Chris Kyme’s Postcard from Hong Kong: Bounce back Hong Kong
Chris Kyme (pictured above) continues his ‘Postcard from Hong Kong’ series. Years ago when Hong Kong was going through a rough patch (economic downturn, SARS, bird flu etc) there was a campaign which ran under the umbrella theme ‘Bounce back Hong Kong’.
It was founded on the belief that, whatever the bad times and the challenges that come along, Hong Kong always got up, dusted itself down and got back in the ring.
Which was very true. The city and its people has always been like that. It’s called survival. Around the same time, a brilliant TV ad for Giordano was done which highlighted all the ills that were besieging the city with the tagline ‘Tough city, tough jeans’. Glorious work.
Well right now this needs to be a tough city, that’s for sure. For one reason and another we’re been having an ‘annus horribilis’ so far thanks to Omicron and other challenges we’ve had in recent years.
The handling of the recent surge in cases has been criticised from all quarters of the business sector, with very good reason. Businesses have been dying, lives have been ruined, people have been queuing up to leave.
Naturally through all of this the city’s beleaguered image from the outside has taken a battering, with many willing and able to put the boot in and declare Hong Kong dead.
I don’t believe it is. I’ve lived and worked here so long I know the spirit and resilience of Hong Kong people and I have faith in their ability to get back up eventually if we can just get through this tough time and get some sort of sense of direction for the future.
However, then I saw this ad, running in international media.
Honestly speaking, you have to wonder if some people have ever heard of the idea of having a strategy.
Right now, to the outside world, Hong Kong does not appear to be a city ‘full of opportunities’. It’s as if everything that’s been going on has all been a bad dream and the sun is shining on the horizon and all will be wonderful.
It brings to mind a campaign done in the 1980s for British Rail which at that time had an appalling reputation for service, and Saatchi & Saatchi was engaged to try and help implement some sort of crisis management, reputation wise.
A strategy was devised which sought to, instead of ignore the problems, tackle them head on, and focus on what BR was doing to try to improve things.
The campaign slogan was “We’re getting there”. What it meant was, yeah we know things have been screwed, but we’re doing our bit, bit by bit. to try and rectify things. Which you couldn’t really argue with.
I feel this is the kind of approach Hong Kong needs right now if it is to try and rebuild its reputation.
It is going to take a lot of hard work. It’ll mean changing the way we tackle the problems and set a new course for the future.
And, from a marketing perspective , if we want to help the image of the city, it will need a well considered strategy that amounts to more than running ads in international media that act as if nothing has been happening and everything is great.
I do believe that Hong Kong will once again be a land of opportunities. It has too much going for it to remain a post-Covid ghost town. As much as some with less than altruistic agendas would like to see it that way. The people who drive this city are tough. They know how to survive. They know how to make money.
We need to focus on the positives and fix the negatives. But to do that, we need to start by addressing the negatives.
If ever this city has seen a need to tap into its collective creativity, it’s got to be now. Bounce back Hong Kong ad industry.
Hong Kong will bounce back, simply because, after everything has been said and done, it’s still Hong Kong. And it’s unique.
7 Comments
Omicron, not omnicron. Horribilis, not horribilus.
good one Chris. I am “outsider” now but i too lived in HK ( twice ) , saw the come back from SARS etc from the inside. It’s a great city, with a great spirit. Like you though I am very wary of campaigns that try to “move on as usual” approaches. stand up and admit to the issues and talk about how they are being overcome. looking forward to getting back to HK soon
I absolutely agree with you, Chris.
The British Rail campaign is a case study in humility and regaining your audience’s trust rather than just fronting and hoping for the best.
The only difference being that the BR work was for a domestic audience.
Seems to me that approach could work for both home and abroad.
HK has no edge any more. Over time it will become another 2nd tier China city. HK ppl don’t believe in the China govt & consider it corrupt. More & more are emigrating 2 the UK. Why? They don’t want 2 raise kids in a city with no future. These ppl have lived in HK their whole lives. Not just visitors. Hang seng has dropping big over the last 5 years. Big companies are leaving. Small businesses are dying everywhere. The writer does not give one reason why HK will succeed, except his hopium and ‘feelings’. Nicely written article as always Chris but that’s not enough.
Gutsiest city I ever saw, man
Btw, was it Saatchi pitch team that left the BR people waiting in their (deliberately grubby) reception for 45 minutes, and just as they got up to leave leapt out and said ‘that’s how BR feels, we can fix that’?
Gutsiest move I ever saw, man
I admire but cannot share your optimism. Past performance is no guarantee of future success, and while Covid can be compared to SARS, we are now a city run by Beijing…big difference.
BR admitted its own shortfalls, therefore results in this brilliant ad. HK declines, so can only come up with ads of such.