Below is a recap of a few of the recent posts from our Chinese seeisee blog.

The Relationship between Groups in IWOM and Public Spaces (March 11th)
（群——口碑传播与公共空间的关系）
The analysis of “group” in IWOM is always a main focus of ours here at CIC. Violet’s previous post “Groups in IWOM and their value in IWOM marketing” introduced the concept of “groups” in IWOM and online opinion leaders, and this time James’s new post emphasizes the relationship between groups in IWOM and groups in public spaces. Public space for “groups” refers to the place where group members talk and discuss different topics, such as BBS and forums. While the topics and the relationships between members in the group influence the level of popularity of each group, the size and magnitude of the public spaces can influence IWOM.

Olympic Brands Online Campaign Strategy (March 6th)
（奥运品牌网络营销）
The Beijing Olympics has become the hottest theme in China in 2008. Many brands have launched large scale campaigns with a special focus on the 2008 Olympics, especially the official Olympic sponsors. This post provides a quick overview of the latest on Olympic online campaigns.

Brands Want to Fulfill Your Dream (February 28th)
（你的梦想，品牌想来买单）
I have predicted that brands will “really” join the conversation in the future in my previous post “Internet word-of-mouth trends in 2008” which was released on iMedia Connection Asia in early January. KFC’s activity “KFC will fulfill your dream” is a great example of this. The event not only gave KFC the chance to listen to its customers but also gave the brand a chance to communicate with them directly.

Last week, we had a company trip to ZhangJiaJie, Hunan, which is a 3rd tier city (it was an awesome trip, by the way). We stopped at a Carrefour type of department store (but NOT Carrefour) to do a bit of shopping before leaving to go back to Shanghai. First, I saw this outside the department store:

I now have an official "clash of the modern and the traditional" contrast pic that is necessary for China "old hand" credibility.

Upon entering, I of course checked out the cosmetic counters as one of our clients is a big cosmetic brand. And I saw this:

Notice the brand name “Chcedo” which sounds like “Shiseido,” the Japanese cosmetic brand. The Chinese name is a combination of a local Chinese brand “自然美” (Zirantang) and 资生堂 (Shiseido). Quite creative.

Then, I saw this:

Never heard of the brand, but the spokesperson appears to be Jiang QingQing, who used to be spokesperson for Aupres. Google search yields no results saying she is a spokesperson for this brand. Hmm...perhaps she is new to the brand?....

I am proud to present some key highlights from our IWOM watch reports, issued during the second half of 2007. We organized the highlights according to several themes that emerged, including brands integration of net culture into their campaigns, brands tapping into the masses, consumers taking ownership of brands’ online image (with or without the brands’ help), and examples of brands not only listening to netizen suggestions, but reacting to these suggestions.

To download the full report, please click here. There is a brief registration process that will give you free access to all of our white papers and IWOM watch reviews. In addition, you can be automatically notified of new white papers and other reports in the future, if you so choose.

CIC is the first Internet Word of Mouth (IWOM) research and consulting firm in China. We have pioneered the industry in China, coining the term IWOM to describe the growing trend of consumers and corporate “netizens” engaging in conversations on the Internet. As an early witness to this trend, we are dedicated to listening and understanding the development of Chinese online culture. We have ongoing, long term relationships with the best and most progressive clients across a wide range of industries which gives us the experience and ability to make sense of IWOM and its impact on marketing communications.

You can get a sense of the development of IWOM over time by downloading previous IWOM watch 6 month review reports here. I hope you find the reports interesting and useful.

Below is the report content index:

Other CIC IWOM Watch related posts that may be of interest:

-CIC Watch 2006 Half-Year Review released (download the full report)
-CIC watch: "You" - Time's Person of the Year - also lives in China (download the full report)

I have said before that digital marketing firms have the edge over PR firms in China in terms of “getting” IWOM. Of course, I always expected PR firms to put up a fight. Enter Edelman China.

Worldwide, Edelman is seen as one of the first and best firms to integrate IWOM into its PR practice. And while there have been setbacks (the Walmart flogging incident in the US shows the bruises of a pioneer), all in all, they have pushed forward admirably.

Recently, Edelman set up Edelman Digital, a global practice being rolled out in all markets, to be headed by Rick Murray out of Chicago. I met Rick in Chicago in 2005 and can attest he is the real deal in terms of pushing forward digital for PR.

In China, Edelman Digital is led by Adam Schokora, who up until now, has headed up Edelman China’s social media, digital, and interactive strategy for the firm. Adam is a “digital native” and is fluent in Chinese. We worked with Adam on our first white paper on health, which we released together with Edelman.

While I think that PR firms are behind a bit in China with so much focus on events and traditional media, I am excited to see Edelman take a step in the right direction. Their step brings further validation to the IWOM industry. You will find Adam sharing thoughts on Chinese IWOM on the Edelman Digital blog here. If all goes well, I will interview Adam in March for ITV-Asia, just as Tom Doctoroff interviewed me last year. More on this later…

Recently, BusinessWeek put out a cover story on “Consumer Vigilantes,” with various extreme examples of how consumers in the US fight for their consumer rights. This topic is especially a propos as Consumer Day, on March 15, quickly approaches in China. Sponsored by China Consumers’ Association (CCA)”, Consumer Day is the day that consumers are encouraged to share their customer service complaints (and perhaps kudos, but you don’t see much of this). Consumer Day stories are featured prominently in mainstream media, and PR managers live in fear of this day.

While the BusinessWeek story was focused exclusively on the US and how consumers are using the Internet to express and amplify their voices, it very well could have been written for China as Chinese netizens, like their American counterparts, are looking to the web to communicate about and with brands. While there are certain Better Business Bureau type organization in existence such as 315 e-complain and Che315, it seems that more and more netizens are cutting out the middle man and going straight to the brands.

With the Internet, there is no shortage of platforms to express your opinion. Crisis 2.0 is not a new topic for us, but worthy of an update and a review. Below, I highlight some of the more common and interesting platforms.

Blogs: As a personal platform, blogs lend themselves well as spaces for venting personal frustration. Starbucks certainly knows the power of blogs in China. Dell does as well, but is moving in a more positive direction. Keso, a sort of Scoble of China, will interview Michael Dell this week to discuss Dell’s blog and other social media initiatives.

BBS: Vertical BBS communities such as XCAR are home to owners’ clubs which both praise and pan their products. Dell learned the passion of owners on IT168’s notebook forum in 2006, as did Ford Focus. We track BBS communities very closely and see potential crisis everyday (unfortunately, none we can share).

Video/Photo sharing site: While video sites such as Youku and Tudou still primarily feature republished content, we are beginning to see some original content. China Airlines learned the power of video in 2007 where over their poor handling of a flight delay has been viewed 116,793 times (see video here). Google also got a taste here. Photos can also make an impact as we saw in November 2006, when a netizen uploaded 44 pictures of an alleged LG product refurbishing center whose products were sold as new. This led to the formation of a “Group to Expose LG’s problem” in January 2007 further discussion and even video.

QQ groups: Like BBS, QQ groups are interest driven communities; unlike BBS, they are invite only and are “real time” discussions, which make them tighter and perhaps more powerful. In a recent crisis, just as we saw last year, we saw that netizens created QQ groups in order to organize an “attack” on consumer day against the brand.

Microblogging: Microblogging platforms such as Twitter, Fanfou, and Jiwaide are an emerging phenomena in China. We expect these to gain in popularity, although for now, they are not making much of an impact.

Consumer review sites: If you want to find out what “they” say about different restaurants, you gotta visit DaZhong DianPing. So powerful is this site that it has been the object of more than one lawsuit from restaurants that were on the wrong end of negative reviews. For travel related reviews, check out Ctrip.

315 Community: Being featured on CCTV’s consumer day broadcast is a nightmare for any brand PR manager. Now, consumers have a direct link to make this happen. CCTV recently launched its Consumer Day “315 Community” inviting consumers to submit stories and videos.

With so many platforms to communicate about and amplify brand experiences, one could say that everyday is Consumer Day in China. As Pete Blackshaw suggests in his post about the BusinessWeek article, while some may call these “loud” consumers “vigilantes,” the more appropriate reaction is that companies need to be more “vigilant” in their service and about their brand reputation online. It is now essential for brands to not only be sensitive to these channels, but also be prepared to react faster, and even connect directly with the consumers or communities driving the issues.

Seeisee blog is CIC’s official company blog, written, edited and managed by the CIC team. Seeisee represents who we are, what we do, and what we think about. There are 2 to 3 posts published on the blog every week. I know I am biased, but I really do think the team writes some pretty interesting articles and provides some useful insight. Beginning with this post, every couple of weeks, I will share a summary of some of the more interesting articles.

Groups in IWOM and their Value in IWOM marketing (February 26)
（群——口碑传播中的群组，以及它们在网络口碑营销中的价值）
In addition to SNS, “groups” is becoming a popular word on the Internet. While the focus of SNS tends to be more general, “groups”, formed by people with similar interests, are more specific. These groups are formed within SNS sites, on QQ groups, MSN groups and on BBS forums and discuss a range of topics including brands, products, sports, or traveling. Members even organize offline events through these groups. The fact that such groups are driven by shared interest (not just through acquaintance) is a key element of Chinese Internet culture. Read more to see what this all means to IWOM for brands.

Here comes the Hi Phone and My Phone, an army of “iPhones”! (February 21)
（拷贝不走样？Hi Phone，My Phone...“iPhone”军团来了！）
With the launch of the iPhone in China, have you noticed the all-to-similar appearance of its “siblings”, Hi Phone and My Phone? The debut of Hi Phone and My Phone has caused a lot of buzz in online communities lately. Through the release of Hi Phone and My Phone, we are also seeing the level of creativity behind “Shan Zhai Ji”, the nickname for these types of imitations. (See our previous article on Shan Zhai Ji” here.)

Internal Open Source in CIC Tech (February 15)
（CIC技术部门的内部开源尝试）
Open Source is something CIC always advocates and practices in our daily work. From the product plans to our CIC logo, many ideas come from the creative suggestions of CIC employees. In this post, you are able to learn more about the internal Open Source in CIC Tech. (see my previous post on CIC being a learning organization here).

Anyone who knows me knows that I love to talk about IWOM and how it is developing and evolving in China. Pacific Epoch's interview of me last week captures much of our latest thinking at CIC about the IWOM landscape and brands' place in it. You can find the interview here. Free registration required.

We have written about net stars quite often in the last couple of years (see here, here and here). This includes Backdorm Boys, Furong JieJie, Tianxian MeiMei, Xiao pang and others.
We are now witnessing a new type of net star, and they are not human. They are net cartoons like yoyocici and hezi. Leading the pack, however, is Tuzki, a more mischievous Hello Kitty, created by Wang Momo, a graphics art student. Netizens have integrated Tuzki into their lives by making it their QQ/MSN avatar, putting it into their BBS signature and on their blogs.

Recently, Tuzki has been tapped by major brands. In December, Tuzki began to “represent” the Moto Q, transforming what was previously marketed as a “Blackberry killer” in the US into a hip youth communicator along the lines of the Sidekick. Also, in this issue of IWOM watch, we see how HP is working with Tuzki and Wang Momo.
Working with net stars is another example of our Listen-Know-Participate framework which can lead to great marketing ideas. It’s also worth noting that cartoon net stars have an additional advantage over “traditional” stars like Edison Chan: cartoon stars tend not to get involved in online sex photo scandals.

Case 1
Cartoon net idol attracts more brands’ attention

We reported the cooperation between Motorola and the cartoon net star “Tuzki” in a previous IWOM watch. Now more brands like HP are becoming aware of the influence of this particular cartoon idol and have started to cooperate with Tuzki on some projects as well.
HP recently launched a campaign called “My Computer, My Scenic” on Tudou. The campaign, which is from January 1 to June 30, 2008, encourages netizens to upload creative art work related to Tuzki. The campaign’s mini-site received over 180,000 PVs in just a few days.
Furthermore, in order to inspire netizens, HP invited Wang Mo Mo, the creator of Tuzki, and many other powerful young culture efluencers like Zhang Xiao He and Guo Jing Ming to be the spokespersons and judges of this campaign.

CIC View

Brands that use net stars as spokesmen for their products, such as online cartoon characters like Tuzki, may be able to distinguish themselves from other brands that continue to use traditional pop stars. For example, cartoon idols may appear more friendly and be more welcomed by users since pop stars often remind users of large financial contracts and money.
Netizens are able to integrate cartoon idols into their online life by using the expressions in BBS postings and QQ/MSN conversations.

Case 2 (from IWOM Watch Dec 16-31, 2007)
Motorola Q8 cooperates with Tuzki

On December 15th, Motorola launched its new mobile phone Q8 in China and selected Tuzki as its spokesperson. Motorola is launching a variety of different marketing activities to promote Q8, such as online ads and a specific online campaign. Q8 and Tuzki are a good match for this campaign because Tuzki is popular among netizens, Q8’s target customers, and Q8 can provide these users with useful multifunctional networking tools.
Motorola invited MOMO, the creator of Tuzki, to design a new Tuzki expression which will combine Tuzki with Moto Q8. Motorola will also provide multiple Tuzki applications and extras for netizens to download, such as expressions, flash, wall paper, e-cards, etc. Every Tuzki expression will come with a Moto logo or Q8 icon, therefore, each time netizens use Tuzki expressions in their conversations, they will naturally be promoting Q8 and the Motorola brand.

CIC View

The marketing campaign and cooperation between Moto Q8 and Tuzki has received positive feedback. This is a good example of how a brand was not only able to integrate its product into internet culture but was also able to successfully PARTICIPATE in online culture.
Brands that use net stars as spokesmen for their products, even cartoon characters like Tuzki, may be able to distinguish themselves from other brands that continue to use traditional pop stars, as net stars are typically likable characters that easily generate online buzz.

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

(click image to enlarge)

Other CIC IWOM Watch related posts that may be of interest:

-CIC Watch Half-Year Review released (download the full report)
-CIC watch: "You" - Time's Person of the Year - also lives in China (download the full report)