Andrew Ballen
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Andrew Craig Ballen (born April 27, 1973) is best known in China as Da Long (), or Big Dragon. He is a familiar foreign face on Chinese TV, known for his role as host and producer of China's internationally broadcast travel series, Getaway. Ballen is the first American to produce, host, and syndicate his own TV series in China. Founder of AVD Digital, headquartered in
Shanghai Shanghai, Shanghainese: , Standard Chinese pronunciation: is a direct-administered municipality and the most populous urban area in China. The city is located on the Chinese shoreline on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the ...
, China, in 2014 Ballen and his team conceived and developed China's seminal interactive in-video touch advertising system, for which he was awarded two China invention patents in 2017. Brands including
Nike Nike often refers to: * Nike, Inc., a major American producer of athletic shoes, apparel, and sports equipment * Nike (mythology), a Greek goddess who personifies victory Nike may also refer to: People * Nike (name), a surname and feminine giv ...
,
Unilever Unilever PLC () is a British multinational consumer packaged goods company headquartered in London, England. It was founded on 2 September 1929 following the merger of Dutch margarine producer Margarine Unie with British soap maker Lever B ...
,
Kraft Foods Kraft Foods Group, Inc. was an American food manufacturing and processing conglomerate (company), conglomerate, split from Kraft Foods Inc. on October 1, 2012, and was headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. It became part of Kraft Heinz on July ...
,
LVMH Group LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton SE (), commonly known as LVMH, is a French multinational holding company and conglomerate that specializes in luxury goods and has its headquarters in Paris, France. The company was formed in 1987 through the ...
's
Sephora Sephora is a French multinational retailer of personal care and beauty products, offering nearly 340 brands alongside its own private label, the Sephora Collection. Its product range includes cosmetics, skincare, fragrance, nail color, beauty t ...
, and Asian TV shopping platform Acorn International employed Ballen's system on a variety of digital campaigns. These in video TOUCH™ to buy mechanisms produced greater than 250% increases in viewer engagement relative to traditional online banner and pre-roll ads. Though
patented A patent is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the legal right to exclude others from making, using, or selling an invention for a limited period of time in exchange for publishing an enabling disclosure of the invention."A ...
, Ballen's TOUCH™ mechanism was later back-engineered and duplicated by several of China's larger government-backed online video platforms. File:AVD-Patent-1.png, AVD Patent 1 File:AVD-Patent-2.png, AVD Patent 2 File:Interactive Video Schematic 1.jpg, Interactive Video Schematic Patent 1 File:Interactive Video Schematic 2.jpg, Interactive Video Schematic Patent 2 File:Playback System Schematic 1.jpg, Playback System Schematic Patent 1 File:Playback System Schematic 2.jpg, Playback System Schematic Patent 2


Early life and education

Ballen was born in
New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...
. The son of Belizean and Jamaican immigrants, he was raised by his father Patrick, a surgeon, and step-mother Naomi in
Greensboro Greensboro (; ) is a city in Guilford County, North Carolina, United States, and its county seat. At the 2020 census, its population was 299,035; it was estimated to be 307,381 in 2024. It is the third-most populous city in North Carolina, af ...
, North Carolina. Ballen attended
Hargrave Military Academy Hargrave Military Academy (HMA) is a private school, private, all-male, Military school, military boarding school located in the town of Chatham, Virginia. Hargrave is affiliated with the Baptist General Association of Virginia emphasizing Chr ...
, in Chatham, VA. During his Senior year, he became the first person of color in Academy history to become Battalion Commander, achieving the academy's highest rank. Ballen graduated with Honors in Political Science and International Relations at
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC, UNC–Chapel Hill, or simply Carolina) is a public research university in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States. Chartered in 1789, the university first began enrolling students in 1795 ...
.


Career

Ballen first arrived in
Shanghai Shanghai, Shanghainese: , Standard Chinese pronunciation: is a direct-administered municipality and the most populous urban area in China. The city is located on the Chinese shoreline on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the ...
, China in August 2001. Unable to speak a word of Chinese, Ballen taught himself
Mandarin Mandarin or The Mandarin may refer to: Language * Mandarin Chinese, branch of Chinese originally spoken in northern parts of the country ** Standard Chinese or Modern Standard Mandarin, the official language of China ** Taiwanese Mandarin, Stand ...
. Once fluent, he began making guest appearances on
Shanghai Media Group Radio and Television Station of Shanghai (RTS), a Shanghai-based state media outlet, and its wholly owned subsidiary, Shanghai Media Group (SMG), represent one of the largest state-owned media conglomerates of the People's Republic of China, wi ...
televised programming and was subsequently named host of Shanghai Radio talk show "Live It Up Shanghai". Initially, no sponsored advertising existed for Ballen's radio talk show, the same later being true for his TV Series Getaway. Viewing the China market as critical to the growth of Western brands, Ballen started his own company to attract global brands aiming to target affluent Chinese consumers. He has advocated for unintrusive digital ad messaging that does not disturb the viewing experience of digital natives. He frequently addresses the topic of interactive content-marketing and in 2014 coined the term "Audience ROI." Ballen hosted the 2013 Committee of 100 Sino-American Cooperation conference where he gave an address on the state of Sino-US cultural and economic cooperation. Among the gala's keynote speakers was reformist Chairman of the
People's Bank of China The People's Bank of China (officially PBC and unofficially PBOC) is the central bank of the People's Republic of China. It is responsible for carrying out monetary policy as determined by the ''PRC People's Bank Law'' and the ''PRC Commercia ...
, Governor
Zhou Xiaochuan Zhou Xiaochuan (; born 29 January 1948) is a Chinese economist. Zhou served as the governor of the People's Bank of China from 2002 to 2018. Zhou previously served as vice governor of the People's Bank of China, director of the State Adminis ...
.


Western Entertainment: a China marketing platform

Ballen pioneered the usage of Western entertainment as a marketing tool for US brands in China. As his broadcast programming and marketing gained notoriety, Ballen was featured in the fly-on-the-wall documentary No Sleep Til Shanghai. bringing to China for the first time the likes of
Sean Kingston Kisean Paul Anderson (born February 3, 1990), known professionally as Sean Kingston, is an American former singer and rapper. Born in Miami, Florida, and raised in Jamaica, he signed with J. R. Rotem's record label Beluga Heights Records ...
,
Ice-T Tracy Lauren Marrow (born February 16, 1958), known professionally as Ice-T (or Ice T), is an American rapper and actor. He is active in both hip hop music, hip hop and heavy metal music, heavy metal. Ice-T began his career as an underground r ...
,
Far East Movement Far East Movement (abbreviated FM) is an American Hip hop music, hip hop and electronic music group based in Los Angeles, composed of Kev Nish, Prohgress, J-Splif, Jon Street, Ray Ro, DJ Virman, and Jerm Beats. They signed with Martin Kierszenba ...
, and
MC Jin Jin Au-Yeung (; born June 4, 1982), known professionally as MC Jin, is an American rapper, songwriter, actor and comedian of Chinese descent. Jin is notable for being the first Asian American Asian Americans are Americans with ancestry ...
. These successes served as a benchmark for the localization of Western brands in
Shanghai Shanghai, Shanghainese: , Standard Chinese pronunciation: is a direct-administered municipality and the most populous urban area in China. The city is located on the Chinese shoreline on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the ...
,
Beijing Beijing, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's List of national capitals by population, most populous national capital city as well as ...
, and other Tier 1 Chinese cities. Ballen's China entertainment marketing success is a case study in the book, ''Business is War: The Unfinished Business of Black America'' by Darren J. Perkins.


Getaway

Ballen was the first American citizen to host and co-produce nationally broadcast TV content in China. His travel series, Getaway, aired across China from 2003 until 2014. On TV, Ballen toured China by car, visiting locals and exploring Chinese history, culture, and cuisine. Getaway appeared on China's
Dragon TV Shanghai Dragon Television or Dragon TV (), commonly nicknamed the Tomato Channel () based on its logo, is a provincial satellite TV station. It launched in October 1998 as " Shanghai Television" but changed its name to Dragon Television on Octob ...
and later was syndicated internationally on
CCTV News CGTN is the English-language news channel of state-run China Global Television Network, based in Beijing, China. It is one of several channels provided by China Global Television Network, the international division of Chinese state broadcaster ...
.


2008 Beijing Summer Olympics

In July 2008, as China hosted the
Beijing Summer Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and officially branded as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes fro ...
, Ballen was commissioned by Puma AG and the
Government of Jamaica Politics in Jamaica takes place in the framework of a representative parliamentary democratic constitutional monarchy. The 1962 Constitution of Jamaica established a parliamentary system whose political and legal traditions closely follow those ...
to execute Jamaica's Olympic media, marketing, and China public relations activities, including the marketing and event programming related to Jamaican track and field phenomenon,
Usain Bolt Usain St. Leo Bolt (; born 21 August 1986) is a Jamaican retired sprinter who is widely regarded as the greatest sprinter of all time. He is an eight-time Olympic gold medalist and the world record holder in the 100 metres, 200 metres, ...
. That summer, Ballen's company and partners were the only non-Governmental entities permitted to bring foreign performance artists to Beijing for non-
IOC The International Olympic Committee (IOC; , CIO) is the international, non-governmental, sports governing body of the modern Olympic Games. Founded in 1894 by Pierre de Coubertin and Demetrios Vikelas, it is based in L ...
sanctioned event programming.


REMIX

In 2011, Ballen produced China's first-ever, bilingual, Sino-American reality series, REMIX, The judges for REMIX were American,
Sean Kingston Kisean Paul Anderson (born February 3, 1990), known professionally as Sean Kingston, is an American former singer and rapper. Born in Miami, Florida, and raised in Jamaica, he signed with J. R. Rotem's record label Beluga Heights Records ...
, Taiwanese recording artists,
Jam Hsiao Jam Hsiao Ching-teng (, born 30 March 1987) is a Taiwanese singer and actor. At the age of 17, while still in high school, he began working as a restaurant singer. In May 2007, Hsiao took part in the first season of China Television (CTV)'s sta ...
and Wilbur Pan. REMIX first winner was punk rock and ballad crooner, Ping An, now a highly acclaimed Chinese recording artist.


Awards

In April 2015, Ballen was named to China's Digital A-List. an award recognizing China's top 100 digital entrepreneurs in the e-commerce, data, and advertising space.
Jack Ma Ma Yun (; born 10 September 1964), or more commonly referred as Jack Ma, is a Chinese businessman and philanthropist. He is the founder of the Jack Ma Foundation, and co-founder of Alibaba Group and Yunfeng Capital. As of May 2025, Ma's ne ...
, founder of
Alibaba Group Alibaba Group Holding Limited, branded as Alibaba (), is a Chinese Multinational corporation, multinational technology company specializing in E-commerce in China, e-commerce, retail, Internet, and technology. Founded on 28 June 1999 in Hangzho ...
, and
Pony Ma Ma Huateng (, born October 29, 1971) is a Chinese businessman, investor and philanthropist who is the co-founder, chairperson and chief executive officer (CEO) of Tencent, one of the most valuable companies in East Asia, one of the largest int ...
, Chairman of
Tencent Tencent Holdings Ltd. ( zh, s=腾讯, p=Téngxùn) is a Chinese Multinational corporation, multinational technology Conglomerate (company), conglomerate and holding company headquartered in Shenzhen. It is one of the highest grossing multimed ...
were also named to 2015's Digital A-List. In April 2016 Ballen was again named to Campaign Asia's List.


Controversy

In a PBS interview with
Tavis Smiley Tavis Smiley (; born September 13, 1964) is an American talk show host and author. Smiley was born in Gulfport, Mississippi, and grew up in Bunker Hill, Indiana. After attending Indiana University Bloomington, Indiana University, he worked durin ...
and
Cornel West Cornel Ronald West (born June 2, 1953) is an American philosopher, theologian, political activist, politician, social critic, and public intellectual. West was an independent candidate in the 2024 United States presidential election and is an ou ...
, Ballen remarked that while China's growth had helped lift 800 million people out of poverty, much of that growth had come at the expense of several million American manufacturing jobs.


Notes

# While widely known in China as Da Long (大龙), Ballen's formal Chinese name is Bo Dalong (博大龙).


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ballen, Andrew 1973 births 21st-century American businesspeople American computer businesspeople American expatriates in China American mass media company founders American people of Belizean descent American people of Jamaican descent American technology chief executives American technology company founders Duke University School of Law alumni Businesspeople from New York City Businesspeople in software Internet pioneers Living people Businesspeople from Greensboro, North Carolina Television producers from New York City University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill alumni Hargrave Military Academy alumni