8
Ads seek to rebrand 'Made in China'
'Made in China' label
To view this content, Javascript must be enabled and Adobe Flash Player must be installed.
Professor Jay Wang
TEXT OF INTERVIEW
Kai Ryssdal: If you see "Made in China" on something you're buying, or thinking about buying, one of two things probably happens. You don't think twice about it. Or you do. And then you think of the recent scandals over tainted baby food and lead paint on kids toys and you go buy something else. Beijing knows that. So it's turned to a Madison Avenue PR firm to help rebrand its image. A 30-second ad running on CNN that shows "Made in China" labels on a bunch of products and then tag lines underneath. Things like "Made in China with American technology" or "Made in China with European styling." And then you hear this:
AD: When it says "Made in China," it really means "Made in China, made with the world."
The Chinese Ministry of Commerce says the ad is designed to promote Chinese goods objectively. Jay Wang teaches strategic communications at USC. Professor, it's good to have you with us.
JAY WANG: Thank you.
Ryssdal: So first things first, do you think this ad is going to work?
WANG: Well, I don't think it will work because in the advertising world we always have a saying that half of the ad budget is wasted, but we don't know which half. And in this particular case we are addressing a far more complex issue. There are multiple layers of the "Made in China" label, all the way from it's a poor quality, cheap price, to more political issues of job losses for American workers. So a 30-second spot is not going to be enough to address all of these issues.
Ryssdal: Well, then, why try it in the first place?
WANG: Well, it's still worth trying because the central argument made in this particular campaign is that we should think in light of not "Made in China," but "Made with China." And I think it's a valid argument because if you look at the contemporary business process, it is true that the made-in label is kind of antiquated because we engage business partners from all over the world to make a product and to sell a product. So from that perspective, yes, it is an important message, it's an important argument to make. On the other hand, it does not address some of the underlying issues that I just mentioned earlier.
Ryssdal: Obviously they are advertising to American audiences here, right? But let me turn that around a little bit and ask you if you think there's sort of a domestic Chinese audience for this as well. That the Chinese government is trying to convince the Chinese people that what they make there is worthwhile.
WANG: Certainly. There is an important domestic audience in mind I think for any of these Chinese international outreach programs these days because all the scandals with these poor-quality products from China. All the negative associations with "Made in China" had been reported in China and in the last few years that there were lots of discontents with Chinese domestic consumers, with Chinese-made products as well. So for the Chinese government it is very important to shore up this image of China so that in return the Chinese public will be more satisfied in many ways with how the government is handling China's image overseas.
Ryssdal: So do you think this is going to work? This rebranding, if you will, of the "Made in China" image. Is it going to work domestically?
WANG: Well it certainly puts pressure I think on the Chinese producers, and the pressure comes from the Chinese consumers because they have higher expectations, more demanding. And in return the producers are more likely to be more responsible in their business practices.
Ryssdal: So back to the bigger point, then, of how this ad might play in the American consumers' mind. If a 30-second ad isn't going to do it on a trillion-dollar economic relationship, what will?
WANG: Well it takes a lot of conversations, discussions. And I haven't seen other components of this particular campaign, because I just thought that this would be a good thought starter, as opposed to just a stand-alone effort, so there needs to be a lot more conversation, discussions on this issue. Because the message is emphasizing collaboration, integration, which I believe better captures the business realities these days, and the relationship between the U.S. and China.
Ryssdal: Jay Wang, he's a professor of strategic communications at the Annenberg School of Communication & Journalism, just down the street. Professor, thanks for coming in.
WANG: Well, thank you. My pleasure.
So it seems, China does not care about
what they put into products they sell to
their own people or to people of other ccountries. I have now started to look aat where made. If made in China, I do nnot buy...... Yo Walmart, Thought it was suppose to be made in USA????? HA HA.
Product itself is more important than the advertising, I am told by our people purchased Japanese products in 70s were of the similar quality as China today. We have seen improvements in Chinese products, and these will get better with time.
I think it's time for the Chinese to begin to educate American consumers about Chinese manufactured products. As I wrote more than a year ago on my site regarding the latest scandal:
Given the rash of recalled products will consumers think twice before buying Chinese-made goods?
Absolutely they will, that is, if they can find an alternative. And, if they can do that, maybe they'll also conjure an alternative to OPEC. I think China must do something drastic to counteract the increasingly accepted image of Chinese corrupt business practices. However, the reality is we've put our nation in a corner, it's not just Wal-Mart that’s hostage to Chinese manufacturers, its our it's also the sparkling new Apple Stores that are filled, floor to ceiling, with Chinese-made goods.
http://web.mac.com/rsawyer123/Robert_Sawyer/On_Media.html
It's going to take a long string of great reviews of products made in China to even begin to turn the whell on its image.
Everything I've bought that was made in China and had an equivalent made elsewhere showed how the Made in china brands were inferior. For clothes, the fit was different, for products, the materials were poor quality, so much so my wife knows that I dont even consider most items when I see those three words.
I love Chinese cuisine and work with a few and they are great and hardworking, but I think the whole idea of pretty much the world sourcing their manufacturing needs from China, sends a serious message - everything is done dead cheap here. And as the saying goes, you get what you pay for.
with their long history of inferior products, when they embark on things like planes and cars, it only fuels my concerns!!!
I've not bought products made, fully or partially, in China for years now, not because of tainted milk or lead paint in toys, but for a far more obvious reason: China's history of human rights abuses.
It's a small statement on my account, recognizing no country is without blame in this arena, and knowing that certainly I'm having no effect on the balance of trade.
But what hubris, that The Chinese Ministry of Commerce thinks (and that our media would seriously discuss) that an ad campaign could promote China's trade more objectively in the face of that country's flagrant disregard of human dignity.
I would like to hear of "collaboration, integration" between the U. S. and China on something other than making money.
Last May, you broadcast Scott Tong’s interview with Jeff McCain, “a manager for major auto supplier headquartered in Detroit†and his wife Debbie.
SCOTT TONG: When they got to Shanghai, Jeff found himself in an unfamiliar business culture. As an automotive supplier, he was used to American customers focusing on product quality and price. Here, it's almost all about price.
JEFF MCCAIN: They're more willing to compromise on features. We'll use a cheaper grade of steel. And maybe it won't last as long, but that's OK.
30-second ads are fine, but if the product is cheesy, the product is cheesy.
