History of China's Advertising Rush 1979-2003

Author: International Advertising Magazine
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2004-09-01
Features: A panoramic history of the advertising industry's development, showcasing the 10,780-fold growth in China's advertising industry's operating revenue, presenting the interactions between politics, economy; advertising, enterprises, media; culture, fashion. It scans the horizontal correlations and vertical inheritances of relevant phenomena. The History of China's Advertising Rush presents China's reform and opening-up in a unique structure, displaying the exponential growth of the advertising industry's total output value over 25 years in a full-angle, three-dimensional manner. The per capita advertising expenditure has increased by thousands of times, creating a global miracle. It interprets the gradual changes in China's policies, regulations, and mechanisms, unlocking the transformation of ideas and productivity. It propels the advertising industry with a "latecomer advantage" to thrive alongside other pillar industries. The changes radiate, creating, and integrating a myriad of cultural and fashion phenomena. These magnificent panoramic scenes form a vivid, rich, and authentic portrayal of contemporary Chinese society.
Over the 25 years following China's reform and opening-up, the advertising industry has experienced rapid development. Compared to 1979, the national advertising operating revenue in 2003 had grown 10,780 times; per capita advertising expenditure had increased 8,298 times; and the proportion of advertising operating revenue in the gross national product had grown 568 times. It is justified to define this as a "history of rapid progress." As participants in this process, we have the responsibility to record this glorious period as historical evidence. History is not only readable but also three-dimensional. Therefore, when planning the structure of this history, our primary focus was its temporal dimension—the horizontal correlations and vertical inheritances.
Based on this concept, we presented the political and economic backdrop of the same time platform, the mainstreams of the three pillar industries—advertising, enterprises, and media—as well as the corresponding cultural, fashion, and popular trends. This approach vividly and comprehensively demonstrates their interactions, capturing the authentic characteristics of social life during that period. The comparisons and contrasts between years further reflect the progress, decline, and changes in various fields through the extension of the time coordinates.
Advertising, as a trend, is inherently dynamic with a limited commercial lifespan. However, classic advertisements are always symbolic products that embody the characteristics of each time period and society. As readers browse through this history, they can appreciate the immense social costs borne by the entire nation, thereby understanding the extraordinary sacrifices made by creators and the urgent need to reflect and address the following issues: With China's entry into the WTO, the advertising industry, which started from a low base but grew rapidly, faces even greater challenges in maintaining its "latecomer advantage" and narrowing the overall gap with the advertising industries of developed countries. The difficulties and efforts required to achieve this goal far surpass those of the previous 25 years of rapid progress.
What we have created is a concise and summarized history with broad strokes. Even so, when the 1979–1998 portion of The History of China's Advertising Rush was published in International Advertising in 1999, to our surprise, some academics responded enthusiastically to this panoramic and concise history, praising its innovative structure and giving it high commendation. They saw in it not only advertising but also the remarkable development of China's social politics, economy, and culture since the reform and opening-up, as well as the horizontal correlations and causes and effects of many phenomena. On the occasion of the 55th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China, we revised The History of China's Advertising Rush (1979–1998), added historical materials from the past five years, and included China's Marketing 25 Years, which we curated, as a gift.