China’s Digital Tomorrow

Marc has been exploring emerging markets and their adoption of e-commerce, social, and mobile internet technology in the past decade. He is currently based in Shanghai. Disclosure: Marc is a senior digital lab manager at Ogilvy & Mather Shanghai.

China is a country of impressive numbers, but when it comes to technology adoption, it is still behind most of its Asian neighbors. As we all know, global advertising is increasingly dependent on digital platforms and technological innovation to convey engaging and targeted messages to consumers. This is the challenge advertisers in China will have to face over time should they want to make an impact in the local market.

Unlike other developed countries, China has had a late digital start but the past decade has proven that the Chinese are hungry to catch up and position themselves as technological innovators. The recent announcement of Miao Wei, head of China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) mentioning that delivery of 4G licenses will be brought forward to 2013 illustrates this desire to strengthen its position in the connectivity race. Furthermore, companies such as Tencent (with its QQ IM, and WeChat app) or Sina (which runs the Twitter-like Weibo) have already established themselves as global players and leaders of the digital evolution that is taking place in China.

China’s high internet and smartphone adoption rate, and 401 percent market growth in 2012, has pushed most first-tier city inhabitants (Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen, etc) to the forefront of a fully interconnected mobile internet world. With this in mind, let’s picture Shanghai 10 years from now and what a typical day in the life of an upper-middle class Chinese person might be.

Meet Da Ge. He is 32 and married with a young daughter.

7:00 AM: Da Ge’s phone alarm linked to a smartphone app goes off, turning on his favorite morning playlist, with all sound directed to his side of the bed as his wife doesn’t wake up till later. His phone also turns on the water heater at a preset temperature for his shower.

7:15 AM: China becoming increasingly environmentally conscious of its limited natural resources, he scores Eco points based on the amount of water used while showering. The less water used, the more points he accumulates that entitle him to discount prices for an apparel brand that is sponsoring the app that measures these ‘eco points’. Entering the kitchen, the room light automatically comes on. Using voice control, he is able to activate a wall projection screen and chooses the divided screen display option with one half showing his favorite Youku channels and the other his schedule for the day (7).

8:02 AM: Leaving the house, he puts on a pair of recently acquired audio AR glasses which link to his mobile and listens to his favorite Weibo feeds. While waiting at a traffic light, he witnesses a car crash, which he films with his glasses. China has improved its mobile Internet connection considerably over the past decade, enabling him to instantly feed snippets of the video to his Weibo account. This year, Weibo is one of the primary digital platforms used by brands in China because it has consistently enhanced its offering for advertisers by adding relevant ads at the end of user-fed videos. Da Ge’s recently posted video of the accident concludes with a German car ad. Into the subway he goes…

8:14 AM: Getting into a subway car, he sees an ad for a new badminton racket on a 3D screen – he gets excited! Thanks to his phone’s social integration and improved GPS signal, some of the ads he comes across are based on his interests. Waiting for the subway, he chances upon an ad for chocolate. He interacts with it, using a network ad app on his glasses. He now sees AR chocolates flying in his direction and needs to grab as many as possible in 10 seconds to get a discount coupon link. It’s a win, free chocolates for the family tonight!

8:56 AM: Opening his office door, he receives a personalized greeting; the company server records his time of arrival and sends a signal to his coffee machine. A hot sugar-free cappuccino is already waiting for him when he sits at his desk. He gets a low coffee supply notification on his phone. Re-order? Yes please!

12:00 PM: After a busy morning, the first hunger pang strikes. Not sure of where to eat, he types “lunch today” in Baidu, and gets localized results ranked by recent reviews made by his friends. Putting the full potential of the semantic web to use, China’s leading search engine has become much more relevant and transparent over the years. However, still uninspired, Da Ge sends a voice message to one of his contacts working in the neighborhood. Amy’s free and suggests a good restaurant he’s never been to! He gets directions and the approximate duration it takes walking there displayed on his glasses.

3:30 PM: Back at work, Da Ge attends a real-time telepresence conference with Europe that is controlled by a virtual keyboard projected on their meeting room table.

6:55 PM: After work, he heads to his favorite hot pot restaurant and meets with four friends there. They choose their dishes directly from an interactive table they are sitting around. Once ready to settle the bill, brief multiple-choice questions on their overall satisfaction are asked via the table screen. They can skip these queries of course, but can get 10 percent off the total bill if they respond. Da Ge kindly treats everyone and pays directly through a mobile payment app that links wirelessly with the table. The app also offers suggestions of places and products he might be interested in based on his previous mobile purchase.