Stumbled upon by accident, found this article on Campaign Asia-Pacific talking about marketing products to geeks and Otakus in Asia.
Here are some interesting points made in the article
1. In the East, nerds and geeks have never been regarded as uncool.
This is true! I'm from Singapore and everyone LOVES SMART PEOPLE. I don't know anyone who's got any flack for being a nerd. There's huge support for video game culture, buying of consumer electronics and toys here and its more or less widely accepted as a hobby.
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| Smart school kids advertise a health tonic on a Singapore bus ad. WE LOVE NERDS IN THIS COUNTRY! |
2. Due to recent tech, socio-economic advances and the rise of IT industries in Asia, there's been sharp rise of Otaku/ geek communities in China, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam and Philippines
Hmm fascinating. People are having more disposable income in these countries to spend money on geek stuff! And also with a biggish population, that's a lot of money to be made! Here in Singapore, everyone LOVES all things Japanese. Food, geek stuff, going there on holiday. I guess Singapore and a big chunk of Asia all aspire to be like Japan because they're the most culturally advanced nation. Everything just seems so fascinating and unique about them that people just like all things Japanese.
3. Otakus and 'Zhai' (Chinese equiv of Otakus) are extremely passionate people but sometimes, their passion goes to crazy extremes. Like going for cosmetic surgery to fit certain cosplay looks, video game addiction, cyber hacking and more. And then, there's AKB48. The fact AKB48 made "US$212 million in record sales last year makes them one of the world’s most successful pop groups, with members appearing in commercials for everything from chocolate to mobile phones to government bonds."
Yeah. It's true, it's easy to just throw yourself into stuff you exceptionally like that it does lead you down the path of ruin if you're not careful. Then again, commercial entities aren't your parents to warn you and tell you 'hey, don't buy too many toys!', they're a business and their job is to sell you stuff. AKB48 took off insanely well in Japan because they know exactly what otakus like.
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| Insanely obsessed AKB48 Otaku |
How does AKB48 work?
"Much of their success is down to popularity contests for the girls, with fans getting to vote with tickets included in CD packages. Some fans spend massive amounts buying the same disc so that their favourite girl has a better chance of winning. "
I'm not kidding, this stuff is NUTS. I remember I was in Japan few years ago when AKB48 was first taking off and there were a bunch of guys just emptying out the gachapon machines (twist and turn egg machines) just to hope to get a ticket to watch the AKB48 perform at the theater. It was SERIOUSLY DISTURBING but well, like I said, commercial entities aren't your parents to caution you about your spending habits. They WANT you to spend money!
4. 'Zhai' spend a lot of money on stuff they like but the issue is a lot of cool stuff is already free.(online MMOs) Also, most 'Zhai' are people in their 20s and they don't have a lot of money yet. An interesting point is “A lot of Chinese marketing is about aspiration,”
Ok I really wanna talk about 'Chinese marketing is about aspiration.'. Which is basically calling it 'the show off factor'. It's a fact, the general population of Chinese peeps feel rather insecure bout themselves and they like to own cool stuff as a 'show off' thing to feel better about themselves'. To flaunt that they have money and to own cool stuff means 'I'm more bad ass than thou.' Which is how branded goods sell so well in China (Yes, all those LV bags, Coach bags, Hermes etc.) why Chinese peeps want to own the latest iPhone and why Chinese gamers like to buy elite gear for their online game characters
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| She's beaming!! |
As crazy as it sounds, THAT'S HOW THEY ROLL. So if you know this and if you have something to sell that makes Chinese people feel more badass about themselves status wise, YOU'VE GOT IT DOWN.
Anyway, go read the article for yourself
It's a really interesting and I highly recommend you check it out!
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