During the Super Bowl, people talk nearly as much about the three million dollar 30-second ads than they do about the actual football game itself. That's why Honda is pre-promoting and creating buzz for its new ad that will air during Super Bowl Sunday this February 5th. And the buzz now is all about the return of a slightly grey Ferris Bueller, the main character from the 1986 hit movie "Ferris Bueller's Day Off". Yep, Matthew Broderick returns as Ferris, a bon vivant with the utmost confidence, even when singing in Chinese. We ask: why sing in Chinese and not the original German from the movie, and was it dubbed?
About author Jon Ritzdorf: Jon serves as the Acclaro in-house globalization architect. He holds an M.A. in Chinese Translation and draws on more than a decade of experience for both his professional work and as an adjunct professor at New York University and the Monterey Institute of International Studies.
What are some of the latest trends in China?
There are several trends to be aware of:
Micro-blogging
(i.e. Twitter) has really taken off in China. The clear leader is Sina Weibo, launched in August 2009, with nearly
100 million users, according to Forbes.com. If you’re trying to create a loyal following and/or promote your
products directly to Chinese customers, definitely consider a Chinese micro-blog.
As with other countries, mobile advertising is gaining momentum. While smart phone penetration is still relatively low overall, the youth market is leading the trend of using their phones for internet use and app downloads (and with these, come mobile advertising). According to Nielsen, 73% of Chinese youth ages 15-24 reported using the mobile internet in the previous 30 days (versus 48% in the U.S. and 46% in the UK). Look for mobile internet use and mobile advertising to really ramp up in the next few years.
Search,
search and more search. According to iResearch, China’s web
search reached 64.02 billion queries in Q4 2010. And people aren’t necessarily
searching on Google China, but rather Baidu,
China’s largest search engine, with over 75% (or even as much as 83%, according
to some reports) of market share. And watch for Baidu to expand beyond its borders.
Before he devoted his life to tree, dolphin and lotus poses, and chanting to the elephant god Ganesha, one of my yoga teachers, Les Leventhal, was a jet engine salesperson. He traveled extensively throughout Latin America and beyond and was no stranger to cultural miscommunication and language barriers.
However, he discovered on a recent trip to China and Japan that teaching his style of spiritual and physical yoga in two cultures very different from his own, created some interesting challenges — and insights.
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