I recently visited Shanghai on business and I can tell you that no article in a Wall Street Journal or New York Times best selling book can prepare you for the experience that is China. Put aside, for a minute, the obvious cultural differences. Let’s look simply at the overwhelming digital statistics:
1. 200 million internet users.
2. 100 million blog clicks in 2006.
3. 4.5 billion web pages served in 2006.
4. 66% broadband penetration.
Lay on top of these numbers the fact that in a communist government the internet is the least regulated media and what you have is a helluva lot of people spending a helluva lot of time online. The internet isn’t pushing mass media, it IS mass media.
Capitalism, alive and well. Starbucks has found a balance between remaining true to its values and showing that it cares about China.
As brands beyond the Fortune 100 begin to tackle the Chinese market, many of them are finding that their traditional methods for market expansion and brand building do them very little good. Why? Because the digital revolution in China is being driven by a movement that has been very strongly resisted by many global brands. That movement is social media.
Built on communities like Tencent, portals like Sohu and the search giant Baidu, China’s youth market is literally living in the digital world. Users spend more time on sites like these getting news, downloading music and simply instant messaging with their friends than in any other country in the world. And oh, by the way, there are physically more of these users than anywhere else in the world. If you are a North American based brand with either a global footprint or aspirations of placing your size 13 Nike’s somewhere other than the states, those are very hard numbers to ignore. Actually, given all the money Adidas is spending on the Beijing games, you’d be better off going with them.
So what are brands to do? How should marketers who know they need to be in China tackle the region? Here are a few guidelines to follow:
Go local. It is imperative that brands have a presence in China. It is more than language barriers. The Chinese consumer almost demands that the brand they engage with shows they “care” about China. One way to do this is to commit your brand to actually being there.
Don’t be scared. If your agency or your in-house marketing director has been pushing you to use Youtube or Facebook in the U.S. and you have resisted because you don’t want to lose control of your brand than you may not have the stomach for China (insert your own joke about the Chinese cuisine, although I found it absolutely wonderful). If you plan on entering China, than you have to have digital as a foundation. On that foundation will stand social media and all that comes with it. Don’t be afraid. As they say, it’s China.
Bring content. Digital consumption is fueled by content. UGC, professional, amateur, it doesn’t matter. Be prepared to distribute your brand assets digitally and in language. Baidu has developed excellent branded channels to share and distribute this sort of content. Todou, one of the largest video aggregators in China, is reporting a 15% increase in viewership already this year. If you have video content, use it.
So as China prepares to host what are estimated to be the most marketed Olympic Games in history, the country will be even more front and center. We all know how widely critical society can be of the handling of the Olympics, from transportation to entertainment. With a population of over 200 million people getting online every day, blogs and communities in China will be going non-stop. Take the opportunity to learn about how the information super highway works and decide where, or if it all, you should get on.
