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Our Bureau

New Delhi , Sept. 30

THE next time you laugh at a funny commercial, be proud of being Indian. China may be the third largest advertising market in the world after the US and Japan, but Indian advertising is far more creative and humorous.

In a free-wheeling conversation with newspersons organised by FICCI, Mr Gavin Heron, Managing Director, TBWA/Shanghai said, "Indian advertising has a voice, Chinese ads are still universal. We are looking for the China voice to come out." He added that punning is possible in Indian languages, but the Chinese language does not lend itself to this; the advertising is more persuasive.

But both India and China are similar to the developed markets when it comes to quality of ads, as just 20 per cent of the advertising deliver value to the brand by increasing sales and building loyalty.

The advertising in China is primarily led by multinational brands aiming to woo the new consumers. "Earlier, vitamins and tonics for well-being were the big spenders. But, now, personal and skin care products as well as automobiles lead the pack," he added.

In fact, Procter and Gamble is one of the large advertisers in the country. Earlier, local brands were the top advertisers, but in the recent times, the multinationals have taken over.

Interestingly, advertising is presently focused in the business zones, which includes Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou. "Most of the big brands advertise in the Tier I cities as these account for 60 per cent of the top incomes in the country. However, now brands are moving to the smaller towns," Mr Heron added.

He said that though the media is controlled, there are about 800 channels in the country. Also, all the large and well-known advertising agencies are already present in the country. "On an average, a consumer in China views 800 television commercials in a week," he added.

Mr Heron, however, felt that creating of a Global China Brand might not happen. "Japan had 40 years to build a brand in various categories. Korea too had such an advantage. But, China has had to sign the WTO agreement. Increasingly, local Chinese brands are being bought over by multinational companies. Therefore, while there could be local brands, these would be owned by global companies," elaborated the TBWA/Shanghai Chief.

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