That's a lot of eyeballs!

The Olympics has been great for truly silly stats and facts. For example, how many Chinese watch their top-rated business talk show? A truly mind-bending 400,000,000! So, about 20x the number of eyeballs as typically watch American Idol. I know, China is big, but it takes stats like this to bring it home. 

I am pretty fascinated by the mechanics of this. How much does one spot cost? I am guessing most advertisers buy regionally. Also, creatively, how do you craft a message that could resonate so broadly? By comparison, it makes the US market look almost cute in its smallness. 

If there is bigger thought here, perhaps it is simply the no matter where you are in the world, having a clear picture of you target audience and objectives is critical. I see so many bad US campaigns where the brief is confused and objectives unclear - which results in poor marketing and wasted money. I guess getting it wrong in China just means inefficiency on a whole new scale.