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There is a popular saying in politics that all politics are local; and in China the same can be said about the Internet. Local players, in tune to the specific needs of the country’s “Netizens”, rule the digital space, and the numbers are staggering. Currently, the Internet in China is home to over 340 million users who are online for an average of 16 hours per week, the same amount of time they spend watching television. There are 111 million people managing a social network profile, and these numbers are growing daily. The power of the Internet in China has never been stronger and has not even begun to be realised.

It is no secret that the Internet in China has been an agent for reform, and it is serving as a valuable tool for people to explore a world often beyond their reach. The Internet is not only serving China’s growing set of Netizens though. It is quickly replacing traditional media as brands and companies seek to connect with their consumers in new and different ways. With the exception of Google, international platforms that offer a cut and paste version of their American or European sites simply fail and often get banned. Popular sites such as Facebook and Twitter have fallen victim to the Great Firewall of China. While young innovative Chinese Netizens can find a way to get to these sites, why would they want to? Chinese social media is simply way cooler.

The Internet in China is dominated by long-running, multi-service portals like Sina, QQ and Sohu that have been offering social networking, discussion forums, blogs, instant messaging and other “socialised media” long before Twitter and Facebook. As the nationally preferred form of social media, bulletin board systems (BBS) are available in every imaginable topic, and in these forums, Netizens can be extremely vocal, resourceful, risk-takers, subversive and sometimes a little worrisome.

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An Indian mobile service provider, Aircel, recently did some very clever and whacky guerilla advertising in Mumbai, India. The company created and erected a giant outdoor billboard that had a branded boat vessel on it with the tagline: “In case of emergency, cut rope”.

Why is this so clever? Mumbai is known for its monsoon season this time of year. Would it be likely that a scenario like this pop up where a boat was needed to get people to safety? Well, yes.

Not only was this an innovative way to promote Aircel as well as a media-stealing publicity stunt to generate word of mouth for the brand in a high traffic area, but it also received widespread media attention as an actual emergency arose which lead to someone needing to cut the rope and make use out of the vessel.

Springwise reports that on July 15, monsoon floods made the Milan Subway virtually impassable. “The rope was cut on Aircel’s billboard, the boat was released, and stranded pedestrians were ferried to safety.”

What a clever outdoor campaign. It’s just a shame that this wasn’t executed by the local Government of the day!