I’m sitting outside Costa Coffee on an overcast April day struggling to balance a fashionably large porcelain mug with the finger gestures that direct the New York Times iPhone app.  As my Americano finally begins to wake me up, I admire a streetscape of eclectic boutiques, trendy bistros, and a colorfully decorated elementary school—all in a vaguely Parisian architectural style.  The comforts of yuppiedom feel extremely familiar.

Finally, a text from a friend interrupts my digestion of the latest Goldman Sachs news and directs me to our lunch destination.  I turn the corner and am suddenly confronted by a much less familiar scene: dozens of merchants selling fruit, scarves, and DVDs in chaotic street side markets; a breeze of fast moving bikes, cars, scooters, and people; and an undecipherable buzz of voices conducting business on cell phones, negotiating with shopkeepers, and asking me for money (I think).

Such are the contrasts of Shanghai’s French Concession where I spent most of my vacation last month.  These streets are still less a microcosm of modern China than ground zero for a rapidly evolving economic and cultural landscape, but I came to believe over my stay that there may not be a bigger or more challenging economic imperative for business communicators in the coming years than navigating the landscape of this complicated environment.

A ten-day vacation is certainly no master class of such a complex terrain, but I was at least aided in my observations by two well-placed hosts and long time close friends.  One, John (no relation), is a co- founder of Enovate, a trend consulting firm focusing on the Chinese youth market serving numerous well-known American brands.  The other, Jen, is an account executive at Wieden-Kennedy, who spent too many late nights during my stay preparing Nike’s promotions for the start of China’s soccer season and the world cup.  I picked up a variety of tips and factoids spanning how to pick a local agency to the peculiarities of a state-run media environment that I hope to blog on in future posts, but to open this conversation I thought I’d share some more macro observations.

More than anything else, I realized that organizations must look to holistically re-imagine their communications strategies rather than trying to “version” them for the Chinese market.  For example, one of John’s clients that had success in Europe building an energy drink brand via stories placed in celebrity and extreme sports publications has found that such a beverage category is not legally permissible yet in China and is instead partnering with performance-focused athletic organizations to build its reputation.  In fact, it may soon be more viable to version communications for western markets.  Another of John’s clients is an apparel label known for its technical expertise in specific sports that now promotes itself in China as a casual lifestyle brand and is suddenly considering how to export this message back to the States.

Surprisingly, I found that these changes are not necessarily the product of radically different consumer or customer markets so much as the nature of a rapidly evolving business and communications landscape.   One thing that struck me was the level of entrepreneurism across the county.  Among the many expats and Shanghai natives I met was a principal at Ctrip, the aspiring Travelocity of China and a great site for booking in-China flights from the states.  Another is a one-woman bakery bringing the joys of organic cupcakes to Shanghai.  And the French Concession’s most famous retailer may be the Shanghaineese “avocado lady” who earned her name by observing the popularity of a western chain’s avocados, jotting down the number on the side of their delivery truck, and ultimately undercutting their prices to great success and ultimately expansion.  China also has its own Facebook and You Tube and dozens of other social media outlets that take on even greater importance with a limited media industry.

Who knows how these industries will take shape in the coming years, but it’s that lack of tried and forever true sources and channels for communication that places such a premium on locally developed and distributed messages now.

More to come from my trip, but I’d love to hear lessons, questions, and observations from this audience on how to succeed as a communications executive in China.