In-house publications have evolved over the past decades from the stiff propoganda pamphlets of government danwei to the suave public relations tools of the Chinese private sector today. Now, companies are tapping socio-economic issues to build an image of corporate social responsibility. Lam Li traces the roots and incentives behind these in-house publications that are put out at significant cost-- for free.
The Evolution of In-house Publications
In a chaotic Beijing restaurant rocking with boisterous dining, Mi Jiu and his assistant are locked in a brain storming session. The intensity of their ideas for a magazine cover design and the stories underneath it keeps pace with the bustle of surrounding activity.
In between bites of dinner and gulps of beer, they debate over what content best suits the theme of the microscopic changes that have emerged in the run-up to the 2008 Olympics in Beijing. This unconventional editorial board meeting is for a glossy, chicly designed, full-color quarterly magazine running over 100 pages in length. It is distributed free of charge.
"We call ourselves corporate media journalists," says Mi, editor-in-chief of Communication, an in-house publication of a property advertising agency, Flamingo Communication, in Beijing. His proper designation at the company is Corporate Culture Development Manager.
"Corporate media" refers to editorial teams set up to run internal publications meant for free distribution among staff as well as current and potential clients. It is estimated that there are more than 12,000 in-house titles published nationwide; a figure higher than what the 9,468 magazine titles on sale in the market in 2006, according to the General Administration of Press and Publication.
Browsing through past issues of Communication – which started three years ago – reveals that its content has evolved over time from a straightforward corporate mouth-piece pushing company events, speeches, and staffs' immature musings. Its content has now graduated to include broader, more nuanced perspectives covering cultural trends，creative ideas and social issues, while internal corporate news is minimal.
Another monthly in-house magazine of a property developer, Soho Mini Press (Soho小报), uses themed monthly issues to explore a myriad of social topics ranging from consumerism to faith. In one issue, themed "Go to Work", the opening piece dissects the imbalance in distribution of resources and opportunities in the employment market, and is written by a Tsinghua University social sciences professor. In the same issue, contributors include a fellow at the Demographic and Labor Economy Research Institution, a poet, a novelist, a musician, and a company manager to explore the theme from multiple angles.
The above examples represent a new breed of corporate marketing tool that has evolved over the last two decades in the Chinese private sector, which flourished following the economic reforms and opening-up policy in the 1980s. These publications may not place corporate activities and products in center stage, but the aim to promote business remains, only more suave in shaping brand image in line with the now-fashionable buzzword of responsible corporate citizen.
Mirroring China's Economic Development
In fact, in-house publications date back to the days when state-owned danwei (institutions or companies) were the only source of employment. At the time, almost all major danwei had their own in-house propaganda units to churn out printed material on socialism ideology, leaders' speeches, and industry news, with some still being printed today.
Private companies are carrying the torch forward, albeit with a different approach. Corporate Publications Research Center's second chief secretary Chen Ruijiang believes that modern in-house publication began with Si Tongren (四通人), put out by a private information technology firm named Stone. Founded in 1984 by a group of young entrepreneurs with a 20,000 yuan loan, today Stone has grown into a holdings group listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.
In the 1980s, as the country transitioned from a planned economy to a market economy, young private enterprises were also learning the ropes of business survival in the open market. In-house publications became a tool to forge bonds among staff, a platform to nurture management charisma, and conduits to exchange industry news. In the early days, private firms also lacked publicity channels in the state-controlled media, and in-house publications filled the need for self-marketing and maintaining communication ties with customers and officials.
"In-house publications are like a jumbo-size name card, but more informative and effective," says Chen, adding that a real estate sales manager once claimed that a third of his business volume came from readers of his in-house magazine.
Real estate is one sector in China which private firms have thrived and prospered. Developers were among the earliest to print folded pamphlets promoting property units and corporate events. These hard sales materials later evolved into flashy in-house magazines, touching on social issues and lifestyle choices for the expanding Chinese middle class. These include in-house magazines from Vanke, Vantone, and Soho China-- all of which have circulations running into the tens of thousands with readers in mainland China, Hong Kong and Macau.
Real estate companies also set the benchmark in deviating from conventional in-house publications in that they took the lead in printing content not conspicuously related to their business and designing layouts comparable, if not better, to magazines on market stands. The quality is partly due to sound financial backing– the real estate industry produced half of the top 10 billionaires in China today.
When asked about the yearly costs to produce a monthly in-house magazine with a circulation of 25,000, Soho Mini Press chief editor Li Nan is evasive: "I would say it is cheaper than taking up several full color pages of advertisement in the newspaper."
Li, a former lifestyle journalist, says she has more editorial freedom in running a publication that is not dependent on sales and advertising revenue. She has a free hand in deciding story ideas – which usually coalesce during chit-chatting sessions with colleagues over meals and drinks – regardless of market demand. What about corporate interference? She replies: "My big boss only set three rules: no incendiary materials, no pornography, and no advertisements."
That said, she does tailor her content to an imaginary readership, namely the educated middle class who are potential Soho property buyers, and speculates on what they are interested in.
"Our content cannot be self-centered, as our intelligent readers rejected outright self-publicity. We show our concern for social and urban development issues. Being the forerunner in economic development, the image of real estate companies and developers may not always be positive; we are trying to create a balance to that image," says Li.
Outside Mainstream Media Control
Based on data collected by Corporate Publications Research Center (CPRC), which is formed by various corporations' editorial personnel and has organized annual corporate media seminars for the past 11 years, Beijing has the most number of in-house titles, followed by Shenzhen. Wuhan too has a substantial number.
Its second chief secretary, Chen Ruijiang, believes that better salary package offered by companies with sound financial standing has attracted editorial talents into corporate publishing, adding that this has partly enhanced the quality of in-house publications in recent years.
"Some of the publications are very technical and industry-specific; overseas, these would have been termed "custom publishing", something like business-to-business media," explains Chen, adding that strict publishing regulations in the country is one other major reasons that in-house publications flourished.
All periodical publications like magazines need to obtain a kanhao (刊号) or publishing registration number (PRN) from the General Administration of Press and Publication (GAPP). It is an open secret in the publishing industry that a new PRN is near impossible to get through application, and that those interested in setting up new publications usually buy or lease existing PRN from defunct publishers at a fee agreeable to both parties.
However, in-house publications are exempt from such regulation. Instead, they come under the jurisdiction of the 1998 Internal Publications Management Regulation, which lists two main requirements: no paid advertisements in the publication and free distribution. As a result, it is relatively easier to establish an in-house publication.
Chen says companies wishing to have in-house publication are told to voluntarily register for a printing permit. He adds that the CPRC, through verbal enquiries, found that most companies in Beijing ignored the rule while those in Shenzhen usually abided. So far, the authorities have yet to come knocking to press the issue with any in-house publications, mainly because the content is non-controversial and usually business-centered.
In the past, some reputed in-house publications with large circulation had also compiled selective issues and print them into books for sale in the market. In that case, the companies concerned would contact a publisher and obtain a shuhao (书号)，or book registration number. One such example is Vanke Holdings, compiling its in-house weekly into two thick volume of "The White Collar: 1999" .
Some suggest that some in-house magazines are exploring social issues because of limited press freedom in the mainstream media, but Zhang Yiwu of Beijing University disagreed.
Zhang, who researches on popular culture and cultural theories, laments that in-house magazines stay away from hard hitting and critical viewpoints. He adds that these magazines only tap social issues to take advantage of lifestyle concerns among the elites in the corporate sector and the middle class, whose mentalities and value systems the magazines strive to reflect. He labels these groups as non-confrontational.
"Corporations see no benefits at all in being controversial," he stresses, adding, however, that corporations would come under pressure to present a good social image when faced with increasingly sophisticated consumers.
Zhang points out that these consumers are young and well educated, and sometimes base their consumption choices on moral grounds, by assessing if a company is socially responsible or environmentally friendly. He adds that this trend is taking hold as western value systems and globalization become more dominant.
"Corporations want to gain more brand points by building an image that reflects social responsibility. This is a strategy of business survival through public relations, and in-house publication is a tool to achieve that," he says.
