insider/outsider view of virtual China

Just discovered the blog of David Churbuck, Vice-President of Global Web Marketing at Lenovo.  Churbuck has been in Beijing for the past week or so, and his blog posts are worth reading for a) the comments on meetings with Chinese Internet luminaries at Sohu, Mop.com, and AsiaInfo…not to mention Lenovo itself; and b) the keen and often funny observations of an informed American with a background in e-business, new media, and marketing. In category (a):

Rich media advertising is the hottest thing they have going. There
is so much clutter on the typical page that it stands to reason that
video based adverts are going to stand out. Sohu does offer a channel
sponsorship model as well for exclusive ownership of specific
“channels.”

On keywords, one cool thing [Sohu does] is mash up maps with
advertiser’s logos. Search for “Peking Duck” around Hohai, and bang,
you will see the map with the Peking duck shops that paid for the right
to be there appear.

…if you want to see
the future of online advertising in large dollar volumes, go to China.
If you want to make Jakob Nielsen have a seizure, ask him to critique
any Chinese website. My favorite is www.it168.com — an IT site. I think
I could count 14 ad impressions on the homepage, and some of them will
induce epilepsy like that weird Japanese cartoon did to six-year old
kids a few years ago.     (See our earlier posts on the aesthetics of abundance on Chinese websites).

In category (b):

Cashing a 100 RMB bill is like trying to break a $100 at a convenience
store. And it’s worth like $12. If it has a hole — a pin hole — no one
will take it.

Sexy girls are a big deal on Tom.com