Marketing and all things related

The folks at Nielsen Media Research just altered readers of The Wall Street Journal (paid subscription required) than Chinese consumers boosted their first quarter spending 25% over last year. Spending associated with the February handoff of the upcoming Winter Olympic Games to Beijing helped, but increases are also pegged to increased advertising spending in Chinese markets. According to the Journal, advertisers are “chasing China's new yuppies, with the biggest growth categories including wedding products such as jewelry and baby products like diapers.” Auto, credit card, and cell phone advertising is also on the rise. We were surprised to learn that Nielsen estimates that China is the number three market for advertising placements behind the US and Japan--$ 10.3 billion in just the first quarter. Of course, the balance of trade remains a problem with the US importing more from China than exporting to the growing middle class. Marketing Blurb will leave the consequences of all this to the political pundits. (We just hope the advertising is more intelligent over there.)