How can the advertising industry stay afloat during the current economic crisis? Mailman’s Andrew Collins looks at the options from Shanghai.

We are in quite the conundrum – to innovate now or face extinction. How many of you are facing the same question?  If you're based in Shanghai and your reason for being exists in the outdoor media business you'd be hard pressed to not consider your alternatives – for the competition are dropping like flies.

In a country where the whole concept of story telling (advertising) is still in its infancy, it's a difficult decision to jump in and innovate when the basics are still being learnt. Imagine teaching a child to ride a bike when he has only just learnt to walk?   But if they (the clients) stop spending on your product well it might be time to reconsider your proposition. 

What is your 'real' value?  What makes your product relevant today? Because with our industry you can quickly become insignificant. Economic pressure has put an incredible amount of dependence on 'relevance'.  Everyone must matter. There is no room for passengers. I'm certain we are just witnessing the tip of the iceberg so to pre-empt any further carnage we're asking ourselves those exact questions and it's having some profound results. 

In a recent biography titled 'Call me Ted' by the infamous Ted Turner, I learnt one fundamental message which has since had a productive influence on my life. The lesson being: 'maximise your assets' what ever they may be. What have you got that has value? IP? Network of friends? Industry knowledge? A great attitude? What ever it is, consider how you can create value from it. You may not see it, but others will.

You could always keep going that way you have done the past five years. It worked then? It worked for GM 20 years ago too. An option is to push forward and fight to the death, who knows you may be the last one standing. But to what end? Is time moving that fast that we can't stop and review our own product, listen to our clients concerns and consider if and how we all can take advantage of that. 

To some crisis evokes panic, despair and more grey hairs. In Chinese the word "crisis" is composed of two characters - one representing danger and the other representing opportunity. Depending on how you see the 'glass' will ultimately determine how you perform through a 'crisis' and the Chinese are very good at planning for such an event. Perhaps it may not be found in the Holy Book but it is found in another just as important one: Sun Tzu’s Art of War. 

It's a great time for perspective. Along follows clarity, with great self actualisation, hopefully leading to a moment of bliss where you see it so clearly you can't work out why you didn't do it earlier. Perhaps the past many years have been a combination of luck? So in moving forward one would be a fool to expect the same amount of luck or business, especially in a competitive market place. Those who move first will have the best advantage and will always be known for having the initiative to do so. 

So if you can take on the 'crisis' head on – with an attitude of optimism and aggression – who knows, you may just become a new market leader.

*Andrew Collins heads up media company Mailman China and is based in Shanghai.