So 2011 is drawing to a close, and in keeping of the tradition set last year, here is a round-up of some of the best creative work to come out of China this year. Please note this is not a top 10 list, also feel free to add your favourites in the comments section.
Campaign of the Year
Brand: Adidas
Campaign: Don’t Waste Your Wait “运动你的等待”
Agency: TBWA (Greater China)
chinaSMACK’s campaign of the year goes to Adidas’s ‘Don’t Waste Your Wait‘ campaign. The idea behind it was to encourage commuters in China to better use the time they spent waiting for their train or bus to arrive. As well as creating TV, Radio, and Billboard advertisements – the elements of the campaign that grabbed the headlines in China and around the world was the placing of punch bags in some of Shanghai’s subway stations. Spinning machines and speed bags were also installed at a number of bus stations in the city. It was a simple idea but was wonderfully brought to life.
Read more about the work here.
On Youtube
On Youku
Celebrity Endorsement
Brand: OPPO Mobile
Campaign: Find Me
OPPO Mobile jumped onto the ‘Inception‘ bandwagon by hiring Leonardo Di Caprio to be its brand ambassador and placing him in a series of commercials that echoed the plot and style the blockbuster film. Read more about the work here.
On Youtube
On Youku
Viral
Brand: Sanjiu Medical & Pharmaceutical Company
Campaign: Itchercise
Agency: JWT (Shanghai)
Four viral videos were created to help make ‘Sanjiu’ the “talk of the town”. The videos parody exercises that Chinese students perform each day before their classes begin. The exercises targeted working adults and promoted the Sanjiu itch relief cream. They are aptly titled “itchercise(s)”. Read more and watch all the videos here.
On Youtube
On Tudou
TV
Brand: Nike
Campaign: Use Sports “用运动”
Agency: Wieden + Kennedy (Shanghai)
This Nike TV ad had one simple goal – to show how sports can help people achieve great things. Read more about the commercial here.
On Youtube
On Youku
Branding
Brand: Tencent
Campaign: Your Companion Of 12 Years
Tencent (owner of the popular instant messenger QQ) brought Chinese netizens to tears with the below commercial that aired during the Spring Festival. Read more about the advertisement here.
On Youtube
On Youku
Print
Brand: Samsonite
Campaign: Heaven and Hell
Agency: JWT (Shanghai)
Probably the most awarded piece of advertising to come out of China this year, was this beautifully artworked magazine and poster ad from JWT (Shanghai). It aimed to demonstrate the ultra-durability of the Samsonite Cosmolite suitcase and did so by contrasting between how “heavenly” it is in first class for a passenger but then show how “hellish” it is down below where the suitcase is handled. Despite the torture the suitcase emerges just like new. Click the image below see the all intricate details.
Click image to enlarge
Ambient
Brand: Ariel
Campaign: Big Stain
Agency: Saatchi & Saatchi (Guangzhou)
In order to demonstrate the cleaning power of Ariel, an outdoor interactive ‘Ariel Wii Game’ was created. The game was projected onto a massive digital T-shirt, and the Wii controllers were disguised as a sauce bottle or Ariel. Members of the public were invited to cover the giant T-shirts in sauce, and then remove the sauce with the Ariel Wii controller. Read more about the campaign here.
On Youtube
On Sina
Public Interest
Brand: BTDZ Traffic Safety Commission
Campaign: Dead Man Walking
Agency: Y&R (Beijing)
Many pedestrian victims were migrant workers from the rural areas of China, unused to the busy traffic in the larger cities. The Beijing Tongzhou District Zhangjiawan Traffic Safety Commission wanted to try to raise awareness of the problem that many migrant workers unused to busy city traffic were increasingly being killed / injured in traffic accidents. So on one of the busiest roads in the Beijing, a series of figures were installed. These figures were reminiscent of the outline chalked around the a corpse. These walking corpses appeared where it was not safe to cross, and carried a compelling message, which directed pedestrians to a safer place.
Weirdest Commercial Of The Year
Brand: KFC
Campaign: Taste of Ireland
KFC China showed us that fried chicken and Bailey’s Cream should never go together with this very peculiar commercial. Read more about the ad here.
On Youtube
On Youku
KFC did manage to top this commercial by creating an ad that featured a Barack Obama lookalike – unforunately the ad only aired in Hong Kong and was pulled days after airing. However, it can of course still be enjoyed online below:
On Youtube
On Tudou
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