On November 6th 2021, Tmall Global released its promotional video named “East West Exchange” (世界东西交流会) for Double Eleven. The campaign utilizes the dual meaning of “Dong Xi” (“东西”, meaning both “East and West” or “Goods” in Chinese) to extend the platform’s ideas of promoting cultural and commercial exchanges between China and the West.
As a platform with overseas imports as its main selling point, Tmall Global has cleverly chosen “Dong Xi” as the punchline for its advertisement. Tmall Global also invited trade officials from ten different countries’ consulates in China to further endorse the event. Through this “World East-West Exchange”, Tmall not only illustrated the platform’s characteristics as a channel for buying imported goods, but also conveyed the idea of promoting friendly conversations between China and the West.
The film begins by exploring classic images from traditional Chinese culture, such as Nvwa, the Terracotta Warriors and the stone lion. It then draws out their counterparts in Western culture, and thus begins a dialogue between East and West. Using traditional Chinese culture as a basis, Tmall Global takes viewers on a journey through Western culture, making the whole film attractive and resonating with consumers.
While the Xiaotian Dog (“哮天犬”) is the pet of God Erlang (“二郎神”) in classic Chinese mythology, Cleopatra is famous for her love of cats – in the film, these two well-known cultural figures are transformed into ‘pooper scoopers’ (“铲屎官”, stands for the pet owners) who endorse pet products. This refreshing form of expression is one of the highlights of the campaign.
In addition, Tmall Global has incorporated a number of buzzwords into the film, such as having ladies in a Western painting refer to a lady in a Chinese painting as “pljj” (The pinyin abbreviation for “Pretty Sister”, a popular phrase on the Chinese Internet). The witty and trendy language brings Tmall Global closer to its young consumers.
In a time of global political tensions, Tmall’s campaign lightened the mood with art, fun and cultural exchange.
