Happy Dragon! But where are brands when the Chinese celebrate?

7% of all Australians are Asian and many of them are from the 23rd of January to celebrate the year of the Dragon!  

A man I know sent me a little fact sheet on what this year will be like, and wow, what a year we can look forward to! I can´t wait for this: 

Qualities:                 Active, Dynamic, Scrupulous and Lucky.

Defects:                   Demanding, Impatient and Intolerant.

Work:                      Not knowing that a chore is thought impossible, the Dragon will succeed where others have failed.

Cannot live without:  Space, Oxygen, Fresh air and Liberty.

Adores:                    Being called upon to help when things go wrong.

Hates:                     To wait calmly and patiently.

(Source: Chinese Zodiac Signs, Treasure Press 1982.)

He added some advice from his grandmother: "For good luck, my hair has been trimmed and I won’t be working on Monday. I will not sweep the floor and I will buy some new clothes to wear."

I like this; I can take Monday off and go shopping! Fabulous. 

For brands... At the moment it is "back to school" time in Australia and my TV is filled with ads  for school shoes! Pencils and other important things are put on display in the shops. But where are the Dragons (and no, I don´t mean the rugby team...)? Australia has a large Chinese population; in the 2006 Australian Census, 669,890 Australian residents identified themselves as having Chinese ancestry, either alone or with another ancestry. Most Aussies are white and there are a lot of kids (all on my Bondi Beach on school holidays....) but there are other influential groups here as well. The successful Coke campaign proved how appealing it is to be SEEN, and the more brands can find sub groups and meet people as individuals, the better. 

I´m looking forward to an active year! We are leaving the year of the Rabbit, a sign that symbolizes such character traits as creativity, compassion, and sensitivity. Rabbits are friendly, outgoing and prefer the company of others. They also prefer to avoid conflict. In confrontational situations, Rabbits approach calmly and with consideration for the other party. Rabbits believe strongly in friends and family and lacking such bonds can lead to emotional issues. I can´t help but thinking this is how the Western world has been approaching the economic situation and employers the job market.

The Dragon is the opposite - a Strong Dominant sign and if the Chinese astrologers are right, big things are about to happen :) Good fortune. Strength. Luck.

Happy Dragon everyone! (if that is how you say it...)