Assure Ecommerce and Retail Operations Uptime with ThousandEyes
Just How Different Is It?: Expanding into China via Digital and Social Platforms
1. Just how different is it?
Expanding into China via digital and social platforms
2. What is this whole thing?
The Chinese social media landscape is just so different!
Where do I start?
What should I do?
3. Before diving into a complex and ever-changing China digital and social media
universe, let’s go back to visit the guiding principles of building a business via digital
and social media.
It is different, but the principles remain the same
• It is about really understanding your target audience
• It is about choosing the right platforms, building a persona, and having a two-
way conversation
• And it is about building a relationship in the most engaging and comfortable
way…
5. In China, 70% of social media users are under the age of 35 (30% are
between 26 and 30), people spend five to six more hours online per week
than Americans and an average of almost 90 minutes per day on social
networks, and 38% of consumers make product purchase decisions based
on recommendations they read on social networks.
There are more than 300 million online shoppers in China. In 2013, each
online shopper spent $1,000 on online shopping. 48% of online shoppers
are also mobile shoppers.
Chinese consumers depend on mobile and social platforms in
every aspect of their personal lives….
9. The Tencent-owned platform
had taken on the role of
multiple Western platforms in
China:
“Combine Amazon for
shopping, Facebook for
branded communities and
promotion, PayPal or online
banking service to pay bills,
and WhatsApp for
messaging.”
WeChat is a single social
media platform with
integrated commerce,
location, messaging, and
social networking.
549 million monthly active users, 64.3% male, 86.2%
Under 35. Over 400 million users have used its
payment service.
10. The most active mobile based social network: 50% use it more
than 5 times a day
11. More than just chatting with friends: WeChat supports lots of aspects
of people’s personal lives
12. WeChat has some unique features designed for Chinese
audiences
Give virtual red envelopes to WeChat friends
Shake mobile phones to get brand vouchers
and meet new people nearby…
13. WeChat has been improving its backend platform to
help brands better understand their followers’ online behavior
15. Over 80% of WeChat users follow official (brand) accounts
16. Case Study: Starbucks- Curated Music Radio Channel
To drum up interest
when it first joined, the
coffee chain sent songs
to users who had got in
touch using an
emoticon. The songs
were supposed to
reflect the mood of the
emoticons it had
received. By the end of
the month-long
campaign Starbucks had
attracted 62,000 fans
and received an average
of 22,000 messages per
day.
23. Understand your target audience and stay relevant
a.) It’s about your audience. Who are they? Learn about their habits: What are they
interested in? What are they reading about? Where do they spend time online? What
devices do they use? -- Spend time with them online and offline
b.) Be relevant. What is your story? How relevant it is to your target audience?
Be clear about your objective and experiment more often
(technology)
a.) What do you use social media for?
b.) Breakdown your objectives into achievable monthly/seasonal goals
c.) Stay updated on new platform features and content types - However, stick to the overall
tone of voice and style guidelines. – You probably need a tech person in your team
Choose the right platform and be patient
Identify the influencers in your industry and build relationships
24. How does a Chinese flower shop build its business purely
via social media?
The Beast Summer Garden installation within Joyce Beijing flagship store
25. The Beast started out
as a flower micro-
shop on Weibo
(When Weibo was
the most popular
social network in
China a couple of
years ago.)
Started out on Weibo
26. Great Content Strategy – It’s all about your stories
Customers didn’t have a say in
what was made nor could they see
the bouquet before it was sent.
They could only give the details of
what they wanted to say with the
flowers and to whom, and the
story would be translated into a
bouquet by a florist.
Storytelling-based design
27. This tactic took root on Weibo, and
the curated online flower shop
gained 100,000 followers in six
months.
Riding the wave of their Weibo
fans, Xiang opened a full e-
boutique (The Beast Shop), which
later expanded offline to their
bricks-and-mortar shops across
China. (10 offline stores)
From Weibo ordering to e-Commerce – Leverage the influence of KOL
One-third of Chinese leisure time is spent on the Internet, especially on mobile phones in China according to CCTV’s research in 2015.
The data showed that over 60% China adult mobile users read on WeChat in 2014. There was little difference between male mobile users and female ones.
Further, most mobile users reading on WeChat would like to chat and browse WeChat Moments, which accounted for 80%. Reading news, reading shared articles on WeChat Moments and reading articles published on WeChat official accounts represented 72.9%, 67.1% and 20.9% respectively.
There were many practical functions on WeChat in 2014. 27.2% WeChat readers favored QR code scanning; 19% readers used QQ mail and 19% used “shake to find friends nearly”; 15.3% chose to use WeChat payment while 7% readers used online ticket booking and food ordering service in 2014.
WeChat team launched “Shake – Nearby” platform (based on Bluetooth technology offering offline merchants to connect with mobile users) on 12 April 2015 to merchants targeting China’s O2O market. And WeChat quietly launched a cash reward feature for WeChat official accounts in Feb 2015.
Giving money in a red envelope to relatives and close friends is an ancient tradition that represents best wishes during the Chinese Lunar New Year. As traditional rituals are encountering new technology and digitalization, the Chinese messaging app WeChat redefined the “red envelope” by inventing a virtual red envelope feature that can be used in chat rooms. On the Lunar New Year’s Eve, WeChat recorded 1 billion virtual red envelope transactions and 11 billion real-time interactions with its appearance in the gift giving section on the Chinese New Year Gala.
WeChat introduced the virtual red envelope feature during the 2014 Lunar New Year, which attracted 8 million users to exchange 40 million red envelopes. The feature allows users, both individuals and businesses, to send a link of a virtual red envelope to their 1:1 chat with friends, group chat, or even post the envelope on their feeds. When opened, the envelope offers a small cash coupon that can be either cashed out or used in small scale purchases, such as paying for a taxi ride or online shopping on WeChat. The quantity of red envelopes in each link is usually limited, which means that users need to open the link as soon as possible or the red envelope will be “grabbed” by others who see the link.
Another reason for WeChat’s success is its partnership with the Chinese New Year Gala, the most watched prime time TV program on the night of Chinese New Year’s Eve. The TV program distributed sponsored gift and cash rewards through a real-time interactive “shake” function that allowed users to participate in a reward lottery by shaking their smartphone and red envelope “grabbing.” For the majority who didn’t receive huge rewards, they also gained good wishes, such as “all the best in year of sheep,” by shaking their phones to participate in the real-time interaction. WeChat sent out 120 million red envelopes and recorded 11 billion “shake” interactions throughout the show. WeChat’s remarkable success in interactive marketing reveals three trends that marketers should apply.
This statistic presents the share of WeChat users in China who follow official brand accounts. As of January 2015, 18.9 percent of WeChat users followed brand channels Almost 80 percent of WeChat users follow official accounts.
http://blog.wechat.com/tag/wechat-and-brands/
Starbucks was a WeChat pioneer, creating an account on the app shortly after it opened up to brands back in 2012. Payments, CRM,
In April Burberry ran a ‘parallel social event’ on WeChat to promote the opening of its new flagship store in Shanghai.
Before the event the fashion brand ran a five-day competition to give away tickets to the store launch, while followers were also able to interact with images of the London and Shanghai skylines by shaking, swiping or tapping their devices.
After the event users were able to browse interactive 360-degree panoramas of the London and Shanghai set within the new store.
Burberry’s “London to Shanghai” mini-app, which allowed users to gain a 360-degree view of the brand’s “London to Shanghai” event while participating in additional interactive activities.
Many luxury brands have used WeChat’s technology to both encourage WeChat followers to visit a store or event and encourage in-store customers to follow their account. For example, Swiss watchmaker Tag Heuer incorporated WeChat marketing into its “La Maison” touring exhibition when it hit Beijing in the spring of 2014 by featuring a special mobile game that users could play by scanning codes and answering questions as they walked through the exhibit. Participants with correct answer were awarded a prize at the end of the exhibit.
http://jingdaily.com/wechat-treasure-hunt-brings-o2o-to-tag-heuer-china-exhibit/
Unlike social media platform Weibo’s emphasis on viral sharing, the main strength of WeChat is its 1:1 sharing structure aimed at close friends and family. Many brands have utilized elements of Chinese culture to encourage sharing: Swiss watchmaker Piaget created a special app for users to compose a three-line poem and send to loved ones, while American fashion and leather goods brand Coach created an app for users to send virtual hongbao (special red envelopes with money given to friends and relatives on special occasions) for Chinese New Year.
Coach also uses WeChat to push out its latest products and news. It also sends out fashion guides and special offers to its followers. However, Coach has implemented several brand awareness strategies on WeChat that are definitely worth noting.
First, before Spring Festival (the Chinese New Year) Coach released the wallpaper below that spread virally across Chinese consumers’ phones. The wallpaper captures many of the symbolism associated with Spring Festival. For example, the Chinese character, 福 (fu) which translates to ‘luck and prosperity’, sits at the center of the wallpaper. Meanwhile, the color red is consistent with the Chinese New Year theme. However, Coach still subtly incorporates its well-known “C” logo design in the background. The timing of its release allowed for a viral campaign, spreading its branded wallpaper across WeChat’s user base.
Second, Coach developed a ‘lucky draw’ function on its WeChat account which encourages consumers to return to its WeChat page on a regular basis. By giving away prizes through the ‘lucky draw’ function, Chinese consumers want to keep going back for more. Since users of the app are regularly on WeChat, it’s very easy for them to quickly go to the Coach page and see if they win the lucky draw by tapping a single button.
Neither of these two approaches are particularly novel, but they demonstrate how Chinese consumers are willing to interact with brands on WeChat in a variety of ways – not all of which need to be highly complex. A simple ‘piece’ of viral wallpaper, or a giveaway set on a regular cadence are both two simple ways that Coach has been able to increase the ‘stickiness’ of its WeChat presence and encourage Chinese consumers to interact with its brand
Cheng Yan, 34, was an international news journalist with a Shanghai Newspaper.
Like many women who loves fashion, she found out fashion news sites in China are usually smothered in advertisements, so she decided to create a better platform for those who love it. In March last year, she created a
WeChat account “love16po,” or the Shiliupo Report, which translates as “Pomegranate Grandma Report.” It follows trends in the world of luxury clothing and accessories, and offers snippets of gossip about Hollywood celebrities, with plenty of appealing photos.
Clothes, gossip and shopping tips are the three most popular topics, Cheng said. She dishes them out with humor. She updates her account almost every day after spending at least three hours selecting topics and photos. It also takes time to check feedback and answer reader questions. Brand endorsement
Next to a photo of a bouquet of elegant ivory flowers, there is an anecdote: "All of a sudden, I find myself having a crush on a man that I don't know much about - my dentist! Like this bouquet, the dentist wears a white gown, is self-contained, reserved and sexy, and makes people feel safe."
This is only one of hundreds of messages on the Sina Weibo page of The Beast
