分析：中国的公关挑战China tackles image problem in the west

When China interacts with the world, it often feels misunderstood. So when the government decided to launch an advertisement on the giant screens of New York’s Times Square to coincide with a state visit by Hu Jintao, China’s president, to the US, it wanted to show the world the “real China”.

在与世界的交往中，中国常常感到自己被误解。因此，在中国国家主席胡锦涛对美国进行国事访问之际，中国政府决定在纽约时报广场的巨幅屏幕上投放广告，以求向世界展现“真实的中国”。

The new advert – showing Chinese actors, entrepreneurs, athletes and astronauts looking down on shoppers and passersby from a stark red background – follows the launch of multi-language television programming and English-language newspapers by the main state media as an another major step in Beijing’s attempt to change its image around the world.

在这部新的广告宣传短片中，中国演员、企业家、运动员和航天员出现在鲜艳的红色背景中，俯瞰着时报广场上的购物者和行人。此前，中国主要官方媒体推出了多语种电视节目和多份英文报纸，作为北京方面努力在世界各地改变自己形象的另一个重大步骤。

According to internal Chinese government surveys, the country’s image in the west is plagued by fears about its military rise, job losses, environmental pollution and human rights violations.

中国政府的内部调查显示，中国在西方的形象受到各种恐惧的困扰，包括失业、中国的军事崛起、环境污染和人权侵犯。

“Negative issues often dominate in the Western media’s reporting on China. The government wants to get the real message out,” says Zhu Yinghuang, editor-in-chief emeritus of China Daily, the country’s largest English-language newspaper. But at the same time, he admits: “We have a credibility problem.”

“在西方媒体对中国的报道中，负面问题往往占据主导地位。政府希望传播真实的信息，”中国发行量最大的英文报纸《中国日报》(China Daily)名誉主编朱英璜表示。但他同时也承认：“我们有一个可信度的问题。”

The credibility issue applies to advertising too. “To address an image problem like this, you have to speak in the language of those you want to reach,” says Fernando Rodes, chief executive of Havas, the communications group. “You have to listen to the advice of those who understand that language.”

可信度问题也适用于广告宣传。“要解决这类形象问题，你必须说你想接触的受众的语言，”传播集团Havas的首席执行官费尔南多•罗德斯(Fernando Rodes)表示。“你必须听取明白那种语言的人士的建议。”

Foreign advertising executives in China say that the Times Square initiative, produced by Lintas Advertising, probably did not recieve that sort of input. Beijing did not invite pitches, and Lintas declined to discuss how the ad was designed.

在华外国广告业高管表示，由灵狮广告公司(Lintas Advertising)制作、在纽约时报广场投放的广告宣传片，很可能没有得到那样的专业建议。北京方面并未邀请广告公司提出自己的构思，灵狮广告公司则不愿讨论这部广告片是怎样设计出来的。

But industry executives insist that what used to be propaganda in China is morphing into modern advertising and public relations. “They have really begun to study the application of soft power,” says Scott Kronick, head of Ogilvy in Beijing.

但业内高管坚称，中国以往的宣传手法正演变为现代化的广告和公关操作。“他们确实已开始研究软实力的应用，”奥美(Ogilvy)在北京的负责人柯颖德(Scott Kronick)表示。

As such, the advertisement cycles through every few minutes on a giant screen that occupies about a third of a block on Broadway in Times Square. Placed between less bold signage for Bank of America and CNN, and across from McDonald’s golden arches, many pedestrians appeared to be in awe.

于是，在时报广场百老汇大街占据大约三分之一街区的大屏幕上，上述广告宣传片每隔几分钟就循环播出一次。屏幕旁边是美国银行(Bank of America)和有线电视新闻网CNN不那么显眼的招牌，对面是麦当劳(McDonald’s)的金色拱门，许多步行者似乎心生敬畏之情。

“It’s really eye-opening,” said Corie Garbati, a mother of two from Manhattan. “It kind of makes you wonder if China is the next superpower. It shows what they are aiming for, putting themselves out there as being at the forefront of research and space travel in the heart of Times Square. It makes me feel like they really want to be taken seriously.”

“这真让人大开眼界，”住在曼哈顿、家有两个孩子的母亲Corie Garbati表示。“它会让你琢磨，下一个超级大国会不会是中国。这展示了他们的努力方向，在时报广场中心宣传自己置身于科研和太空旅行的最前沿。它让我觉得，他们真的希望得到认真对待。”

“It’s a good idea, the way they are going directly at the people in this venue,” said Joe Tortorici, of Connecticut, whose company manufactures toys in China. “It might help people feel more comfortable with China because there’s a lot of negative news about it out there and so they need to counter it.”

“这是一个好主意，他们选择这个场合直接面向（美国的）人们，”家住康涅狄格州、所在公司在中国制造玩具的Joe Tortorici表示。“这也许能够帮助人们对中国更有好感，因为现在有不少关于中国的负面新闻，因此他们需要作出应对。”

Debbie Cohn, of Long Island, was more sceptical. “They don’t look friendly, they look very stern to me,” she said. “I heard that they’re ahead of us in many ways. I’m sure it cost them a lot of money. They fact that they are putting the ad in Times Square shows how hard they are trying.”

家住长岛的Debbie Cohn则持比较怀疑的态度。“他们看上去并不友好，他们让我觉得非常难对付，”她说道。“我听说他们在很多方面领先于我们。我肯定他们为这个广告付了不少钱。他们把广告做到时报广场，说明他们在多么努力地尝试。”

This renewed effort has not come a minute too soon. According to the latest Country Brand Index from FutureBrand, a consultancy owned by McCann Worldgroup, China’s international reputation has slipped since the Beijing Olympics.

中国这一重新努力十分及时。麦肯世界集团(McCann Worldgroup)旗下咨询公司FutureBrand的最新全球国家品牌指数(Country Brand Index)显示，自北京奥运会以来，中国的国际声望有所下滑。

Ranking China at 56, down eight places and well behind India at 23, FutureBrand said its “public relations challenges” had included its environmental impact and high-profile censorship battles with Google.

中国在榜单上排名第56位，比上次跌落八位，远远落后于位列第23的印度。FutureBrand称，中国的“公关挑战”包括其环境影响和与谷歌(Google)之间高调的审查角力。

A “significant decline in perceptions of political freedom” contributed most to its decline in the rankings, the group added, saying: “A fall for China despite its promotion to the second-largest economy shows that financial growth is no guarantee of brand strength.”

FutureBrand表示，“人们眼中政治自由的显著下降”在中国排名下滑中扮演了最大角色。该集团称：“尽管中国升格为全球第二大经济体，但其排名跌落，说明财力增长并不能保证品牌实力。”