101 Things About China – #5 – “Titanic” Censorship

I’m sure many people are aware of the level of censorship that occurs in China. This was amusingly highlighted recently by the re-launch of James Cameron’s Titanic in 3D. Having cut Kate Winslet’s nude scene for quite comical reasons, I thought I would look at how censorship affects your attempts to communicate with consumers, the media and other stakeholders within China.  Generally speaking, censorship in China doesn’t have to have an impact on your marketing and communications strategies, but you should be mindful of it. Therefore, I am going to introduce three ways to work within the rules and achieve success, before highlighting some topics best avoided.

However, before I plunge into that, here’s a short interview with James Cameron that explains why Titanic 3D was censored, just in case you missed it. I’m sure you’ll agree; it’s pretty funny – James Cameron Interview – Titanic 3D in China

Top 3 Tips for Beating Censorship

China is definitely a land of opportunity, but it’s also one that is protected by those in charge. Everything from print and broadcast media to online blogs and portals is monitored for sensitive keywords daily.  As a business professional, however, many of these keywords will probably never even come to mind when talking about your company’s latest product or when writing a press release announcing a new sponsorship deal, and there is no reason why they should. Censorship is not really something to fear as a business, and if you have a better understanding of what is allowed, you’ll be much better positioned to communicate and engage effectively with your Chinese stakeholders. With this in mind, here are my top three tips for meeting censorship head on.

1. Understand the Rules of Doing Business in China

Just like any venture into a new market, your marketing and strategy teams should be researching what you can and can’t do. China is no different to any other country in this manner and many of the same marketing and communications best practices apply. Of course, there are some differences though, and it’s important you understand what these are if your business is to maximize the full potential of the China market, and part of this includes knowing what you can and can’t say when creating copy.

You can read more about Understanding China and why American companies tend to fail in China in a previous post, but more specific to this topic, it’s important that those responsible for creating content understand the rules related to producing content for the China market. There are certain things you need to stay clear of and there are things you need to approach with a little sensitivity, but as long as you know roughly what these are, there is no reason why you can’t communicate with your Chinese audience freely.

By taking the time to understand the rules regarding what you can and can’t talk about, you’ll be well-positioned for a hassle-free strategy that your audience will be free to appreciate and engage with. If you are unsure on how to do this, I’d recommend teaming with a local agency or service provider that has extensive experience in this area.

2. Respect the Rules and the Chinese Consumer

Once you’ve established what the rules are, the next step is to respect those rules. There is little benefit in trying to beat the system, and any content you produce in the US that is deemed inappropriate for China will simply be blocked, and local internet users won’t be able to find it. Any such content produced and posted within China will be removed, and you could find yourself in a very difficult position.

Of course, it’s not just about what the government wants, you have to think about the Chinese consumers too. The Chinese consumers know what they like, and while they may not always agree with steps taken by the government, it is seen as an internal issue, and outsiders looking in and criticizing may find that censorship is the least of their issues. Just like consumers from any other country, Chinese consumers don’t like to be disrespected or told how they should act and think by people who think they know better. It’s therefore vitally important that your content respects both the rules and the Chinese consumer. Even if you beat the censorship, you probably won’t beat the consumer.

3. Produce Content that Presses the Right Buttons

Having followed tips one and two, the third and final tip to beating Chinese censorship is producing content that pops for the right reasons. If you follow the rules you should be able to produce content that is never on any government radar, and that does the job it was meant to – reach the required audience and drive a specific action. Of the 20,000 press releases that go through my office each year, only a handful ever have issues, and of those, most just need a minor tweak before we distribute them to our network of over 17,000 journalists and thousands of websites.

In fact, the biggest issue with companies looking to target Chinese consumers is that they do little to actually achieve that. They think about Google and hope for the best. This doesn’t get you very far in China. You need to produce Chinese content and you need to get that content on Chinese websites, news aggregators and social media sites. This is how you get found in China, and this is how your target audience can enjoy and engage with your content. “Local Content is King” and, for most of you, censorship shouldn’t really be something you need to worry about.

Topics Best Avoided

If you are going to produce content intended for a Chinese audience, here is my list of topics best avoided. While some larger NGOs and international agencies may be able to touch on some of these, most businesses are advised to give them a miss.

• Politics – Don’t comment on China’s political situation and don’t include references to high-ranking government officials. This includes references to China’s international relations.
• Religion – Don’t create content that promotes religion, questions the beliefs of the general population or that supports specific religious groups.
• Human Rights – Human rights issues, be they in China or in other countries, are best left alone. While many businesses may want to promote certain programs as part of sound CSR initiatives, caution is needed when going into specifics.

Lastly, given the guidelines provided to many of the media outlets in China, it’s also worth remembering that while many agencies and service providers do not specifically look to censor their client’s content, many online media have codes in place to automatically block copy that contains black-listed keywords. These service providers can then be black-listed themselves, while social media accounts can be closed, and all questionable content removed or blocked.

Overall…

It’s easy to see why some people can have a negative reaction to how content is censored here, but the reality is that for probably 95% of all businesses, there is absolutely no reason why it should interfere with how you market and communicate with Chinese stakeholders. Even James Cameron noted in the video that despite the film being cut, it still made $20 million on opening weekend. How can you argue with that? Did James Cameron sell his soul? I don’t think so. He saw a business opportunity, respected the law of the land, worked within those laws, gave consumers what they wanted and then made millions from it. Sounds like a plan to me!