Brand New China

This book will find a readership among industry participants, students of China, and academic researchers of China's rapidly emerging consumer culture. There are few persons better qualified than Jing Wang to speak about China's cultural reforms, and Brand New China fills a gap in the literature. -- Michael Keane, author of Created in China: the Great New Leap Forward Few have gone as far as Jing Wang in combining marketing research with cultural analysis, and no other author has provided as detailed, penetrating, and up-to-date a portrayal of the processes of transnational advertising and marketing in China. Brand New China is a fast-paced and fascinating book. -- Yuezhi Zhao, author of Communication in China: Political Economy, Power and Conflict

Part riveting account of fieldwork and part rigorous academic study, this book offers a unique perspective on the advertising and marketing culture of China. Wang’s experiences in the worlds of Beijing advertising agencies and the U.S. academy offer a unique perspective on China during its accelerated reintegration into the global market system.

One part riveting account of fieldwork and one part rigorous academic study, Brand New China offers a unique perspective on the advertising and marketing culture of China. Jing Wang’s experiences in the disparate worlds of Beijing advertising agencies and the U.S. academy allow her to share a unique perspective on China during its accelerated reintegration into the global market system.

Brand New China offers a detailed, penetrating, and up-to-date portrayal of branding and advertising in contemporary China. Wang takes us inside an advertising agency to show the influence of American branding theories and models. She also examines the impact of new media practices on Chinese advertising, deliberates on the convergence of grassroots creative culture and viral marketing strategies, samples successful advertising campaigns, provides practical insights about Chinese consumer segments, and offers methodological reflections on pop culture and advertising research.

This book unveils a “brand new” China that is under the sway of the ideology of global partnership while struggling not to become a mirror image of the United States. Wang takes on the task of showing where Western thinking works in China, where it does not, and, perhaps most important, where it creates opportunities for cross-fertilization.

Thanks to its combination of engaging vignettes from the advertising world and thorough research that contextualizes these vignettes, Brand New China will be of interest to industry participants, students of popular culture, and the general reading public interested in learning about a rapidly transforming Chinese society.