Social media, blogging and marketing in China

Over the winter break I travelled to China with the Monash Marketing department to tour the country, but also to visit a number of interesting companies including advertising agencies such as DDB and Adsmith. These companies presented some interesting information about Social media in China, which I've shared with you below:

Social Media in China

For those who have never been to China, it might be assumed that the Chinese don't use social media because they have strict censorship laws and can't access Facebook or Twitter. However, this is not true - social media does exist in China, it just takes a different form. They have their own Social media sites including Renren Wang (like Facebook), Sina Weibo (like Twitter) and QQ (instant messaging). In fact, there's a whole social media world out there that we're not familiar with, due largely to the language barriers that exist between us....

So yes, Chinese individuals are heavy social media users!

Why is social media popular with Chinese individuals?

One reason is because it provide a platform for self-expression. This is important to the modern generation of Chinese individuals, who have become more affluent and better educated. They are now seeking self-expression and individuality, which can be found through online spaces such as blogs and profile pages, where individuals are able to post their own opinions, ideas and self-created content, like photos and videos.

Another reason for the popularity of social media, ironically enough, is censorship. For example, blogs provides a platform for communicating opinions that individuals' might otherwise not be able to share in official publications like newspapers or magazines. While these blogs do get 'censored' particularly when important political activity is happening in China (ie. global conferences or summits), there are still ways to get around the great firewall....

The best example I've heard of was a political blogger who pretended to blog about his cat, Mongolia, when really, he was giving voiceovers to videos of his pet talking about issues that the Chinese government were covering up. (This is from a documentary called 'Hi-tech-Low-life'....it's a really insightful and interesting film about the power of blogging in China that I saw as part of the Human Rights Film Festival at work. If anyone is interested, please see the trailer below)

All this talk about individuality in China may sound weird if you've ever studied Hofstede's Cultural dimensions because you'd think China has a collectivist culture! But then again, social media is  connecting individuals together. For the modern Chinese, who are part of the lonely, one-child generation, social media is important in providing a space where they can meet other people and keep in contact with their friends.

So social media plays a role in giving Chinese individuals both individuality and community or connectivity...if you think about it, social media is leading to the rise of Individual Power in China as individuals can use their own opinions to influence others. At Adsmith, they talked about Chinese consumers who used their personal profiles to upload pictures of the new branded handbags they bought, or the funny and clever advertisements they found online. This was shared with peers who would admire, compliment and further engage with their content.

Social Media Marketing in China: The Unilever Lynx Case Study

So we can see that there are two important things that marketers in China can leverage from social media:

• Opinion leaders
• Word of mouth

The Unilever Axe campaign is an example of advertising that spread like wildfire as a result of opinion leaders and word of mouth in China. Because Lynx had a brand image that was risqué, they had difficulty advertising their product when they entered China. Lynx didn't want to alter their big idea, but they faced censorship laws for that sort of content on Chinese TV.

But through conducting research, they found that Chinese consumers were heavy social media users and that social media had fewer restrictions for content, so they decided to create a social media campaign for their products. This was fronted by a celebrity called Edison Chen, who had been in a large scandal involving a collection of raunchy photos taken with a number of Asian celebrities. As he was known for 'his ability to attract women' they created a campaign where he posed as a Love doctor who taught males how to get the girls with lynx deodorant.

They embedded this on Unilever's page, as well as fan pages for the actor and celebrity friends (who were supporting his return from the scandal), on the 4 biggest social media platforms in China. This went viral because heavy users of the brand, celebrities, major fans (opinion leaders) shared the video and embedded it on their own blogs and profile pages (word of mouth advertising). It lead Unilever Axe to gain 300,000 new followers! The body spray also became no.1 within 3 months of launch and shower gel sales increased by 47% (information from Chinese website and Warc.) While I'm not really a fan of lynx commercials, I thought this was a smart way to use social media for advertising. If you are interested in the campaign you can see below for more info:

Another Blog: http://realamber.wordpress.com/2011/08/19/axe-lynx-enters-china-with-a-bang/
Warc: Launching the Lynx Effect in China

So from this post, here are some key points to take away:

• If you want to market to Chinese consumers, social media is a powerful platform. However, research is needed to understand cultural differences between platforms in China and the rest of the world. Research is also needed to understand Chinese consumers' usage patterns.
• Chinese individuals are starting to seek both self-expression and connectivity, which is offered through blogs and profile networks.
• As a result, marketers in China should leverage on opinion leaders and word of mouth to create more cost-effective, interactive and efficient campaigns
• While there is censorship in China, some aspects of this can be overcome through the use of social media.

Thanks for reading this looooong post! I got really excited but I promise not to make the next one as lengthy! Has anyone else been to China and would you agree with what I've mentioned about social media there? And what do you think about the lynx campaign? Let me know!