Oh China, you marketer you, keep stepping.

Friday night found me multi-tasking between media. I was transfixed to the television cooing and oohing at the Beijing Opening Ceremonies while live-blogging my commentary on Twitter.

Yes, in full disclosure, the "live" opening ceremonies were taped twelve hours prior so "live-blogging" is a a misnomer. But such is life in a free nation that is controlled only by the people...and billion-dollar broadcast advertisers who deem that primetime trumps real-time.

As for the event? BIG as in China-sized BIG props be going out to Beijing for their groundbreaking, tour-de-force, magnificent, majestic, whimsical-yet-precise, pull-out-all-the-stops-and-then-some opening ceremonies.

Overwhelmed am I.

I confess to having watched them twice at the time of publishing--and that may increase to three times by the time you, dear reader, read this.

It was a delight--and honestly a relief--to witness something so positive and so human after the months of seemingly endless negative news. My personal fave? The "firework footprints" that opened the ceremonies. Face it, anyone can think of fireworks at the stadium. But setting off 29 massive firework footprints every second? And having them start at the south part of the city and, literally, "walk" their way to the north so as to mark China's many steps from old city to new?

That's beyond genius. That's the master that mentored the genius (worry not if you missed them, a clip of the footage is below).

Indeed, 08.08.08 was historic. Not because it was the biggest, baddest display of an opening ceremony ever--and now the standard by which all future will be compared. But because it was the first time that so much of the world (4 billion tuned-in) had access to China.

Or maybe I should say it was the first time China was accessible to so much of the world.

Yes, folks, to the average earthling--and definitely the average American--this is the first time that China is really on our radar.

Sure, China was always on the map.

It was a BIG. Red. Dot. Oddly, the country felt static even though it was most associated with the dynamic color red. And ironically lifeless being it holds so much life, history and culture.

And obviously China has been in our homes.

How many "Made In China" labels are affixed to the goods in your home right now?

Of course it always influenced our diets.

Fact: there are more Chinese food restaurants in America then there are ALL branded US fast-food  restaurants combined.

And it's always in the news.

When China makes news, it sure makes headlines. Marching soldiers, tanks against defenseless students and peaceful monks (what kind of bully beats up on college kids and monks?), Internet surveillance teams, lots of recalls and lots more smog.

But now China is part of the world, because it feels more a part of the modern world (what we experience as "our world").

This is the first time that it's pulled at our hearts because Friday night it showed so much heart. Far better than sharing a great wall...it has shared its feelings. It's a good step; a smart, intentional step that has placed China in the role of marketer.

So keep stepping, China.

Size surely matters.

But the best marketer wins.

You already had the consumer base, the bucks, the business efficiency. And Friday you delivered the pageantry. Now that you have our attention and awe, diplomacy will be your best marketing strategy.

And your biggest challenge.

But oh the dividends it will pay, and the hearts and minds you'll hang onto. Plus, being you paid $40 billion to make us cheer, it makes a lot of sense to keep us rooting for you, no?

(If it's any consolation, we've had our share of messy revolutions and even a thousand year-old, way stuffy monarchy had to learn to modernize, too.)

The video below features the firework footprints. Due to filters in China as well as those in America (NBC), I continue to have to find new videos to post because they keep taking them down. This is a German broadcast and the fireworks begin approximately at the 2:07 mark of the 8-minute piece.  I hope it won't be removed--please click through to my blog to view.

Also, all photos featured here and many more extraordinary shots are from right here.

Comments

[David Reich]

I was lucky enough to see the opening ceremonies live, via the CBC, which we get from Montreal where we're vacationing in Maine. Although I couldn't understand the commentary, the video spoke for itself.

NBC's time-shifting has caused a stir, as you can read in yesterday's NY Times at http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/09/sports/olympics/09nbc.html?_r=1&ref=business&oref=slogin

There are some who may fear China's growing economic strength, seeing it as a challenge to that of the U.S. But I think a strong Chinese economy that can compete with us is a good thing in the long run. If the world economy is strong due to many strong national economies, it will force all to be more creative and innovative in order to compete, rather than competing and winning by exploiting other weaker nations and keping them down.

[CK]

@David: So glad you were able to catch them live--weren't the ceremonies so extraordinary and thoughtful?

Let others fear China's rise; fact is we need them, and they've been rising for a while--now, with participating at this level, they feel like more of the modern world. Exciting times.

Yep, it will push innovation, and it's a time where we need to work together on global issues (as mother nature doesn't distinguish between countries).

Hey, thanks for the link to the NBC piece; I'll go read that now ;-). Enjoy the games!

[Ann Handley]

This is a tangential comment, perhaps, but I think the coolest job ever would be to be the event planner for the Olympic opening ceremonies. There's not many jobs where pretty much *nothing* is over-the-top... you know? Talk about creative license.... ! ; )

[Luc Debaisieux]

Ck,
Thank you for this post full of magic, humanity and hope. This ceremony was indeed a master piece of Art, choreography, time management (second per second)... in one word: talent. All the human efforts and heart at work put into it brought stars and hope into millions of eyes everywhere around the globe. THAT is absolutely worth a worldwide standing ovation.

[Jon Burg]

The Olympics generally remind me of the Shamu show at Sea World. A lot of talk about Hope, Dreaming and Fantasy. The key difference is that the Olympics are the one time when we actually focus on these topics on a global scale rather than forcing them into a the storyline of Disney movie.

On that note, have you seen the buzz around that little girl? Apparently (rumor has it) she is not really singing and the voice belongs to a more "normal" looking girl - who China chose to hide away.

Unfortunately, if this is true, it is a sad reflection of the ugly truth underlying some of humanity's greatest moments of triumph.