I had the pleasure of meeting Robert Scoble last week. For those of you who aren't familiar with his work, Robert Scoble is a tech and social media evangelist and uber-content creater who previously worked for Microsoft and is now best known for his blog Scobleizer. He also co-authored the book Naked Conversations: How Blogs are Changing the Way Businesses Talk with Customers with Shel Israel.

Robert visited our office last week as part his brief visit to Shanghai during which he has met with other companies such as 88 Brands and Tudou. Robert was brought over to China by the China 2.0 tour organized by The China Business Network, Web2Asia and CNReviews and sponsored by Edelman Digital. The purpose of the tour was to give visionary business, technology and media leaders, such as Robert, deeper insight into companies in China involved in social media, clean technology, gaming, and wireless.

Here is a link to the interview from last week on Scobleizer TV.

Group purchase, which I first wrote about in May of 2006, has become a popular trend on the Internet in China and a powerful way for netizens to get good deals and cheaper prices on all types of products, including larger items such as automobiles. Until recently, online group purchase activities were only initiated by individual consumers, who came together independently in BBS forums to get a cheaper price on certain products. In a new trend brands and communities like KDS are recognizing the power and influence of this popular part of net culture and have begun sponsoring formal "group purchase" events and campaigns.

In this issue of IWOM Watch, we look at the evolution of "tuangou(团购)" or "group purchase" which is now changing from a grassroots effort initiated by netizens to a brand sponsored campaign strategy in targeted BBS communities.

Case Study

Group Purchase: Retailers reverse the trend
(网络团购:不再是网民的自娱自乐)

Summary

In September, Gome, the biggest home appliance retailer in China, decided to collaborate with KDS, one of the most popular BBS groups, to launch a group purchase opportunity for KDS users only. In just 10 days, the announcement post received over 800 applications, far beyond the 250 application requirement.

Furthermore, even after the group purchase, netizens continued to discuss the event and praise the organizers for offering the group purchase. Given the overwhelmingly positive response, KDS is expected to host more collaborative group purchase events by netizens in the future.

CIC View

Until recently, online group purchase activities were only initiated by individual consumers, looking to get products at a cheaper price. However, given the demand and popularity of group purchase, BBS community owners and companies alike are looking to leverage the popularity of this trend by organizing group purchase activities themselves.
Popular BBS communities already have a dedicated fan base. By launching organized group purchase deals within BBS communities, brands have the opportunity to tap into this loyal user base to not only gain access to potential customers, but increase awareness in the process. Furthermore, netizens provide feedback on the products and online event post-purchase. This can be an effective supplementary sales strategy to attract new customers and engage consumers online.

Below is a screen shot of the index for the full IWOM watch report:

For related articles, see below:

How IWOM is Redefining the Relationship between Brands and Consumers

IWOM Watch July 16-31: Plastic bags banned, so BBS communities create their own "green" bags

Interview on CBC radio about tuangou "group purchase" in China

Internet word-of-mouth trends in 2008

I will be in Las Vegas from November 12-14 for the Word of Mouth Marketing Association's (WOMMA) annual conference. In addition to learning what's happening in the US market, I am looking forward to meeting other "international" IWOM/social media analysis practitioners. After attending OpenWebAsia in mid October, I am very primed for more discussions about IWOM in international contexts.

Nathan Gilliat, the "supernode" of the social media analysis world and author of the must read Guide to Social Media Analysis, is facilitating this by taking my suggestion of organizing an informal international meetup on the evening of the 12th. If you are going to be in Vegas, please do stop by. More details on his blog here. Reply in the comments if you want to attend. Already a number of firms have signed up.

Below is a rough translation of an article I wrote for our Chinese blog. It's a bit of a different style for a different audience, but I thought I would share anyway.

As CIC is in a rapidly evolving industry, I would like to share some of the experiences, conversations and overall thoughts which are shaping the CIC view of IWOM in China. Because our vision, like the industry, is always evolving, I will look to share these thoughts once a month.

Recently, I have been reading an insightful book by Clay Shirky called Here Comes Everybody which reinforces CIC's belief that "The Internet is the Community," a concept we have been using in CIC for years. The concept is reflected in our definition of IWOM here, originally published in 2007, which identifies both brands and consumers as "netizens" on "equal" terms. Throughout the last month I have been further shaping my ideas on this concept through my interactions with CIC staff and industry professionals.

I have had the opportunity to speak at a number of interesting events over the past month (see here for list), including the OpenWebAsia conference in Korea last week, the Economist Roundtable Conference on Branding in Beijing (see here for more) and the Youth Marketing Forum in Singapore. At the Youth Marketing Forum in Singapore I spoke with IWOM practitioners from around the region who reminded me that "community" is more than just "PR marketing" (i.e. invite your fans to talk about you), but in fact can be used for collaboration with your consumers. When I had lunch in Beijing with David Churbuck, global digital director for Lenovo based in the US who is perhaps the most experienced and down to earth IWOM practitioner in the world, he gave me very real world, practical examples of how Lenovo is using IWOM to help with customer service.

After sharing my latest ideas with our client service team during their sales & communication training, and getting their feedback, I fleshed out this concept in my latest Imediaconnection article here.

...brands, as corporate netizens (similar to corporate citizens), bear the responsibility of being a "good" corporate netizen. Brands must bring value to consumers within communities, not simply "message" or send messages to consumers. By being a "good" corporate netizen, and real contact, brands have the opportunity to redefine relationships with consumers and reap previously unforeseen rewards.

Of course, being a "good corporate" netizen means being transparent in all communications within the community. At CIC, we do not do any message seeding ("枪手") of any kind, nor do we think it is effective. Earlier this year, by becoming a member of the leading industry group Word of Mouth Marketing Association (WOMMA), we pledged to never do message seeding. I expanded on this recently in an interview for Digital Media magazine here.

We believe that as a "third party," we can use our patent pending text mining technology to provide a systematic, objective and strategic view of the buzz in an environment where IWOM is redefining the relationship between brands and consumers (again, my article on this here). Our analysts can "make sense of the buzz" by offering specific suggestions on how brands can participate in the community. Another of my articles on Imediaconnection shows alternatives to seeding with successful examples of companies like Intel and Johnson Baby making real connections within community.

While traveling and networking does keep me away from my family and from my team at CIC, I do see that such exposure is essential to keep in touch with what's happening both in China and the rest of the world in terms of IWOM so that we can localize and apply the best practices in China. I am looking forward to attending WOMMA's Word of Mouth Marketing Summit and Research Symposium in Las Vegas this November which will give me the opportunity to meet WOM marketing professionals from around the world and gain an international perspective on these issues. I will also be doing our 2nd annual IWOM summit (see article on the first one here) with leading brands and agencies all over China to encourage practical application of these ideas. More learning to come...

Below is taken from our IWOM watch for September 1-15. IWOM watch is a twice monthly report we provide to a number of our clients.

This September, the first kids from the 90's generation (i.e. 90后) are starting college. Unlike the 70's and 80's generations which are considered more conservative, members of the 90's generation are defined by their "uniqueness." The Internet has served as a key channel for building this generation by providing a platform for self-expression and socializing.

In our latest issue of IWOM Watch, we look at how the 90's generation prepares for school, including finding classmates through QQ groups and getting advice through BBS. In addition, this generation is much more digitally savvy and enjoys "shai-ing" (showing off) their new electronic gear for college online. If you want to learn about the 90's generation, then go online to check them out, because that's where they are hanging out and showing off.

Case Study

First 90's kids start college-"We are 90s, we are unique!"
(首批90后大学生宣言：我们就是不一样！)

Summary

Many of these new freshman students from the 90's generation like to "shai" or show off their digital equipment for the new semester. For example, one student from Hainan University posted a picture of his new digital equipment and in addition to the picture he included that the total cost for all his digital equipment for the first year of college was RMB15,560. Some netizens commented that this amount was normal given the rapid development of China's economy while others argued mentioning the total cost would have a negative influence on other students.

CIC view

The "Shai" (show off) culture is very popular among 90's kids. As new college students, they are excited to share the new digital equipment their parents bought for them. The most popular types of equipment among students online are mobile phones, notebook computers, mp3 players and digital cameras. From the conversations among students online, we can see 90's favor high end digital products and experiences more than students from the 80's and 70's generations.

Below is a screen shot of the index for the full IWOM watch report:

For related articles, please see below:

IWOM Watch half year review: January - June, 2008

IWOM Watch July 16-31, 2008: Plastic bags banned, so BBS communities create their own "green" bags

IWOM Watch Jun 1-15, 2008: Netizens share experience about National Matriculation Test online

IWOM Watch Apr 16-30, 2008: Netizens find new channels for self expression

IWOM Watch Sept 16-30, 2007: "Shai"(晒/show) means showing off your stuff online

Below is my latest article for iMedia Connection Asia.

In this column I look at how IWOM is actually reshaping the relationship between brands and consumers. In the first section I discuss how IWOM is actually leveling the playing field between institutions and individuals and providing an opportunity for brands to connect directly with targeted consumers. In the second part, I look at how this new relationship is impacting market research, marketing, customer service and PR.

For my earlier articles on iMedia Connection, please see here.

The Architecture and Habits of Chinese Participation

On May 14, 2008, just days after the Sichuan earthquake, a young college student in Chengdu saw a news report that the Chinese military was having trouble finding a place to land a helicopter to bring aid to Wenchuan, the town at the epicenter. The woman, who is from Wenchuan and who had knowledge of a place to land the helicopter, posted a message on various BBS forums pleading with the military to call her mobile phone number (which she also posted) so she could provide details to help out. Within 24 hours, someone in the military saw the message and contacted her, and as a result, the helicopter landed safely. This is just one of countless examples of how Chinese netizens, in the face of such a terrible, national tragedy, naturally looked to the Internet community to come together to provide assistance and mourn as a nation (see more examples here). In just the first week of the aftermath, major portals hosted over 23 million netizen comments and blogs received over 12.6 million comments.

Clay Shirky, in his book Here Comes Everybody, suggests that the Internet community essentially levels the field between institutions and individuals.
Individuals such as the university student from Wenchuan can now connect to a massively bureaucratic institution like the Chinese military with a simple BBS post. Further, through Internet community, individuals can organize themselves to accomplish tasks which institutions were either ill suited to accomplish or not motivated to accomplish. In fact, Chinese netizens have been organizing themselves online to accomplish tasks for some time. Fans of American TV programs have been translating subtitles and uploading shows to BitTorrent networks within 24 hours of shows being broadcast in the US. Participants in the "Human Flesh" Search Engine, which is a more institutionalized form of the group search behavior found in Shirky’s 2006 stolen Sidekick example, will commonly seek justice on behalf of individuals who "wrong" or who have been wronged. Though the most high profile cases of the "Human Flesh" Search Engine are not always positive, it demonstrates, just as the reaction on the Internet to the Sichuan earthquake demonstrates, that netizens can organize themselves and create massive effects.

How is it that Chinese netizens so are naturally and effectively turning to the Internet community?
China has, using Tim O'Reiley's term, a solid "architecture of participation." China has more netizens (253 million), more bloggers (107 million) and more BBS (online message board) users (98 million) than any other market in the world. Even more important, Chinese have the "habit of participation." According to Netpop, 47% of Chinese broadband users have commented on a blog, a chat room or offered some other form of participation, compared to 28% of American users. Iresearch even puts the levels of such participation at 98%. The average time spent online by a Chinese netizen is twice that of the American. The fact is, for those who have access, the Internet has become the primary entertainment, information and social device.

What does this all mean for brands?
With the "architecture" and "habits" of participation solidly in place, the opportunity exists to redefine the relationships with consumers. This "leveled" playing field that eliminates barriers between institutions and individuals, in practical terms, has leveled the field between brands and consumers. Brands can now easily "connect" to targeted, relevant, communicative and empowered consumers directly.

For market research
There is now an unprecedented opportunity for "observational research" by tapping into the millions upon millions of conversations happening daily about brands, products and services. For "active research" (i.e. asking questions), the opportunity is active involvement in the community landscape where these millions of conversations are happening. There is also opportunity to build new communities as a platform for online focus groups, surveys and other new approaches to research that tap into netizens’ propensity and interest in sharing, communicating and collaboration.

With this picture, the market researcher-consumer relationship is redefined with the market researcher engaging with consumers that are already providing feedback in a place and in a way where they already feel comfortable providing feedback. As we saw in my previous article, consumers are already redesigning products and sharing insights openly: why not formalize the process by connecting with consumers directly and incentivizing them to become active participants? Essentially, the role of the focus group moderator is redefined as a community moderator.

For marketing
The important redefinition of the relationship is that within a community, consumers are no longer just an audience; they are conversation partners. This means finding the right conversation to participate in, in the right place and at the right time. In addition, brands need to identify where they can provide value to the conversation, not astroturf fake messages. Zappos, an online shoe company in the US, who has over 400 customer services reps on the microblogging platform Twitter has perfected this, regularly joining conversations and even receiving invites from consumers to join conversations about shoes and their product in particular.

For customer service
Consumers become partners, not just recipients of service. In the case of Moto, we see here that one Moto fan responds to over a thousand questions a month from other Moto owners. Such passionate help is quite an impressive resource for potential buyers researching a purchase which serves to demonstrate that customer service in the public arena, whether performed by brand fans, or by the brand itself, is also marketing.

For PR
253 million Internet users, means China has 253 million potential media publishers; consumers are the media, no longer just consumers of media. However, they do not necessarily play by the same rules as traditional media. They value real relationships and communication over "one-way" spam or press releases.

Redefining the relationship between brands and consumers requires a mindset that the Internet is the community. Within the community, brands must recognize that they, along with consumer participants, are netizens on an equal level. This concept of 'netizen' is at the core of the definition of Internet Word of Mouth, where brands, as corporate netizens (similar to corporate citizens), bear the responsibility of being a "good" corporate netizen. Brands must bring value to consumers within communities, not simply "message" or send messages to consumers. By being a "good" corporate netizen, and real contact, brands have the opportunity to redefine relationships with consumers and reap previously unforeseen rewards. The opportunity and rewards can be even greater in China, where the architecture and habits of community participation are at a level unseen in Western markets.

For further reading, see below:

IWOM centered marketing in China

Media mag discusses astroturfing in China

6 reasons brands in China should listen to IWOM (beyond seeding and crisis tracking)

Connecting the connected agency in China

Connection points for the "connected agency" in China

Internet word-of-mouth trends in 2008

3 pathways to net culture

It is often quoted that Chinese netizens spend more time on the Internet than they do watching TV, and that the first thing a young person buys for their new apartment is a computer to access the Internet, and not a T.V. So it’s not surprising to find, that when following the Olympics, netizens chose the Internet over all other media, including TV.

In the August issue of our IWOM watch, we tracked the different ways netizens experienced the “Internet Olympics”, including:

• Microblogging: #080808 twitter “hash tags”; updates & comments on Ji.wai.de and Fanfou
• Mobile: Google SMS updates
• Blogging: blogs from fans, athletes, journalists and celebrities perspective
• BBS: group watching and cheering

Case Study

Microblogging the Olympics one comment at a time
(微博客上体验激情奥运)

Summary

Three Chinese bloggers (Flypig, Webleon and Babechloe) started an Olympic meme on the well-known micro-blogging site Twitter. It’s called the #080808 tag campaign and its use spread dramatically. The concept of the campaign is quite simple – anyone who wants to show his or her support for the Games, just creates a little #080808 icon and then prelude all Olympic related message with an “#080808”.

Sohu, the official Olympics internet portal partner set up a “sohuolympic” ID on twitter that posts live updated news of all the games in progress. Whoever subscribes to the “sohuolympic” ID, receives frequent messages, allowing them to continuously stay up to date on all Olympic news.

Famous Chinese Microblogging sites Ji.Wai.de and Fanfou set up special Olympic live update sections on their sites, where users can easily find frequent Olympics news updates as well as other members’ Olympic posts, helping netizens enjoy the Olympic experience together.

Below is a screen shot of the index for the full IWOM watch report:

For related articles, please see below:

Pre-Olympic Buzz Analysis of Sponsors: Keyword Association Mapping of Chinese IWOM

IWOM Watch half year review: January - June, 2008

Tuning into Sports IWOM 2007 Q4: BBS vs. Twitter

Sports White Paper Released