Stephen Maher, CEO of MBA:

Despite all the financial doom and gloom we must never forget what we are truly good at. This country is the fifth largest market for advertising in the world and advertising is the fourth fastest growing export sector for UK creative industries.

I had the great pleasure to attend the 18th China International Advertising Festival this year as part of the Institute of Practitioners in Advertising trade delegation. Our mission was to represent the UK as the global creative hub to successful Chinese brands looking to internationalise their brand assets.

I think we left many Chinese businesses including Snow Beer, the world’s largest beer, and China Mobile, the country’s largest company, excited and intrigued about what our industry can offer and  how we can support this enormous emerging market. And let’s face it; it’s not every day that our country is judged to be the best at something in the world.

Take Embraer for example, one of the world’s largest aircraft manufacturers, producing over 5,000 aircraft and operating in 92 countries. A great BRIC brand success. Already third largest in Brazil but determined to increase its global presence, Embraer selected London, Paris and New York as cities that could serve as their global communications agency hubs and London was ultimately chosen as the hub for this successful BRIC brand. They did this because they felt London’s geographical position, its fantastic creative reputation and its diverse cultural heritage provided the perfect location for a truly international outlook for a global brand.

What particularly struck me about my visit to China was the sense of adventure as it continues to grow its economy so fast. Similar maybe to the US in the 1950s where everything was so new and exciting. There is much we can learn from this spirit of optimism and this energy here in the West.

But we can offer things too. Here, we have been developing successful brands for decades in frighteningly competitive markets where differentiation and the art of the challenger is king. We can justifiably offer this considerable expertise to successful Chinese brands striving for global dominance. This is a formidable skill that we have in the UK that we know from experience can add billions to the value of companies’ brands. UK companies must ensure that they stay true to their brand when marketing themselves in developing countries and bring with them a unique enthusiasm to each new market they operate in.

So right now China represents economic power and confidence that remains largely untapped, while we in the UK creative industry represent a world beating expertise in global brand development that is largely untapped by China’s future global brands. We just need to make sure that we’re ready for them.