Below is my latest article for iMedia Connection Asia on ” IWOM centered marketing in China.”

In a previous iMedia Connection article, I discussed the concept of a “connected agency” in China and looked at how agencies can connect with consumer communities. Then I followed up with 6 reasons brands in China should listen to IWOM. In this article I take it one step further and give real successful case studies of IWOM marketing in China. Although its now very fashionable to add “social media” elements to standard digital campaigns, its important for brands to understand the strategic implications of doing so and that effective IWOM and social media campaigns are not about pushing messages, but rather about making connections and providing value to your consumers.

Strategic communications using internet word of mouth can take your campaign to the next level.

We began tracking Internet Word of Mouth (IWOM) in China in 2004, and have been witness to the growth of the IWOM campaign concept from the very beginning. Some of the earliest examples we witnessed include in 2006 Nike’s Just Do It campaign which invited netizens to comment on Nike produced videos and create their own blogs, and Pepsi’s “Pepsi Creative Challenge” campaign which invited netizens to create and vote on TVC scripts for an upcoming Jay Zhou TVC. Since then, there have been countless numbers of IWOM campaigns that have invited consumers to participate in some way or form by uploading photos, writing stories, or creating videos.

Recent examples include Nokia’s N78 Fusion Challenge which invites Sina bloggers to upload pictures of different cities’ landmarks, and Lee Kum Kee’s “Tomato Party” which invites networks to join an online graffiti competition. It is now definitely in vogue to staple on such ‘social media’ elements to standard digital campaigns.

While it can be exciting to have IWOM elements in campaigns, it is important not to confuse tactics with strategic communication. Here are a couple of examples of what I would consider actual strategic communications utilizing IWOM.

Since 2007, interactive agency Agenda has worked with Johnson Baby to develop the Mom Ambassadors program. The opportunity for such a program makes sense due to the sheer volume of parenting discussions within Chinese BBS forums. From CIC’s own tracking of Chinese parenting BBS forums, we see millions of messages written by hundreds of thousands unique viewers every month in forums on sites such as Redbaby, 19floor and Sina. These moms are informed, passionate and talk actively about baby related products.

Mom Ambassadors are famous bloggers and forum administrators who have respect, credibility and shape online discussions about parenting for these hundreds of thousands of moms. Agenda has helped Johnson Baby create a systematic way to identify, approach, engage and collaborate with these Key Opinion Leaders.

When Johnson Baby launched a sleep campaign for example, Mom Ambassadors were invited to try a 3-step regiment using Johnson Baby Oil with Johnson Baby sending the Ambassadors product samples, a regiment book and also educating them via a series of calls. When analyzing the impact of the campaign they found that all Ambassadors’ babies sleep patterns improved — and many wrote about it in their blogs or within forums. Also the number of visits to the Mom Ambassador section of the Johnson Baby website and the number of questions to “Dr. Sleep” increased significantly. Interestingly, even after paid media stopped, traffic continues to be generated from the social assets created by the campaign.

What is most significant to this approach is that the Mom Ambassador program is a platform, not a one off campaign. Johnson Baby keeps in regular communication with ambassadors not only about campaigns (i.e. when they need them), but also provides regular personal emails and phone calls with information and tips that would be useful to parents, even if not directly brand related. Even when there is a campaign, it is a campaign about improving sleep, not directly about baby oil. In all communications, Johnson Baby brings value to these moms and their readers. These influential parents now have an actual relationship with the brand.

While worthwhile, the Mom Ambassadors represents a significant investment in time and efforts to create the platform; however sometimes smart, IWOM centered marketing can be quite simple to execute by leveraging existing fan created communities. Last year, when Intel wanted to launch its first Chinese language packaging, it worked with a forum administrator to post a topic on a popular DIY (do it yourself) BBS forum inviting forum members to submit their ideas for a Chinese slogan. Over the course of a month, thousands of quality slogans were posted and awards including two processors and a watch were given as gifts to the submissions deemed the most humorous and the most creative by the forum administrator. Nike, in a similar fashion, also worked with a basketball forum by inviting its forum members to provide their interpretation of the enigmatic Michael Jordan XX2 TVC.

Of course the Intel approach is not a complex campaign with a large media buy that generates hundreds of thousands or millions of page views or registrations, but nor was that the objective. Intel’s simple activity demonstrated that it was a member of the DIY community and gave participants the opportunity to be creative around a topic that is of interest to them. Intel confirmed its relationship with its fans through a simple conversation.

With Johnson Baby, we see a platform. With Intel, we see a conversation. But in the end, both understand that IWOM and social media are not about pushing messages, but rather about making connections and providing value to these communities. When this is done correctly, there is no need to fake messages, because the value these brands bring will generate the buzz organically. As I described here, this connecting and understanding is the core concept of the “new media” connected agency.