CIC Automobile Report Teaser

Automobile Report Teaser
An IWOM Category Overview Report focused on Auto in China:
your guide to Automobile consumer insight and digital
intelligence from Internet Word of Mouth (IWOM)

Production: CIC Automobile Team
Time Period: 2008 Jul-Dec

ABOUT THIS REPORT: OVERVIEW

• CIC’s IWOM insightTM Category Report is a thorough introduction to the IWOM
around the Automobile Industry. The report is ideal for brands and marketers
who want to gain better insight into the influential Chinese Internet community
and/or who are looking into create IWOM based marketing campaigns. In
order to provide this level of insight, the report addresses the following
questions: how much talk is going on, what’s being said, who’s saying it,
where is it being said and what does that mean for brands.

• This IWOM insightTM Category Report gleans insight and digital intelligence
from various Internet Word of Mouth (IWOM) sources and provides insight into
issues regarding reputation measurement, consumer research, new media
strategy and marketing inspiration.

Category Overview Report for Automobile Industry 2

ABOUT THIS REPORT: DESIGN AND METHODOLOGY

• To complete this automobile category overview report, CIC tracked 441 models from 81
manufacturers during the 2nd half year 2008, collecting 38,878,889 BBS (online message
board) messages from top automobile BBS in China. All collected messages were then
categorized and mined according to a library of terms (including Internet slang) that represents
Automobile manufacturers, brands, products, and attributes.

• All obvious “spam” and troll messages called 灌水 (guan shui) were filtered out. Messages that
contained the correct characters yet referred to something other than the intended object were
also filtered out. For example, “大众” the Chinese name of Volkswagen, when referring to
“people,” and not the brand, was not counted.

• Models are classified utilizing categorization commonly used on top automobile sites: mini,
small, compact, middle, premium, SUV and MPV (large, luxury cars are included in premium
car category).


ABOUT THIS REPORT: RESEARCH OBJECTIVES

The report provides a systematic understanding of the IWOM and internet community
around automobiles online. The research provides consumer intelligence for brands and
marketers in the industry looking to execute marketing communication programs and
analyze this consumer base.
This report aims to generate significant insights and information for companies interested
in the automobile industry and so will specifically focus on topics based around :

 Marketing Research

 Competitive Intelligence

 Customer Relationship Management

 Brand Equity Tracking And Reputation Management

 Public Relationship And Crisis Management

 Media Planning And Purchase

 Campaign Ideation


• How many conversations are there about the automobile
industry?
• What are most discussed car models?
• What is the overall IWOM health of each manufacturers?
• How does automobile online crisis impact brand reputation?
• What are the most talked about attributes related to
automobiles?
• Where are these conversations taking place?
• What do these conversations mean for brands?


INDUSTRY BUZZ OVERVIEW
The automobile industry maintained steady buzz volume throughout the 2nd half of 2008,
with over 6,000,000 posts from 450,000 conversations each month

Conversation

Data Source: CIC Automobile Data Panel, including 10 hot and reprehensive automobile online communities
Data Base: Total industry posts, 2008 2nd half year=38,878,889 Total industry conversations, 2008 2nd half year=2,861,465


MODEL BUZZ OVERVIEW:
Ford Focus received the most buzz out of all 441 models with 427,740 posts in the 2nd
half of 2008

Data Base: Total models related posts=11,069,324


MANUFACTURER IWOM HEALTH: No noteworthy IWOM leader
The competition between manufacturers appeared to be balanced; FAW-VW and SVW
had higher awareness while SGM and GZ Toyota enjoyed higher reputation

NSR

SGM
GZ Toyota
Reputation (NSR)

SVW
FAW-Toyota DPCA
FAW-VW

GZ Honda CA Ford Mazda
DF Nissan

Chery

BV

Awareness: BV
Data Base: Total manufacturers related posts=13,591,912


CRISIS CASE STUDY: Consumer assaulted by Ford 4S retailer scandal
Crisis related talk drove up CA Ford Mazda’s buzz

Dec 13th

11/2 11/16 11/30 12/14 12/28
Data Base: Total posts of CA Ford Mazda, Nov-Dec 2008=291,639

Summary
On December 13th 2008, in a Ford 4S store in Shanghai, a group of group-purchase consumers bargained with
the staff on the price of the car. After failing to agree on the price, the staff in the 4S shop engaged in a violent
fight with several customers.
Following the incident, netizens uploaded details about the fight including pictures and even videos, and spread
them online, leading to a sharp buzz volume increase for CA Ford Mazda. This incident had a negative impact on
the brand’s reputation for quality service.


Netizens expressed anger online

BBS Video sharing site

Quote
这样的黑店！告诉所有去买车的朋友! What a terrible store! Let’s tell all the friends who want to buy a
car! link
第二辆车再也不订CAF的车！ I won’t buy a CAF car again link

Summary
The scandal became a hot topic which spread to over 20 BBS communities and video sharing sites. Many
netizens criticized Ford and its customer service after watching the news. Based on netizen’s feedback, this
issue caused some consumers to change their minds about buying CAF cars, and some even boycotted the
brand.


Crisis spread from online to offline

Quote
顶，支持暴光！！Support media exposure Report on
link Oriental
Morning Post
上海这地方还敢这么无视消费者权益的，坚
决曝光！Whoever dare to ignore (东方早报)
consumers’ right in Shanghai, should be
exposed on medial! link

Summary & Finding
Netizens were so angered by the incident that even a few offline media sources, such as Oriental Morning
Post on Dec 17th, reported the issue.
This shows the power of IWOM and proves that the negative influence of online PR crises if it continues to
spread both online and off. Brands should look to catch these issues early and address consumers
concerns before the issue continues to amplify.


ATTRIBUTE BUZZ OVERVIEW
Appearance and power system were the two attributes most discussed by consumers

NSR Ⅰ

Ⅲ Appearance
Space
Power System
Interior
Maintenance
External configuration
Safety System
Drive Line System

Ⅱ
Customer Service Price

BI

Data Base: Total attribute related posts, 2008 2nd half year= 3,270,394

Finding
Although buzz incidence diversified, the NSR of attributes in AreaⅠ and Area Ⅲ were overall about the average.
But the situation was different for AreaⅡ, which meant in this highly competitive market, manufacturer could
make itself stand out and become one of netizens’ favorite, if it could manage to enhance its reputation on price
and customer service.


COMMUNITY BUZZ OVERVIEW
Vertical communities were the major buzz powerhouse, and among the top 10
communities, over 80% posts were contributed by the top 2, Xcar and Autohome

Buzz contribution of top 20% auto communities,
Dec 2008

Top 10 auto communities, Dec 2008
Rank Community Post Category Link

1 Xcar 3,465,043 Vertical click
2 Autohome 2,196,135 Vertical click
3 xxxx 391,625 Vertical click
4 xxxx 299,856 Portal click
Top 2 communities’ 7 xxxx 59,418 Portal click
contribution
8 xxxx 52,129 Portal click

Data Source: CIC Automobile Data Panel, including 10 hot and 9 xxxx 32,065 Portal click
reprehensive automobile online communities
Data Base: Total posts of top 10 communities, 10 xxxx 18,061 Vertical click
Dec. 2008=6,750,736


COMMUNITY FEATURE ANALYSIS:
Sample forum (Peugeot 307) social network analysis

Social network landscape
in Xcar 307 forum, Dec 2008

Summary
As one of the typical patterns, the
forum social network of 307 club
东楼小五 resembled to the atom structure:

青青橄榄杨
• about 10 efluencers were
compared to the protons of the
nucleus, which pull a great deal of
山羊胡子烟P netizens closely around

黄沙舞满天 • other netizens scattered around
just like the electrons, casually
随车飘动 participated in several topics

Data Source: CIC Automobile Data Panel, including 10 hot and reprehensive
automobile online communities


NET CULTURE: Unique netizen language in China
Netizens created popular nicknames for specific car models and brands

My viewpoint on FKS

I’ve test drived 307 and FKS,
but still can’t decide

Comparison between Mazda 3
and FKS

Data Source: CIC Automobile Data Panel, including 10 hot and
reprehensive automobile online communities
Data base: sum of Focus related posts by nicknames=474,790

Summary
Netizens had unique language and frequently used nicknames to refer models. For example, half of posts
mentioned Focus online were by its nickname or English name, and a search for "FKS" on Google will yield 8
out 10 results referring to Ford Focus, but none of the result has contextual text advertisements (i.e. AdWords)
or link to its official site.


RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
CIC buzz measurement process

Identify relevant source of online conversation source
Data Collection Using customized tools and industry term library collecting data
Filter out irrelevant and duplicate data and assess data quality

Expert construct product & driver categorization

Data Mining Data mining by powerful natural language mining tools
Human quality assurance for data mining result

Using customized tools to analyze buzz volume and content

Data Analysis Experienced analyst to dig out insights behind IWOM dynamics
Buzz findings Delivery on regular basis in flexible format


IWOM RESEARCH METHODOLOGY: DATA COLLECTION

Automobile Report
Industry Analysis FIXED FORUM
Empowered by CIC self-
developed patent BBS
message Spider/Robot

CIC Auto Industry Practice
Fixed Research Data Panel

Industry
Practice
CIC Auto Data Panel Database
Collect average 6.5 million messages every Automobile
month from CIC selected and fixed BBS related IWOM
forums related to Auto industry practice.


IWOM RESEARCH METHODOLOGY: DATA ANALYSIS
Product Buzz evaluation, to identify which product is being discussed

Structured Brand/Product Analysis Diversified Attribute Analysis
Our experts construct detailed customized product According to naturally occurring online discussion
buzz categorization based on natural online and the scope of the interests, we also look into the
discussion using powerful language mining tools to attributes and aspects of the online buzz and the
measure the quantity of buzz and brand mentions. associations with product related talk.

Sample Product Tree Sample Driver Tree

Note: the tree showed here is a small part of the tree structure, which for example.


IWOM RESEARCH METHODOLOGY: DATA MINING
CIC’s powerful Natural Language Mining Tools helps identify the link between all buzz
keywords in Chinese, rather than simply calculating buzz keyword mentions

•
Buzz Content : SVW ’s Cross POLO has unique appearance, my wife really likes it.

Brand Product Driver Sentiment
Buzz Buzz Buzz Buzz
Volume Volume Volume Volume

Buzz Source : URL - http://tieba.baidu.com/XXXXXX.html

Poster : Netizen I

Automatically search specified categories using multiple related keywords via different search
engine across a broad spectrum of BBS and blogs.


FULL CONTENT FOR AUTOMOBILE CATEGORY OVERVIEW REPORT (1)

Introduction of Category Overview
- Report Description: A comprehensive overview of the Mainland China Automobile IWOM environment which includes “how
much Automobile talk, what’s being said, who’s talking, where they are talking, what does it all mean and what brand/agency
should do”.
- Data Coverage: 38,878,889 BBS (online message board) messages generated by 2,861,465 conversations on parenting
communities during 2nd half year 2008.

Part I: China IWOM Introduction
- The Power of The Internet Community: key statistics, perspectives, and case studies that demonstrate how Internet Word of
Mouth (IWOM) is redefining the brand/consumer relationship in China
- IWOM as Strategic Intelligence: selected cases for “Brand Reputation Management”, “Consumer Insight from Product Talk”,
“New Media Intelligence” and “Marketing Ideation”

Part II: Brand Reputation Management
- IWOM Health Analysis For Brand Reputation Management
 Industry Buzz Overview
 Manufacturer Buzz Overview
 Model Buzz Overview
 Model Weekly Buzz Trend By 4 Classes
- Automobile Brand Personality Analysis From IWOM
- Automobile IWOM Crisis Case Study


FULL CONTENT FOR AUTOMOBILE CATEGORY OVERVIEW REPORT (2)

Part III: Consumer Insight from Product Talk
-IWOM Dynamics of Automobile Product Discussion
 Key Drivers of Automobile Online Discussion
 Multiple Indexes to Track Online Discussion Drivers
 Product Attributes Talk of Main Brands
 Provide Consumer Insight From Automobile IWOM
-Brand Attributes Landscape (BAL) Analysis
-New Product Launch Feedback Analysis

Part IV: New Media Intelligence
-The Popular BBS For Automobile Talk
 Main BBS Sites For Automobile Talk
 Multiple Way To Measure Online Communities’ Dynamics
 Efluencer Study
-IWOM Landscape Of Automobile

Part V: Marketing Ideation
-Hot Topics And Net Culture
 Hot Keywords Around Automobile Talk
 Hot Topics Of Automobile Communication
 Net Languages Round Automobile Talk
 Digital Culture Of Automobile Online Discussion
-Case studies For Marketing Ideation


HOW CIC CAN HELP ON SOCIAL MARKETING IN CHINA

Market evaluation: evaluate the IWOM performance of Automobile brands and other
various brands (buzz volume and sentiment)

Competitive intelligence: understand how key competitors’ performance and
marketing activities in social media

Consumer insight: find out netizens’ needs and feedback on various Automobile
products

PR management: understand netizens’ feedback on potential/ current crisis and enable
the brand learn quickly with the help of CIC experience on crisis management

Media buy: tell the brands where it could launch its social media advertisement

Online campaign tracking and evaluation


Contact us:

Production: CIC Automobile Team
Time Period: 2008 Jul-Dec
CIC Contact: Ellen(Ellen.Liu@cicdata.com)

OUR BLOGS:
Thank You
www.seeisee.com (Chinese)
www.seeisee.com/sam (English)

OUR WEBSITE:
www.cicdata.com
www.iwommaster.com

CONTACT US:
info@cicdata.com

This report is copyrighted material owned by CIC. Any improper use of
this document or its content will be considered a violation of CIC IP
copyright and CIC has the right to take legal action.

本研究报告归CIC公司版权所有。任何对本研究报告或报告中任何内容
的不当使用都将被视为对CIC知识产权的侵犯，CIC有权诉诸于法律。

CIC Automobile Report Teaser

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