Massaging the message for the post-90s

Unsurprisingly, advertising producers are adjusting their strategies with regard to this group of people starting their careers this year. The youngsters' behavior is closely monitored by domestic and foreign vendors of a wide range of consumer goods flooding into the Chinese market at an increasing rate as markets in the United States and Europe either shrink or remain static.

"Traditional media such as TV is now called 'media for the aged'. The Internet has become irreplaceable for people between the ages of 18 and 40, those with the biggest purchasing power in the future. In this sense, online advertising is exerting an incomparable influence on these people," said Su Tong, founder and chief executive officer of Beijing-based Hylink Advertising.

Hylink has been conducting online advertising for about 10 years. Regarding the emerging market of mobile Internet, Su said they are still studying its potential before subscribing in a big way.

"We have different teams studying statistics for all age groups and make specific strategies for ads for different companies. Of course we will pay attention to any updates in this market," said Su.

Hylink started in 1996 by creating all kinds of traditional commercials for TV, newspapers and magazines. But as Su found out, the cost was too high and the media organizations were highly aggressive.

"TV commercials last just seconds. It is hard to leave a strong impression on the audience within such a short time frame. Advertising companies can hardly do something for their clients in this respect," said Su.

"On the other hand, online ads can leave a lasting impression because users can frequently refer to them online if they really like them. Everything on the Internet leaves a trace and so is traceable," he said.

Noticing the advantages of online advertising, Hylink started to devote more to it from 2002. In 2004, it devoted itself exclusively to online ads and reached annual sales of 100 million yuan that year, when rivals were making 20 million yuan at most.

"We have seen our sales growing steadily, ranging from 30 percent a year to 70 percent. Also, the type of companies willing to purchase online ads has diversified over the years, from IT companies at the beginning to banks, property developers and fashion brands these days," said Su.

Young people nowadays tend to care less about finances while shopping. Sellers of luxury brands have obviously noticed that and started to divert to online advertising.

"Luxury brands moved to online advertising almost two years ago," said Michel Gutsatz, an expert in the sector based both in France and in Shanghai.

"In fact these luxury brands use digital for communication purposes - to drive brand awareness toward younger potential customers - so as to be present on all mobile platforms they use. It is also much cheaper than print advertising. But they will never abandon print advertising.

"They are diversifying their communication channels because they know their customer base is growing and has different ways of receiving information including digital and TV and, now, mobile."

Not only luxury brand businesses but also mobile phone chip manufacturers, laptop makers and even public transport operators have shown their preference for online advertising, according to Shi Zhan, a media planner with Neo@Ogilvy Beijing, which manages the interactive media investment services for its global clients such as International Business Machines Corp, American Express Co, Cisco Systems Inc and SAP AG.

"Some companies are not doing TV commercials nowadays because of the soaring costs. To put a 15-second commercial on a local satellite TV station may cost the company more than 500,000 yuan a day. The price for that on CCTV will be astronomical, several billion yuan for each commercial, and the available time is very limited," said Shi.

"Of course the cost of an online ad will be more than 100,000 yuan a day if it is a banner put on frequently used portals. But with discounts offered and compared with the TV commercials, online advertising is more economical," she added.

Compared with traditional ads in newspapers and magazines or on TV or outdoor advertising, online advertising keeps up to date with people's lifestyles while the former lag far behind.

"People's lives are now getting more digital as we spend more time on computers and cell phones," said Shi.

"We call traditional media 'paid media'. Its users seldom get involved. The Internet, on the other hand, is called 'earn media'. We can see its interactive results multiplying as the number of Internet users increases," she added.