Is ChinesePod too cool for school?

Jenny can you be more specific? Aside from my dislike for Aric's recent ad campaigns I'm not sure what you're referring to.

"If it ain't broke, don't fix it." I don't think CPod really needs to worry about this. Unless you're looking for a new demographic, what you've been doing from the beginning works quite well. CPod's branding speaks for itself...it doesn't need to change (at least not in the foreseeable future, IMO).

The Jingo ate my baby!!!

I think the edgiest topics tend to be at the upper levels. So, probably most of the potential audiance are at least college age. From that perspective edgy should be no problem. For myself, I enjoy the edginess and hope CPOD keeps pushing the envelope. However, CPOD might not be the best substiture for the weekend Chinese school that all of the second generation kids seem to have to go to.

Jenny, if I haven't understood you incorrectly, I think that one question you are asking is: whether the edginess of the intros etc fits the edginess of the topics themselves? Personally, I feel that no topic should be excluded because it is "edgy". Guess the question is how "edgy"/ "DJ-cool" the packaging needs to be. CPOD is in the truly wonderful position of having created a product which delivers value to, and is relevant to, a very wide range of people, from teenagers (and also some even younger children of users, going by posts I have read), to people who wear suits and are driven to work in China by company chauffeurs. Some of your clients out there are young teachers who want to show their much older Chinese bosses something of "The CPOD Difference", in the hopes of getting support for doing more for their students than the traditional rote learning, and there maybe your packaging may make it more difficult for the young ones to persuade the ones in charge to " just listen". All of these people -- even the CEOs -- are CPOD's clients; the ongoing challenge is how to pitch the packaging so that CPOD can have the best chance of catering to it's "demographic", which is ever-growing and ever-evolving.

"Some have raised concerns about whether we push it too far" ? On the contrary, CPOD could push it even further, without going totally over the edge. I've never seen a lesson that went beyond the boundaries. Even the bian4xing4ren2 episode was tame enough, but certainly not what one would learn in a school. Keep it up ! The day you get censored by the Chinese government for a "politically sensitive" lesson, will be the day that you can truly say "we're too cool for school"...

Jenny, I honestly think that CPOD's content is already so bold (=edgy), and its "pedagogical values" always so sound, that nothing else out there comes close. That speaks for itself, it is a very clear identity, and you are hip and cool and can "hook" listeners from the very first few minutes of Jenny Zhu's voice. To overseas Chinese listeners, I dare say that your accent-free Mandarin is enough to hook us and convince us of CPOD's sincerity. No strong Beijing tones, no patriotic Minnan accents either (which I think that some Taiwanese politicians emphasize, for votes). I see enough posts from your "regulars" all over the world, to know that CPOD is loved by overseas Chinese everywhere.

Seriously though, I have no clue what this thread is about. We (maybe just myself) seem to be stabbing in the dark hoping to hit Jenny's point. Furthermore, when I ask myself what edgy actually means I can't answer the question. I assume you mean something that might be controversial, perhaps taboo or going against the grain. Or maybe it just relates to the freedom of expression you don't have in communist China. The more I type the more I feel like I'm straying from the topic. I don't think the offensive nature of the ads has any relationship to the subject matter of your lessons.

Dave, I believe she is asking if the whole cpod experience is for mature audiences only and is that a bad thing. I like it the way it is.

Actually, now that I have read Jens's reference to the chengyu thread, maybe she is asking something harder to define. Is cpod trying to be too hip maybe? Too street wise, too down to earth? Again, I find it refreshing. wouldnt want them to change it.

Jingos, some of the topics even.

i like the useful everyday "street" language that cpod tries to provide....if i wanted the proper non-useful stuff that i would never use, then i would attend a university...哈哈！

Hmm, lots of very interesting comments out there. Anybody think that there is a difference between "topics"/"content" and the "packaging" thereof? I'm totally for maximum "edginess" and boldness where the former is concerned. Still not so sure if the "packaging" has to be so self-consciously "hip". Not when the "CPOD constituency" seems to be so varied, ranging from people like hitokiri (15 years old!), to aert (born in 1919; I hope he is okay since we haven't had his news for a while). But I'm happy to listen to any intros, just for the content that CPOD offers.

your lessons are not only hip but also relevant...KEEP UP THE GREAT WORK JENNY!!

Jenny doesn't do the "intros" and jingles, does she?

i think the funny intros are great...it shows cpod doesnt take themselves too seriously...cpod makes it fun to learn chinese

okay, I'm with you, urbandweller, on not taking oneself too seriously! 100%

I think the problem raised in the thread deals with a marketing issue: what's your market segment/target audience. Obviously, the people here prefer the existing content; otherwise, they wouldn't be here. However, educational markets would likely blanch at some of the topics. That seems to leave you with the classic dilemma: How do you appeal to the broadest possible audience while maintaining your brand identity? To add to the topic, some of the threads dealing with matters of worldwide importance (e.g. Tibet, Religion in 88groups, Stunt Toddlers, etc.) also contain inappropriate, possibly offensive, content for certain audiences.

It could be that they sometimes try a little too hard in some of the jingles and intros. Just a little. Tvan - I hope success doesnt mean cpod will become conservative and PC just to appeal to the broadest audience. That will ruin it in my opinion.

Hey, I'm 15... and I'm learning a lot with Chinesepod! :D Before joining this site, I was completely illiterate with 簡體字...now, I could read at least a lot.:D