Shanghai World Expo 2010 Expands

A recent conversion revealed that a number of New York newspaper editors were unaware of the Shanghai World Expo 2010.

It’s a shame because this year’s Expo - kicking off May 1 will be an event even larger in scale and scope than the Beijing 2008 Olympics. I recently asked some friends in the United States about their familiarity with the Shanghai World Expo and they seem befuddled – “is it the same as a World’s Fair,” they asked.

For the purposes of branding and familiarity I tell them it’s the “same thing” as a “World’s Fair,” although this term seems so archaic and brings to mind men in top hats, with long moustaches and brand new steam locomotives on display. The Shanghai World Expo 2010 couldn’t be more different!

In fact, some of the world’s most ambitious architectural projects are receiving their finishing touches as the Expo is slated to open to the world May 1. Imagine a city within a city of country pavilions – some completely bizarre – and some simply from not from this world: the Swiss pavilion will be made of biodegradable soybean fibers. Canada’s pavilion will harvest rainwater for use inside the pavilion.

According to the New York Times, “Saudi Arabia is building a 1 billion Yuan ($147 million), 7,600-square metre pavilion, more spaceship than ‘moon boat,’ which will host the world’s biggest-ever 3D IMAX screen."

The USA Pavilion – as of yet still under construction – looks like a giant US cinema multiplex; if they decide to show “Avatar” at their pavilion, I’m sure the crowds will be pleased. India’s $9 pavilion will feature the world’s largest bamboo structure with solar panels and windmills powering the structure.

China’s pavilion at the Expo is grand and very proud: nearly $220 million was spent in building it. It’s difficult to imagine an event larger and grander in scale and scope than the Beijing 2008 Olympics; however, the organisers behind the world’s most ambitious Expo have done just that.

From the perspective of its hosts, the goals of the Shanghai are broad and large: the Expo is supposed to evoke national pride, improve the environment and the daily lives of Shanghai residents along with adding a jolt to the local economy.

Some statistics about the Shanghai World Expo 2010:

• The Expo will run from May 1 to October 31

• The theme is “Better City, Better Life”

• Over 70 million people (mostly Chinese) are expected to visit the event

• As many as 800,000 visitors per day at peak times

• Over 192countries will be showcased

The Expo’s implications for China are enormous, including:

• As a country branding opportunity and as a city branding opportunity for Shanghai

• In my previous column, I wrote about “Brand China” and what it means for building and exporting strong Chinese global brands, including Lenovo, China Mobile, Li Ning, Haier and Chery. The principles of branding apply to countries as well as to corporations.

The Shanghai World Expo 2010, like the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games will present China with another unprecedented opportunity to brand itself, display goodwill and demonstrate its role as green innovator and major global stakeholder.

• It will be “a moment in time” for Shanghai to showcase its ambitions to join ranks of the world’s major global financial centers; China’s State Council hopes for Shanghai to be a major financial capital on the same level of New York and London by 2020.

• As the catalyst for sweeping enhancements to Shanghai’s infrastructure

• It seems kind of like Déjà vu: for the Beijing 2008 Games, Beijing opened a brand new airport terminal, new subway lines and “the most dramatic transformation of a world capital, ever” according to Newsweek.

Shanghai’s enhancements to infrastructure for the Expo are no less impressive: a new terminal was just opened at Shanghai’s Hongqiao Airport which will handle all domestic flights to and from the airport. Pudong Airport (on the other side of Shanghai) will continue to handle the international passengers. Since Shanghai won the bid to host the Expo (ten years ago), the city has spent more than $45 billion in infrastructure enhancements.

Shanghai’s subway system is now comparable in length to that of New York’s.

• As a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to bring the values, spirit and innovations of the world’s nations to the doorstep of over 80 million Chinese citizens (and many more who will be seeing/reading about via media coverage)

From the New York Times:

It is "the single biggest opportunity to nation brand that's ever come along," says Greg Lombardo, director at BRC Imagination Arts, the Burbank, Calif, company designing and producing the USA pavilion programme at the Expo.

"When was the last time the United States got to talk directly and intimately to millions of Chinese? We look at this as a chance to convey the story of the USA in a way that's going to be very memorable and very positive."

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