The Chinese advertising industry has gone through several decades of ups and downs. Over these years, the advertising sector in China has experienced a phase of fluctuating development. Enterprises have become increasingly clear about their expectations for advertising agencies, and the self-examination of these agencies has also grown more distinct. Where should advertising agencies go from here? This is a question that everyone needs to ponder.
As a practitioner immersed in the advertising industry for many years, I have personally witnessed the rise and fall of various advertising agencies. A glimpse into one aspect can reveal the whole picture. Here, I will take Shenzhen advertising agencies as an example to explain the transformation process of advertising agencies.
Shenzhen advertising agencies have undergone several stages of development:
**Stage One: The era dominated by state-owned and shareholding advertising agencies.**
In the late 1980s and early 1990s, Shenzhen had been established as a special economic zone for over ten years, accumulating a large amount of capital and showing great vitality. Many famous enterprises and brands emerged during this time. These companies urgently needed capable advertising agencies to serve them. At that time, market competition was not very intense, so many products were still in a situation of insufficient supply (such as color TVs, refrigerators, etc.). Therefore, the task of advertising agencies was relatively simple; they only needed to promote products to consumers. Their work generally leaned towards external communication, such as filming commercials, creating print ads, and publishing media content. Considerations for product positioning and long-term brand building were minimal, let alone internal corporate strategies. In the initial stage, advertising agencies were mainly large state-owned enterprises. Famous advertising agencies at the time included Guoqi, Luguang, Meiguang, Weige, among others. Guoqi Advertising was the first company in Shenzhen to establish a joint venture with an international advertising agency (J. Walter Thompson), introducing advanced advertising concepts and cultivating a large number of talents. Tourism Advertising and Art Advertising Company utilized their expertise to create many excellent print advertisements. Weige Advertising also had a certain influence in media representation at the time. In summary, this was an era when advertising agencies with some planned characteristics took center stage.
**Stage Two: Mid-1990s**
Due to the inflexible mechanisms, monotonous services, and outdated concepts of the aforementioned Shenzhen companies, many talented advertising professionals left after honing their skills for a period, establishing their own advertising agencies. These individuals became the leaders of today's famous advertising agencies. The previous large advertising agencies gradually disintegrated, while small advertising agencies proliferated. These smaller agencies generally applied the knowledge they learned from their parent companies and primarily focused on advertising production and media representation, rarely involving themselves in corporate strategies. Due to limited capabilities, they could not handle everything, so they often collaborated externally, such as outsourcing film, printing, and public relations. They only handled the most core part, which was creativity and media representation. Everyone's operational model was quite similar. To compete for business, everyone strived to outdo each other in terms of creativity. During this period, many outstanding private advertising and planning companies emerged, such as Guowei, Cai'na, Heihu, Tonglu, Lichuang, Dingcheng, Fenghuo, and others.
In the second stage, another feature was the proliferation of Shenzhen advertising agencies. This was due to Shenzhen's favorable entrepreneurial environment, attracting a large number of graduates from art colleges. They either worked in design or advertising companies or started their own studios, becoming their own bosses.
**Stage Three: Late to mid-1990s**
The landscape of the advertising industry underwent certain changes. With the maturation of Chinese enterprises, their demands for advertising agencies extended beyond mere design and advertising, requiring higher strategic guidance. However, Shenzhen's advertising agencies lacked this capability from the outset. In the mid-1990s, the top 20 international advertising agencies entered China one after another. Although Shenzhen was a special economic zone, it was located on the periphery and lacked sufficient reach. Therefore, these international 4A companies set up shop in major cities like Guangzhou, Beijing, and Shanghai. They brought advanced advertising concepts, brand models, and operational methods, all of which refreshed domestic enterprises. Some promising large domestic enterprises turned to international 4A companies. Consequently, Shenzhen's advertising agencies were neglected and had to tap into local resources. Shenzhen's real estate industry was booming, so Shenzhen's advertising agencies shifted to serving the real estate sector. As a result, Shenzhen's real estate advertising led the nation, featuring exquisite visuals, grandeur, and innovative ideas. Simultaneously, many excellent advertising agencies emerged, such as Bositang, Jinzhi, Taiyi, and others. Thus, this stage was an era led by real estate advertising agencies. However, advertising agencies that solely served the real estate sector could never fully integrate into the marketing decisions of real estate enterprises, only managing peripheral tasks...
During this stage, whether in Shenzhen or Guangzhou, advertising agencies faced a dilemma: the struggle for "voice" within enterprises. At this point, advertising agencies could not delve deep into the "core" of enterprises, engaging in downstream work. They could not participate in the formulation of corporate strategies, organizational restructuring, sales team training, brand management, and other activities. The situation of Chinese enterprises was unique. Since they had just stepped into the market economy, they urgently needed external consultants to provide marketing knowledge. Therefore, Chinese enterprises required companies that could handle both marketing strategies and communication execution. These involved newer knowledge and deeper expertise.
During this stage, Shenzhen advertising agencies further differentiated, giving rise to exhibition companies, environmental design firms, production companies, and more. At this point, looking around at the numerous planning, advertising, and design companies in Shenzhen, it seemed that only Cai'na Planning remained as a large comprehensive company primarily focused on brand services. From the start, Cai'na did not position itself as an advertising company but rather as a "full-process partner for enterprise successful marketing," with the focus on "the entire process." It insisted on balancing both "marketing" and "advertising." It possessed two teams: one for "advertising," consisting of research, copywriting, and design, and another for "marketing," typically composed of experienced corporate managers and MBAs who had their own views on corporate strategy, channels, products, and personnel. By integrating these two forces, Cai'na provided comprehensive services to enterprises, thus earning its "voice."
The "full-process marketing partner" cooperation model received recognition from many well-known enterprises, including Guangzhou Mobile, Wanjiakang, Huangming, Xiuzheng, TCL Communication, TCL Electric, and others. In fact, the emergence of Cai'na has always been seen as a heretical phenomenon in the advertising industry. Many companies criticized Cai'na, saying it was neither like an advertising company nor a consulting firm. We do not care because the significance of a company's existence lies in bringing value to enterprises. Perhaps, Cai'na's comprehensive model represents the future trend of advertising agencies.
*Article reprinted from Wild Wolf Design Space.*