Foreign Politicians and a Media Circus
Both Guangda and Blair benefited from the event; the latter pocketed half a million dollars, while the former gained fame through various domestic and international media coverage, some controversial.
In fact, the Blair's "brand endorsement" case is not the first of its kind in China.
The first Chinese company to use foreign politician as spokesman was Shenzhen's Jingji Group. According to the company's brand development manager Xiong Jiatao, former US president Bill Clinton had been invited to "endorse" Jinji's real estate project on May 23rd 2002.
Back then, Jingji only had three projects under its belt and was not well-known. When Chen Hua, then its top manager, proposed Clinton as a spokesman, people took it as a joke. To everyone's surprise, the proposal turned into action and led to resounding success. The company became famous overnight, and Clinton was paid 250,000 dollars.
"It costs less to invite a foreign politician than a movie star. And the impact is broader," Xiong says.
After the first successful attempt, Jingji repeated the same strategy when celebrating its 10th anniversary. On December 12th, 2004, the former British Prime Minister John Major was invited to attend Jingji's anniversary celebration, during which he participated in a ground-breaking ceremony, visited a real estate project, dined at a hotel, and then attending a banquet-- all within 12 hours.
Up till now, Clinton has been the most active former politician in China, having come three times for commercial activities in the mainland. Compared with Blair, Clinton has demanded smaller fees and seemed to adopt a "small profits, quick turnover" strategy.
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