The development of Product Placement in the marketized China
Abstract The main shifting process in the Chinese Television industry is the transformation from citizen
to customer. TV companies look at their viewers no more as citizens but as customers, and as a result
Chinese Televisions have turned to entertainment programming in order to attract viewers and to
increase the price of their advertising time. The dual and mutual relationship between economy and
media should be explained through the role of advertising. The booming economy, and in particular the
increasing per-capita income, has cultivated the mass advertising market, which provides a stable source
of financing for the media: advertising messages are marketing stimulus and directly affect consumption
behaviour; advertisers are interested in reaching the eyeballs of potential customers and affecting their
shopping experiences. Advertising and television programs are agents of change because they reflect
culture and they influence behaviour and beliefs.
Nowadays brand engagement is the key driver in the consumers goods market and product placement
(PP) has proved to be a strategic tool especially in TV content: one reason is the long lifetime of
television which makes PP an efficient investment in comparison with traditional advertising.
Through a case study approach we point out TV companies’ reactions to the new digital and commercial
media ecosystem. As a representative actor, we choose Hunan Satellite TV, HSTV, a regional broadcaster
based in an underdeveloped inland province of China is a top player able to indigenize valuable lessons
from global business, and some TV program such as the multimedia Super Girl Phenomenon (a popular
casting show modelled on American Idol and sponsored by Mengniu), and some TV series: ‘Ugly Wudi’
and ‘Let’s Go Watch Meteor Shower’. Both TV series were the highest-rated TV programs during their
time slot almost every night since they premiered: the branded content has been so readily accepted
because of the characteristics of the target audience (18-35 tear consumers).
Keywords: China, two-sided market, consumerism, product placement, engagement.
Introduction
Since China opened its door to the world, many foreign brands have flocked in and local brand have also
developed rapidly in response to competition (Yifan, 2007) fostering mass market creation. The main
shifting process in the Chinese Television industry is the transformation from citizen to customer. TV
companies look at their viewers no more as citizens but as customers, and as a result Chinese
Televisions have turned to entertainment programming to attract viewers and to increase the price of
their advertising time. The economic reforms and development are evident in the increasing per-capita
income—from 345 Euro in 2000 to 695 Euro in 2006 (National Bureau of Statistics, 2008)—and as a
result advertisers are more and more interested in capturing viewers’ attention (Rochet & Tirole, 2002).
Even if Chinese per capita GDP is quite low, the social consumption structure is moving towards an
enjoyment and commercial oriented pattern, more and more people can move beyond the basics: we
assist to the rise of consumerism strictly linked to mass media development (especially television).
The dual and mutual relationship between economy and media should be explained through the role of
advertising. The booming economy has cultivated the mass advertising market, which provides a stable
source of income for the media: advertisers are interested in reaching the eyeballs of potential
customers and affecting their shopping experiences. Advertising and television programs are agents of
change because they reflect culture and they influence behaviour and beliefs. Indeed, advertising
messages are marketing stimulus and directly affect consumption behaviour; and foreign brands also
vehicle different life styles and values influencing Chinese norms and culture.
Since the late 1990s, China’s television industry has undergone a major re-organization: moving away
from a state-owned ‘non profit’ approach to a more commercialized media industry, which compete for
the attention of consumers. Product placement (PP) is getting a more and more common tool
(Balasubramanian, 1994, Gupta et al., 2000): one reason is the long lifetime of television which makes
PP an efficient investment in comparison with traditional advertising (Morton & Friedman, 2002).
The paper discusses the symbiotic relationship between economic growth and media in section 2.
Section 3 introduces the main characteristics of product placement, the advertising tool we focus on.
Sections from 4 to 6 are devoted to recent example to assess whether Chinese TV companies have
changed their business model and advertisers take control over TV content. In fact, a case study
approach will be used to point out TV companies’ reactions to the new digital and commercial media
ecosystem. As a representative actor, the paper focuses on the real entertainment TV, Hunan Satellite
TV, which is a top player able to indigenize valuable lessons from global businesses. More attention will
be devoted to the multimedia Super Girl Phenomenon (a popular casting show modelled on American
Idol and sponsored by Mengniu), and two TV series: ‘Ugly Wudi’ the Chinese version of the global show,
‘Betty La fea’, created by the Mexican company Televisa, which presents the extreme form of PP, the socalled plot placement (Balasubramanian, 1994; Russell, 1998; Gupta et al., 2000); and ‘Let’s Go Watch
Meteor Shower’, a youth idol drama, backed only by Chinese brands. Broadcasted and co-produced by
Hunan Satellite Television, both TV series were the highest-rated TV programs during their time slot
almost every night since they premiered: the branded content has been so readily accepted because of
the characteristics of the target audience. Section 7 concludes.
2. Chinese boom and media: a symbiotic relationship
Thanks to the open door policy in the late 1970s, many industries in China are undergoing rapid change
due to social media forces, which are influencing the nature of competition. As we said the economic
reforms and development are evident in the increasing per-capita income and the establishment of a
commercial oriented social consumption structure. Chinese people like to be informed and educated
about new products, especially foreign ones: they associate higher qualities with foreign products and
are less reluctant towards related information. Differences in traditional values affect the success of
worldwide advertising campaigns, thus localized messages have to be conveyed. Very often advertisers
want to contact a young, urban audience with a high disposable income that is the core audience of
most regional satellite operators (e.g. Hunan Satellite TV) or new media companies (e.g. Tudou). Thus
media scenario has definitely changed in the last decade.
Chinese consumers’ desires kept increasing and changing since the end of the 1970s and new
consumption aspirations appeared. Between 1994 and 2004, ownership of colour television increased
by almost 50%, the number of households with computers, DVD players and mobile phones grew
strongly as well (Cheng & Chan, 2009:33). On the supply side, more and more companies have been
investing a lot of money to ensure their advertisement is broadcast at prime time on Central Chinese TV
(CCTV) and its competitors: brand awareness of Chinese people is growing; brand products are
produced because of demand from the business and/or the buyers’ side (Yifan, 2007). The rapid
economic growth has been accompanied by increase in advertising: total advertising expenditure rose
from 3.5 RMB billion (385.8 Euro million1) in 1991 to 71.3 RMB billion in 2000 (7.86 billion Euro) and to
158.8 RMB billion (17.5 billion Euro) in 2004 (ChinaKnowledge Press 2005, p. 47).
Even if all Television operators are state-owned, the Government requires mass media organizations to
finance their operations through commercial activities. In general the new and rising TV stations tend to
be more entertaining in nature—and consequently they do not want to challenge the leading role of
CCTV in terms of information and news—, among them the top one is Hunan Satellite Television (HSTV)
1
Using 2010 exchange rate.
a real entertainment TV. A key advantage of the big regional satellite channels with respect to CCTV is
their flexibility in terms of formats and advertiser involvement (e.g. sponsorship and product
placements) considering the limits of 12 minutes TV spots per hour in peak hours. For overseas content
providers, provincial satellite stations offer a new outlet either. Of course, cultural differences mean
that Western content does not always fit, though in some cases Western-style (glocalized or hybrid )
formats can work, especially with 18 to 35 demographic, as in the case of Hunan Satellite’s ‘Ugly Wudi’.
Summing up, many factors have driven the transformation of Chinese media, from economic, to social
and political issues. We can distinguish (see figure 1) economic (circle in fig. 1), regulation (diamond in
fig. 1) and structural (rectangle in fig. 1) determinants of the changes in the media system and the birth
of a new TV business model in China. The economic determinant is the fast economic growth of China in
the last decades; this aspect is reflected in a rising GDP per capita which allows the development of
mass market: consumer goods are more and more available and consequently consumption rise occurs.
Consumerism impacts on competition in the consumer goods market, and also importations are
necessary to satisfy consumers’ needs and desires. Consumerism and a greater competition cause an
increase in advertising of consumer goods; a perfect outlet is television, in particular regional
commercial and entertainment television whose business model is based on advertising revenues.
Obviously the Internet is also a winning platform, reaching young people everywhere. Internet and
television companies are the platform in this two-sided market and they are forced to change their
programming to attract more and more viewers and to increase their advertising space. The scenario
requires relaxation of rules on advertising and companies can exploit the absence of a specific rule
concerning product placement.
Figure 1: TV industry in China
Rising
GDP per
capita
Increase of installed
TV sets
Mass Market:
Consumers goods
consumption rise
Increase in Advertising of
consumers goods
Competition
In consumer goods
market
Increase in the #
entertainment and
‘commercial ‘ channels
Relaxation
of rules on
Adv
Rise in
viewing
Rise in quality
of TV content
Competition
In Media market
Most Chinese surfers watch TV content via streaming, and consequently a bunch of leading video portals
invest in buying premium content’s rights. In China, by the end of 2010, the number of social network
users had reached 207 million, up 28% from the previous year: this trend is expected to reach 488
million by 2015, according to eMarketer Inc. According to 2009 annual consumer study, China Marketing
& Media Study, the average age of the TV audience in China is 42, versus age 29 for that of the Internet
video audience (more than 10 years younger than TV viewers).
Thus China-based social media websites such as Kaixin, Renren, QQ zone, Tencent Weibo (similar to
Twitter), Douban and Sina Weibo are now becoming a leading source for new traffic and referrals in
business marketing and are key tools in consumer branding operations: as in western countries the
public strongly impact and define a company's reputation. Thanks to new media a viral spread is
heightened by online communities and the cross-pollination of content on other social media sites
(Weinberg, 2009). The real value of social media consists in rebuilding the buzz and reinforcing the
attitude that distinguishes a specific brand from its rivals.
Figure 2: China’s Social Network universe
Source: Bloggerinsight, 2010.
The dimensions of the new media scenario are evident in the success the Chinese online video company
Tudou Holdings Ltd, whose name means ‘potato’ in Mandarin and conjures images of an Internet couch
potato. Since the launch of its online video site in April 2005, Tudou's growth has been dramatic: its
registered user base more than doubled to 78.2 million in the two-year period between 2009-2010, and
was at 90.1 million as of the end of June 2011; since August 2011 the company is listed at Nasdaq (under
the symbol TUDO).
Tudou is similar to YouTube, but the Chinese video sharing site finance and release some made-forInternet original production: the first was “That Love Comes” (欢迎爱光临) reversing the common TVto-Internet pattern that entertainment products usually follow2. The idea is to attract the younger side
of China’s 420 million Internet users: 59% of netizens are under the age of 30 according to China
Internet Network Information Center (CNNIC). Many of younger netizens go online to watch Korean,
Japanese or Taiwanese shows, but watch few TV shows made domestically because they often have
plots based on history, family, or war, skewed toward an older viewing audience. Producing shows is
more expensive but allows recouping costs. Instead of having pre-loaders and other advertising as main
revenue drivers, Toudou also uses product placement and script placement in the series. ‘That Love
Comes’ was about Ye-zi, a 23-yearold girl from a small town working at a big city’s convenient store. The
2
Aside from debuting on Tudou and Tencent QQ, PPStream in China starting October 15, 2010 the drama has been
distributed outside China, including StarTV Network across Asia Pacific, ATV in Hong Kong, 8TV in Malaysia and in
Taiwan, Japan, Korea and Vietnam after autumn. In addition, there are peripheral merchandises of books, DVD and
mobile games to be distributed simultaneously.
topics touched are actual and emotional; the core is a love story, but the drama also addresses broader
themes such as struggles for life of an out-of-towner in China’s big cities, the young and complex
relationships, and the drive for survival and success for this specific demographic in modern Asia. Global
leading brewer AB-InBev Budweiser brand partnered with Tudou embedding Bud-Lime, a new limeflavoured light beer newly introduced to the China consumer market since summer 2010, into the
programming.
In countries such as China, in which the advertising industry is at its first stages of development, with
less advertising spending per capita and less clutter, consumers may be less critical of advertising:
having new brands and being educated consumers is a relatively new concept. However the advertising
investment in China has increased by 68 times in the past decades. As a result, as elsewhere consumers
are getting increasingly insensitive to advertising messages and advertisers are looking for alternative
communication channels. All these elements partly explain a higher acceptance and a different attitude
towards product placement.
Product placement represents a new source of revenues and financing for TV and Production
companies, it is a win-win strategy because it also allows advertisers to contact and engage with
viewers. Moreover, even Chinese people are happy with this practice; they got entertainment content
of good quality, they receive the information they desire and look for. Considering PP in television
programs, we have to consider that it presents some advantages: for instance TV series characters can
appeal to a particular target market, and unlike a short advertising spot, there is enough time to build
the brand in the minds of consumers as the plot unfolds.
Product placement is a relatively new marketing tool in China, compared to US and European countries.
As a result, China does not have any clear laws and regulations to deal specifically with this issue.
However, as a form of advertisement, product placement should be considered to be regulated under
existing advertising law. The 1994 Advertising Law of PRC (the “Ads Law”) was very general in nature,
defining “advertisement” as follows: commercial ads that publicize, directly or indirectly and through
certain media or forms, some kind of commodities/services at the expense of the suppliers.
3 Product placement
The recent success of product placement (PP) is fuelled by a fear of ad-skipping technology and doubts
about the effectiveness of traditional advertising. As most viewers try to avoid or reduce the sound
during commercials, channel-surf, because they are annoying or irrelevant (Kiley, 2006), companies look
for alternatives. In the last few decades branded products are woven into entertainment content
making a stronger emotional engagement with consumers: branded entertainment is a new term to
describe a more contemporary and sophisticated use of product placement (Hudson & Hudson, 2006)
and in some aspects represents a return to the early days of sponsorship on network shows in the
western world when TV programming and advertising were integrated. Show business brands will
integrate a brand into the plot in an enjoyable way: the affiliation of a favourite brand with a favourite
TV series will work better than commercials.
Product placement allows for brand and product to be embedded into ‘real-life scenarios’ and is also a
less avoidable format of communication. PP deals can be defined as a marketing tactic able to engage
consumers where they live and view. PP fits the main characteristic of a two-sided market: on one side it
may be an increasingly viable form of advertising for brands; on the other side it is a lucrative form of
fundraising for producers. Nowadays PP is a multi platform strategy since Internet and new media are
involved in this scenario as well.
China is a huge and diversified country, and if a company wants to advertise across a thousand TV
stations the costs can be unthinkable, as a result embedded products can travel anywhere the TV drama
is shown (even on the Internet). Indeed, TV programs are watched many times, and product placements
are not limited in time to the original filmed item. Brands can also benefit from merchandising and
promotional activities backing the launch of TV content: for instance the cast of ‘Ugly Wudi’ went on
promotional tour catching up with potential viewers (and potential Unilever customers).
The increasing ubiquity of product placement is partly a reaction to tightening restrictions on advertising
in China, and an increasingly attractive alternative to conventional ads for many brands. As of 2006, the
advertising format for Chinese TV drama was dominated by fifteen- or thirty-second commercials.
‘Named sponsorship’ has become increasingly popular, allowing advertisers to maximize exposure: sole
sponsorship with commercials aired during or at the start and end of the sponsored drama (Wang,
2008). As in the rest of the world, also in China advertisers and media agencies are trying to put less
emphasis on traditional ads and get into the potentially more profitable business of making and
managing branded media content. For advertisers and agencies, developing programs can offer a way to
build brands without paying the full price for Chinese TV ads, the costs of which have soared in recent
years. The dimensions (around 2,000 TV channels, offered by some 600 government broadcasters) and
the similarities in terms of content of Chinese TV market make traditional advertising less effective:
branded content and PP are possible solutions. PP in Chinese TV drama is a nascent category, even if
Keane (interview, 2007) credits the satirical series Stories from an Editorial Office (Bianjibu de gushi,
1991) as the earliest example of product placement in the post-Mao era. Back in 2000, Interpublic’s
Universal McCann launched one of China’s first advertiser-sponsored shows, Love Talk, for Motorola,
L’Oréal’s Maybelline and others.
A general remark concerns the relative success of international brands in PP in comparison to local,
national brands. Papadopolous (1993) points out the deep impact that the origin of a brand has on
consumer purchase intention. Moreover, this effect is greater in emerging countries where positive
symbolic meanings (such as high social status, cosmopolitanism and modernity) are associated with a
foreign brand from a more developed country (Zhou & Belk, 2004). Chinese people attach stereotypical
perception about a country to the products and this influences purchase and consumption behaviors.
To discuss this issue we consider a bunch of case studies able to shed a light on the PP phenomenon in
television and the Internet. The representative actor of this media change is Hunan Satellite Television
(HSTV). HSTV firstly implement brand strategy at the provincial level and has position itself at the frontend of innovation. The programming chosen by HSTV reflects the commercial business model: appealing
programs to attract viewers and often their involvement through the vote-in format.
4 Female instant celebrities and yoghurt sales: sponsoring a talent show.
The HSTV breakthrough was to adapt Euro-American reality and contest shows (f.i. Big Brother, Extreme
Makeover, The Price is Right, etc.) into indigenized programs, and the ‘2005 Inner Mongolian Cow Sour
Yogurt Super Girl Voice Contest’ or simply ‘Super Girl’ (2005 Mengjiu suansuanru chaoji nusheng), was
extremely successful. The show was co-produced by HSTV and Shanghai-based Sky Entertainment. It
was sponsored by the largest dairy company in China, The Mongolian Cow Diary Ltd (MCD). As for all the
casting shows, the web is a complementary platform which contributes to create value and the success
of the show (through, for instance, on-line communities). The contest show spawned thousands of
blogs, chat rooms, and message bars on the Internet: through such an interactive platform, fans of
‘Super Girl’ contestants kept informed and debated with others. However it represents a traditional
sponsorship. ‘Super Girl’ has been a real phenomenon in China and suggests to invest in the creation of
content tie-ins with TV and mobile media and to maximize the scale of interactivity. In China, large-scale
audience participation indeed points to mobile media rather than to digital media. However, Chinese
people were so fascinated by this talent show that the website sina.com alone received 2.4 million
comments on the final night (Zhou, 2005).
‘Super Girl’ is a Chinese program close to its predecessors ‘Popstars’ (broadcast in the New Zealand in
1999, in Australia in 2000 and in the United Kingdom in 2001) and ‘Pop Idol’ (broadcast in the United
Kingdom in 2001-2002): all of them aim to place the entire concept of stardom at center stage. The most
significant difference between ‘Super Girl’ and its predecessors is that the contestants must be females.
According to Holmes (2004), pop programs self-consciously articulate ideologies surrounding the
construction of stardom and its relationship with the politics of audience response (in primis
interactivity).
The reality talent television show ‘Super Girl’ was an unprecedented hit in television history of the
country and an economic miracle in the entertainment industry (around RMB 766 million or 84.4 Euro
million, Duan & Deng, 2006:337). During the final contest in 2005 season, a spot on HSTV cost 10,390
Euro per second, topping the rate for prime-time TV drama commercials aired on CCTV (Yang Haijun,
2005; Wang, 2008). ‘Super Girl’ has represented a considerable success with respect to audience viewing
figures: it was popular nationwide with an audience of 400 million viewers for its finale in 2005. A
positive result which helped the program Sponsor, Mengniu Yogurt, to achieve outstanding sales
records: increasing its market share from 8% to 25%.
In 2004 in the dairy market competition was very high and Mengniu was about to launch a new product
(yoghurt) targeting teenagers: ‘Super Girl’ was tailored for girls around 16-year old, and matched sour
milk consumers. And among all kinds of entertainment, watching television takes the top position,
occupying more than half of youth’s spare time with an average of 2 hours 39 minutes per day (Xi,
2006:88). For the new young generation reality show, especially talent show, is one of the most
attractive genres of TV programs in the last decade (Cashmore, 2006:194).
Mengniu Group poured RMB 14 million (1.54 million Euro) into the show and got its name tagged to the
program and free 15-second-long commercial. Mengniu exploited the instant celebrity’s appealing
through a series of ads that featured 2004 third-placed contestant, Zhang Hanyun singing “As Sweet and
as Sour as I”. Mengniu’s other promotions included a chance to win tickets for the competition finals, by
purchasing its summer-camp six-pack. Thousands of Mengniu sour yogurt packages with the ‘Super
Girls’ logo could be seen in the shops all around the country; thanks to its integrated marketing strategy,
the company has dramatically upgraded its brand and helped to boost its sales: the company over
performed the 2005 estimated 2bn sales reaching 3bn packs sold in 2005; new lines of product were
launched. Mengniu has already surpassed market leader Yili in brand recognition (according to a CCTV
CSM Sofres survey) thanks to the ‘Super Girl’ effect.
Mengniu also affected location decisions; some chosen areas were selected in order to consolidate the
company’s presence in its major regional areas; others, such as the city of Chengdu, located in Sichuan
Province, were chosen because the dairy company’s sale was particularly low in those areas.
5 Case Study: Unilever and the perfect match
After the astonishing success of its American Idol copycat ‘Super Girl’, Hunan Satellite Television, has
chosen ‘Ugly Betty’ to help continue its importing-culture endeavor. In the original version ‘Betty La fea’
(Ugly Betty) 3 is a TV drama about a girl, Betty, whose starchy bourgeois family values are assaulted by
the fashion industry for which she works. The theme is whether Betty will be made over to become a
glamorous global sexpot or she will stubbornly hang onto her native modesty.
3
‘Ugly La Fea’ quickly spawned remakes in Russia, Germany, India and the United States. Nearly 19 countries aired
some version of ‘Ugly Betty’, and many others rerun dubbed episodes (e.g. Italy).
Hunan Television has acquired the rights to re-produce the telenovela hit. Indeed, the Chinese show,
‘Ugly Wudi’ (Chounu Wudi), which debuted at Hunan TV in September 2008, was born thanks to a deal
(21 million US dollar) between the Mexican company Televisa, which owns the rights of Betty La fea, and
a production house, the Beijing-based Nesound International Media Co. (partly owned by Hunan
Satellite TV), which produced the series. As Nesound is a production house affiliated with Hunan TV,
‘Ugly Wudi’ is classed as a local production and not subject to the restrictions of imported content.
How was the content handled? And which was the role of Product Placement?
Sometimes the use of traditional media is restricted by time and scope, and it makes difficult to
communicate the product messages comprehensively. This TV series presents an extreme form of PP,
the so-called plot placement (Balasubramanian, 1994; Russell, 1998; Gupta et al., 2000): storylines
evolve around pitches and shoots for the sponsors (e.g. Dove/Unilever and Lipton Tea).
Though Dove’s ‘Campaign for real beauty’ has been very popular elsewhere in the world among
feminists and consumers alike, it has struggled to gain traction in China’s booming beauty industry.
Beauty brand Dove suffered through unclear brand positioning and poor sales, in fact for years the idea
behind Dove's ‘Real Beauty’ campaign was lost in Chinese consumers because they did not appreciate
the non-supermodel-type women in Dove's ads and did not get the right message. The whole basis of
Dove’s “Campaign for Real Beauty” was too dependent on Western attitudes and tensions—both to do
with beauty and to do with advertising—to have success. To address this cultural difference, along with
the upraising of the cost of TV commercials—the Unilever brand's overall investment for one season
cost less than two weeks of traditional airtime in Shanghai—, drove Dove to partner with ‘Ugly Wudi’:
the resulting multilevel brand integration was able to weave Dove's ‘Real Beauty’ message into the
show, using story lines that touted the brand's benefits. The Dove logo was in the background of many
scenes, as well as the foreground, and stitched on the actors' clothes. The ‘Ugly Wudi’ co-production is
one of the Unilever's biggest content spend. It is a multimillion-dollar, multi-season, multi-brand project;
Unilever promotes three brands, Dove shower cream, Clear anti-dandruff shampoo and Lipton tea milk.
Moreover, this project attracted great attention and got extensive press coverage and free public
relations, thus Dove was able to basically double the value of its original investment. Dove’s agency,
Mindshare, declare that unaided awareness grew 75%, and sales shipments and unsolicited calls from
new distributors both doubled.
The series was localized; it was set in Changsha (in Hunan Province). Moreover, the writers deleted the
siblings Betty had in other countries to match China's one-child policy. The adaptation followed local
characteristics and attitudes, as well: the actress prepared for the role by putting on 10 kilos in weight
and sunbathing to get a tan, because pale skin is highly prized in China and skin-whitening products are
a huge industry. Writers also toned down some of the more extreme features, such as a transsexual
sibling and assassins hired by former lovers. Storylines are also expanded over several episodes like in a
traditional soap opera rather than condensed into single episodes in order to satisfy Chinese habits.
In China Betty/Lin Wudi graduated in finance and struggled to find a job before joining Concept, a wellknown advertisement agency, a perfect location to build the story around brands: in the series people
talking about brands is naturally part of the storyline. Unilever understood that becoming an integrated
part of the entertainment that viewers embrace and share with peers, can provide an experience that
entertains and engage with the brand. Characters are associated with products, both in the actual show
and through use in advertising around the show. The female lead character, Lin Wu Di, uses Dove a
skincare; while her boss the cool and alluring leading male character, Fei De Nan, is a big user of Clear
anti-dandruff shampoo: Clear, launched in China in 2007, aimed at a primarily male, urban audience.
And every character drinks Lipton Tea during office tea breaks which lead to improved moods among Lin
Wu Di and her colleagues.
Figure 3: Ugly Wudi and Dove
Source: blog.bonsai.tv
Unilever's marketing staff worked with the producers and script writers to integrate around 3,300
seconds of the Dove brand into the show's first season. The deal was brokered by Unilever's ad-timebuying agency, WPP Group PLC's Mindshare (CMM, 2009). Unilever, which as a sponsor had exclusive
product placement rights, boasted a 44 % increase in awareness of the Dove brand among its target
audience by the season’s end (Blecken & Li, 2009). The opening night drew 73 million viewers, and the
program maintained a leading position in its time slot throughout the series (Tong, 2009). In its first two
months on the air, Betty, has reached an average of 11 million viewers per episode, making it the
number two fiction program in primetime.
As the drama has enjoyed extremely high ratings—with an average of more than 23 million viewers a
night and millions of searches and blog entries—Dove sales was positively affected: the program had a
good fit, the broadcast, HSTV, had a good reach and the right audience (that is good ratings potential)
and the deal was fair according to the involved actors (interview to M. Eaton, 2010).
Observing the drama, the fit between ‘Ugly Wudi’ and Dove's messaging is self evident: ‘Ugly Wudy’ is a
show about true beauty. The heroine often steps in and provokes a discussion about inner real beauty
when a problem arises. The Chinese version continuously asks the questions ‘What is confidence? What
is beauty?’ while being more romantic. The script of ‘Ugly Wudi’ draws on the classic fairy tale, ‘The Ugly
Duckling’ by H. C. Andersen (1843), whose ideas of transformation and finding ones right place in society
are surely ones that appeal across cultures. The script of the show sees Lin Wudi learning to unveil her
own beauty, using Dove products and working on an imaginary ad campaign for the brand.
Another benefit for Dove is that the company can exploit an effective mass distribution as most East
Asian dramas are translated and dubbed for other Asian markets (including Japan, Korea, Hong Kong
and Taiwan) as well as large Asian communities in western countries. The investment is not limited to
China and once again the return relies on the repeated utility of TV content
Another success factor is the choice for a plot placement: the original format has been changed. In China
the show takes place in an ad agency thus it was easy to script brand communications and story lines
about new campaigns that were true to life and timed as they were occurring in the real world.
Concerning the structure of the deal, Televisa acted like business model consultants for the entire show,
delivering some of the basic plot lines that have contributed to the success of the ‘Ugly Betty’ format in
other countries. Televisa also ‘transfers’ the business model, advising on merchandising and product
placement: the business model encompasses everything to do with the series, from production to
product placement and merchandising.
In fact, the investment included branded program promos, a blog by Betty, an in-store collectors
program, billboards, branded credits and a live online chat with Betty at the end of season one. Dove
dolls used in the show were offered as promotional items.Throughout its first and second seasons, it has
consistently remained the top rating program in its timeslot and this arises the interest of advertisers:
indeed, Unilever, Bausch & Lomb, Perfetti van Melle and Chinese toothpaste Zhonghua sponsored the
third season.
Bausch & Lomb, is another MindShare’s client in China; as Bausch & Lomb placed a lot of effort in
educating consumers that B&L is the leader in the contact lens market, PP appeared to be a perfect
solution to convey the right message: the stylish characters wear Bausch & Lomb contact lenses, and
Ms. Lin's transformation during the series into a beauty includes switching from glasses to contacts.
Branded content allows the company to communicate the product attributes effectively, in a relatively
informal and influential manner and to raise the brand profile amongst its targeted consumers in China.
Mimicking Dove, the company decided to establish below-the-line promotions to encourage trials, along
with the branded content initiative.
Many experts argue that PP was heavy-handed, but the branded content may be so readily accepted
since the target audience for ‘Ugly Wudi’ is predominantly made up of housewives aged 20 to 40, maybe
less cynical than the educated urban consumers. And numbers give credits to this strategy: a survey
conducted by Millward Brown at the end of the first season (November 2008) found that unaided
awareness of Dove rose 44% among all target consumers and more than tripled among those who
watched the show; and in November 2008 Unilever’s internal shipment numbers for Dove Shower
Cream were up 21% over November 2007.
6 Youth idol drama and domestic brands
‘Let’s Go Watch Meteor Shower’ or simply ‘Meteor Shower’ is a youth idol drama dealing with the life
and struggles of four wealthy boys and a poor but pretty girl all studying in the same college. The love
story reflects clashes between different social classes in China. The main difference in comparison with
‘Ugly Wudi’ is that all seven brands featured in Meteor Shower are Chinese companies. These seven
“production partners”, to whom were given credit at the end of each episode, were: MG and its sister
brand Roewe (both owned by Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation), Metersbonwe China’s leading
casualwear apparel brand, Slek shampoo (by China’s C-BONS Hair Care, acquired by Beiersdorf in 2007),
Tsinghua Tongfang computer, Xiangpiaopiao instant tea with milk, Cityexpress GPS Device, and Asia Gulf
Hotel based in Xiamen (Fujian Province) where the drama was set.
A strong debate arose about PP because all the seven brands were domestic ones: even if they possess
brand strength they do not have brand stature. As a result, some viewer found it unbelievable and
iimplausible that wealthy customers would purchase the local brands shown in the Meteor Shower TV
show. These brands are all second or lower tier brands in their respective industries thus there was a
mismatch between the social class and the products, and viewers felt unpleasant. In some cases (e.g.
Slek shampoo), the on-screen placements were so plenteous that they appeared unreal, and eventually
offensive. The motives backing Chinese companies are clear, the associations with the wealthy
characters in Meteor Shower are evidence of attempts to widen their markets and be perceived as
higher-end, but the tool was not appropriate.
We can point out some exceptions. For instance Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation (SAIC) aimed
creating differentiation between MG and Roewe brands: this is why viewers see wealthy youngsters in
Meteor Shower driving MGs, whilst their parents use Roewe vehicles. The British MG brand (bought by
Nanjing Automobile, which was later acquired by SAIC) was not well known by many Chinese
consumers: one of the characters loves car racing, in this way MG was able to highlight the performance
of its vehicles. Roewe, characterized by much stronger brand awareness than MG, showcased its
attributes of dignity and modesty in the TV series, positioning itself as a brand targeting the middle class
market.
As there were many other free placements in the show, scenes containing product placements appear
approximately every five minutes: in 2009 ‘Meteor Shower’ saw audiences turn away as a result of the
non-stop barrage of brands.
7 Conclusions
China has a huge population and it has a rapidly growing middle-class, interested in consumer goods and
related information. Thus China is becoming a vast market for domestic and international products and
services. In particular the 18 – 35 demographic is very attractive because most people are cosmopolitan,
fashion conscious, trend seekers consumers. In that age-range most people watch TV series. Thus
product placement and sponsorship fit with talent shows and TV and-Internet dramas which will
continue to target the audience with universal themes of hope, dreams and romance and allow brands
to aim their advertising budget specifically toward a profitable target.
To increase brand awareness and engagement with consumers, many international companies (namely
Budweiser and Pepsi) have successfully introduced consumer-focused contest/campaign and branded
entertainment in China. It is market-driven process, and it is clear that the sponsor must fit the program
with the style, the audience profile, the character and the subject matter in order to promote a. brand.
PP is an extension of a brand campaign and underpins the core emotional: TV program should reflect
the image of the brand; the process is quite simple, if a viewer loves the program, he/she loves the
brand... and hopefully buys the brand!
We have to admit that Unilever’s use of product placement in drama is a polarizing case because it
wants to integrate advertising with drama (plot placement); and has adopted a strong approach as
Unilever Brands control and affect the drama, which has been defined as ‘One Long Product Placement’.
However, while a high density of product placement might (and probably would) ruffle feathers in the
Western countries, we have to take into account cultural differences and this may not be so offensive to
the Chinese audience: they have a more positive view of advertising than those in the West, as they
tend to see it as a source of useful information rather than a manipulative annoyance.
The ‘Meteor shower’ case confirms the requisites for success: the missmatch causes the dislike by most
Chinese viewers who felt to be manipulated and under pressure.
References
Balasubramanian, S. (1994), Beyond Advertising and Publicity: Hybrid Messages and Public Policy Issues,
Journal of Advertising, 15: 140-151.
Blecken
D.
and
B.
Li,
2009,
Live
Issue...
Pass
the
Lipton,
Wudi's
back
for
more,
http://www.media.asia/searcharticle/2009_08/Live-Issue-Pass-the-Lipton-Wudis-back-for-more/36549.
Cashmore, Ellis, (2006), Celebrity/Culture, chapter 10: Televising/Reality, pp.188-207
Cheng H. & Chan K. (2009), Advertising and Chinese Society. Impacts and Issues, Copenhagen Business
School.
ChinaKnowledge Press (2005). Branding in China. Singapore: Author.
China Internet Network Information Center (CNNIC), www.cnnic.cn/en/index/.
CMM (2009), Feature Interview. Arturo Casares Cortina of Televisa Internacional, China Media Monitor
Vol 13 (13), July 23.
Duan, D. & Deng, B. (2006). Pan dian chao ji nv sheng, in Zhang Xiaoming, Hu Huilin, Zhang Jianggang
(Eds.) The blue book of China’ culture, pp.333-342
Gupta, p. B., Balasubramanian, S. & Klassen, M.L. (2000), Viewer’s Evaluations of Product Placement in
Movies: Public Policy Issues and Managerial Implications, Journal of Current Issues and Research in
Advertising, Vol. 22 (2): 22-42.
Holmes, S. (2004), Reality goes Pop! Television New Media, 5(2): 147-172
Hudson, S. & Hudson, D. (2006), Branded Entertainment: A New Advertising Technique or Product
Placement in Disguise?, Journal of Marketing Management, 22 (5-6), 489-504.
Kiley, D. (2006). Television: Counting the Eyeballs. Business Week. Retrieved on July 15, 2011 from
http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/06_03/b3967116.htm.
Morton, C.R. & Friedman, M. (2002) I saw It in The Movies: Exploring the Link Between Product
Placement beliefs and Reported Usage Behavior, Journal of Current Issues and Research in Advertising .
Papadopoulos, N. (1993) What product and country images are and are not. In Papadopoulos, N. &
Heslop, L. A. (2003). Product-Country Images: impact and role in international marketing. New York:
International Business Press..
Rochet J.C. & Tirole J. (2002), Platform Competition in Two-Sided Markets, RAND Journal of Economics,
23 (3): 334-349.
Russell C. A. (1998), Toward A Framework Of Product Placement: Theoretical Propositions, in. J.W. Alba
& J.W. Hutchinson (Eds.) Advances in Consumer Research, Vol. 25, , Provo, UT : Association for
Consumer Research, pp: 357-362.
Tong
S.
(2009),
China
can
handle
product
placement,
available
at
http://marketplace.publicradio.org/display/web/2009/05/29/am_ugly_wudi/ .
Weinberg T. 2009. The New Community Rules: Marketing On The Social Web. Sebastopol (US): O’Reilly
Media Inc.
World Bank (2010), World Development Indicators database, Accessed on July 15, 2011.
Xi, Jieying (2006). Introduction to Chinese youth, in Jieying Xi, Yunxiao Sun, JingJian Xian (Eds.), Chinese
youth in transition, pp.79-97 .
Yang Haijun, (2005), Chaoji nusheng: li pingpai you duoyuan? (Super Girl: How Far Is It Becoming a
Brand?). Guanggao daguan (Advbertsing Panorama), 9 September
Wang, J. (2008) Brand New China. Advertising, media and commercial culture, Harvard College.
Yifan, W. (2007), Brand in China, China International Press.
Zhou, N. & Belk, R.W. (2004), Chinese Consumer Readings of Global and Local Advertising, Journal of
Advertising, 33 (3): 66-77.
Zhou, R. (2005).
Secret behind idol-making Super Girl contest, August 27, China Daily.
http://www2.chinadaily.com.cn/english/doc/2005-08/27/content_472681.htm