A few weeks ago I witnessed firsthand one of the most stressful weeks in the life of a high school senior in China: college entrance exam scores were revealed. Unlike the US system for college admissions, placement into higher education in China is primarily determined by this three day series of exams, known locally as the "gao kao," testing everything from English to physics. The catch is that this exam, unlike the SAT or ACT, is administered only once a year. Fail, and you must either spend another year preparing for the next exam or drop out.
For the Millennial Generation, this is what life is all about. Years of schooling, summer tutoring programs, and private in house tutors all culminate in one exam. As my cousin, who is currently a college student, says, "This is the single most important day in a high school student's life." Moreover, admissions is extremely competitive. Roughly 10 million students take these exams every year. Of these 10 million, roughly half end up attending college. To be accepted into the top two schools, Peking University and Tsinghua University, students must place in the top of their class in an admissions system that is not nearly as forgiving as its US counterpart. As my colleague says, "Unless you write an award-winning short novel or place in the International Science Olympiad, everything else does not matter." And that includes high school grades.
After watching the “Disaster in the Gulf” for three months now, and the very public feud between Cavs owner Dan Gilbert and Cleveland Public Enemy #1 LeBron James – its very clear to me that one thing we could use right now in America is a little more citizenship.A little less “me” and a little more “we.”
We need more people, more private companies and more public institutions admit what they already know, that we are all in this together; we need them to step up and be better citizens.
I also believe that today in America, good citizenship is good business.Based on everything I know from 20 years of talking to Americans about their lives – and how private and public brands and institutions fit and are thus put into context – I know that brands that make people feel good, brands that connect people and communities, are the ones that will thrive today and in the future.
Sadly, not everyone on Madison Avenue agrees. In fact, very few seem to agree. The latest example comes from some innocent Facebook chatter from some friends of mine in the Boston-advertising community who lampooned the recent branding campaign of Citizens Bank ("Good Banking is Good Citizenship") as being an unnecessary civics lesson.
I think its brilliant, just what they need, albeit a little on the corny side…
At a time when big national banks are rolling in, foreclosing homes, killing small business growth by refusing to loan capital, Citizens Bank is tacking the opposing tack -- squarely telling their customers and other stakeholders (do not underestimate who else in watching...) that "everyone carries their weight, business and bankers," banks are "supposed to be, a facilitator pf prosperity" -- and "good banking is good citizenship and good citizenship is good business."
As I stepped off the plane in Beijing Capital International Airport, I was surprised at how modern everything was - the airport was large, the terminals spacious, and the customs efficient. The transformation from the last time I was here is astonishing. Seven years ago, the airport was plagued with long lines, ineffective organization, and rampant delays. But this transformation is not merely limited to the airport.
Everywhere I go, I am constantly reminded of the development Beijing has undergone. Old 1980s Volkswagens are replaced by everything from Hyundai Sonatas to Audi A8's. In the local mall, which is comparable in size to any mall in downtown NYC, Ralph Lauren shops are placed right next French designer stores, featuring prices that even exceed those in the US. On TV, it is these luxury goods that are most frequently marketed, portraying an elegant Western world and fueling this desire to Westernize. Outside, English subtitles line various traffic signs, helping foreigners understand the complex public transportation network. At my workplace at the Lenovo Group domestic headquarters, my coworkers are mirror images to their Western counterparts in dress, work hours, and day to day schedule.
However, this does not mean everyone has reached this new level of wealth. The majority - the vast majority - will never be able to afford anything remotely close to the luxury items that are advertised on TV. Crummy apartment styled living, taking public transportation to work, and working overtime and on weekends are still the norm. Despite my coworkers' wealth, other manual laborers are much worse off than their American blue collar counterparts. For these people, work is a means to put food on the table and a roof over their heads. This income gap is also growing. While the rich get richer, the poor are increasingly left behind, lost in a society that increasingly ignores them.
For businesses, this is where the next market will be: not the few elites that dominate society, but the everyday people that fill the streets of China. To be successful in this increasingly competitive market, a company must develop products for both.
[This is the first of a series of posts from SocialSphere's China Correspondent, Harvard Sophomore Han He.]
The Internet May or May Not Make Us Smarter, It Does Make Us Safer
Written by John Della Volpe
Monday, 07 June 2010
Over the last few days, seems like we've been deluged with the question, "Does the Internet makes us smarter or dumber?" On Saturday, the Wall Street Journal ran competing essays by Clay Shirky and Nicholas Carr -- and according to their reader's poll, "smarter" wins in a landslide, 65%-35%. For the record, smarter is my vote as well.
Today's New York Times' most e-mailed story has a similar take, "Hooked on Gadgets, and Paying a Mental Price," with a rather ridiculous profile of someone supposedly so engrossed in his digital world that his wife and kids hate him --and probably for good reason -- seems that he was too busy online to notice an email from an investor who wanted to buy his company for $1.3 million. It went unanswered for 12 days. Seriously, how connected can this guy be? He has three monitors, 2 iPads, who knows how many smartphones -- and skips over an email that like could change his life.
Regardless of whether the Internet makes us smarter or not -- the one thing it does do is make us and our men and women in uniform safer. Check out this piece from the New York Times that profiles the way in which young Air Force and Marine officers are using military chatrooms to flatten the world and save lives. It basically works like this:
Traveled to eight cities listening to Americans talk about the state of our country -- Columbus, Baltimore, Los Angeles, Atlanta, Denver, New York, Memphis, Austin and not done yet;
Watched the U.K. election results with British ex-pats in a Beacon Hill brownstone;
Broken bread with one of China’s leading social media academics;
Judged a Pakistani blogging contest;
Briefed military leaders on the changing face of America;
And tomorrow morning, I will be part of a panel discussion with diplomats from around the world talking about social media and nation branding.
Actually, as I write this, it’s been an insane month.
While I may need a little time to take a breath and collect my thoughts about all I have learned, here are some very quick take-aways that have been a part of most every interaction and discussion I’ve had.
Blogs
RSS
