One of the dangers of IT is that it can lead you to believe that you are doing amazing things, says Alexander Wong, Chief Executive Officer and Director of Jidou Limited, a very successful local animation and film company. "But actually the computer is only working on a superficial level. When that initial euphoria wears off, we still have to talk about content and ideas, our vision and missions, and - most importantly - we have to talk about the heart, and (putting his hand on his chest) what's inside here."

Wong, an architect by training, is an entrepreneur, creative thinker and animation developer. Jidou Limited is his most successful brainchild. The company is a remarkable success story. It was started as a vending machine business, and in order to "humanize" the machines, and make them more appealing to a very young market, Wong decided to use interactive audio-visual technology to imbed into each machine an iconic cartoon character appropriately named Jidou. This was very successful, and Jidou - the character - quickly became popular in Hong Kong. Then, during the 2004 Olympic Games, mobile phone giant "3" asked the company to create Jidou animation videos - or "mobisodes" - to appear on the phone screens of their subscribers. Jidou then made it onto a bigger screen in a Cable TV series called Jidougames, and plans are in place to move into international markets.

Throughout the development of Jidou, Wong remained closely connected to the underlying elements that he feels kept his business moving forward. "A cartoon sounds like it is just for kids," he says, "but the process is far more sophisticated than you might imagine. The character has to be entertaining, fun and colourful, yet infused with the commercial aspect of a brand and product."

He explains that Jidou in Chinese means automation, or "to motivate yourself", and initially he wanted to create a character that would embody that message. But then he saw the opportunity to turn it into a brand, one that ultimately could be exported abroad. In that second phase he decided to use sports as the central theme because of their universal appeal; and he made sure his growing cast of characters - Jidou, Jude, Jazz, and Dr. Jeff - are creatures that everyone, anywhere, can relate to. Compared to so many other local cartoons, Wong's characters are more true to life. "Our cartoons are more subtle and they create a world closer to reality since things aren't usually as severe as the world created in other cartoons," he says. "You can still see the fun and colour, the comic side and the tragic side, but in those first 26 episodes of Jidou we downplayed the extremes and incorporated many different shades of existence."

"No one here has done anything like this," he explains. "It is like we have created this particular microcosm, which becomes a reflection of the macro of the global society we live in. We had a feeling about what was going on, and although it was not a very large market, we foresaw how things could develop. Then suddenly it was like a pipeline. We were having a big impact with an audience well before we had even completed our 26 episodes."

He beams with the smile of an unexpected success: "It was outrageous!"

The will to win

Wong's perceptive thinking has not only been an important factor in the creation and success of his cartoon characters: it has also been a significant factor in the success of his company. Wong is thoughtful about market motivations, and he can get quite philosophical about the development of his company. He believes that understanding a market doesn't always ensure success: having the desire to succeed is more important. Wong, like his character Jidou, has always had that avid desire to excel. A trained architect, he has used this knowledge to establish his "building theory" of business - a multi-level, step-by-step plan for achievement. He believes that everything basically starts with a line on an empty page, and it is up to "the architect of an idea" to bring it to life.

"How does anything or everything happen?" he asks. "The whole of civilization starts with a belief and an idea. But an idea will stay an idea if you don't do anything about it. The idea must go into execution, to its realization, and to different development phases. It involves a lot of perseverance, hard work and stamina. Everything takes time to develop, but it all comes from the human mind - and there is a spiritual side to this creativity. To me, our business is much more than just establishing a brand."

IT: tools for the mind

Wong says he is constantly learning, and constantly looking for new opportunities as the market creates new paths for Jidou Limited. IT is a rich source of inspiration, innovation and different approaches, but he also looks to use established ways of reaching the market.

IT has, of course, been an important factor in the development of the company's animation output. In the past, animation has required a sweat-shop approach with hundreds of employees dedicating their time to every detail of a character. Time, patience and the presence of many hands were crucial. Now software such as "3ds Max" and "Flash" can enable an animation studio to complete the tasks of 100 workers in a vastly less expensive and far more efficient way. Wong, who takes full advantage of such software, admits that these programs have also made his working environment less stressful. "We can actually do all the editing and creative parts of the animation here in our office. The work environment was horrendous before," he says. "In terms of IT, the platform is already there, so we just have to concentrate on the distribution phase. It is about reaching our customers."

Apart from 3ds Max and Flash, Jidou also utilises television, merchandising, trade fairs, the Internet and web games to build and expand its brand. Although Wong believes this is something all SMEs should consider, he again emphasizes the need for thought.

"I believe a company must first decide exactly what they're doing and the direction they want to go in," he says, "whether it's a marketing strategy that will reach a new audience or a way of utilizing computer graphics to revamp a company's image. Becoming aware of how the company can excel in the market is the major step. You have to find what your anchorage is, what beliefs and concepts you hold on to, and see what is holding the project together."

Consequently, Wong says that for him graphics and technology are not all important. "The story and message comes first because if you don't have anything to say - nothing interesting or new - then no matter what kind of graphics you use, people will see through it, even kids. That's how I see it."

Working locally, thinking globally

Jidou Limited's next step is to go global - and succeed. Again, he has very clear thoughts about this. New technology and e-marketing tools, he says, have affected businesses in different ways according to their market size, and he regards Hong Kong as a "showcase" of new technology because its small size makes it easier to gain initial market share. "The sheer size of the U.S., Russia and Mainland China means new technology and companies take longer to penetrate the market," he says.

But there is a downside. "The problem in Hong Kong," he says, "is that a business can plateau very quickly, so in order to keep growing the challenge is to go beyond the local markets. Our SMEs should increasingly try to create brands and try to appeal to markets on a global scale. That is the whole point of the WWW - the World Wide Web - it is worldwide all the time. If businesses do not think in that way, their chance of long-term success is nil," he says.

Obviously, his thoughts are very focused on how to achieve global success for Jidou Limited.

Man and machine: the business interface

Despite all the advances in technology, Wong keeps referring back to the fact that everything is instigated by humans. "You can reach people on a deeper rather than a superficial level, just like Jidou," he says.

Ultimately he believes that humans are more capable than any man-made creation. "You have to keep trying out new things and not feel scared. You have to keep thinking one step ahead. I believe in this idea of evolutionary design; you should never design something that is going to remain static. Once you create something, how it grows in terms of your business dreams is up to you, which one hopes will lead to another spin-off or product, like our future project, 'The Freuds 2012'."

In Wong's view, businesses are full of layers and surprises waiting to be uncovered, though some may just be superficial layers. The reason why a business model is successful, according to Wong, is because it is not what it seems. If you only see the top view you won't be able to understand how any of it works. It is just like the market place. It is part of life.