Although arriving slightly later to the game China is already the world’s second largest digital advertising market, just behind the U.S. This impressive level of digital advertising prowess stems from a combination of China’s ever-adaptive consumer base and a fast-paced creative industry. The traditional creative process in China is attempting to adapt.
虽然中国的数字营销相较其他国家而言稍稍来迟一步，但现在中国俨然已成为世界第二大数字广告市场，仅次于美国。中国卓越的数字广告技术，一方面源于消费群体的适应能力，一方面也离不开快节奏的创意产业发展。中国的传统创作过程也不断试图适应新的趋势。
余国雄 | Jeffrey Yu, General Manager at 180 Inc
Commercial production has been particularly impacted by the increased attention to digital strategy. From the way production companies are structured to the ways video content is consumed, the production industry is searching for its place in an ever-changing, more digitally-centric creative ecosystem. While traditionally a campaign was centered around a large TVC production, Jeffrey Yu, General Manager at 180 Inc, a digital agency in China, pointed out “the multi-channel” and “multiscreen” component of campaigns today inherently makes marketing strategies more complicated.
数字战略在中国日趋重要，广告制作受到的影响尤为突出。不论是制作公司架构，还是视频内容观看平台，制作产业都试图在不断变化的、以数字为中心的创意生态系统中，寻找一席之地。过去的广告都围绕着电视广告大制作，而现如今却大不同，中国数字广告公司180 Inc总经理余国雄指出，现在广告宣传的“多渠道”和“多屏”让营销策略变得更为复杂。
Honing-in on the distinction between ‘digital’ and ‘traditional’ marketing may not matter as much as the realization that all players must always be adapting. Below are a few examples that aim to illuminate China’s shifting production environment in the wake of a more digitally focused advertising world.
纠结于“数字”营销和“传统”营销之间的区别可能并不那么重要，关键点在于跟广告相关的方方面面都必须适应新局势。下面列举了几个例子，在数字广告越发成为大趋势的今天，中国制作环境该如何应对。
Agency branch-off
广告公司建立制作公司
Background 背景
In recent years many of the 4A agencies have approached the changes surrounding production by simply creating their own, fully-fledged production companies. While sometimes the connection is less conspicuous, in many instances the relationship is well known and it is precisely this relationship to a major creative agency that has helped these new production companies get off the ground.
最近几年，为了应对大环境的变化，很多4A广告公司纷纷创建自己的健全制作公司。虽然有时制作公司看起来跟广告公司之间的这种联系不那么明显，但很多情况下，新成立的的制作公司正是因为跟知名的广告创意同属于一家公司，才得以顺利起步。
These production companies’ close connection to the agency may worry other vendors, in that they have an insider connection in the bidding process. While this is a worthy pause for concern, the reason for this shift is arguably not for production houses to have an insider deal but for agencies to match the copious demand of video content from clients under faster timelines and for multiple platforms.
制作公司与广告机构的密切联系可能会让其他制作公司感到担忧，在竞标过程中难免会处于劣势。虽然这样的担忧不无道理，但其实，并不是制作公司多依赖于广告公司，在竞标中能更有优势，恰恰相反，这种转变其实是广告公司需要有自己的制作公司，才能更快地满足多个平台上客户对视频内容的大量需求。
Examples 举例
天联旗下天映工作室最初于2013在伦敦成立。去年，第十二个办公室落户上海。天映虽然跟天联同处一所大楼，但是天映也有自己的独立客户，视频内容制作既有两分钟的短片，也有采访内容，也有简单的动画，还有五秒的预告片。创意总监Tom Mangione表示，天映“最大的卖点就是我们既有创作能力，又有把概念创作变成现实的能力。而传统意义上，都是广告机构进行创作，制作公司负责制作。但是，数字化时代要求制作快速且有效的内容，你得必须同时兼备两点能力。”
BBDO Shanghai Head of Flare Yeweng Wong | BBDO上海负责人- Yeweng Wong
天映团队共有七个人，创作过程中也会从天联借一些团队成员，但是随着天映业务进入第二个年头，他们也却越来越独立。“真正的挑战是要保证作品质量”，天映上海负责人Yeweng Wong如是说。“制片人不仅要在制作上更有创造力，而且要更好地理解创意过程，知道在哪里要多花钱，哪里要少花钱，这样才能打造出最好的作品”。
The creation of Flare suggests it’s time for the relationship between agencies and production companies to innovate. “Formula should be a thing of the past” Yeweng summed it up.
天映的创立也表明，广告机构和制作公司要思索新的合作模式了。“程式化已经过时，”Yeweng一语中的。
Freelancing freedom
自由职业者工作灵活
Background 背景
The popularity of ‘the gig economy’ is effecting the traditional creative work flow more than ever. For the freelancer it’s about freedom from the corporate grind; for the clients, agencies, and production houses it’s about finding the most economical solutions while seeking out the best talent for each specific job. Both sides are looking for a happy balancing point between budgets, work-life balance, and new forms of content demand.
“零工经济”的盛行影响着传统的创意工作流程，这种影响现在尤为突出。对于自由职业者来说，这种模式可以让他们摆脱公司的束缚；对于客户、广告机构和制作公司来说，他们可以寻找最经济的解决方案，同时为每个特定的项目寻找最佳人才。双方都希望在预算、工作和生活平衡以及新形式的内容需求之间，找到一个平衡点。
Examples 举例
“As China’s market demands a diversity of creative content, agencies and production houses must adjust themselves to meet more challenges; they are constantly forced to try out new approaches in a variety of fields” RICElebrate founder, Peter Shen, said weighing in on the subject. Freelancing platforms, representing talent from directors to editors, are aiming to meet this diverse need of talent and content. Last year TVCBOOK and TVCX, two platforms that report on the latest ads in China have both tried to increase their talent promotion part of the platform. Yingzhe is an app dedicated to helping freelance-talent connect with agencies and production companies in China’s creative industry. The ubiquity of these platforms is still uncertain but the desire to build these China-specific freelancing platforms shows the demand on both sides is already there.
“中国市场需要多元化的创作内容，广告机构和制作公司必须调整自己，迎接更多的挑战；他们时不时就必须在各种领域尝试新方法”，RICElebrate创始人Peter Shen如是说。自由职业者平台，汇集了导演和剪辑师等各种人才，旨在满足人才和内容的多样化需求。TVCBOOK和TVCX两个平台都报导中国最新广告动态，去年，两家机构都努力在平台上推广人才。Yingzhe是一个应用程序，致力于帮助中国创意产业自由职业人才与广告机构和制作公司建立联系。虽然这些平台是否能够普及尚不确定，但是可以看到人们想要建立中国特定的自由职业者平台，供需双方都有这样的需求。
Along this vein of a freelancers’ paradise is the rise of crowdsourcing projects. Creative video production agency, Relay, is a unique example of an agency that cuts cost by essentially outsourcing every part of the production process. Last year BBDO opened its own crowdsourcing platform for production with Flare Studio (not to be confused with the branch off production studio from BBDO, Flare). Individual talent can upload their work to Flare Studio’s website to bid for a project with BBDO, showing the length 4A agencies are going to find the best talent for a job.
伴随着自由职业者的发展，众包项目也在兴起。创意视频制作公司Relay就是一个很好的例子，他们削减成本的关键方式就是把制作过程的每一个部分都外包。去年，天联也为天映工作室开放了自己的众包平台（天映工作室与上面提到的天联旗下制作公司天映，不是一家公司）。自由职业者可以把作品上传至天映工作室网站，参与天联项目竞标，由此可以看到，很多4A广告公司都在想尽一切办法寻找最优秀的人才。
It’s not just about talent; the response of BBDO creating Flare Studio hints to stretched or reduced production budgets. As content demands are more diverse, hiring freelancers has become an economical choice for agencies and production companies with large pre-existing overhead costs. How to allocate budgets amidst a flurry of demand for content has proven a precarious task in the digital world. Freelancing and crowdsourcing platforms are one fix for now, giving the worker a bit more freedom and the client, agency, or production house the ability to produce content under tighter budgets.
这种做法不仅仅是出于寻求人才方面的考量；天联成立天映工作室，也是为了减少制作预算。随着内容需求更加多样化，雇佣自由职业者是广告公司和制作公司节约成本的的经济选择，因为这些大公司人力成本本身已经很高了。如何在大量的内容需求中分配预算，是数字广告领域里非常值得考量的任务。自由职业者平台和众包平台都很好，既给人才提供更多的自由，又能让客户、广告公司和制作公司在预算紧缩时依然能够完成内容制作。
Digitally-oriented
着眼数字制作
Background 背景
In response to clients more diverse and digitally-based marketing strategies there is a rising number of self-proclaimed digital agencies in China. The definition of a digital agency is subjective but it’s hard to ignore the increasing amount of these agencies and their impact on commercial production.
针对越来越多样化的客户和数字化营销策略，中国现有越来越多的公司自称为数字营销机构。虽说数字营销机构的定义是主观的，但很难忽视这类公司数量确实在增加，他们对商业制作所带来的影响也不容小觑。
Examples 举例
To RICElebrate creative agency founder Peter Shen, “what distinguishes ‘digital’ from ‘traditional’ marketing is merely what media platform a campaign chooses, or the level of technological involvement. What is referred to as ‘traditional’ content, such as TVCs, only needs to be adapted to the digital platform. This is perhaps easier said than actually adapted into a client’s marketing strategy.
对RICElebrate创意机构创始人Peter Shen来说，区别’数字’营销和’传统’营销的仅仅是广告宣传媒体平台的不同，或者说是技术水平的不同。所谓“传统”内容，如电视广告，只需要去适应数字平台。说起来或许容易，但其实要适应客户的营销策略并不那么容易。
180 Inc team | 180 Inc 团队
The larger challenge for any marketing campaign today is to fight for the consumers’ attention in an increasingly cluttered ad world. Something must be created that engages with consumers on multiple platforms, multiple screens, in potentially multiple mediums. “That means a truly digital campaign needs more content planning and consumer insight to diversify its approach” Jeffrey from 180 Inc said. “There cannot be a TVC-driven thinking strategy anymore, it’s about channel planning via video, H5, micro movie, social poster, or new technology initiatives, like AR, 3D”. Digital agencies are filling a need in the creative process for the client’s more digitally engaged marketing strategy. Traditional film production is still part of the creative equation but much more is needed to satisfy a client’s full production needs.
现如今市场营销面临的更大挑战，就是在日益混乱的广告世界中吸引消费者有限的注意力。创作的内容必须在多个平台、多个屏幕、多个潜在的媒体上吸引消费者。“这就意味着真正的数字营销活动，需要更多的内容规划和消费者洞察，方法要多样化”，180 Inc的Jeffrey如是说。“不能再以电视广告的思维去思考了，要有渠道规划，包括视频、H5、微电影、社交海报，或者诸如增强现实和3D等技术”。数字机构参与创意过程，要满足客户数字营销战略的需要。传统的电影制作仍然是创意的一部分，但要满足客户的全部制作需求，还需要投入更多的精力。
Campaign created and produced by Sesame&Watermelon for Didi | 滴滴广告地创意与制片来自芝麻西瓜
Dong Li, general manager of Sesame&Watermelon, a creative agency started in Beijing, said “I don’t think there is a boundary nowadays. Sesame&Watermelon is a boutique creative agency but we are a flexible one, which can provide clients’ full-service project by project”. In terms of commercial film production, if a digital agency can provide services from idea creation to producing content, this potentially narrows the role of traditional production companies in the creative process. “No matter if it’s traditional agencies, digital agencies or production companies, every field is rapidly evolving in the marketing world” Peter Shen said, concluding “it’s just a matter of who takes the first step”.
北京创意机构芝麻西瓜总经理李东说，“我认为现在没有什么特别界定。芝麻西瓜是一家精品创意广告机构，我们很灵活，可以给客户提供全方位服务项目。就商业电影制作而言，如果数字营销机构可以提供从创意到内容制作方方面面的服务，那么传统意义上的制作公司在创作过程中的作用可能就会比较局限。“不管是传统广告公司、数字营销广告公司，还是制作公司，每个领域的发展都很迅速”，Peter Shen如是说，“只不过是看谁先迈出第一步罢了”。
Dependable Players
靠谱的公司
Background 背景
A traditional production house still has the deepest understanding of the production trade so why let a few ripples of change uproot the whole business? A video is still a video, and this deep knowledge comes in handy as long as these companies keep a flexible mind-set while showing off their production value and expertise.
传统制作公司对制作业务依然最为熟悉，那为什么要让一星半点的改变颠覆整个制作行业呢？视频仍然是视频，只要公司在展现制作价值和技能时候，能保持灵活变通的头脑，那么他们的资深知识还是能派上用场。
Examples 举例
Gwantsi, one of the most well-known production companies in China, admits they have witnessed dramatic changes in commercial production relating to new technology shifts in recent years. Rather than panicking the company has whole-heartedly embraced new production technology. While still capable of producing the most high-end, traditional commercials the team has not shied away from digital content demands that tend to be more multidisciplinary and require a faster timeline. Gwantsi explained their adaptability on projects “for example, an assistant director from commercial production could become a producer in an online or mobile campaign project, the skillset they have simply adapts to fit a new positions’ requirements”.
作为中国最知名的制作公司之一，观池坦言，近年来，他们已经看到新技术转移给商业制作带来了重大变化。但是观池并没有恐慌，而是全心全意地接纳新的制作技术。团队一方面制作最高端的传统广告，同时也不回避数字内容的需求，这些内容更趋向于跨领域知识，而且需要更快完成。观池解释说，他们有能力适应不同的项目，“例如，广告制作副导演可以担当线上广告或移动广告项目的制片，他们所拥有的技能能适应新的职位要求”。
Gwantsi Digital combined traditional video production with digital media technologies in this project for Alibaba which featured holographic images during a live stage performance, broadcast to three different countries on three different platforms. | Gwantsi Digital将传统视频制作和数字媒体科技相结合，为阿里巴巴打造了现场表演全系影像，该表演在三个国家三个不同的平台现场直播.
Anticipating the rising demand of digital content, seven years ago they opened Gwantsi Digital, which focuses more on digital interactive media and also has an in-house media lab. Clients no doubt appreciate Gwantsi’s wide-ranging, “one-stop-shop content creation ability” which they claim covers production requests from commercials to music videos, documentaries, interactive installations, online-offline connections, social media, mobile app, and AR/VR. For example on a recent project for a major car brand Gwantsi shot the main TVC while at the same time Gwantsi Digital was developing the client’s multiplatform digital campaign with data visualization in WebGL. “These two jobs were totally separate and handled by different teams at Gwantsi but they demonstrated to our client that we can deliver at two totally different fronts, simultaneously”.
观池早就预见到数字内容的需求会不断增加，七年前便成立了Gwantsi Digital，更侧重于数字互动媒体，这里也有一个内部媒体实验室。客户无疑很喜欢观池的广泛业务，也就是“一站式内容创作的能力”，观池表示这涵盖了制作的方方面面，广告、音乐视频、纪录片、互动装置、线上线下剪辑、社交媒体，移动应用程序，AR / VR。例如，最近观池为一家知名汽车品牌拍摄了TVC，同时Gwantsi Digital利用WebG数据可视化，为客户打造了跨平台的数字营销活动。“这两项工作是完全独立的，由观池两个不同的团队主导，我们也让客户看到，我们可以同时提供两种完全不同的服务”。
Gwantsi Digital’s media lab is already researching AI technology and how to incorporate it in digital media campaigns. “We embrace people who love changes and new technologies. This attitude gives us the vision to find more opportunities in different fields” the Gwantsi team shared. “Production houses who can stay on top of technology will survive in the long term, and we want to be one of them”.
Gwantsi Digital媒体实验室已经开始研究人工智能技术，以及如何将其融入到数字媒体宣传之中。“我们喜欢那些愿意接受变革和新技术的人。这种态度让我们可以在不同的领域找到更多机遇，”观池团队如是说。“能保持技术领先的制作公司才能屹立不倒，我们希望成为这样的公司”。
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