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　　澳大利亚《澳大利亚人报》6月1日发表Simon Canning的文章，题目是Marketers fail to understand effect of Chinese symbols，摘要如下(原文附后)：

　　一些澳大利亚公司努力开拓巨大的中国市场。由于在营销过程中未能明白象征符号的影响，这些公司可能面临窘境。澳大利亚迪肯大学讲师丽莎•雪蓉说，在中国工作3年后，她觉得西式广告与中国文化格格不入。

　　一些中国企业同澳大利亚的广告公司签约，想在营销上带上西方色彩，但广告公司经常创造出一些不符合中国人口味的广告。例如，将龙刻画成邪恶、吓人的东西，这与中国人对这一神秘怪兽的认知大相径庭。“这就像把袋鼠塑造为一个邪恶的角色呈献给澳大利亚民众，”她说，“西方把龙阐释为邪恶的魔鬼，这在中国却行不通，因为龙对中国人十分重要，被认为力量无限，本性不坏。”

　　设计师和艺术家早就提醒，如果将进军中国视为日益重要的发展策略，广告公司和经销商要知道西式广告的含义。她说，澳大利亚广告商容易走耐克(使用恶龙)和丰田等大经销商的路子。在一则受挫的中国广告中，丰田普拉多汽车接受中国狮子的鞠躬。“狮子是中国一个强有力的象征符号，而普拉多是一款日本车。狮子向一款日本车弯腰，这让中国人很反感。”

　　雪蓉认为，随着越来越多澳大利亚设计师从事与中国产品相关的工作，这些敏感问题要及早知道。“广告公司会把在西方屡试不爽的策略用在中国，但是没有调查它是否合适”。

　　她说，公司要懂得，中国市场经历西式营销不过20年，几千年的文化DNA仍旧活跃。“营销中使用中国谚语不难，但更容易的是将谚语误读。”

　　Marketers fail to understand effect of Chinese symbols

　　Simon Canning

　　AUSTRALIAN companies seeking to tap into the vast Chinese market may be setting themselves up for disaster by failing to understand the impact of symbols in their marketing。

　　Lisa Scharoun, a senior lecturer with Deakin University in Melbourne, said that after working for three years in China she could see how Western-style advertising was completely at odds with Chinese culture。

　　Ms Scharoun said marketers were continually guilty of misusing culturally significant symbols。

　　Australian advertising agencies contracted by Chinese firms to give their marketing a Western flavour were often creating ads wrong for the Chinese。

　　In one major example, marketers had used dragons as sinister, frightening figures in marketing, but that was completely at odds with the Chinese perception of the mythical beast。

　　"It's a bit like presenting a kangaroo as an evil protagonist to an Australian audience," she said. "The Western interpretation of a dragon as an evil demon doesn't work in China because, while dragons are highly significant to the Chinese and are seen to possess great power, they are considered to be good-natured."

　　The graphic designer and artist has warned that with entry into China an increasingly important growth strategy, advertising agencies and marketers needed to understand the implications of Western-style ads。

　　She said Australian advertisers could easily follow in the tracks of major marketers such as Nike, which used evil dragons, and Toyota。

　　In its failed Chinese ads Toyota had promoted its Prado vehicles with Chinese lions bowing down to them. "The lion is a powerful symbol of China and the Prado is a Japanese car and for the lion to be seen to be bowing to a Japanese car was very offensive to the Chinese."

　　Ms Scharoun said with more and more Australian designers and creatives doing work destined for China, the sensitivities needed to be learned early。

　　"It's very important that design students are given the opportunity to gain an understanding of the complexities surrounding advertising in China."

　　Another hurdle was the way in which research was interpreted in China。

　　"Often an advertising agency or company will take a strategy that works well in the West and try to use it in China without researching whether it is suitable for that market。

　　"In the West there is an individual mindset whereas in mainland China there is more of a collective mindset, so if you were to run a focus group participants are less likely to express their own feelings."

　　Such an approach has been more recently seen in the area of high fashion, where marketers have used Western models and motifs, often failing to understand the use of Western models communicated a disconnection with China。

　　She said companies had to understand that the Chinese market had only been exposed to Western-style marketing for barely 20 years, while the DNA of 1000 years of culture remained active。

　　"It is easy to use something from a Chinese proverb in your marketing, but it is even easier to get the meaning of it wrong."