Also in this report:

– ‘Fok’ foils Chinese funeral taboo: Memorial Gardens campaign turns negative into positive p.16

– Chinese-Language advertising at its best p.18

– Festival brings ethnic foods to the mainstream: Products now widely available through major chains but category needs development p.21

– Bell finds ethnic effort a Real Plus: Campaign ran in ethnic media including TV, radio and print p.22

No matter what audience it targets, most condominium advertising tends to look pretty much the same: an artist’s rendering of the building, some boilerplate copy, over and out.

Concord Pacific Development Corporation of Vancouver, however, has been trying to break the mold, in targeting that city’s fast-growing Chinese community.

Campaigns for the high-rise residential condominiums of its Concord Pacific Place development have included a lot of advertising aimed squarely at Chinese-Canadians.

And each building in the development has received a different creative treatment, based on its features and personality, as well as on insights into the sensibilities and mindset of the Asian market.

Vancouver’s Ken Koo Creative Group has developed advertising for nine separate Concord projects during the past two and a half years.

Ken Koo, the agency’s president, says the increase in immigration from Hong Kong and Taiwan over the past decade has fuelled Concord’s interest in the Chinese community.

Many immigrants from these places, he notes, have brought investment money. And they prefer investing in things that seem to have tangible value, such as real estate.

The agency is currently working on a campaign for Concord’s next planned building, a mid- to high-priced development called Aquarius.

Most recently, Koo created a Chinese-language print campaign for Concordia, a mid-priced building meant to attract both those buying for their own use, as well as those interested in investment.

The advertising for Concordia flowed over three successive newspaper pages. The first two pages conveyed the essence and personality of the project, while details about the building appeared on the final page.

Koo used Concordia’s Chinese name, ‘Health Harmony House,’ as the focal point of the advertising.

The first ad, headlined ‘Health,’ featured copy that expounded on the importance of a healthy lifestyle. It was followed by ‘Harmony,’ which stressed harmonious living. The last of the three ads, ‘House,’ elaborated upon the quality and value of the building.

The artist’s rendering of the building received only modest play.

‘Unless there is some very significant design, they all look the same to a consumer,’ says Koo.

‘The ad isn’t the medium where you actually sell the building,’ he adds. ‘What you’re selling is excitement and something memorable.’

For Columbus, one of the high-end buildings at Concord Pacific Place, the agency adopted a much more emotional appeal.

People are more likely to be buying the higher-end property for their own use, rather than as an investment, Koo explains. As a result, buying ends up being more an emotional process than a financial one.

With this in mind, Koo created a tv spot consisting of ‘beautiful’ lifestyle shots set to operatic music – an approach that played to the Asian enthusiasm for Western fashion and culture.

Koo, who has also done English-language advertising for the Concord development, says the real estate culture of North America differs from that of Asia.

As pre-sell residential projects, the Concord buildings are easier to market to the Asian community than to mainstream buyers. Pre-sell projects, Koo explains, are much more the norm in Asia.

With pre-sell properties, prospective buyers see a model of the project and a showroom suite before construction has even begun.

Koo says that for mainstream Canadians, buying real estate is one of the most important investment decisions they will make in their lifetimes, and as a consequence they will spend a lot of time looking at various sites before making a decision.

If Asian buyers, however, feel a property is right for them, they will put down a deposit on the spot.

Most of the advertising for Concord Pacific Place condominiums is done prior to the launch day and the opening of the presentation centre.

Television is typically the primary medium, with strong support from radio, newspaper, magazine and direct mail.

Koo says that, for the Asian market, television is the most effective medium because there are really only two Vancouver-area channels that carry Chinese-language programming.

‘Television is used to create excitement and bring out the essence of the project,’ he says. ‘Radio makes an extremely good tactical backup. [And] we use print to deliver the necessary detail.’

There are three Chinese-language dailies in the Vancouver market, he notes, all well-read and with good circulation.

Direct mail pieces are sent to a database of those who have bought units in other Concord buildings, or visited a site’s presentation centre.

Mainstream marketers, Koo contends, have been slow to recognize the importance of targeting ethnic communities. He attributes this to a lack of understanding about these markets as well as a shortage of reliable scientific research.

Those companies that take the plunge, and become the first in their category to commit advertising dollars to ethnic markets, stand the best chance of cashing in, he says. Those that wait until a competitor has ventured successfully into this territory will have a hard time gaining an edge.