ABOVE: 798 Space, former No.798 factory in Beijing, now heart of DaShanZi Art District. Old buildings with slogans. Photo gallery below.CHINESE PRODUCTIVITY. Did Chinese worry about productivity during Mao's times? Yes, campaigns and slogans inspired factory workers to focus on speed and hard work. At 798 Space you can still read red slogan:
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Long live Chairman Mao, long, long life,
the Red Sun in our hearts.
Branding and DaShanZi Art District
BEIJING MAO ART STILL RED HOT
SLOGANS
You probably know China's slogan for Beijing Olympic Games 2008? "One World, One Dream." No explanations, it's all there for your imagination, not much taken away.
China has massive experience about slogans. Chinese know how effective slogans can be. But with emerging market economy, Chinese private companies have only recently become aware about power of branding.
BRANDS
In China, the products by multinational corporations often win the products of their Chinese competitors. Branding has been found as the key reason for their larger market shares. Brands are MNCs' key assets.
SEA TURTLES
Returning Chinese "sea turtles", HaiGuis, with western education have learned that brand is in the mind of the customers... builds loyalty... evokes reaction... is timeless... enables higher price!
Picture:
Gao Brothers Art Studio
DaShanzi Art District
Beijing
"Multinationals have brand" says head of a Chinese company "We must have a brand, too! Give me my brand right now."
Now HaiGui has got a chance to put some western learnings into practice in Chinese business environment.
Brand development is never easy, and progress will take time. Chinese boss might get impatient and ask a very Chinese question: If it's easy, why do I need you? Under pressure to make rapid progress, what should HaiGui answer?
PROBLEMS
China specific problems have appeared along with the need for brands. How to be unique, how to avoid imitation which can't bring results? How to ensure the match between products and brand's promises?
Market economy is still new in China. Only recently products have been seen through customers eyes, and PR activities as triggers for media buzz.
MNCs have global experience. They know functional level of products might be similar. They do research and collect information. They want to understand the Chinese market and customers. They seek and find the needed local element to attract local people. They have resources for branding and sub-branding, innovation and marketing, positioning and differentiation.
MNCs learn which buttons to press when building loyalty and image. China needs brand strategy. Chinese companies with HaiGui marketeers need to have patience in learning to know themselves, and the art of western branding.
DASHANZI ART DISTRICT"Big Mountain", what a place! Old No.798 factory converted into art district. Somehow simple and raw reminder of the past now reused.
Similar arrangements have long been common in other countries. DaShanZi reminds me about old Cable Factory, Kaapelitehdas in Helsinki.
This was my second visit to DaShanZi. I didn't notice much progress since the first time six months ago. Again I found DaShanZi "promising", "fragmented", "not yet", "silent" and "sleepy". What's the problem?
Firstly, majority of Beijing middle class appreciate more refined arts, but prefer less individual. They haven't yet established appreciation of the real character of the art. DaShanZi is probably too weird for them. Middle class is also busy with practical issues in their life.
Secondly, DaShanZi is pretty much riding on the Mao, using Culture Revolution as a fashion or an irony. Too much Mao for repeated visits? Maybe DaShanZi is more towards visiting foreigners?
Thirdly, it's location. DaShanZi is a bit outside, if you go there, it's your only target in that part of the town. This will change better with the times.
FUTURE
China needs DaShanZi Art District as desperately as Chinese companies need branding. Chinese brand developers, like DaShanZi's artists, are talents who observe, catch the essentials, and deliver. The most challenging tasks!
Let there be the day when DaShanZi gets onto wings and when Chinese brands begin to appear!
BeijingMan aka Kippo
List of BeijingMan Postings
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BELOW pictures were taken 2nd January 2006 at DaShanZi Art District in Beijing. I used Canon 20D with EF-S 10-22mm zoom. Click to enlarge.
Above-1: DaShanZi Art District, Beijing.
Above-2: Entrance into 798 Photo Gallery "The west and east, the past and contemporary." B/W works, exhibitions, books.
Above-3: 798 Photo Gallery Ground floor space.
Above-4: 798 Photo Gallery View from 3rd layer.
Above-5: 798 Photo Gallery
Above-6: 798 Space.
Above-7: 798 Space Simple and elegant! You can see old red slogans which long ago boosted productivity "Long Live Chairman Mao, Long, Long Life ...The Red Sun in our Hearts." This is former No.798 factory, now core part of DaShanZi Art District. Exhibitions, events, bookshop, bar, restaurant.
Above-8: 798 Space Chinese contemporary art work.
Above-9: 798 Space Chinese contemporary art work.
Above-10: 798 Space Chinese art works.
Above-11: 798 Space
Above-12: 798 Space
Above-13: DaShanZi Art District, Beijing. Individual views.
Above-14: DaShanZi Art District, Beijing.
Above-15: Memowall Gallery introducing Chen Shilin "The Skill of Photography". Flashback of the Standard Imagination.
Above-16: Memowall Gallery introducing Chen Shilin "The Skill of Photography". Flasback of the Standard Imagination was about Mao.
Above-17: Memowall Gallery. Flashback of the Standard Imagination now balanced with Jyri, a non-standard capability of imagination:)
Above-18: Gallery Perif.net about “peripheral and pole apart strategy”.
Above-19: Gallery Perif.net about “peripheral and pole apart strategy”.
Above-20: Gallery Perif.net This painting, hmhhm... so many people. Over there, left, MichelinMan.
Above-21: Beijing New Art Projects. Gao Brothers Art Studio.
Above-22: Beijing New Art Projects. Gao Brothers Art Studio.
Above-23: Beijing New Art Projects. Gao Brothers Art Studio. Enjoyed this gallery, many questions.
Above-24: Beijing New Art Projects. Gao Brothers Art Studio.
Above-25: Beijing New Art Projects. Gao Brothers Art Studio. Chairs! Here you can find Mao, Lenin, Stalin, Castro, Hitler and a few others.
Above-26: DaShanZi Art District, Beijing. They have got Mao's Big Red Book which includes the full version! You certainly know that the Little Red Book offered to tourists, includes only a simple version.
Above-27: Chi Art Invitation Exhibition. "Handing Down." By Academy of Art & Design, Tsinghua University, Beijing.
Above-28: Chi Art Invitation Exhibition."Handing Down." by Academy of Art & Design, Tsinghua University, Beijing.
Above-29: DaShanZi Art District, Beijing. Creative environment.
Above-30: DaShanZi Art District, Beijing."The Vocabulary of Power", 20 years of Mao Xuhui's Work.
Above-31: A WTC work for western taste, DaShanZi Art District, Beijing.
Above-32: View inside Liaogezi Galleria, DaShanZi Art District, Beijing.
Above-33: DaShanZi Art District, Beijing.
Above-34: DaShanZi Art District, Beijing. Real thing?
Above-35: DaShanZi Art District, Beijing."...forbidden to secretly pull...", unclear
Above-36: DaShanZi Art District, Beijing.
Above-37: DaShanZi Art District, Beijing.Own design, or maybe for western taste?
Above-38: DaShanZi Art District, Beijing.
Above-39: DaShanZi Art District, Beijing.
Above-40: DaShanZi Art District, Beijing. Will Chinese corporations begin to embrace design and art? If they want global success, soonest, best._________________________________
© BeijingMan aka Kippo 2008, 2009, 2010
1 comments:
Hi! I'm a Chinese, settled in Europe recently. I've been visiting your blog for a while, and I like your articles, or to be more exact, your unique views of Beijing and the life in Beijing.
I've never been to DaShanZi, but about slogan, you are right, we Chinese people are very much into slogans, with historical reasons. But out of my own experience, it seems the young generation (I'm 26, maybe can't be categorized into this group anymore, but anyway...) are becoming a little bit tired of slogans because there are too many in our life. And we are especially fed up with those political ones. With commercial ones, we are being more and more picky.
So, just a short message to let you know that you've got enthusiastic readers. :) Wish you happy life in Beijing. (I like Beijing, not its traffic jam though.;) )
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