Jasmine Huang has 15 years experience from the advertising industry with abundant knowledge of content creation and production. She has worked for several 4A agencies as executive producer & business director in China & UK. The works she participated won several international advertising awards, such as: Cannes, D&AD, CLIO, One Show, etc. Read on to learn more about Jasmine’s views on Chinese consumers and branding in China.

Hey who are you and what do you do?

My name is Jasmine and I’m founder of ZH Communication based in Shanghai. Our agency does advertising, PR and events. We also do culture related projects such as promoting a French animation film festival in Shanghai and present D&AD in China. In general, we help international brands and organizations to understand the Chinese consumers and tell them what Chinese people really think.

Could you tell about the recent projects that you have been involved?

We just finished a project for Johnnie Walker. Johnnie Walker Blue is an international brand and we did a campaign with them. We filmed the Chinese versions of their “Game changers” videos, which was a part of their international campaign. So we used their voice and their stories to inspire more young people in China to do a “game change” of their own.

What are the biggest differences between the Chinese and Western consumers?

I think there is not that big difference if they’re the 90’s generation. The internet has changed our lives completely and roughly at the same time. If you look at the young people today from China or any place else, they all use iPhone, iPad and are sharing the same information online. However the culture still makes them extremely different. The Chinese have the Chinese way of appreciating the nature, obviously we haven’t done so great recently, but I think it’s coming back as we all the old Chinese traditions and heritage. So today there isn’t that much difference between the Chinese and Western consumers but in the future, in 10 years time, there will be a big difference.

How do you see that the brands have developed under the time you’ve been working in the industry?

I’ve been in this industry for 15 years. Before there was very old Western kind of advertising model in China. It appeared in how the products were shown and how the marketing people enhanced the benefits. Nowadays people are no longer looking for the same benefits from the product than before. Instead you play a lot more with feelings and emotions. The consumers have started to appreciate the Chinese way of living and the Chinese culture a lot more than before. I think it’s better for the Chinese to have a strong believe in our own heritage rather than saluting the Western culture.