ASIA-PACIFIC – BEIJING, CHINA, JULY 25, 2012: JWT Beijing’s latest work strengthens GOME Electrical Appliances’ brand image among young customers by leveraging its unique resource: the company’s summer interns.
Two internet micro movies profile real student interns who talk about how they learned and grew on the job. The ads show GOME as a brand that understands China’s Generation Y while promoting both its internship program and its proposition as a high-value added customer service brand, at the same time.
The first micro-movie, which launched on June 26, profiles Wu Yinping, a champion debater at Qingdao University, who learned to listen to customers. “People always say that Y generation is self-centered, but actually we would rather hear what other people are thinking and talking,” she says, as the ad shows her chatting kindly with an elderly customer.
The second micro-movie, which aired July 5, profiles Xing Rongchao, an earnest, shy student who transformed during his internship, who eventually landed a full time job and become a top salesperson. “When I came to GOME, the people I met in one day outnumbered all people I met in my four-year college life,” he says. Scenes showing Xing changing into his work uniform in the common bathroom of at the university give a warm, light- hearted glimpse into his transformation.
JWT and GOME conducted a series of face-to-face interviews with youth ahead of the campaign. That research showed that China’s so-called “lost generation” is far from the confused, uncertain and materialistic people that media sometimes portray them to be. Instead, interviews showed that youth are realistic, learn quickly and want to do what it takes to engage and find their place in the world. They have clear dreams, but needs support in order to realize them.
The campaign quickly hit home. The first micro-movie, which drew 260,000 hits the first day it launched on Youku, reached 730,000 hits by July 5. When the second micro-film, featuring Xing, launched on July 5, it received an astounding 710,000 hits and was the seventh most-viewed video on Youku’s Play List that day. By July 9, viewership of the Xing micro-film reached 950,000, and had been forwarded on Sina Weibo 25,800 times.
GOME made the micro-movies not only to promote its summer hire program, but also to bolster the brand by positioning GOME as a company has a connection with young generation. The message was right and the medium was right,” says Tammy Sheu, Managing Director of JWT Beijing. “For very little production cost, the company was really able to make a strong connection with their target audience at the right time and the right place – online.”
This is the first time GOME has created an ad campaign around its internship program, which it has run since 2009. “The campaign shows GOME in a new light, and creates a more personal connection with consumers,” says Luwen Li, Deputy Director of PR for GOME. “These two micro-movies have attracted a great deal of attention from net citizens. They say the two stories are positive enough to encourage themselves. And equally importantly, many of them think GOME has a strong sense of social responsibility.’’
The micro-movies can be viewed at:
http://v.youku.com/v_show/id_XNDE5OTY5NTQw.html http://v.youku.com/v_show/id_XNDIzODQ1NDAw.html
