[photopress:Chinablog4.jpg,full,alignright]In China, blogs and bulletin boards have emerged as powerful modes of communication. The Internet, with its relatively high speed of connection and reliability throughout China, has become one of the most powerful communication systems.
That is not to say that is has, as yet, out-paced other media. Television still reaches the single largest group of consumers in China. Possibly more than 700 million viewers across the country.
But it has amongst other things, marketing implications and not just in The Long Tail identified by Christopher Anderson in his book of that title. Now brands and brand managers are much more interested in tracking what is being said. This can help provide more effective marketing and can operate as an early warning system about possible future crises.
Sam Flemming, co-founder of CIC, a company that tracks and analyzes online chats on specific products, said, ‘What are they talking about? What do they say? Are they talking about safety? About cost? About customer service?’
CIC has developed software that allows it to track specific strings of conversation. Companies like Nike, for example, use its services to find out what customers like and dislike. Automakers use CIC to find out what potential buyers of cars are interested in.
CIC first got involved in this business two years ago after it developed a proprietary software platform specifically to track conversations in Chinese.
There are some 137 million people online — a relatively small number compared to the population of China — but these tend to be consumers at the middle to high send of the market.
Of these 137 million, some 50 million are regular users of bulletin board services (BBS) and 34 million blog regularly.
Chris Reitermann, China president of advertising company OgilvyOne, which specializes in customer relationship management and interactive marketing commenting on this said, ‘[Some people] look at the numbers and say “Oh, only 10% penetration.” But who sells to the other 90%?
‘The internet is . . . becoming more important for lots of brands. Some clients of ours have spent about 30% of their media budget online. Those clients, maybe five years ago, spent 3-4%. You definitely see a huge trend towards the internet.’
Reitermann believes this is just the beginning. He expects even stronger growth over the coming years as China’s internet and advertising industries converge.
Source: Business Week