The document summarizes IBF's efforts to expand their social media presence and engage forecasters in China. They partnered with "Our Man in Shanghai" to navigate the Chinese market. Through his guidance, IBF gained followers on Sina Weibo and worked to resolve language and cultural barriers. While partnerships and outreach grew, IBF also faced challenges obtaining accounts on some Chinese platforms until regulatory issues could be addressed.

1. IBF Gets Social in China
Constance Korol
@demandplanning
With Help from
“Our Man in Shanghai”
@OurManinSH
#SMCLI
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2. What We Do Here at the IBF
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3. How Do We Do It?
• Global events where forecasters share lessons
learned/best practices and worst practices
• Through social interaction in Facebook/Twitter/Linkedin
etc.
• Global corporate and individual membership
• Similar to CPA/CFA Certified Professional Forecaster and
Advanced Certified Professional
Forecaster..validating their skill-sets and knowledge
in the field.
• Corporate Training
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4. Our Members/ Speakers/Customers
are Worldwide
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5. Why China
• China’s economical strength is the
manufacturing sector, most of our audience
• Educate and train teams from multinational
companies and from local Chinese companies
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6. Adding Social Media into the
Marketing/Customer Service Tool Box
• Two way communication in social media
• We listen and learn from our members and followers and
modify our programs accordingly
• We moderate conversations, adding discussions and
polls.
• Our customers/followers/members are learning from the
shared knowledge.
• “Most of the learnings do not come from within these
four walls.” – M Wachtel VP Demand Planning L’Oreal
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7. When it Came to China
We Hit the Great Wall
• Global followers in Linkedin, Facebook,
Twitter etc.
• We were not familiar with Chinese culture
• Time Zone Difference
• Language obstacle, which is a key
challenge for foreign companies
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8. Linkedin as a Source
• Our global connections spearheaded the
campaign to their Asian team/partners
• Needed more outreach
• We needed a team in Mainland China
• Understanding of culture, understand what we
do in supply chain and speak the language
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9. Enter “Our Man in Shanghai”
@OurManinSH
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1oxbPw1yCX8&hd=1
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10. Sina to penetrate local market
• You don’t understand China social if you
don’t understand Sina Weibo
• Microblog that far surpasses Twitter in
functionality (threaded comments, groups, audio
messages and direct video uploads).
• Has more than 100 million registered users, expects to
keep growing rapidly, and perhaps even exceeds Twitter
in active users.
• Valued over $2 billion USD
Resource: Mashable 2011 http://mashable.com/2011/03/18/china-top-
social-network/
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11. Sina Weibo cont.
• Points From Our Man in Shanghai team:
– Sina provided a good way to increase
customer loyalty
– Chinese companies are using Sina to engage
their customers and gain visibility.
– IBF does not have an Asian office/language
barrier, so Sina provided a way for followers
to contact the company directly with ease
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12. Sina Weibo Points from Our
Man in Shanghai cont.
• Almost every Sina microblogging user will check their
account frequently throughout the day
• Similar to twitter, users sharing breaking news in 140
characters or less.
• Becoming more and more popular recently.
• Compared to Sina, Renren's target audience are
undergraduate/ graduate, main purpose for
friendship/matchmaking.
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13. Long Term Relationship
• Continue the conversations in Sina Weibo with Our Man
in Shanghai team
• Post conference: Encourage those attendees to continue
the conversation and learning's in the networks
• Side note: Work with government for them to understand
our Association. Their support can amplify our
promotions as they directly communicate with company
leaders.
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14. Results
• Partnerships were established with local Supply
Chain organizations
• Increased outreach and promotion efforts
• Customer service issues were resolved with
ease
• Lead generation campaign, grow followers and
relationships organically
• Overall penetrating the local market’s social
networks
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15. Challenges
• Red Seal of Company (China company
requirement) needed to open and operate
a business account in Sina Weibo
• We were originally denied a Kaixin
account for similar issues. Now we are in
review.
• Language barrier, difficult to closely
monitor the conversations back home.
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16. IBF Social Media Outlets
• Facebook.com/demandplanning
• Twitter.com/demandplanning
• YouTube.com/demandplanning
• Plancast.com/demandplanning
• Quora.com/demandplanning
• IBF group on Linkedin
– Subgroup: IBF's Demand Planning and Forecasting in China
• Blog: www.demand-planning.com
• Sina: http://t.sina.com.cn/demandplanning
• Kaixin: http://www.kaixin001.com/home/?uid=100520603
• All network calendars updated with our event schedule
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17. Thank You!
Please Give to the Red Cross
and help #Japan
• http://wishes.causes.com/wishes/250900?
bws=st
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