The Weekly Buzz 18 April 2012

 [1] Parody of a Poet

“Du Fu is busy” is the meme of the moment amongst Chinese netizens. Du Fu is a famous Tang Dynasty poet and his portrait is well known from textbooks, so there’s a nice element of nostalgia. It’s just a bit of good natured lampooning; not too deep and no offence intended for Du Fu. So, brands are getting in on it too…

[2] Tmall’s Video Recognition for Virtual Modelling

As announced on Tmall’s official weibo, they have launched a kind of virtual modeling, augmented reality system, using video recognition technology. The tech has been in use for a while elsewhere (like the Ray-Ban Virtual Mirror, for example) for quite a while, but netizens are loving it.

[3] Pinterest Ready for “Private Pinboards”

Pinterest recently updated their Terms of Service and in so doing, removed mention of direct monetization; they say it will use contents “for the purposes of operating and providing the Service(s) to you and to other Users.” They also mentioned the introduction of a Pinterest API and Private Pinboards.

[4] “Draw Something”

“Draw Something” is the game of the moment, in which you… draw something, then have your friends guess the thing that you’ve drawn. The developer, OMGPOP, was recently bought by Zynga for 200 million dollars.

[5] Qunar and Youtianxia Share Short Term Leases

Qunar have announced a deal with Youtianxia, a short-term rental website, which will allow Qunar users to search Youtianxia’s database of properties available for short-term lease.

[6] IBM’s Micro-Movie Premier

IBM has released a micro-movie called, “College Folks”（not official translation）, which is a story of competition and cooperation, featuring IBM’s latest products. The movie has been praised for its dialogue, including lines like, “Enemies are just reflection of self-lust” and “Perhaps animals that like chaos and killing have gone to cities, that’s why the nights here are so peaceful.”

 The Weekly Buzz 9 April 2012

[1] Brands’ Weibo Response to Consumer Day 315

In the wake of CCTV’s Consumer Day exposé of several brands, including McDonald’s, Carrefour, China Telecom and China Merchants Bank, they have responded via their owned social media presence on Sina Weibo, pledging their determination to take such consumer complaints seriously. Will this mean a genuine step towards approachable, Social CRM? Time will tell.

[2] Ctrip Embraces Top-End Tourism

Ctrip’s new, top-end tourism brand, ‘The Swan Plaza Tour’, aims to target 10 million specialized services for high-end tourists, capitalizing on the booming tourism market amongst wealthy mainland Chinese. They’ve kicked off the project with an “Around the World in 80 Days” campaign.

[3] Guokr.com Revitalize Q&A

Guokr.com have intensified the social aspect of their Q&A network, incorporating group functions, themes, blogs and other social elements. Essentially, Guokr is pretty similar to Quora. Indeed, Thirteen Ji, Guokr’s founder, spoke of his study of Quora in a public letter prior to Guokr’s original launch in 2010. Such is the uniqueness and dynamism of China’s digital landscape though, Guokr’s updated social elements allow it to keep in step with the behaviors of China’s voracious netizens.

[4] The Ben-Nana Show

Netizens are going ape for frozen treat “Ben-Nana” (pictured). Showing off yours via Sina Weibo has become hot behavior, even though it’s still pretty chilly in much of China. “No one can stop the trend of eating Ben-nana! Some say it’s hard to peel?! Come and show me your Ben-nana!”

[5] Tencent’s “White Paper on the Internet Open Platform”

Tencent’s “Open Platform for Chinese New Year” was recently held in Beijing. In conjunction, the Tencent produced a white paper on “the Internet open platform”. Data shows most downloaded apps are “social”, at 41%, with more than 23% of apps downloaded via Tencent’s platform ads. Interestingly, the data also suggests that 74% of paid-app users are male.

[6] Huawei Launches “Vmall”

Huawei, China’s leading tech supplier, has recently launched an online mall, “Vmall”. Bo Zhu, president of Internet Business at Huawei, revealed the news on weibo. Registered users can log in with their existing information. In an interesting side note, just as netizens have nicknamed Taobao’s Tmall “Tian Mao” (mao meaning cat), some are now calling Vmall “Wei Mao”.

 The Weekly Buzz 21 March 2012

[1] Youku & Tudou Merger

China’s two biggest video websites, Youku and Tudou, announced on the 12^th of March that they are set to join forces. The news sparked nationwide discussion on Sina Weibo, as netizens’ favorite game became guessing the new name of the video giant; “Kudou” (meaning trouser pocket) and “Youtu” (not far away from Youtube) were the top choices. Some even joked that China’s other two video websites, 56.com and 6.cn (or 六间房, which is Chinese for “6 rooms”) should combine to become “56 rooms”. The most popular tweet was, “The combination makes me believe in love again!”

 [2] The Launch of Like

like.etao.com is a Pinterest clone based in Etao’s BBS platform. There’s no denying that it looks a lot like Pinterest, but users connect to each other in relation to their BBS interest groups and content is selected by site editors and sourced from online store mogujie.com.

[3] Applying New Media to Consumer Day

“Micro-letters” is a short message mobile application, through which netizens could connect with CCTV’s Consumer Day special and report on consumer issues as and when they encounter them.

[4] Baidu Q4 Report on Mobile Internet Development

Baidu’s report is made up of five parts: User distribution and network access; mobile Internet devices; mobile Internet platforms, mobile browsers and the app store.

[5] China’s Most Trusted Brand

The award for “Chinese Consumers’ Most Trusted Brand” was recently held in Beijing by social networking site Renren, in celebration of “International Consumer Day”.  Voting started on the 6^th of January and covers industries like auto, food, digital, economy, household appliances and airlines. The ceremony awarded more than ten brands and corporations, including Audi, China Merchant Bank’s credit card and Estee Lauder. Coca-Cola took the night’s greatest honor, “People’s Favorite Brand”.

[6] Microblogging from the Two Sessions

The 11th National People’s Congress and CPPCC National Committee, also known as the “two sessions”, recently took place in Beijing. During the two sessions, a significant number of committee members and representatives used their Sina Weibo accounts to directly interact with the Chinese people.

Original Tweet:

“Dongsheng Li: As your representative, I collected a lot of information from you last year. As such, I’m preparing some proposals about education and other things. So, I’ll give away 5 books a day to those that offer me the best suggestions.”

Follow Up Tweet:

“I got a lot of great advice from netizens, thank you all! I’ll be sending my books to…”

[7] Lashou.com Brings Group-Buy Home

Lashou.com has officially brought group purchase to home buyers. House hunters complete a profile with their requirements and the website searches for suitable resources. In an increasingly expensive market, the aim is to help people find their footing on the housing ladder.

 The Weekly Buzz 9 March 2012

[1]Mogujie.com launches C2B group-purchase

Mogujie.com launched a new online product, “Free Group Purchase”, at 5 p.m. on the 1st of March, encouraging users to initiate a group purchase on any product they want. This “C2B” group purchase would be achievedas long as they round up enough participants. So far, more than 15,000 group purchases have been started, 100 of which have been successful.

[2] Launch of meishixing.com

Social platform meishixing.com has at last launched a web version. For what is essentially a Pinterest clone, this web version features organizing and sharing features for foodies to share photos of all their favorite eats. You’re also able to search for the hottest content (or shoulf that be filling?) in your city and share that with your online friends too. Think of it a bit like social bookmarking of menu pages.

[3] Data Consumption Released by Taobao.com

Taobao.com released its 2011 yearly report on users’ consumption data on 27^th of February. The report looks at the consumption behaviors of online shoppers and strives to anticipate the fashion trends of 2012. It also picks out the various preferences of different regions across China, which is quite good fun.

[4] Starbucks China App.

Starbucks China have released their first App (click to download) for iPhone and Android. Mobile phone users are able to download it by scanning the smartcode or sending a text message. When successfully installed, you can search for your nearest Starbucks store, manage your personal reward card account, share unique Starbucks “experiences”, and synchronize it with other social networks.

[5] Burson-Marsteller China Social Strategy Guidebook

BM China, the leading PR and communications consultancy firm, have released a new social media strategy guidebook: “Weibo: Seven Steps to Better Corporate Reputation, Crisis Preparedness and Digital Communications in China.”

Burson-Marsteller’s guidebook outlines an actionable framework for reputation management and brand communication via weibo – China’s microblog medium – from development of social strategy to measuring efficacy. The weibo guidebook shares Burson-Marsteller China’s perspectives on better digital communications, more effective tracking and brand reputation.

 [6] Twitter to Expand Mobile Advertising

Twitter is planning to expand its advertisement services on iPhone and Google Android devices. Twitter announced the scheme via their official blog that ad services are to be known as “Promoted Tweets” and “Promoted Accounts”. At the same time, weibo.com in China has announced that its mobile microblog advertising system would begin in the second quarter of 2012.

[7] Baidu’s Real Time Search for Sina Weibo

Baidu’s real time search service for weibo.com was launched on March 2^nd. Relevant keywords will be shown in real time search. Baidu has already established cooperation with Sohu.com, Tencent.com and 163.com, and has included their search result on Baidu since November last year.

[8] “CIC 2012 China Social Media Landscape”

We have recently released CIC’s 2012 China Social Media Landscape, the fourth edition. This edition classifies social media into four categories: Core Networks, Value-add Networks, Basic Networks and Emerging/Niche Networks.

See detailed information and picture, click the link below:

http://www.seeisee.com/index.php/2012/02/27/p4871

 Industry Watch,The Weekly Buzz,uncategorized 17 February 2012

The Asia Pacific Summit on Measurement will take place between the 29th of February and 1st of March at the Grand Hyatt in Hong Kong and is aimed at stimulating new thinking around the evaluation and measurement of public relations performance. The Asia Pacific Summit will include workshop sessions and speaking spots by senior communications professionals from across the region and beyond.

The International Association for Measurement and Evaluation of Communication (AMEC) is the global trade body and professional institute for agencies and practitioners who provide media evaluation and communication research. It has grown into a trade body whose purpose is to define and develop the industry on an international scale with better professional standards for both companies and individuals. AMEC now has members in 38 countries.

AMEC’s purpose is to define and develop communications programme research and measurement on an international scale with improved professional standards for both companies and individuals. Its work in establishing the Barcelona Principles framework is seen internationally as an important industry-leading initiative.

In November 2011, AMEC established a Regional Chapter in Asia Pacific to create a networking forum for communications leaders in research and public relations.