I admit that I have not been the most earnest updater but the turning of a new year has motivated me to begin fresh and hopefully preserve a good sense of freshness throughout the year for the blog! As you may have noticed, I also decided to renovate with a new layer of furnishing… a retro-themed layout. Hope you enjoy!

Currently, I’m in Minnesota for the Winter Holiday and within a few days, I will be back at Queen’s hitting them books as second semester commences. First semester was definitely not the easiest and it only dumbfounds everyone how yup, we’re already halfway done with the System. While many are still very fond with the System (ie. university/college and the bags of freedom that comes with it), I personally find School to be demotivating at times as in certain subjects, we’re forced to memorize “inert ideas” for the mere intention of scoring on a 3-hr exam. That’s when I start to question the inconveinent confinements of … education, or rather, the method of education.

Nonetheless, I should be very thankful for th 3-week downtime before the cycle starts churning again. It has certainly been nice to experience Minnesota for the very first time. I’m staying at my Aunt’s place which is 40 miles southwest of Minneapolis. I’ve been asked by a few people “what’s in there?” and I think it would be fair to describe the place as being more than just a bearer of Midwest Serenity.  Here are some interesting things I’ve learnt about the city:

1. The most prominent attraction is the Mall of America. Built in 1992, it was the largest mall in the U.S. The place wasn’t enormous (or I came with heavy expectations) and a Nicklodian kids’ park is in the center of the mall. It’s cornered by the 4 department stores; Macy’s, Bloomingdale’s, Nordstrom, and Sears.

2. Minneapolis borders another city, St. Paul, by 15KM from downtown to downtown and as the most populated urban area in Minnesota, Minneapolis-St.Paul is often referred to as the Twin Cities. The full-name of the airport is Minneapolis-St.Paul International Airport, thus the airport code of MSP.

3. Minnesota has the 2nd largest Tibetan population next to New York. Yes, I would know because I care.

3. A skyway is an enclosed bridge between 2 buildings and the Minneapolis Skyway System connects almost every downtown building covering 69 blocks! It is of course jam-packed in the winter because who would want to walk in minus 10 weather when you can walk in a straight line from Saks to the Metrodome?

4. Minnesota is the home to many of the Fortune 500 companies, just to name a few; Delta, Northwest, Target, Best Buy, General Mills…The midwest  also has its own coffeehouse named the Caribou Coffee, which by size, operates on a level second to Starbucks in the U.S.

The above is some defining features, I’ll add more if I do learn!

I’ll end with some photos of my visit to the Minneapolis Institute of Art and the Walker Art Center where I caught the annual screening of the British Television Advertising Awards – exactly my cup of tea.

从微波炉里抱出来刚热好的麦片混牛奶

焦急的保护着它的温度 就像怕突然会失去……

就像失去我找了好久的灵感 — 描述西藏的灵感。

匆匆忙忙的跑回餐桌 把朴素的不能再朴素的大白碗压到我电脑旁

在网上搜到合适情节的Claire De Lune

点播放的同时，我也开始了。

我找了很久了， 这种灵感。

这种不需要任何约束和强迫性质的推动

不用瞌药就可以产生的的动力 去描述那一瞬间的力量。

那种手指会自动在键盘上走动的灵感。

不管是半夜三根需要跑到马桶上 还是 在餐厅里因为突然抽了一经 须要把那几个断了线的回忆用细腻的圆珠笔留系紧到洁白的餐巾纸上。 这也许很猥琐 但更猥琐的是如果我忽略这些瞬间 如果我选择像我身边的每一个人一样 提着个菜篮子上街购物 买我不需要的五彩缤纷的玩意儿 看着人就烦 看着钱就笑。

这正是我怕发生在西藏的身上。

我知道我年轻 总想跟太阳玩接力 总觉得时间不够 现在就想干这个看那个。

我是幸运的 因为我的父母会支持我的一些幻想 例如 去经历这个世界。

可有些他们不能理解的 是我对西藏的恋情。

很多人都不能理解。也不想去理解。

但我相信 能去理解的人 都得算是半个艺术家。

因为只有艺术家才懂得什么是灵感。 什么是人身体里 大脑里 最需要的激素。

而这些东西 不是我们能花钱一斤一斤的买的。 我们只能去寻找。

艺术家最怕的就是他们一辈子都找不到。

但我求你相信我 在西藏 我找到了这种我早就知道我能在西藏找到的灵感。 她很真实。

像一颗钻石一样 你只能隔着玻璃羡慕的去观看 也许会时不时的拿着你的傻瓜相机去傻瓜般的拍摄一下 回去给你丈夫，孩子，和朋友们瞧一瞧 瞧一瞧这个你连名字都忘了的奢侈品 一种你丈夫， 孩子， 和朋友都会羡慕的玩具。

那不是真实。 那不是独一无二的。 那是你可以拿去世界上每一家柯达去复制的底片。 那不是真诚的， 因为它不能从心庚子那样的去改变，和塑造你。

而西藏改变了我。

她把我放生了。

虽然我早就知道我自己是个野孩子。 我需要在草原上蹦跑 我需要感觉到每一头牦牛的存在。 我需要呼吸到这里天堂最近般的空气。 我需要对着每个拿转经铜的老奶奶都笑一遍。

就像放学回家你扔了书包以后会叫一下妈妈， 我回来了。

西藏， 我回来了。

我终于第一次回到了你的怀抱里了。

我终于能拍到橘红色的衣裳在布达拉前面的衬托，

老爷爷和老奶奶用头轻轻瞌在迎风飘起的祷旗上

从隔拉萨千里的信徒们一步一步的瞌过来

小孩子们开朗的在玩耍 那着小木头放在脑瓜上装喜羊羊

好奇的喇嘛们站在卖DVD的摊子前 注视着正在播放的藏族音乐

康巴的汉子在路边切牛肉做点小买卖……

一切的一切 永远都捆在我脑海里。

我也能感受到你的苦。 一些是汉组人给你们制造的。 对不起。 我们很喜欢提供的悬崖。

我代表不了谁给你们道歉。 但我真的想抱住你们每个人说对不起。

对不起 最为一个跟着旅游团抱着相机逼着去购物景点在寺庙里大声喧哗的狗 我侵犯了你的家。

但我对你保证 这不会是我最后一次来西藏的。 我还要回来。 我想做一些事。

我真觉得这是我家。

已经不知道有多少个藏族人对我笑着问：“你是藏族的吧？”

我是， 我当然是。 

然后我们会一起笑 然后我会开始问问题 然后我们会聊很久。 他们会祝福我。 祝我健康平安。

我从来不问他们的名字 他们从来也不问我的名字。

很奇怪， 一般我会很积极的就公布我的名字。

也许在一个商业化的社会里长大的， 都有这种压力。 深怕人家忘了你。 导致你错过一个面试 一次挂号 一轮头等奖。

但在这， 我从来没有感觉过，或记得这种习惯。

因为不管你的名字是格桑还是扎西， 我都会记得你那双善良的眼睛和我们一见面就像熟人般一起的半个小时。

我会记得你高高鼻梁上的一点点的灰。

你的手指的粗造和比我还黑嫩的脸霞。

你五彩缤纷的打扮和我手指上穿的一百个藏银戒指。

你身体上散发细腻的酥油茶味道 和在八角街上转了一天而累积到我身上的藏香。

它们两的味道虽然一样难探测， 但经过跟你谈话的那么久， 已经凝固了。

你那最美，最美，最打动人心 的藏族口音。

一种很难用文字去描述的老乡儿风味儿。

那种如果我在街上听到的话会立即转头然后微笑的问，你是藏族的么？

是啊， 当然是啊。

就像见到家人一样。

你的一举一动都让我觉得很温暖。

我直希望你的孩子的机会能比你多一点。 我希望我能给他们带来更多的教育。

我希望我不要再看到孩子在路边碟着那一张张的一毛，一块钱。

跟在旅游团的后面 手伸出来的样子 可以把一个个人的心都撕碎。

我知道 如果我们帮你 你就会被训练成乞丐的。 而我们不帮你 ……

是很纠结。

也很自私， 不是么。

我不想让你发展成下个上海， 虽然这需要很久的时间。

我也不想看到拉萨街头上遍地都是卖佳能相机的店。

我想你永远都那么纯净

但我知道 你是要付出代价的。

一个名族的落后，是要付出代价的。

带原谅我现在的无知般的自私，

我只是觉得你很美。

别变那么多，行么？

我怕。

我怕我下次回来的时候 会感觉到震撼。

就像我再次回中国 才感觉到遍地都是贵的让我看都看不起的大商场。空的吓人的LV, BURBERRY 和GUCCI.

而西藏开LV的那一天 也许就是我自杀的一天。

在淮海路亮的灯一晚上应该可以供一个村子的人喝口水。

我怕下次我回来的时候

人们会因为财富的挣扎和名族的开发而变的更为利益而活了。

我怕因为汉族人的垄断 让我在街上认识的文字比我不认识的更多。

我怕当虔诚的老爷爷和老奶奶们去世以后 他们的子孙后代也不能那么虔诚的嗑拜在大昭寺门前了。

我怕因为为了开更多的铁道和公路 把白云都染黑了 牦牛们也没有地方戏耍了。

一个国家需要进步。 而进步会付出代价。

我只希望这个代价不会支付不起。

我很自私， 住在大房子里面，用着我的索尼手提听着古典音乐，再去像死耗子一样的要求你做一些我自己做不到的事情。

我会还给你我需要还给你的一切的。

谢谢你， 西藏。

老早就知道我是属于妳的。  

Note: something I composed in Chinese, regarding Tibet. Written with a soul, so please restrain from using Google translations. It will come out very ugly. 
 

I took an overnight train from Beijing to Nanjing (with almost no sleep.. awakard position in trains) and after a couple of days spent in my hometown of Nanjing, I took another bullet-train to Shanghai (only 2 hours apart) and hung out for two days.

Fortunately, I wasn’t part of the mainstream crowd that went to the World Expo – the reason the cost of all Chinese flights and hotels were doubled this year. Tourists from every continent, especially the Chinese, flew to see this big deal. The entire city of Shanghai felt energetic, hip, and just a tad overpopulated and humid during this time. Every citizen of Shanghai was also given a free ticket. That’s some 23 million stubs.

By the end of August, about 45 million people have paid their visits to the 41st World Expo – that’s more than the Canadian population of 35 million – in only 120 days of opening.  About half a million visitors crowd the site everyday with countless hours spent in lines for the 50 or so state-of-art pavillions representating different countries.

So, when asked by literally everyone I know, the reason I didn’t attend the Expo and still went to Shanghai,  I didn’t respond with the same strange looks I was given. The reason is quite casual. I didn’t want to sweat more than I had in the already close-to-40-degree weather; and I spared no interest for the Expo. I wanted to go explore what the city is known for; its international commerce, fancy architectures, and contemprorary cultures.

I also arranged some coffee meetings and agency visits. Ubber worth the two days of absolute restlessness.

Upon arrival, I met with Lin at the Element Fresh outside Ritz Carlton. Enjoyed an overly-American meal in a resturant where we were probably the only locals. Lin had worked as a strategic planner at the Beijing Saatchi and now over at Ogilvy Shanghai. We shared very similar backgrounds – born in Nanjing and went to school in Canada – so it ignited extra interest in speaking to her. Lin was extremely nice to have came out for a very interesting conversation consisting my many questions on her experiences and insights, one of which is to expose myself to the British advertising playground because of the excellent quality and unique thinking there. Perf. Just another addition on my list of places to intern in. Thanks Lin

In the afternoon, I hung out with Jiajie, who I had met on my Europe trip earlier in June. I made sure Jiajie to not bring me to a generic tourist sight that I could probably read a book to or check my photo archive for; good thing she knew exactly what my taste was like and brought me to one of my favorite places in Shanghai – Tian Zi Fang (田子坊), an international creative art park, home to more than 100 designer/artistic shops, resturants, and bars, similar to the 798 Creative Zone in Beijing, but more intimate. Tian Zi Fang made me realize how many foreigners there are in Shanghai, everyone (even the shop owners) spoke English and carried big-shot Nikons. It was very nice to take nightly strolls in downtown Shanghai’s alley ways and hotspots such as Xin Tian Di (新天地).

My second day, and also one of extreme business, kick started with a visit to DDB. I first met with Kellie, the HR director, a very friendly Aussie who’s been in China for almost a decade. The office had a lot of foreigners, even more since they were holding the annual training program for all the Asia- regional executives. It is a bit different from the Beijing scene as Shanghai has a stronger focus on Consumer Packaging Products with more international clients – I definitely felt it. Talking about internationlism, I ate at the corner Subway for lunch and came back to exchange a brief talk with Mr. Motman, the chief executive of DDB, who generously accomodated my visit request.

Immediately leaving DDB, I took the subway to the Saatchi office at the SOHO Donghai Plaza（东海广场). It is conveinently located on the 31st floor and upon coming in, the familiar light-shone logo is the first thing to notice. The Shanghai office is less “free” than the Beijing one; no scooters were available for horsing around and desks were more tightly arranged together. There were around 150 people on the floor and again, the interior design was artistically refreshing, in many shades of the elegant white. While I was speaking with Cecile, who’s also a planner here, guess who sat across from us? The colleague from the Beijing office that sat next to me! He was on a business trip but still, it made me realize how frequent I travelled; for me, it felt like it only took walking into another set of doors, from Beijing to Shanghai.

Then right after the Saatchi visit, I went over to the Starbucks by Shanghai Art Museum to meet with Wu Jinjun, who was responsible for carrying out the New York Festivals (NYF) in Shanghai this June – I had prepared to help out for the event, but Cannes’ time shedule was in conflict with NYF so what a pity! For those that don’t know, NYF is also another advertising award festival, they had a couple hundred big shot guests coming from out of China. Jinjun also produced his own 30-minute series consisting of interviews with Creatives in the Chinese ad scene. This man is full of ideas – he’s working on a ton of projects that I’m extremely excited about and wish him the best for. A very smart guy and finally after months of contact, we had coffee. Thank you for the treat, JJ.

So in conclusion, I absolutely abused the Shanghai subway system for the day; spending at least 30 RMB in subway fares (that’s making around 10 runs). A very fruitful trip with many new faces to meet and conversations to thank for.

My train would leave the next day around noon – I spent my morning more relaxed, paid a visit to the Art Museum (a RARE place to be empty in Shanghai) and wandered around Ren Min Plaza (人民广场), the most downtown-central area.

Great impression of Shanghai this time, a city I’ve come across so many times but for the first time, I felt and experienced its rich growth. Hmmm. Would be fun to return for a job opportunity?

Would be.

To home.

And I’ve learnt more about life, love, and beauty than I initially planned to have.

I’ve also learnt that home, doesn’t have to be where your furnitures sleep.

I just know that I have to go back – I have to, I have to. Its people are my people. Its land and water bore my airs. Its skies looked out for me. Its animals showered its stunning landscapes. It’s everything that completes the incompletes parts of mine. I’ve thought for a long time of writing an astronomically long entry on this adventure (because it deserves the time and craft) and I’ve always wanted to only write it when I felt soul-ful (because it deserves all the soul I could feel in the body). I imagined completing this post on a toilet at 4am because that’s the only place I could escape to without disruption. I imagined editing this at an airport gate with a battery bar that is a little more pressing and unignorable than an auburn there’s-only-3-minutes-left icon. I imagined frantically polluting restaurant napkins with scribbled flashbacks, to be stored, deciphered, and recorded on a journal at a later time.  

I need the most inspiration to describe this adventure and I wait for those magical moments because when they happen, they feel beautiful.

I couldn’t sleep for 3 whole days, the night in Chengdu before the big trip, the first day in the Tibetan capital of Lhasa, and the last night of the 6 day tour, again, in Lhasa. Was it more excitement than the unfamarilarity of the high elevation, the automatic response of every tourist? I couldn’t tell, it was a fine mix of both. I just never wanted to sleep or waste a minute with my eyes closed, I wanted to run on the open plains with the yaks and sheeps and talk with the red-beaded guys and girls about their perspectives and my perspectives. I wanted to ask questions that came less than ten syllables, capture portraits that you can smell the film grains to, and feel some kind of spiritual uplift – religion is ubiquitous. It defines this place.

I did everything I wanted to. I opened my eyes and hearts like never before.

On the last day, I had my alarm set at 6AM, however, an unexplained uneasiness awoke me at 3. I was alone in a room with three beds – two have flown home due to their fevers. I packed all my goods and left the hotel at 7 to arrive on the square of the most holy Jokhang Temple. I sat on the steps of Jokhang and just allowed the sun and the incensed smoke to bathe my presence. I didn’t feel foreign at all, before lines of faithful disciples grasping onto their spots of getting inside the monastery. Nor did I feel any uneasy from observing a land of people doing the grand kneel. Around me were faithful disciples carrying litres of buttered tea, buckets of flowers, to devote themselves to the holy spirits inside.  

People were coming to Lhasa from all over Tibet. Even as we drove on highways, we would be accompanied by disciples on the side doing the Grande Kneel. On the right, there could be a few wandering yaks unworried by the polite traffic this place has been known for towards its holy members.  

We would drive by large Haiger tour buses filled with yellowed-faced sleepers, with expensive oxygen bottles in front of their seats, just in case they run out of oxygen, as likely their cameras would be out of batteries. Like us, they were new to this place.

Not very often would we feel taller by getting past mini vans that carry the dark-shaded Tibetans. I remembered one in particular. They were a mid-aged crowd, probably in the 40’s. The one guy just looked up – it was an engagement of a mere second, but I could not forget how natural and welcoming his eyes looked.

I want to come back really soon.

I want to understand its religion and I want to embrace its people the same way they have done to me – like family. I want to be without any complaints and I want to be immersed in their perspectives and culture.  I want to capture more smiles than I can offer myself.

It’s daunting how quickly you can fall in love with something that you knew would take you away from the very beginning.

Or even before the beginning.

She asked if I wanted to travel, away from Beijing, for a bit.

A tinge of excitement was the only thing I could experience in my already dry throat, the same throat thas has been consuming the hottest air this city has experienced in the past 10 years.

“Where”, I asked, with bigger curiousity than ever. I’ve been extended numerous offers by them this past summer, but none of my adventurous requests went through. Last year was a bad one to pick. Everywhere I wanted to go either held an earthquake, flood, or some political disruption.

“We were thinking of Tibet, you wanna come?”

And for those who know me should understand the unhealthy obsession I have with lama attires, hobo bags, mosque shoes, free prairies, horses, cows, sheeps, and the real beauty that exists in only the most genuine and raw conversations between people – not behind screens pressing “like” or “view”, but the kind that chases the sunset like restless children with rural elegance. If you know what I mean. You should.

A copy of my passport was sent to the traveller’s agency for an expedite Tibet Traveller’s Permit application that very afternoon. It would shorten the norm-rate of 7 business days to only three. 24 hours later, I booked my flight. And within 24 hours, my flight will leave. Packing is left unchecked. That will be done first thing in the morning tomorrow (today?).

I think this is going to change my life, like everything that has already happened in this two short months.

But I think this will change me. And I’m not quite sure If i’m ready for all the bombardments yet. I’d have to run to the pharmacy tomorrow morning and grab some medicine to prepare for the high elevations of Tibet (nosebleeds and pounding headaches are common if precautions aren’t taken)

There’s also a smaller assignment I’m about to take-on, along with my cousin, in the next couple of weeks. The relative that took us out for dinner, as a habitual thing, gave us 500RMB each to spend on whatever. We just couldn’t take it. So I wrote a heartfelt letter to her and we folded the bills into hearts and stuffed everything in an envelope and gave it back to her. What we’re going to do is something more meaningful. We’re each taking only 100 RMB and spliting that into 20 pieces of 5 RMB, and we’re going to pay it forward.

I grow sick of the widening gap between the rich and poor in this country. I struggle to understand why there are a billion luxury shopping malls when most people probably don’t even shop there. Because they can’t afford to.

There is still the lady without the leg playing er-hu in front of the empty Burberry, the lost 7-year-old who’s been forced to give out flyers that his parents wouldn’t even care to comprehend, the middle-aged man with an accidental burn on his cheek coupled with simple chalk-words on the sidewalk that explains how he survived the lost hopes.

So instead of spending the money on probably end up being 3.5 cocktails inside Nan Luo Gu Xiang (南锣鼓巷) – my second-home and backyard – we’re trying something else. In the next few weeks, we’ll be travelling to different cities (my cousin’s leaving Beijing to Guangzhou, and I, to Chengdu then Tibet) and we’re going to spread our help across the map into the hands of those who would knock their heads out for that light bill.  We’ll mark each of our 5 RMB with a special symbol so it stays differentiated from all the other bills (if we have anything else) in our wallets. For each person we extend our help to, we’ll photograph them and also write a little note on the who, where, and how’s.

I feel that this will be the best gift we could give, and I can’t wait to take this on in Tibet. I’ll keep all posted.

I’m going to the office in the morning to organize some files and in the afternoon, I’m spending it with my cousin, as it will be my last day with her, to probably a canoe-trip inside Beihai Park, an imperial garden north of the Forbidden City, famous for its river (Beihai).

Stay well, everyone. Get excited for Jia in Tibet. Seriously.

When I talked about my internship with others, I’d often receive the curious remark of “so, what the hell do you do there?”. For the first few days, I couldn’t quite put an answer to that besides “LIKE, BE IN AWE AND DO WHATEVER THAT’S TOLD?” But really, I had to first ingratiate myself to a new circle of people, explore the office by poking around with a Canon, and intruding different groups with requests for more work. Actually, the only day that I felt long was the day that I didn’t take initiative. I hated feeling that. So I stopped and picked my feet up.

I guess I’ll give a brief overview of the projects/activities I’ve been involved thusfar at Saatchi:

1. Tianjin Real-estate

Tianjin is about 20 minutes from Beijing by train. A Singapore-based real estate company called UOL approached us regarding strategic marketing for its new urban-complex in downtown Tianjin, which composes of some luxury apartments, hotel, office buildings, and a shopping mall.

What I’ve been doing is researching on the competitors of UOL, both in the urban complexes and residential categories. I’d need to go on different real-estate search engines and filter out the competitors (based on region, price, or surroundings) and build Excel and Powerpoint doc’s showing the comparison with many parameters. Before I’d always hear that houses are expensive in China but I never realize the impact of it until I start shopping for these properties myself (online, of course)… in Tianjin, it’s around 20,000 RMB/sq or $3000 CAD/sq. For a one-room apartment, it would cost around 1 Million RMB. For a working professional earning 10,000 RMB/month, 1 million isn’t the cheapest route to a concrete hut.

But yet, blocks of buildings are being constructed every single day because there is demand, and there are the sufficient funds on bank account statements to support that, and probably 50 more properties and a string more Porsche’s. My team was planning to fly to Singapore for a pitch in mid-july and a week or so before the scheduled time, the people from the Singapore office called and rescheduled the pitch day to mid-August. Pheww. Changes happen everyday. People worked days and nights preparing the presentation and I guess the sudden call-off, thought optimistically, only gives more time for preparation of a more persuading presentation.

2. Ikea kitchen translations

Like Lexus, IKEA and HP are also big account at Saatchi Beijing. I had been done with the UOL research task so I decided to fetch more tasks from other groups. Fortunately, IKEA actually needed some translations done for a storyboard they just did for the kitchens, so I helped out with that. A fascinating aspect of office-communication in China is that they love using MSN. Almost everyone is on MSN and they use it to transfer files and my supervisor says they even use it to talk with clients. What I considered as only a tool for chatting up with some friends (thus I’m never on MSN at work because I feel “unprofessional”) is actually such a valuable and popular tool for in-house communications. I’ve also learnt about the difficulty of translating copy and making it sound the “same” – direct translations are sometimes your worst enemy and to craft it better, it takes great proficiency because it’s as if you’re writting another copy. Tough job. Luckily they only needed a rough one done.

 3. Taobao Shopping Mall

As some would know, Taobao (淘宝) provides the largest consumer-to-consumer (C2C) platform (ie. I sell to you), similar to a Chinese Ebay where anyone can set up an online-shop, People can register their own shops and sell products ranging from clothing, cosmetics, electronics, books, equipments, and even flight tickets.

Taobao makes 200 billion every year in sales, represents about 85% of the entire Internet-shopping industry, and ranks number one in the C2C industry. It’s HUGE. And now Jack Ma, the genius founder of Taobao that many young entrepreneurs in China aspire to become, had started up another project called Taobao Shopping Mall (淘宝商城) – which shifts it focus from C2C to Business-to-consumer (B2C). It wants to be the largest online mall that sells basically, everything. Right now it’s rather focused on electronics; having many brands such as HP, Sony, and Apple license its rights to Taobao to sell their products on the Taobao Shopping Mall, often at a more preferred price than buying it offline.

 It’s a very fascinating project. Taobao thinks while short-term competitors are 京东商城 (mainly online electronics) and VANCEL (online clothing with a H&M feel), the long-term competitor is actually real shopping malls themselves. Talking about going digital.

So what Taobao wants is a brilliant campaign to build the brand of the TB shopping mall, as well, to differentiate TB shopping mall from Taobao. They just want to kick ass. Greg, the account director in charge of this pitch, went to Shanghai to receive the brief a few days ago. And we helped him with some competitive analysis. We want to help Taobao kick ass, too.

 4. SPIKES Asia 2010 entries

SPIKES is a huge advertising festival, presented by the Cannes Lions Advertising Festival, that takes place in Singapore every September to award creative excellence in Asia and Australia. They have a line of top-notch jury as well as speakers this year, including Howard Draft (Founder; Draft), Tay Guan Hin (ECD, JWT Asia), Bob Jeffrey (CEO, JWT Worldwide), Bob Greenberg (CEO, R/GA), Andrew Robertson (CEO, BBDO Worldwide), Sir Martin Sorrell (CEO, WPP), Mark Tutssel (CCO, Leo Burnett Worldwide), Rei Innamoto (CCO, AKQA), and many more from the same 3-am crowds in Cannes. Agencies from around Asia will submit works, similar to what they just did for Cannes, and in September, everyone attends SPIKES (at a lower admission ticket than the French, I’d hope) where they announce the winners and holds a huge party to celebrate the coming-together of creative talents from all over the world.

And luckily, I’m actually helping out with submitting entries for Saatchi. There are about 9 pieces we’d like to submit and for each piece, I’d have to help decide on the general and specific category (there’s about, a million), edit the English synopsis, fill out the creative credits and contact information, and lastly, work closely with the teams that did the works to obtain the necessary footage as we have to submit both online and offline (mail to Singapore). A couple of works have been last-minute additions, such as some videos for the TV/Cinema category (TVC) and it makes it very stressful for everyone because they’d have to catch the deadline on top of their other productions.

So essentially, I enjoy what I do and I like where I am. And I plan on getting to work earlier now to chop more wood before the fire starts its burning.

Please be well everyone, it’s been %#$%ing hot here in Beijing.

For those who’re off the hooks, I’m in Beijing right now. After Cannes, I took a day in Nice (extremely sleep deprived by then so I crashed at 5PM) and then went back to Munich and took a flight there via Dubai to Beijing. It was a long flight yet interesting flight – to the heart of China, a destination so desired by the young, the ambitious, the rich, the poor, and studious, the entreprenurial, the cultured, the glamorous. Prior to my arrival, I had only been to Beijing once, for sometime less than a week. We had visited it as a family and of course, jumped on the biggest sights like every other classic tourist.

But now, oh my, I now sit no more than 10 kilometres  north of the most symbolic gem of this city, the Tian’anmen square. I know, I couldn’t believe that either until I actually measured my distances on Google map. Technology always has a way of convincing you. or your feet. or your lost souls.

So what have I been doing in Beijing? For the first week, some jet-lag recovery (was I jetlagged?), curious adventures and nightly strolls and jesus, I’ve been eating out (yes, breakfast, lunch, dinner) every single day. I only use the kitchen stoves for boiling water ( a Jia favorite) so I’ve been enjoying the greasy Chinese delicacies for sometime now. My stomach hasn’t felt like a erupting volanoe yet, so I guess it’s fine.

And some lovely news; I landed a spot at Saatchi & Saatchi Beijing and it’s been a week since I took on the role of an Account Intern. Saatchi is conveinently located in the Central Business District (CBD) of the city at one of the busiest subway stations known as Guo Mao station (“World Trade”) – I work on the top floors of the China International Trade Center, which houses 36 floors and is surrounded by a dozen of other high rises, luxury shopping, and fancy resturants.

It’s nice, it’s very nice in fact. You walk under these tall blocks of sky scrapers so the sunrays automatically become less intensive  and when you look up, you feel like you’ve grown up, or your dreams grow up, grow close, and grow real. Manhattan on a smaller scale. Behind every window, someone could be making the decision that signs away the lives of their organization and their own. And they probably do.

Every morning I cram the main subway line with a million other citizens that need to get to work. I head back home at around 8. I go up to the reception entrance and witness the “Nothing Is Impossible” wall of Saatchi’s, over and over again. I stack my Adage and Campaign neatly, along with my travel-journal-turned-notebook and orange poreclain cup on the table. I take the elevator that gets me down 35 floors in 35 seconds. I meet new faces everyday during our irregular lunch-times. I redesign powerpoints and apply the highest standards to the smallest and most ignorable fonts. I relax and converse with my director, Alex, on his dreams, upbringings, and views on about everything. I dance to  indie beats blasted from the silver Mac’s located in all different directions. I blast my own Ingrid Michaelson and I looove the ambience. I walk by shelves of classic coffee-table books and ask them to unlock the literatures for me. I stay away from the coffee machine because I don’t need more energy than I currently bear. I peek at things with curious eyes. I don’t abuse the paid-proxies they have here for logging freely onto facebook and youtube. I smile at whoever that rides the scooter because they’re too lazy to walk around the office. I want to feel a bit more real for a while. and I have.

Everything’s so beautiful because finally, someone believes in you and they give you a chance. A lot of people ask how I got myself in. I tell them, it’s blood, sweat, and some big dozes of persistence. I’ve made more calls and crafted more e-mails than I could count – maybe 50, maybe 100 – and I’ve been shot down. A lot. But that never hindered my curiousity, imperfected my confidence, or deterred my growth. I just continued because I believed. That I belonged, and that I deserved to be belonged. Sometimes you gotta be a bit more ignorant and eager. And finally, someone decided to give me one shot. I was so happy.

 I was so happy.  

And thank you for those that believed alongside with me. Thank you. You guys have been so sweet, really. Believe in me a bit more and I’ll strive for greater things.

For now, I’ll go take a shower and get ready for a brand new day. Take care.

More photos of the office to come.

Surreal.

I remember walking back to the hotel near 4 and we all witnessed the Palais for the last time (hopefully not in our lifetime), with the giant banners and effortless red carpets still at such a serene hour, it really injects a sense of nostalgia, all the way back to day 0. This week has truly be filled with the most precious, adventurous , and glamorous memories and it will only be a matter of time before we all unite in Cannes again (and jump for our Simba’s on stage).

 Back to the curriculum – we had our very last 2 speakers coming in today – Dick Van Motman, CEO of DDB China and Craig Davis, founder of BrandKarma and former Chief Creative Directot of JWT North America. Out of the many speakers this week, Mr. Motman has been the only one coming from Asia and it ignited great interest for me.  He studied marketing and economics in Amsterdam and he is an interesting mix of many many roots. Having worked in advertising for 20+ years, he finally rose to the chief executive position at DDB China and now he lives and works in the metropolitan of Shanghai.

I enjoyed his presentation greatly because instead of it being focused completely on Advertising, he gave an excellent overview of the Chinese marketplace, which is exotic to most of us (even some to me) in terms of unique attributes and trends.  Some of the insights that he shared:

Despite China being the infamous copy-cat-factory of literally every big brand in the world, from Apple to LV, there is actually much more to that. Out of the 10 top global solar technology  companies, half of them are Chinese companies. The car company, BYD, to which the logo looks a bit similar to BMW, was originally a premier battery company and as it started manufacturing cars, it received a 500% return within 2 years. Luckily Warren Buffet had already predicated all that and made an investment in BYD before it went hot.  Mr. Motman also introduced a website called 新茶, which was started by a foreigner for the intention of connecting China’s creative communities together. 

China’s future mission? To change it from MADE in China to DESIGNED in China. Seeing the drastic and constant evolvement of this young yet cultured nation, I can’t help but feel a bit excited to be a part of bringing this vision alive. At the end of the session, Mr. Motman kindly gave me a little gray book filled with quotes said by the great Bill Bernbach, seeing the material was printed in both English and Chinese. Really a precious give, every saying of Bill’s makes you feel that much stronger, closer, and so damn energetic about advertising. Really appreciated it!

Our second speaker, Craig Davis, as some may already know, created the website BrandKarma. Prior to listening to him, I never knew how BrandKarma operated. Basically, online users can follow, rank and comment on over 300,000 brands across a dozen of industries. All comments are public and users can choose to either agree or disagree with other users’ comments.  The mission of BrandKarma is “to help everyone make better brand choices and influence brand behaviour for good” and as Craig shared, BrandKarma does the following:

[+] make brand owners accountable

[+] share, amplify, and mobilize your opinions

[+] help consumers make better purchase decisions

As consumers  become increasingly engaged with the building process of brand images via online contributions, Brandkarma definitely seeks to expand into the next social-media powerhouse. Their business model works simply as selling the databases to large organizations that take the interest in what a consumer has to say about their brands, competitors, and industries. The project is currently sponsored entirely by Craig at the moment. BK is a pretty neat idea.

Forthwith to the speakers, it was time for all of us, like first day, to give a presentation on What Cannes Meant To Me. It was a project given a couple of days ago but I’m positive due to the excessive late night explorations… everyone crammed their video/powerpoint/skit in minimal time. Some were very creative (they did an awards show, presenting awards to what they thought were the most valuable parts of the Festival), and some, like myself, just did a very gesticulative powerpoint on how absolutely fabulous these past 7 days have been for each single one of us.

Around 3, we all headed towards our graduation ceremony by the beach. Everyone grabbed a few champagnes and we all had such a wonderful time taking our last photos, receiving our diplomas, and thanking Rick and Clive for their most wondrous  teachings and support in us. It felt like prom in Cannes – our attire might have been a little casual, but the backdrop sure was an enjoyable one, with the sun and waves right by our ears. As a goodbye gift to both the tutors, we had made shirts at the Youtube station that said “Yes, We Cannes ‘10” in the Obama blue and red font – everyone has signed the shirt so it looks more colourful and valuable than any other souvenir you can find on this coast.

Clive and Rick gave us a few kind words; to always have passion and work very very hard because any of the best people in advertising got to where they are today not only lending to their talent but moreover, to their diligence and absolute standards to only do the best work. They’re so cute and we’ll miss them very dearly!

AWARDS & the GALA

The last awards ceremony is actually a new one this year called Film Craft. I’m not really what the innate difference is between that and short video but Canada grabbed a lion today on the Tropicana video that has been circulating quite around during festival. A very poignant clip made by the Canadians, such a great joy to watch in the auditorium.

After the awards show comes the closing gala, held at the same property as the opening gala, which is at the beach of Carlton Hotel. Even though I had been suffering from a sore throat the night before (and what seemed a mild fever), I still, and surprisingly, went all out and didn’t waste a minute dancing with the crowd and mingling with the people from coming all over the world. Really, I think that is the true beauty, to meet Spain, dance with Italy, talk with Swedish, and drink with Singapore. As the gala ended around 2, everyone headed out to the Guttar Bar, the most notorious hangout spot during Cannes and truly, it is a phenomum! As soon as it hits 3, you’re guaranteed to see a massive roadblock at the intersection filled with just the classic ad men with a drink in one hand and cigar in the other.

Jimmy is now a group creative director at TBWA/Chiat/Day in San Fransisco. The sweet spot for Gatarode was ages 13-18 and they wanted to target a larger group with what they dubbed Mission G. For the REPLAY campaign, the budget was 10 million dollars for 10 eposides, which was extremely low. Fox, Warnr Brothers, Sony, and Dreamworks all discussed producing a movie out of REPLAY.

Jeff Benjamin was our first speaker, like any other jury president on the day after their category’s award show, Jeff looked a bit strained from all the partying he had probably done hours ago. Nonetheless, he was extremely friendly, down-to-earth, and jeez, looking young for a cyber jury president. Jeff first studied political science and wanted to pursue law, instead, did graphic design for a couple of years in New York and then spent his time at Goodby and Crispin. He talked about the rising popularity and organic growth of real-time campaigns (such as REPLAY by Gatorade) and its ability to build culture and create inspiration, giving everyday consumers like us the tools and power to pass the message on. What I also found interesting is when he discussed his career-path change, from law to advertising – he said to “Run towards something, not away from something”.

Then we went over to a seminar by MDC Partners. It inspired me a lot. The CEO said the best time to start an agency is right now. He gave the example of Droga5; Droga felt like he spent his life building on other people’s agencies and finally, he took his personal assistant to start a shop in New York 4 years ago. He himself started in the mail room, but he was able to meet generous people that shared their ideas and beliefs, as well as their visions to do things different – such as Hal Riney and Mary Wells. An interesting proposal was given at the seminar, MDC is always looking to invest in young talents and is auctioning off 1 million dollars to help start-up any agency. It really got everyone excited because heck, that’s a big prize for at least quarter of the auditorium that is under 30 years old. I think one of the prominent examples in the Canadian industry would be Taxi, which has expanded through Canada and also established bases in New York and Amsterdam.

After the seminar, we went back to class to be greeted by the probably most talked about individual during Cannes – David on Demand. David stirred a huge Twitter wave by attaching a 24 hour camera on his head and a gigantic computer screen at the back that shows all the tweets made by his followers. What’s so special about these tweets? Well, people on the internet get to tell David what to do (thus, David on Demand) and the only borderline is legality so in the past few days, David has already gotten a tattoo, rented the most car in Cannes, and so much more. Every move he makes is being watched and being twitted. It was so great to have him come in and talk to us (with everything streamed live on the Internet) – he’s actually a Creative recruiter from Leo Burnett and along with David came Susan Credle, one of the superwomen in the business. Susan worked for 24 years at BBDO NY as a Chief Creative Officer before taking on a new creative role at Leo Burnett Chicago, the HQ. One of my favourite sayings from Susan is:”learn from the past, observe the present, and dictate the future. There’s a difference between ideas that you spend on and those that you invest in. Selling a product is short-term but selling a brand is long-term. We’re gonna start doing good to do well.”  She also showed us a McDonald’s Proud Papa ad that seemingly no longer works in the current market because no one pays much attention to the storytelling anymore. This ad was extremely adorable and you can take a look at:

www.http. MCDONALD’S PROUD PAPA

In the evening, I was off to La Pizza with the Canadian Young Lions Competitors and a few lovely Canadian representatives from Strategy magazine and BLACK (Dean’s agency). It was a dinner sponsored by the Globe and Mail and Dean had invited me to it the day before. Being the youngest of the group (again and always, haha), it was great to meet and learn about each person’s fascinating experiences. There were two teams for Print and one for Media and they all had to place top on the national level (the Young Lions competition held by the Globe) to compete in Cannes – such an amazing accomplishment and we all felt so proud for them as Canadians!

We snuck into one of the parties held by one of the big partners (some Pepsi people were inside) and the night/morning ended at the Guttar Bar, the most notorious hangout spot in Cannes. There were too many people wandering on La Croisette, I guess it’s because it’s the last day. You never get tired here. Just don’t sleep. Oh gee, we still have to make a presentation tomorrow about our experiences. I will… increase my efficiency tomorrow morning.