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Yo Yo Ma in the Subway of Hong Kong
International advertising is more than just pretty pictures
by the White Rabbit in the Shadow of a Tree (AKA Patricia Miller)

I’d been to Hong Kong before. It was the last year under British rule in the spring of 1999. I saw many European Business men then. Just by chance, I had met the young Englishman that was the Architect for the new International Airport of Hong Kong, Mr. Lee Taylor. (I believe he is now knighted.), http://www.wave.com.hk/

Today, looking over the crowded sidewalk, the streets seem more vacant of western business people. Sir Taylor was correct. Many of them have chosen to move their businesses since the change to the new regime. The old URL’s don’t link anymore, including Sir Taylor’s.

Hong Kong is an advertising mind explosion. The signage hangs over the streets, overlapping in places, with huge neon signs and bus size billboards. The streets have designated billposting areas with inch-deep remnants of postings past. Indian men accost you with propositions of tailored suits. "Won’t you impress them at the office with your tailored suit? You will look like a successful business person and make a lot of profit". I guess it takes money to make money. Why does it always seem to start with my money first?

Hidden Dragon

I was in Hong Kong to study Tai Chi. For those of you who think this is a tranquil art of relaxation and breathing techniques, - think again. This is an art form that evolved from Chinese warriors in preparation for war. They had every intention of leaving the battlefield alive. The premise is that the more you torture yourself, the less pain any foe can inflict upon you. It has to do with standing in balance, breathing, twisting, and punching with the body — not the arm. If you’ve seen "Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon" that is Tai Chi and then some*.

Advertising Hostage

Since my training classes were twice a day, starting at 7:00 am and ending at 10:00pm, I was spending a lot of time recouping in my hotel (…and waiting for luggage that went to Beijing). Most of my time vertical was in the subway, moving to and from the hotel. I was training in Hong Kong’s Tin Hau and residing in Kowloon. This was a fifteen-minute commute one-way, eleven Hong Kong dollars per trip. ( 1 US$ to 7.7 HK$)

Even though my headset was playing "Yo Yo Ma" to feel the ancient Chinese culture, I was a modern day advertising hostage down in the subway.

In the halls they have theatre-sized bill boards. Down the escalators there are more signs. Once at the train stop, the advertisements are linked side-by-side down the tunnel. Inside the train there are more ads down the walls and transparencies on the windows. It is everywhere your site of vision finds itself. There are no idle or empty spots.

I’m not sure how much it costs to advertise in the MTR (subway), but I’m sure it’s not cheap. I decided to take a look at these advertising design choices of the MTR and write down a few URL’s for later viewing. Who are these companies? What is their audience? What design choices have they made to reach or sell to their audience? Are there cultural differences? Do they look different from American ads that sell the same product or service?

Hong Kong URL’s

Many of the advertisements had URL’s listed on the ad. Since I don’t speak or read Chinese, the success of the ad to convey its meaning had to do more with the pictorial impression and easy URL. One ad looked like a "Hanna Anderson" ad for children’s clothing, but was in reality a promotion for "quality living" in a new development of flats.

Viewing advertising in another country significantly points out the fact that ads should tell a story without the use of words. The product or service should be clear, even if you don’t speak or read the language. Hong Kong is a multicultural city. Ads should speak to all people. Interestingly, they did not.

Viewing sites from other countries is educational. We see how they organize material. Information, even in a foreign language, is conveyed more persuasively in one design than another. What makes one work and another not? Did you know what a symbol meant to convey? Was your perception accurate? How did you get lost or infer the wrong outcome? If subtleties were included, such as humor, did you ‘get’ it?

International Internet Flight "Cross-Check": Mouse in a Ready Position

Please note that some URL’s require a Chinese translation. You may experience a pop-up window that allows you to download a translator. I’ve made every attempt to change the URL’s to the English versions offered, when they were available. If you do find that you need to download, be prepared. It takes about 20 minutes. It’s worth it.

Have you ever built a site that had another language offered? Try these sites in their Chinese versions and look for the English option. This will recreate the experience for you as a foreigner attempting to translate the site to your native language. Did you find the English translation key easily?

Check out the banner ads and supporting links. They lead you to places that are informative and interesting.

1. Hong Kong Film Services Office: www.fso-tela.gov.hk heavy on the flash and trippy
2. OceanShores Penthouses : www.oceanshores.com.hk/phase2/emain.htm
3. JobMarket : www.jobmarket.singtao.com their version of Monster.com
4. Sony.com.hk: www.sony.com.hk very busy and loaded, a lot goin’ on here
5. SME Center : www.sme.gcn.gov.hk/english/new/new.cfm small and medium enterprise
6. Shanghai Commercial Bank Ltd.: www.shacomsecurities.com securities banking

What about the pretty pictures?

Yes, they had them. Remember, Hong Kong is a concrete island. They love to admire nature and natural settings. Boobs sell, in any culture. They have those too. Everyone loves kids in costume, so why not throw some of those into the Hong Kong advertising? Some products that are sold in America have a more bold (bald) approach. Other ads have taken the concept of simplicity to a new single level of color. Green? Why not. Everything in Hong Kong is smog gray. If it didn’t start out that way, it soon will be.

One technique that I enjoyed was personification of the Chinese characters. The SME Center has such an image on their site for the SME Award.

To give you an idea of the size of these ads, they are about the same physical size as a minivan.

This ad (graphic 1) is for the Breast Cancer Society. I’m not sure that this ad would be positively accepted here, in the United States. 

Although, there should be nothing wrong with showing where a cancer develops, she is obviously a 36/24. I wonder what this has to do with breast cancer?  Some statistics translate well between cultures. Boobs still sell. What draws you to the ad makes you stare, and it isn’t the cancer society logo. In fact, I think it was my 8^th trip down to the MTR before I saw the Breast Cancer logo.

Graphic 1: Breast Cancer Society

This image (graphic 2) is also using women to promote a concept. The ad is telling about the new Airport Express services on the MTR to the airport. It says, "Anyplace in the world is just a few steps away."

I did see people in the subway (MTR) with their luggage. It’s safer down there than one might think.

Graphic 2: MTR Airport Express

The green screen (Graphic 3) is for a product called Regaine.( www.regaine.com)  Look closely, the medium to persuade is brilliant.  Of all the ads that I saw, this one needed no explanation and translated perfectly. The ad carried through the corporate branding choices of color and simplicity. They even feature the specific shelf version of the product within the ad. The web address is clearly placed for quick reference and referral.

Graphic 3: Regaine

This photograph (graphic 4) did not expose as clearly as I had hoped it would. I’m showing it here to demonstrate a few points, other than the fact that I need some photography lessons and a tripod.

Cultures that do not have a lot of natural resources love to use natural elements in association with their products. It is refreshing to view such an ad in the concrete depths of the subway. It reinforces the concept of a "refreshing" break from the day. The image takes us away to a cleaner, clearer, elevated place in this world than where we are right now.

This is a culture, which practices Buddhism. Buddha gained his enlightenment under a tree. Trees are symbols of personal solitude and source of edification for the mind and spirit.

Graphic 4: Beer

I thought I’d show you one ad from above the ground that looks under it. (Graphic 5) The advertising industry has become a part of the architecture of Hong Kong. This billboard is just about the size of a bus and sits very low to the pedestrian. It was mindfully placed to miss passing traffic that potentially would obstruct its view, even accounting for the two tier buses that frequent by.

The ad has indications of high fashion; there are hints from the clothing and accessories. Are these real? The bubbles from the model’s head read "No one will know the difference". As you see, she has her head in the sand on this subject. The main text reads "fake merchandise is not worth buying." I’m not familiar with the logo, but believe it is the Trade commission or some group similar to them. Fashion faux pas happen in all cultures, and the intention is to believe that you aren’t fooling anyone with a knock-off. Keep it real.

Graphics 5:Head in the Sand

Intellectual Property: Make a copy - go to prison

The big news in Hong Kong is all about your software serial numbers. While finding myself dozing in and out of consciousness in the hotel room, a news story brought me literally to my feet. April 1 will begin a new law protecting the copyrights of computer software. A businessperson could find himself in prison for four years for using MSWord without a registered authorization number.

Starting April 1, 2001, anyone who knowingly possesses an infringing copy of a copyrighted work (for example, pirated computer software) in the course of business will be liable to prosecution. Both management and staff could be liable to a maximum penalty of $50,000 per infringing copy and four years imprisonment

For further information on the new law and how it applies to the business community, visit the Intellectual Property Department’s Web site at www.info.gov.hk/ipd.

Conclusion

No matter where you go there are some things that are the same because we are humans first.

1. People talk louder while speaking on a cell phone
2. Girls giggle while with boys
3. Young children run up to you and then turn away shyly
4. Grandparents watch the children while the parents are at work
5. Some older people flaunt their retirement
6. Someone is always trying to make a buck — namely yours

The Curious:

1. New shoes that go an extra three inches past the toe and curl up on the end
2. Women who try to wear the new shoe fashions
3. Cucumber and corn on a Big Mac
4. "Ho’s Fashions" as a business women apparel shop
5. "Garp" brand of suites, with logo "Garp" on left pocket
6. The new cell phone "hands free" attachment receiver that looks like you are talking to yourself
7. A sign in the massage room on which I could only read the "do not smoke" symbol and a phone number

Etiquette

1. Cover your mouth as you use a toothpick
2. Don’t eat and/or drink on the subway
3. Don’t eat and/or drink while walking in public
4. Don’t eat and/or drink while standing in public
5. Always ask your host if he/she would like more of a dish, prior to serving yourself.
6. Use a serving utensil to serve from the main dish, not your own chopsticks
7. Slurp your soup as a sign of enjoyment and flattery to the cook
8. Board the train/stairs/escalators with the arrows, not against them
9. Give up your seat on the subway to the elderly and/or parents with small children
10. Walk only on the green light, even if you see others walking

To Do

1. Ocean Park Amusement Park — see the pandas, only 1200 in existence
2. Lantau Island — See the world’s largest outside Buddha
3. Victoria Peak — Best view of the harbor and skyline
4. Jade Market Place — It’s huge
5. Hong Kong Art Museum — Largest display of Buddhist Sculptures in the world
6. Get a Massage at the Wholesome Massotherapy Center — Jordan MTR exit A
7. Try Tai Chi in Victoria Park — It’s free and everyone loves someone that try’s
8. Have a CHOP made in your name or symbolic name - http://go.to/cstang

Prosperity and Longevity to you and your families.

Salutations,

White Rabbit in the Shadow of a Tree

* FYI — The Dragon form is the sword form. The main character, in Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, must hide her identity due to her heritage and families prestige. She wishes to be a Chinese Robin Hood swinging her stolen Dynasty sword, but it will bring shame to her family. She must hide her identity. She is the hidden Dragon.