Internet addiction made an official disorder in China
Chinese officials are concerned that youngsters are addicted to the internet
Jane Macartney in Beijing
China could become the first country to classify internet addiction as a
clinical disorder and plans to lead the world by registering the condition
with the World Health Organisation.
Beijing's Health Ministry is expected to adopt a new manual on internet
addiction next year, based on the research of Chinese psychologists. It will
recognise the condition as similar to compulsive gambling or alcoholism.
"China finds itself at the forefront of this research because we were among
the earliest to set up clinics . . . we had a sufficient sample of patients
so that we could carry out proper scientific analysis," Tao Ran, who set up
China's first internet addiction clinic at the Military General Hospital in
Beijing, told The Times.
He said that he had reached his conclusion by studying more than 3,000 people
over four years.
China has the world's largest online population at 253 million people and many
younger web users are inveterate participants in gaming sessions. Internet
cafés in large cities and remote villages are crowded with mainly young men
glued to the screen as they engage in battles with rival players.
Dr Tao said that he compared his data with that of experts in the United
States, where internet addiction is not recognised as a disease. He had
determined that an addict spent 6.13 hours online each day, a figure that
coincided with the US assessment of 6.14 hours a day. Research by the
internet media company InterActiveCorp showed that 42 per cent of Chinese
youngsters polled felt addicted to the internet, compared with 18 per cent
in the US. Surveys by the China Network Information Centre showed that
nearly half of China's online population were aged between 18 and 30.
According to Chinese estimates, about 10 per cent of young users suffer from
addiction and of those about 70 per cent are male. Dr Tao says that the
condition is often merely a symptom of deeper psychological problems. Almost
all child addicts have behavioural problems, which are then aggravated by
their addiction. Before they came to the internet, they may have turned to
crime or drugs to cope with their feelings of alienation, he said. Some were
suicidal.
His clinic treats patients who may also suffer from depression, fear and an
unwillingness to interact with others. Many have sleep disorders. They cease
to communicate with family or friends and live huddled in front of a
computer screen, drifting through chat rooms or playing violent games.
Common to all his patients are family problems.
Unlike drugs, the internet does not create dependency, and Dr Tao places his
success rate of curing patients at about 70 per cent. He said: "The increase
now is not as rapid as it was a few years ago. However, this was the first
such clinic in China when it opened in 2005. Now there are several hundred
across the country."
ALL IN THE MIND
Tanorexia
An unhealthy dependence on tanning, so called because of its similarities to
body image disorders such as anorexia. Withdrawal symptoms have been
described as similar to those of alcohol and drug addictions
Shopaholism
Compulsive shopping affects 20 million Americans. It describes an
uncontrollable urge to buy items that are never used, sometimes never even
removed from the bag
Nomophobia
The fear of being without a mobile phone. An estimated 53 per cent of us
experience acute anxiety if we find ourselves without our mobile or are
forced to switch it off
Cosmetic surgery addiction
According to a 2006 study, 40 per cent of patients using Botox had a
compulsive urge for further treatment. The British Association of Aesthetic
Plastic Surgeons has drawn up a checklist to help surgeons to spot addicts
Rapp, part of DDB China Group, has been awarded a Silver at the MAA Globes for its "Virgin Atlantic 8th Birthday in China Travel Agent Incentive." The ceremony took place in Toronto, Canada yesterday, Monday 20th October. The MAA Globes recognize the best promotion marketing award programs from around the globe. Rapp was the only agency from China to win an award.
"We're delighted and honored that our campaign for Virgin Atlantic has been recognized at the MAA Globes. It demonstrates how far Rapp in China has come over the last couple of years. The real beauty of this campaign was its cost effectiveness and measurable results - two fundamental requirements for our clients in today's economic environment," said David King, Managing Director of Rapp China.
"Rapp's campaign for Virgin Atlantic perfectly reflects their focus on "customer obsession" and on delivering the most effective and innovative solutions for clients," said Dick van Motman, CEO & President of DDB China Group
A summary of the campaign:
Virgin Atlantic was facing aggressive pricing from its two competitors, China Eastern and British Airways, on the Shanghai to London route. But Virgin maintained its key advantage of being the only airline to fly the route daily. For Virgin's 8th birthday in China, Rapp developed a strategy to publicize the event and drive ticket sales on a small budget. Knowing that 75% of Virgin Atlantic sales of daily flights from Shanghai to London were generated by just 30 travel agents in China, Rapp hatched the idea of turning travel agents into Virgin Atlantic advocates. Using Virgin's 8th birthday as the rationale, agents were offered a guaranteed birthday present reward for EVERY ticket sold. Participation was simple; for every flight sold, the agent could play an online "8" scratch card game to win a guaranteed prize, such as luggage straps, baseball caps, t-shirts, and even return tickets to London, every time they played!
The top advocate travel agents were also invited to meet Richard Branson at a glamorous party in Shanghai, organized by Rapp. Over 4 million RMB worth of tickets were sold in just eight days-- 32% more than the target set by the client. The incremental return on marketing investment was 11:1.
About Rapp:
Ranked the #1 Global Direct Marketing Network (2007), the #1 Direct Marketing Agency in the US in (2004 - 2006) and the #3 Digital Marketing Agency in the US (2007) by Advertising Age, Rapp (www.rapp.com) is one of the world's largest direct marketing networks with roughly 50 offices in more than 40 countries, delivering over 40 years' experience in customer acquisition, retention and optimization to its clients.
In China, Rapp services a growing number of clients including Virgin Atlantic, Philips, Friesland Foods, Avis and IHG.
DDB China picked up 2 awards at the China Advertising Annual Awards, one of China's most prestigious Creative awards. Its Gatorade TVC "Beyond 2008" was awarded "Best TV Advertisement" and "Best of the Show". The TVC was praised for its freshness as well as clearly standing out from the many other sports related advertising which decorated screens last Summer, when China hosted the Summer Olympics.
Tribal DDB, part of DDB China Group also just picked up 2 Silver and 1 Gold award at the ROI Festival (Digital Awards). Its McDonald's "Cheer for China" campaign won Gold for Most Innovative Campaign and Silver for Best Integrated marketing Communication campaign in the Food & Snack category. The digital agency was also awarded Silver for its "Gift for Love"Philips Campaign in the electric appliances category.
Congratulations to our fit Soccer Players and Cheering Princesses. Last weekend was a great success even if we did not make it to the Final! It was a fun and a beautiful day - thanks for your support in this latest "Omnicom Cares" venture.
We know it's not polite to boast...but still...we're proud to say that our suitcases were far heavier when we came back from the China Advertising Awards in Nanning last week. Total metal count: 2 Silvers and 6 Bronzes! Congratulations to everyone at DDB China Group, and especially those who worked directly on the winning campaigns!
Have you seen the Australia movie? Yes or no, you should have a look at the Tourism Australia Website.
We have accomplished the website of Tourism Australia, now it's your turn to leave a footprint on it! In the site, you will see lots and lots discoveries and beautiful scenes for you to experience!
No matter you have been Australia or not, this site is the one you can explore on line.
Just click in and enjoy the process, you will finally have a simple album for your own in Aussie experience .
Send your Aussie album and refer to your friend, asking them to have a on-line trip in Australia as well!
DDB's launched an
amazing new integrated campaign for Philips with an exciting website at the
center of the strategy. By sharing this
note with all at DDB we hope you will share with your friends and networks.
To launch Philips'
new, and world's first, cinematic proportion TV called Cinema 21:9,
Tribal DDB created a cinematic experience exclusively for online. Everything
about the site is designed to be cinematic - the movie, filmed as one single
tracking shot, the title sequence that doubles as a loader, the interactive film
score, and even the way the user chooses their connection speed has been
designed to mimic the cinema experience.
Have fun exploring
all the options: play around with the movie by using your mouse as a scrubber,
check out the three hotspots on the timeline, see what the difference between
21:9 and 16:9 is really like, or switch Ambilight on or off. Most importantly:
Share, Share, Share with all your friends by using the "Share Button" in
the bottom right corner of the site. The button connects to all major social
media (Facebook, Bebo, Delicious, Digg, etc.).
The site is live in
the UK, Germany, France, The Netherlands and Sweden, and will be rolled-out to
13 additional countries between now and the end of May. The site and campaign
has already created great excitement:
http://oqlz.com/philips-cinema-219-touted-ahead-of-uk-launch/
"you'll be presented with the option to watch a short film inside a mocked up
Philips Cinema 21:9 TV. It's a clever little crime thriller with astonishing
special effects, and well worth a gander. It also accurately demonstrates why
Cinema 21:9 is worth getting excited about"
http://www.adverblog.com/ "definitely
worth checking out. Not only for the TV experience, but also for the impressive
freezed 3D movie which is shown within the TV"
In the early hours of this
morning Shanghai time - I watched as Barack
Obama was sworn in as the 44th President of the United States of America. I have
followed his progress with keen interest over the last 18 months. Taking his
dream of being the first African American President of the US, and making
it a reality is nothing short of incredible. And the way he went about it is
even more impressive.
He was named "Best Marketer of
the Year 2008" by Advertising Age magazine. And this is what I would like to
focus on today. Obama is an example for all of us in the advertising industry.
You can just imagine the Brief: "Get an African American elected to the White
House." So just how did he go about it?
Firstly - his message to the
people was simple and consistent - Obama is Change. This conviction was at the
essence of the campaign. The campaign's creativity lies in how he mobilized the
digital world to his advantage, in a way that no one has ever done before. In
line with Marshall McLuhan, who is seen as the first prophet of the electronic
age: "the medium is the message". Obama's
campaign was all about change: change in approaching the 'consumer' (voter) and
the 'trade' (campaign contributions). Change in distribution: micro vs
wholesale.
No campaign has been more
aggressive in tapping into social networks - Facebook, MySpace, Twitter,
YouTube, you name it, Barack was there. Most importantly the campaign was
flexible and constantly adapted to a world where communication channels are
always in flux. This is "the Swarm theory" in action showing us how marketing
can harness the power of modern human communities and the power of influence.
It is people grouping together and moving together without being told what to
do.
He got the people behind him from
the bottom up. These "brand" advocates were an integral part in building his
success. He leveraged the financial power of thousands of small donors via the
internet; people could give just a few dollars, or a few thousand. He realized
that donating online is cheap and quick, and far less intimidating than writing
a cheque. Though the majority of contributions were made online and were for
US$100 or less, adding it all up was the big difference. And most important, via
this he gave people a voice and involvement, with a one-2-one feeling. Kind of
important when you want to be the one representing 'the voice of the people'.
Mainstream media followed the
innovative path like CNN teaming up with Facebook to watch the inauguration
live with your community, your friends. Brand involvement in 3 levels: Obama,
CNN and Facebook. Talk about a win/win situation and category leadership.
Watching him yesterday was the
embodiment of a successful campaign. Innovation and fantastic ROI are something
that we try to practice everyday in our work, as well as always asking
ourselves: "Why Not"?
Check out Dick's article in last week's AdAge China
5 Ways Innovation in China Can Help Your Business Evolving From Factory to Lab to Studio, China Is Becoming a Center for Creativity, Says DDB's Dick Van Motman by Dick Van Motman Published: October 28, 2009 SHANGHAI
