own agencies or ads made outside China, they chose an eclectic array of local work that included a surprising amount of humor, which advertisers there normally avoid. The fact that two of them danced around our rules by bringing ads from Taiwan and Hong Kong, because they didn't find three great ads within the mainland, is a telling indication of how they view the overall quality of creative work produced today in China.

This week's episode of "Thoughtful China" includes highlights from their discussion, but an extended version, including creative from all nine campaigns, will be released early next year.

Find out which campaigns these three leading creatives chose as the best creative work produced in China this year in this week's episode HERE.

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Passionate, respectful, fun, genuine, professional, supportive, encouraging, spontaneous, hectic, silly, educational, serious, busy, enlightening, collaborative, productive...I could go on and on, but I'll keep it short.

 

The time I spent at RAPP's Shanghai office last year was one of the most hectic yet meaningful experiences for me. Everyone at the office treated me like a family member. This strong family spirit is one of the reasons that I always want to stay within RAPP's network wherever I go. Instead of buying coffee and printing papers, I was involved at almost every level of the projects I worked on, from meetings with the Creative Department to decision-making. I gained numerous hands-on experiences from my colleagues.

 

After my internship, I decided to pursue my Master's Degree in the U.S. As much as I hated to say goodbye to all the RAPPers, I went for my American journey. As it was said by Robert Frost, "The woods are lovely, dark, and deep. But I have promises to keep, and miles to go before I sleep." After a year's intensive training at the Newhouse School of Syracuse University, I was ready to hit the ground running. It was very kind of Michelle and Ross to put me in touch with RAPP's New York office. After rounds of interviews, I was offered an internship on the Client Service Team for Time Warner Cable. As a matter of fact, I turned down an offer from a boutique ad agency based in SoHo while I was waiting for RAPP NY's decision. And I believe it was worth doing so because RAPP has always been a dream agency for me.

 

I started my internship at RAPP NY last week, and it has been very exciting so far. I was welcomed in front of more than 200 RAPPers at the agency's weekly meeting and given tours around the office. As always, RAPPers here are very passionate about their jobs and fun to work with.

 

During my interview with Sharon Shaffery, the VP Account Director on Time Warner Cable, she asked me why I wanted to work for RAPP.  Apart from telling her my wonderful experience with RAPP Shanghai, my answer was: In the words of Bill Bernbach, "All of us who professionally use the mass media are the shapers of society. We can vulgarize the society. We can brutalize it. Or we can help lift it onto a higher level." I believe RAPP is one of the few shapers of the society. And I want to be one of them.

 

Here I am, part of RAPP's family again. I would like to thank everyone that I've worked with at RAPP Shanghai. It would be awfully nice to see you again at some point down the road.

 

Joanna Mo

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Shanghai, October 25, 2011

 

DDB China group has won a total of 51 awards between September and October 2011 over the 7 awards show.

32 awards where awarded to DDB China Group in the 18th China international advertising festival 2011 that happened from September 25th to 27th in Shenyang.

The agency ended up being the most awarded agency of the year at the China EFFIES notching 11 trophies.  In the three-days festival, DDB China Group picked up 7 Golds, 14 Silvers and 11 Bronzes in total, over six award shows: China Effie, China Great-Wall Awards, Chinese Element International Creative Award, Public Service Advertisement, China Internet Ad Competition, China Media Planning Award.

 

DDB China Group also picked up 19 awards at the famous Longxi Awards 2011 on October 13, in Macau: 3 Golds, 3 Slivers, 9 Bronzes, 2 Merits, 2 finalists and 19 shortlisted. The agency was one of the most agency in Greater China and inarguably was the most awarded one in China.

 

At the China Effie award, DDB China Group has been the most awarded agency in China bringing back 11 trophies of which 1 Gold, 6 Silvers and 4 Bronzes. 1 Gold medal and 2 slivers were awarded to the famous "Green Pedestrian Crossing" campaign of the China Environmental Protection Foundation.

 

DDB China Group has secured an impressive result at the Great-Wall Awards, winning 13 across all categories of which: 2 Gold, 6 Silver and 5 Bronze.

 

DDB Shanghai Group notched the Grand Prix at the Chinese Element International Creative Award with its Philips Dining video, proving the company reasserting its creative dominance. Also the Shanghai Volkswagen's Tiguan campaign won a Gold in the radio category.

 

DDB China Group also had its highlights in picking up 6 other awards: 1 Gold at Public Service Advertisement; 1 Gold, 1 Silver and 2 Bronzes at China Internet Ad Competition as well as 2 merits; 1 Silver at China Media Planning Award.

 

 

Dick Van Motman, CEO & President of DDB Greater China group, commented: "I am very proud that we've won so many awards at both the China International Ad Festival and the Longxi Awards this year. I'm particularly thrilled that we've been the most awarded agency in China at the China Effies and Longxi awards. This is a milestone for DDB China Group and for our clients as it demonstrates the importance of marketing effectiveness and that effective creativity has become the focus for both clients and us. Congratulations to everyone who has contributed to DDB's success."

 

 

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by Joan Voight, Thursday, September 1, 2011, 12:00 AM

 

A View from DDB in Shanghai


Today's China and the hyperconnected Chinese marketplace are concepts so big it can be hard to wrap your intellectual arms around them. It helps to focus on only a few impressive facts at a time.

One, China is rapidly turning urban and middle class. About 90 cities in China have a middle-class population of at least 250,000; the U.S. and Canada together have fewer than 70.

Two, the country's economy is becoming consumer driven. China already ranks as the number one or two market in the world for consumer electronics, shoes and jewelry, says the Boston Consulting Group.

Three, China is adopting new technologies faster than nearly every other developing country. Mobile telephones are ubiquitous in cities. The country has more than 400 million Internet users, most with broadband access. Most importantly, China is at the forefront of social media and digital connectivity, because in China social media is the mainstream media - more trusted and commonly used than state-controlled public media. Experts at Boston Consulting warn that Western companies, including Facebook and Twitter, will soon be fighting Chinese competitors on U.S. turf. For instance, the Chinese version of Twitter, Sina Weibo (pronounced "way-bore"), plans to release an English version this year. Tom Cruise, Bill Gates and other celebs have been Weibo-ing since last June. So far, Sina Weibo has about 140 million users.

For all these reasons, we sought the in-the-trenches perspective of Dick van Motman, CEO of DDB Greater China Group, which includes digital agency Tribal DDB. He is mainly Dutch and Indonesian and left Holland for Asia when he was 29. We met him in the largest office of DDB's Chinese network, located in booming Shanghai - the hotspot for China's new digital marketing scene. In a business park inhabited by digital ad and PR shops such as AKQA, van Motman works from an orderly, glass-walled work space for clients including McDonald's, Philips, Unilever, Volkswagen and Pepsi. Across town, corporate skyscrapers house rival agencies Ogilvy and JWT. 

The ddb office's calm is an illusion: last year the shop crafted a cross-platform campaign for McDonald's that was so disruptive the Chinese government shut it down. McDonald's used the Web to invite people to bring their discount coupons from rival restaurants to mcd outlets. Word got around and McDonald's restaurants got so crowded it upset the industry's competitive balance, according to government officials. Hence the shutdown.

Van Motman says that using digital connections for marketing is a matter of survival in China. Digital communication is what unites the sprawling, rapidly changing country. "China's sheer size means it has to depend on digital media to simply get things done," van Motman says. It helps that there are no legacy systems sucking up resources and consumer attention. "Here it is easier to leapfrog over platforms," he notes. He points to the penetration of smartphones, which is greater in China than in the West. "Long before iPhones, China had Nokia smartphones," van Motman says. Online instant messaging is also well established. im service QQ has 600 million users in China alone, compared with 200 million Twitter members worldwide. 

Indeed, social media and mobile have become the glue that holds together hyperconnected Chinese consumers and their favored brands. In a country of "only" children, due to the government's one-child-per-family policy, social media offers the younger generation a chance to connect with the "brothers and sisters" that they don't have at home, agency insiders say. Natalie Lam, former executive creative director at the Shanghai office of WPP's OgilvyOne, says, "Social media is second nature," an essential part of the lives of young consumers in China. In van Motman's words: "Forget the quiet, submissive, passive image of Chinese. This generation is passionate about expressing their opinion online." He explains that, as a result, the county's social sites, which started out as copies of U.S. services, now have far more features than what we find on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and others.  For example, AKQA Shanghai used social media and mobile to entice a whopping 103 million people to send branded online New Year's video greetings to one another in a campaign for Lipton Tea last year. 

To harness the Chinese version of mobile and social connectivity, the DDB Group in Shanghai is broken into three divisions. Working in an open floor plan are digital shop Tribal ddb, direct marketing specialist Rapp and ad agency ddb. But the divisions are mainly for show, to communicate "expertise and credibility" to clients, says van Motman. "In reality, the entire staff strives to be both digitally oriented and brand-savvy. The divisions share a single p&l, Tribal and DDB creatives work side-by-side and incentives are handed out to groups," not individuals, van Motman says.

Hires are decided by the candidates' "ability to play together." Executive coaches are brought in to teach managers how to see the big picture and collaborate better.

To help clients such as Johnson & Johnson keep up with the digital changes in China, DDB Shanghai hosts them for training sessions called "digital days," says van Motman. More than 30 people from the client company spend the day at the agency studying key topics, such as how to build brands through social creativity and improve digital roi, according to Daryl Ho, Tribal business director.

Van Motman himself seems like a harried ringleader, working to keep control in a cross-platform, interconnected marketplace that is changing under his feet. His territory is a consumer base that went from no choice to endless choices overnight, and where new high-rises - especially in Shanghai - have risen in the time it takes a U.S. city to approve a new street sign.

Van Motman's office area is dominated by huge written slogans from ddb founder Bill Bernbach about the value of  "creativity." But ironically the word never pops up in our conversation. Motman finally notices and takes a moment to explain. In China the relevant word isn't creativity, but "innovation," he says, because it takes into account the importance of technology, change and speed. And, of course, connections.

 

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Tim Schlick, Co-Head of Strategic Planning of DDB Greater China Group, was a guest star on Thoughtful China's weekly web show, Where he discussed branding in China and the challenges faced by Chinese companies who strive to build strong national and in some cases international brands in front of a strong competition from foreign companies. Watch him on the episode "China's Most Valuable Brands" here.

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