cic 2011 white paper: from social media to social business topic 1: an overview of the evolution of...

From Social Mediato Social Business

www.ciccorporate.com

A CIC Social Business White Paper

Social

Media

Co

mm

erc

e

Business

Advertising Inspiration

BBS

Blog

Bra

nd

Brand Evaluation

Business Intelligence

Buzz

Co

mm

en

t

Communities

crowd sourcing

Consumer Insight

e-fluencer

E-community Engagement

Soci

al B

usi

ne

ss D

esi

gn

Info

rmat

ion

Internet

Internet Word of Mouth

IWOM

LBS

Marketing

Mar

keti

ng

exe

cuti

on Microblog

Netizen

Online conversation

social capital

reso

urc

es

RSS

Share

Network

Thin

k O

ut

of

the

Bo

x

WIKISNS

ListenKnowParticipate Website

Weibo

Activation

Frictionless Interaction

Connect

collaborate

Engage

Transact

SCRME2.0SSC

AwarenessAmplification

Advocacy Intelligence

Incubation Cultivation Development Proliferation Revolution

Topic OneAn Overview of the Evolution of Chinese Social Media

An Overview of the Evolution of Chinese Social Media

PrefaceIn the US, the relentless expansion of Twitter and Facebook continues to change the entire

Internet landscape. Nowadays, social media is as equally integral a part of people’s online

lives as other key Internet services; search engines, portals or e-commerce platforms. The

extended 3rd party applications incorporated by social media platforms help to quickly form

an immersive eco-system and have aided the perpetuation of this social business revolution.

Since 2006, Crowd sourcing, Enterprise 2.0 and Social CRM etc. appeared one after another.

In China, the social media environment has been really heating up as traditional Internet

giants like Taobao, QQ, Baidu and Sina have joined the battle. The boundary between SNS

and e-commerce being blurred by the emergence of some group purchase sites. We have

also seen big platforms starting to adopt an “Open API & Platform Strategy”, based on a

realization of the importance of 3rd party applications to their success.

The social business revolution is gathering momentum and we’re on the brink of a golden

opportunity to transform the relationship between commerce and communication. To better

equip enterprise to embrace and leverage the social business revolution, CIC are launching a

series of White Papers in 2011, “The Evolution from Social Media to Social Business in

China”.

The series will focus on three key areas. The first, “An Overview of the Evolution of Chinese

Social Media”, will act as guide through the development of China’s unique social media

landscape, exploring the corresponding business applications at each stage. The second,

“Online Efluencer Workshop”, will dive deep into the role of online efluencers; those who

actively engage communities, tapping into their deep motivation and examining the culture

of those who drive digital discussion. The third, “A Preview of Social Business Operation and

Management in China”, will introduce the practical application, exemplifying cases in which

businesses integrate web2.0 technology. We aim to highlight the strategic remodeling of

communication relations not only between brand and consumer but also corporate

organization and overall business operation.

CIC are the first to advocate this concept and define “The Evolution from Social Media to

Social Business” in China, proposing the definition of “social business” and prospecting its

future. The business model of every enterprise and organization in China will eventually

evolve to meet the age of “social business”. All business will become social business.

March 2011

i



Topic one

From Social Media to Social Business

March 2011


Table of contents

Chapter IChina – In Step With Global Social Media Development

P 01 - 1.1 The global development of social mediaP 02 - 1.2 The boom of social media in ChinaP 03 - 1.3 The unique landscape of China’s social mediaP 05 - 1.4 The history of China’s social media

Chapter IIEnterprise Adoption of Social Media in China

P 06 - 2.1 History of enterprise adoption of social mediaP 06 - 2.2 Incubation (1994 – 2003)P 07 - 2.3 Cultivation (2004-2006)P 11 - 2.4 Experimentation (2007-2008) P 15 - 2.5 Proliferation (2009-2010)P 22 - 2.6 Revolution (since 2011)

Chapter IIIThe Connecting Threads of Chinese Social Networks

P 25 - 3.1 Personal interaction in Chinese social mediaP 27 - 3.2 A brief history of China’s weblebritiesP 29 - 3.3 Styles of the Chinese social efluencerP 37 - 3.4 Social efluencers’ workshop

ii


Chapter IChina – In Step With Global Social Media Development

1.1 The global development of social media

According to the latest statistics released by the ITU (International Telecommunication

Union), the global netizen population had reached 2.08 billion by the end of 2010. That is

approximately 30% of the world population. Facebook, currently the most popular social

media platform worldwide, was approaching 0.6 billion users, about 29% of the world’s

netizens and 8% of the global population. There is a phrase online: If Facebook were a

country, it would have the world’s third largest population after China and India.

Global Web Index, a foreign Internet research agency, carried out a worldwide investigation

among Internet users in 2010. The results reaffirmed the belief that Social Media has

become a major part of netizens’ lives.

© 2011 CIC

Source: Global Web Index-Global State of Social Media in 2011

Figure 1-1 Social Media Involvement by Country

Note: Social Media is defined as Internet based platforms and technologies that permit users’ interaction and/or facilitate the creation and exchange of user generated content. Whilst the scope is evolving, currently the most frequently used examples include: blog, microblog, online video site, BBS and social network. Source: European Marketing Research Association(ESOMAR) “Social Media Research Guide”.

Chapter I: China – In Step With Global Social Media Development

P01


1.2 The boom of social media in China

In China, with the recent improvement of network infrastructure, Internet penetration rate

is increasing all the time. According to the latest statistics from the China Internet Network

Information Center (CNNIC), the number of Chinese Internet users had reached 457 million

by the end of 2010. Social network users hit 235 million, blog users 294 million, BBS users

148 million and online video users 284 million. In China, on average, one netizen has three

social media identities.

From the total number of social media users and the exponential growth trend, it is quite

easy to see what an integral part of China’s Internet social media has become.

© 2011 CIC

Figure 1-2 China’s Social Media Penetration Trend

Data Source:The 27th Statistical Survey Report about Internet Development in China by CNNIC, Jan 2011Note: Due to the rapid growth of the microblog medium in China, users numbers for microblog had exceeded100 million when this white paper is published. (Based on public Internet data source)

P02

Unit: million people

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

350

400

450

500

2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010

Microblog BBS SNS Video Blog IM Internet



1.3 The unique landscape of China’s social media

Just as in the West, China has a variety of social media platforms where netizens can

communicate with each other and share information.

© 2011 CIC

Although China’s overall social media landscape is reminiscent of other countries’, it is also

unique and highly fractured in comparison. Taking social networking sites as an example,

Facebook is a clear leader overseas. However, in China, sites such as Qzone, Kaixin, Renren

and many more compete for netizens’ attention. With unique and often multiple versions of

common social media platforms, China offers one of the most complex and fragmented

social media landscapes in the world.

Figure 1-3 China Social Media Landscape 2011

P03

Source: CIC, please click here to see the originals


Note: In year 2008, CIC created the 1st Chinese Conversation Prism which was inspired byJesse Thomas and Brian Solis, and it is updated annually.

http://www.seeisee.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/China-Social-Media-Landscape-EN.jpg

http://www.seeisee.com/sam/2008/11/27/p648

http://www.briansolis.com/2008/08/introducing-conversation-prism/


Furthermore, compared with Western netizens, Chinese netizens are more inclined to create

and share content. Research organization Forrester once compared the online behavior of

Chinese and American netizens, finding that the proportion of Chinese netizens (44%) who

create content was substantially higher than that of American netizens (24%). Then there

are wholly unique net cultures and languages. As with the rest of the world, net language

can bleed through to offline use and become a general expression. In China, the creativity

and propensity for sharing of netizens makes this trend even more prevalent.

© 2011 CICP04

24%

37%

21%

51%

73%

18%

44% 46%37%

32%

79%

17%

Creators Critics Collectors Joiners Spectators Inactives

US China

Figure1-4 Chinese Netizens are More Engaged and Creative

Source: Forrester Research’s Consumer Technographics dataUS: Forrester Research‘s North American Technographics® Online Benchmark Survey, Q2 2010 (US), 26,913 respondent; China: Forrester Research’s Asia Pacific Technographics® Survey, Q4 2009, 7,690


http://www.forrester.com/empowered/tool_consumer.html




An Overview of the Evolution of Chinese Social Media© 2011 CIC

Throughout the whole history of China’s social media’s development, businesses have used

social media in more and more sophisticated ways. This aided the development of social

media and in the second chapter we will go on to examine the hottest topics during each

key historical period of China’s social media development. We will also take a closer look at

how enterprise’s use of social media marketing and strategic business application can reap

big rewards.

Figure 1-5 China’s Social Media History

P05

1.4 The history of China’s social media

The roots of China’s social media can be traced back to the first BBS (Bulletin Board System -

online discussion forum or community) in 1994 - Shuguang BBS. It was the start of a trial

period in China’s Internet development, when there were only a few thousand Internet

users among a billion citizens. 1994 to 2003 was the incubation period, when BBS, customer

review sites and instant messaging all began to integrate with netizens’ lives. From 2004

onward, blogging, online video, social networks, Wiki, the microblog, location based service

and group purchase all burst on to the social media scene. The landscape of social media

became ever more complex and netizens’ understanding of social media grew ever deeper.

From 2011, all of these diverse social media platforms began to cooperate and integrate

with one another.

Source: CIC



Chapter IIEnterprise Adoption of Social Media in China

2.1 History of enterprise adoption of social media

With the development of social media in China, business’ adoption is continuously

deepening and diversifying. The comprehension and application of social media can be

divided into five stages: Incubation (1993-2003), Cultivation (2004-2006), Experimentation

(2007-2008), Proliferation (2009-2010) and Revolution, which indicates the arrival of Social

Business.

© 2011 CIC

Figure 2-1 Enterprise Adoption of Social Media

Source: CIC, inspired by Altimeter Group

Let us look at hot trends for social media for each stage and relevant business’ use.

2.2 Incubation (1994 – 2003)

The phase between 1994 and 2003 is commonly regarded as the incubation period as

enterprise rarely employed a social media strategy.

At this stage, the earliest BBS (platforms such as Xici and Tianya) gathered many users both

inside and outside campus and later those BBS became some of the most influential discussion

forums on the Chinese Internet. The instant messaging service QQ facilitated instantaneous

inter-netizen communication and Dianping provided a specialized platform for consumer

feedback but generally, BBS, IM and customer review sites remained unsophisticated platforms

for ordinary netizens, rather than developed business models.

P06

Chapter II: Enterprise Adoption of Social Media in China


2.3 Cultivation (2004-2006)

2004 was the beginning of the Web 2.0 era, when netizens began to create engaging

content and share with others. We were able to observe consumer’s complaints about, or

admiration of, brands, products and services. We also began to witness the rudimentary

evolution of online video, SNS and Wiki.

At the same time, a spate of Internet crisis made some organizations pay more attention to

the importance of online buzz. Some companies engaged in blog marketing; using official

corporate blogs to set up a communication channel that could respond to unforeseen crisis.

Others employed an open source marketing strategy to encourage netizens to use their

intelligence and creative instinct to participate in brand ideation, making them feel closer to

their favorite brands.

2.3.1 Crisis 2.0 - A new challenge of the PR department

With Web 2.0 and the development of social media, netizens could share their experience

and review brands and products more freely online. In this way, IWOM began to influence

consumer perception and sway purchase decisions.

Note: the definition of IWOM by CIC

IWOM: Abbreviation of "Internet Word of Mouth." It stands for text and multimedia contentrelated to companies, products or services shared by netizens, including brands andconsumers, via online community platforms such as BBS (online discussion forum), blogs,video sites, SNS and microblogs.

Marketing professionals cannot escape the fact that a lot of crises were born out of the

negative buzz online or they were spread rapidly through Internet Word of Mouth. This is

what we call Crisis 2.0 – a crisis launched or exacerbated by social media.

© 2011 CIC P07



Examples of Crisis 2.0 can be drawn from as early as 2004-2006. KFC faced great pressure

from netizens when it released advertisements that implied that those who eat KFC would

be admitted to university, while those who do not, fail. Japanese cosmetics brand SK-II was

compelled to quit the Chinese market when online discussion spread the news that

forbidden ingredients were discovered in quite a few SK-II products. Computer giant Dell

unconditionally accepted customers’ reimbursement requests after the “Dell Hell” crisis. Of

course, social media played a significant part in all of these crises. As the stress of IWOM

crisis mounted on corporate PR departments, corporate started to address the issue in

social media. They also proactively build systems to monitor and study IWOM. In this way,

corporations could learn from consumer opinions delivered by social media, then respond in

an appropriate and timely manner.

© 2011 CIC

• June 23: First consumer complaint on IT168 BBS notebook forum

• June 24: IT168 forum administrator invites others to complain about Dell

• June 24: IT168 sets up special "Dell Hell" section to track issue

• June 28: Dell responds to the incident, says "sorry“

• June 29: Lawyer Ma Jianrong invites forum participants to join a class action lawsuit

• June 30: Story moves to mainstream media, dubbed "Processor Gate“

• July 4: CCTV reports the class action suit

• July 5: Dell offers refund; consumers not mollified

Crisis 2.0 Case Study – Dell Hell in 2006

P08


Source: CIC founder blog article China Dell Hell (aka Processor Gate)



Figure 2-2 Categories of Corporate Blog

2.3.2 Rise of the Blog – the debut of corporate blogging

In 2005, two of the Chinese Internet’s most important people, Fang Xingdong1 and Chen

Tong2 triggered the era of the popular blog. After that, efluencers and average netizens

started to blog. Overseas, more and more foreign companies followed Microsoft and SUN in

establishing their own blog. Corporations found that it was a good way to bypass traditional

media and expand their business scope, promoting sales and building brand loyalty through

blogging. Michael Wiley, director of GE’s New Media Affairs, claimed that “when we think it

is necessary to respond, we just enter the blog and express our views directly to the

customers.” We also saw Dell had learned from the Dell Hell crisis, setting up their Chinese

blog “Direct2Dell” in 2007, establishing a direct communication channel with their

consumers.

P09

Source: CIC

Corporate blogs can be classified into three categories; Executive, Product & Technology andCulture & Value. These blogs can give a vivid image of a corporations’ culture.


Note: 1Fang Xingdong, founder of Blogchina (now Bokee), “Godfather” of blogging in China, popularized “Boke”

(博客) as word for blog in Chinese.2Chen Tong, VP and Chief Editor of Sina, one of the most important proponents of Sina blogging service

(http://blog.sina.com.cn).


Open Source Case Study: Pepsi Creative Challenge 2006 – You write the TVC！

2.3.3 Open Source Marketing

In 2006, a trial of Open Source Marketing swept China. Industries ranging from FMCG to

electronics and luxury products, even portals and web2.0 sites, began to practice Open

Source Marketing, which inspires netizens to take part in marketing ideation. The core of

Open Source Marketing is participation. During the process, netizens feel challenged but

with that comes the fun of co-operation and the reward of creating something. All the while,

brands collect creative ideas, impart their brand values and culture, build stronger

relationships with their consumers and engage new fans.

It is your script that counts

Pepsi Creative Challenge was a marketing campaign that Pepsi designed for its spokesperson － pop

singer Jay Chou. Fans could submit their scripts, from which netizens chose the final winner, becoming

Jay’s Pepsi TVC. From May to August, more than 25,000 scripts were submitted and viewed.

Source: CIC

Please refer to CIC blog ”Open source marketing in China – the Power of Open source (Chinese version)” to understand more.

P10


http://pepsi.163.com/j/

http://www.seeisee.com/index.php/2007/02/06/p249





“Shai” products

2.4 Experimentation (2007-2008)

2.4.1 Chinese social media landscape began to take shape

In the experimentation stage, Chinese online platforms diversified and the social media

landscape began to take shape. BBS remained the center of the Internet community for

netizens’ discussion and sharing. Blogs enabled greater expression of individuality. Video

sharing turned everybody into a movie director, publisher and critic. SNS enhanced

communication and interaction between friends. More netizens could get online on the

move, by phone or other mobile device and we all welcomed the Mobile Network Era.

(Reference: CIC 2008 white paper series “The Internet is THE Community” Topic One: The

Chinese IWOM Landscape)

2.4.2 Unique net culture and net language

Unique net cultures and net language started to emerge on these diverse networking

platforms. Netizens “Shai” (晒/show) themselves or products with pictures and videos,

voiced opinion and attitude by spoofing and conveyed emotion with unique symbols or

creative animation.

Net culture: The “Shai Ke” (晒客/people who enjoy doing shai) shares how they live, what

they like and a few of them even expose their bad experience online.

Source: IWOM Watch 2nd Half Year Review, 2007

“Shai” life “Shai” Hei

Others tend to express their opinion by spoofing, joking or playing tricks. ( ex. in 2007,

Netizens redesigned the photo of a knife wielding mad man in Chunxi Street with brand logo

or ads)

Figure 2-3 “Shai” culture

P11


“shai hei”: share negative remarks of a bad experience which creates harmful word of mouth.

http://www.slideshare.net/CIC_China/q3-wp-topic-threethe-diversity-of-chinese-net-language-presentation

http://www.slideshare.net/CIC_China/q3-wp-topic-onethe-chinese-iwom-landscapeen-presentation












http://www.slideshare.net/CIC_China/iwom-watch-2nd-half-year-review-2007-english





Net language: Net culture inspired its own language. Netizens started trends by reinterpretingancient Chinese characters. For example, “囧 (jiong)” was given new meaning, either asdepressed, lost or embarrassed because it looked like a facial expression. Now it is used onmass by netizens, across all kinds of social media platform.

Video Brand Product

Letters and numbers were also used to ease communications. For example, Orz=on one’sknees, 555=crying, 3Q=thanks. Sometimes popular words can be used to express individualemotions and attitudes. For example, “雷 (lei)”means shocked, “俯卧撑(fuwuocheng,pushups)”, ”打酱油 (dajiangyou)” means it is none of my business.

It is not just written language, animation is also being used to show how you feel. Tuzki, a cartoon rabbit, became a hugely popular means of caricaturing your mood and expressing yourself online. Tuzkieven served as a spokesperson for Motorola and was purchased by Turner Networks.

Figure 2-5 囧 was incorporated into videos, brands and products.

Figure 2-6 Tuzki

Figure 2-4 Netizens redesigned the photo of a knife wielding mad man in Chunxi Street with brand logo or ads

P12

Original photo Redesigned photos

Source: CIC 2008 white paper series “The Internet is THE Community”Topic Three: The Diversity of Chinese Net Language




http://image.baidu.com/i?ct=201326592&cl=2&lm=-1&tn=baiduimage&pv=&word=%CD%C3%CB%B9%BB%F9&z=0












2.4.3 Business’ diverse application of social media

The Internet in China is the most fragmented and multifaceted in the world. As it continues

to grow in complexity with each passing day, with new platforms and cultures emerging, it

presents an ever increasing challenge to business communication strategy. Netizens are

becoming ever more active in the digital space; whether it is “Shai” or “Spoofing”, they are

finding a voice in social media to express appreciation or dissatisfaction with brands. Key

opinion leaders, or efluencers, disseminate their message rapidly through a variety of

platforms. Brands realize they need to listen more, have a better understanding and

participate more effectively in the netizens’ online landscape. This means a more proactive

approach to social media. Through this engagement and participation, brands are also

driving the further development of social media platforms.

According to CIC’s L-K-P model, businesses’ application of social media is embodied in the

following 6 areas:

Source: CIC

Figure 2-7 Business Application of Social Media

P13


http://www.ciccorporate.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=28&Itemid=33&lang=en






Listen – Listen to IWOM, gather industry intelligence from social media channels and assess a brand’s online reputation

• Online Reputation: Public Relations departments monitor and track the brand’s IWOMregularly, systematically understanding and assessing awareness (buzz volume) andreputation (sentiment). This monitoring facilitates early detection of any potential crisisand identifies PR opportunities.• Market Intelligence: Business Intelligence and Strategic Planning departments not onlygather information from news clippings, offline surveys and statistics from industryassociation , they also get the latest intelligence and competitor dynamics through socialmedia’s real-time reaction and dynamic expression.

Know – IWOM offers consumer insight and product feedback. Ensure a thorough

understanding of online community culture• Consumer Insights: Market Research and R&D departments are often surprised thatIWOM has become a unique and highly effective channel for them to identify consumerneeds and product feedback. Social media has turned the Internet in to an immensefocus group. IWOM, based on consumers’ independent and spontaneous expression, ismore natural and more authentic than any conventional survey.• Advertising Inspiration: Marketing departments and advertising agencies canbrainstorm new ideas based on contemporary, user generated internet culture. Theycan then utilize these very means of production, inviting grassroots weblebrities asproduct spokesperson, attracting efluencers to facilitate brand interaction and

broadcast the message, while employing net language and net culture in theadvertisements.

Participate – Take an active role in the online community, interact with netizens and convey the brand message in an authentic voice

• Digital Marketing Plan: To make best use of the business opportunities presented bythe Internet era, companies established digital marketing or digital media buy

departments. These departments would coordinate with others internally to exploreonline communities. Digital strategies could be plotted against market conditions andbe properly implemented and executed from within organizations. Optimal digital

marketing activity rests on three cornerstones: respect for creative ideas and feedbackfrom netizens; a platform for equal dialogues; a willingness to participate in thecommunity as a open, corporate citizen, with an attitude of listening and cooperatingwith others.

• Marketing Execution Feedback: A huge number of consumers express their feelingsand comment on brands’ online and offline campaigns. This IWOM must be takenseriously by the marketing department and advertizing agency when evaluatingmarketing activity. Many have established means of assessing IWOM (KPI), in order tocompare campaigns vertically or horizontally.

P14



2.5 Proliferation (2009-2010)

In 2009, China entered the proliferation stage of social media development lead by a boom

in social network sites. Then viral videos spread over from video sites to other social media

platforms. Later, microblogs, lead by Sina, started to grow. In 2010, the microblog medium

really took off. Along side this, group purchase has also been blossoming, as well as a hot

wave of checking in raised by LBS (location based service) sites headed by Jiepang and

Sifang. The key significance of this rapid evolution is not simply in the emergence of new

platforms but also in the dedicated participation of netizens.

After this period of proliferation, netizens became increasingly diverse and the function of

social media became ever more complex. Brands, organizations and media corporations are

not just finding different ways to use social platforms, some pioneering enterprises are

establishing departments to better manage the impact of social media.

2.5.1 Social network sites (SNS)

Social networks, which feature both BBS community conventions and the characteristics of

blog self-expression, encourage netizens to use their real names and communicate more

personally. In 2009, Kaixin successfully entered the white-collar market by leveraging social

games and Xiaonei was rebranded as Renren, also expanding its audience of young, white-

collars. With the rapid development of China’s SNS communities, marketers began to pay

more attention and brands targeting this potential audience began to participate in these

communities in different ways. Outlined below is one of the more typical and representative

cases we observed:

Source: CIC IWOM Watch, May 2009

SNS Case Study – Lohas Juice

P15

In May 2009, China Oil & Foodstuffs

Corporation (COFCO) cooperated

with Kaixin SNS to promote a new

brand called ‘Lohas’. Using Kaixin

Garden, netizens could plant Lohas

seeds, harvest fruit and then turn it

into Lohas juice. In two days, the

participants reached 3,676,464 and

within a week, COFCO had 284,202

Lohas fans.



2.5.2 Viral video

By the end of 2010, online video users reached 284 million (Data Source: The 27th Statistical

Survey Report about Internet Development in China by CNNIC, Jan 2011). State run websites

like CNTV and private video sites like Youku, Ku6 and Tudou have all become a big part of

netizens’ lives. As a result, many brands started using viral videos to promote sales. The

swell in popularity was fuelled by integration with social websites, making the viral spread of

dynamic content faster and more wide reaching.

Viral video case study: Carlsberg’s viral videos gain popularity online

Source: CIC IWOM Watch, June 2010

Sample Quote：Is this a gift that Carlsberg gave to the Chinese football fans?

Sample Quote：One video is enough. Why always doing this. It is meaningless.

Sample Quote：I still believe that China would win the World Cup someday!

During the World Cup, Carlsberg launched three viral videos for Chinese football fans. In these videos,

China took on world class football teams such as Argentina, France and Brazil in competitions such as

“mahjong, hot pot and ping-pong”, in an effort to promote the Carlsberg brand’s spirit – “have fun”.

Although many netizens felt that repeated videos in the same style made them feel bored, the majority

of comments were positive and netizens liked how the brand addressed Chinese football fans “dreams of

winning the World Cup.”

P16



2.5.3 The boom in microblogging

The microblog, or “Weibo” to Chinese netizens, is faster and more convenient to releasethan a conventional blog. This low barrier to entry makes it more accessible. The 140character limit makes it easy to publish, browse and re-publish, forwarding to your peers injust one click. Much of the popularity of the microblog medium is in no small part due tothe shortened distance between celebrities and their fans.

In 2007, microblog pioneers like Fanfou and Jiwai were already on the scene but microblog

platforms didn’t become popular until four portal sites (Sina, Sohu, 163 and Tencent)launched their own microblog services within a year. In August 2009, Sina became the firstportal site to launch a microblog service and from end of 2009 to the beginning of 2010,Sohu, 163 and Tencent followed. These are the key players but there are others; Xinhuanet,People, Ifeng and Hexun have launched their own microblog products.

According to the latest statistics released in February 2011, the total number of registeredmicroblog users shared between the top three portal sites (Sina, Tencent and Sohu) hasalready surpassed 200 million, among which, the registered users of Sina Microblog havereached 100 million and its daily tweet reached 25 million.

Figure 2-8 History of the Microblog in China

P17

Source: CIC collected information via social Q&A site Zhihu



The emergence of the microblog gave businesses a more direct channel to interact with

their consumers. Many netizens felt that through use of the microblog, brands sounded

more like real people and their voice could be heard directly by the brand. Now, there is

definitely a growing trend for companies to launch an official microblog, just as they did

with conventional blogs years ago. In the battle of the microblogs, we have found a wide

range of organizations and government institutions, all vying for user attention.

Microblog case study: 600 cabin crew from China Eastern sign up Sina microblog

Source: CIC IWOM Watch, Feb 2010

2.5.4 Group purchase

While group purchase sites like Groupon must build a large community of consumers on a

sort of “build it and they will come” approach, Chinese consumers have long been

organizing themselves and initiating group purchase via Internet communities without the

encouragement of any formal service. Sites like 51tuangou.com didn’t start the wave of

group purchase, they simply rode it. Later, a large number of websites, including Meituan

and Lashou, inspired by Groupon’s success, offered big discounts for one type of product or

service on a daily basis. As long as the number of orders reached the minimum, the

purchase will be effective. (Please click here to read more about the history of Chinese

online group purchase.)

Group purchase websites can develop quickly not only because of the alluring price, but

also thanks to the close cooperation between group purchase websites and other social

media. Consumers can not only log on to some group purchase websites directly through

their Kaixin or Sina Microblog account, they can also share their deal with peers across SNS

websites like Kaixin and Douban.

Around 600 cabin crew from China Eastern Airlines joined Sina microblog with the intention to better

communicate with their customers/netizens, their ID are all marked with ‘凌燕(Lingyan)’. It does help

brand to build customer loyalty and to deal with any potential crisis.

P18




Data Source: Tuan800.com

Group purchase websites help brands boost short term sales volume as well as build brand

awareness. All sorts of businesses have successfully employed this tactic; restaurants, hotels,

shops and cinemas to name but a few. We found many well-known brands that regard the

concept of group purchase an opportunity to revolutionize and socialize sales.

Figure 2-9 Group Purchase in China, 2010

Group purchase case study: Mercedes-Benz “smart” campaign on Taobao

“200 Benz Smart cars were sold out in 3.5 hours!” was a headline that went viral all over the Chinese

Internet. This campaign on Taobao called “be surprised after one click” (一点惊喜) was launched by

Mercedes-Benz who provided up to 25% off for Smart cars. The sales revenue was CNY 27 million.

Source: CIC IWOM Watch, Aug 2010

P19



2.5.5 Location based service（LBS）The birth of Foursquare made location based service (LBS) a new netizen favorite on

Internet and mobile devices. Since 2010, over 20 mainstream LBS websites, including

Jiepang, Sifang, Bedo and Digu have sprung up. Netizens “check in” online at real-world

locations, actively seeking out and collecting virtual badges, which in some cases can earn

tangible rewards such as coffee, clothes and even concert tickets. On the 11th of October

2010, Netease launched Bafang.163.com, becoming the first portal site in the LBS arena.

Recently, Sina microblog launched an LBS service named “Wei Ling Di” or “Micro Territory”.

Recently, Jiepang launched a marketing event together with Starbucks that will award different kinds of

specialized Starbucks badges to those who’ve checked in at any Starbucks store in Jiangsu, Zhejiang &

Shanghai. The "Special Christmas Badge" event was awarded if you checked in more than 10 times.

People were allowed to collect another 5 customized badges, earning them the right to join the lucky

draw for Starbucks Christmas Crystal Ball.

Although this industry is still in its infancy, brands and organizations active in social media

have begun building relationships with LBS websites. This is already producing some very

impressive success stories.

Jiepang will mark location with badges as “with surprise”

Source: CIC IWOM Watch Special edition for LBS

P20

LBS case study: Checking in with Jiepang; getting gifts from Starbucks.

Figure 2-10 Main Chinese LBS sites

All Starbucks stores in Jiangsu, Zhejiang & Shanghai joined “Check in” events.


Source: CIC IWOM Watch Special edition for LBS

http://jiepang.com/venue/1954B08F33C7DCA545FEDDC6C3E0AA91


2.5.6 The establishment of business’ social media center of excellence

Chinese social media became increasingly complex and its audience ever more dispersed

after the proliferation period of 2009 and 2010. In order to better manage the potential

opportunity and challenge presented in this fractured environment, pioneer enterprises like

Dell and Intel established social media listening centers, where specialized teams were

assigned to take charge of social media strategic planning, training and assessment. Those

actions not only involve marketing, public relations and advertising but also involve a host

of other departments.

R&D and Customer Service: BBS and customer review websites house a vast number of

consumer comments and views on brands and products. They can offer a basis for

creative inspiration and new product development, while helping to improve the

quality and efficiency of customer service.

Marketing and Communication: SNS, Microblog, LBS and instant messaging offer

strong interaction and widespread coverage. So, they are well suited to interactive

marketing and communication activities to that can improve brand image.

Sales and Advertising: Brands could sell products, launch product placements or video

ads on e-commerce, Games or Video sharing websites to boost sales and build brand

awareness in a short time.

Human Resources and Culture: SNS and Microblog have become new recruitment

channels. Companies can not only release pictures and videos related to their

corporate activities, improving enterprise culture and image, they can also directly

communicate with potential candidates.

Public Relations and Market Intelligence: The Wiki is an ideal platform for knowledge

sharing and blogs are highly effective in conveying a business’ professional image.

Social Media Center Case Study: Dell’s Social Media Listening Command Center

Source: Direct2Dell

Real-time maps and statistics are displayed on big screens. In the event of IWOM crisis, red lights

indicate an area, informing you on which platforms the crisis appeared and its nature. The system will

immediately assign relevant customer service people to solve it. Think rapid-response IWOM

taskforce, like something from a TV show… Pretty cool!

P21


http://en.community.dell.com/dell-blogs/Direct2Dell/b/direct2dell/archive/2010/12/08/dell-s-next-step-the-social-media-listening-command-center.aspx

An Overview of the Evolution of Chinese Social Media© 2011 CIC P22

2.6 Revolution (Since 2011)

In this period, various social media started seek cross-border cooperation or integration. The

huge business revolution is coming – The rapid development of social media and the

increasing implication of IWOM are not only reshaping the relationship and communication

between brands and consumers via advertising, public relations, marketing, sales, human

resources and customer service, but also reform the business model and organizational

structure of the enterprises.

2.6.1 Cross-platform cooperation and integrated social media

Social media has many advantages over traditional media: vast numbers of highly engaged,

active users; high repeat visit rate, long spells of exposure and access to detailed user

information. Of course, there is also the interaction and influence between users. Many still

regard it as the latest vehicle for public relations and brand promotion. However, there are

those industry pioneers who have already begun to utilize its social attributes in order to

launch more extensive, engaging business initiatives.

Cross-Platform: Media platforms can integrate other applications, for example Taobao’sSNS application “Taojianghu” or Renren’s e-commerce service “Renren Aigou(igo.renren.com)”. Besides, Kaixin integrated Kaixin group purchase and Sina becameone of the owners of m18.com, an online textile retailer.

Open: Platforms can open up to third parties or cooperate with other media channels.

Renren and Sina microblog can link to shopping websites like 360buy, synchronizingusers’ shopping information, reviews and recommendations across the shopping siteand the SNS platform. OpenAPI is a common application in this process. The success ofFacebook and Twitter is closely linked to their practice of encouraging 3rd partyenterprises to develop applications. Chinese Internet pioneers have also started toconsider expanding their website functions through Open API, prompting theestablishment of the ‘Developers Conference’.

Note: Open API’s allow service providers to package their own websites with a set API（Application

Programming Interface）that is open to third party developers


The integration of the social media and e-commerce looks set to be a key trend of futuresocial business application; the social media platform is responsible for gathering customerinformation and managing customer relations, while e-commerce platforms focus oncommodity supply and management. Of course, social media can also try to attract business

applications via Open API and explore a whole new profit model. The advertising modelbased on the ‘golden age of TV’ era will be forced to adapt to the social business revolution.New advertising practices, from buying to effect evaluation, will emerge. Marketers will paymore attention to “participating”, rather than simply “viewing”


2.6.2 The appearance of the overseas social business concept

In the West, some research organizations (such as Forrester) have already started

investigating social business, and some organizations have begun to take part in enterprises

social business design. The Dachis Group, as pioneer of this industry, proposed that “the

revolution of technology, society and workplace has already changed our way of doing

business. We must rethink how to restructure our organization in order to better utilize this

revolution and to better cope with the following challenges. The traditional model will no

longer be effective and the age of social business design is coming.” (Source: Dachis Group

Official Website)

2.6.3 The upcoming social business revolution in China

Looking at the process by which social media evolves into social business, we found that

IWOM and the application of social media intelligence no longer belong to an individual or a

lone department. It is more suitable to regard this information as an important strategic

element in the planning of a company’s overall operation and management. As we have

discussed, the rapid development of social media and the increasing implication of IWOM

are not only reshaping the relationship between brands and consumers via advertising,

public relations, customer service and other related marketing communication channels but

also changing the entire business models and organizational structures. These changes are

about more than just communication.

For example “group purchase”, as we have discussed many times, is game-changing in terms

of enterprises’ sales system. Customer services simply must acknowledge Internet word of

mouth and online opinion. Brands have to overhaul their customer service systems in order

to respond to high volumes of online consumer questioning and opinion. Human resources

and social media, particularly in terms of recruitment, have been changing the way

companies post job opportunities and candidates make applications – e.g. Linkedin. The

traditional recruitment management model is just no longer enough. All of the signs indicate

that not only does each function need to be adapted and ‘socialized’ but that the entire

organization may need to be redesigned and recalibrated to fully leverage social media and

IWOM intelligence and become a truly social business. (Please click here to read more about

social business.)

P23© 2011 CIC


Note: Social Business is an organization designed consciously around social tools, social media and social

networks, as a response to web 2.0’s revamped technological space and its reshaped brand-consumer

communication and business disciplines.



Quite simply, if every business is to become a social business, every business needs to

embrace the new services, new technologies, new applications and new platforms that will

enable that competency. Just as ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) systems enable more

effective management across the organization and CRM (Customer Relationship

Management) systems enable more effective consumer relationships, a Social Business

Support System enables more effective use of social intelligence right across the

organization.

Note: CIC defines a Social business Support System(SBSS) as an integration of the tools and

services that empower individuals, agencies, media channels and organizations at all levels

to establish, develop and manage their own social business knowledge, application and

overall network, both internally and externally.

P24© 2011 CIC


An Overview of the Evolution of Chinese Social Media© 2011 CIC P25

Chapter IIIThe Connecting Threads of Chinese Social Networks

Chapter III: The Connecting Threads of Chinese Social Networks

3.1 Personal interaction in Chinese social network

As discussed in Chapter 1, Chinese social media is becoming increasingly complex. Yet, the

simple premise of personal interaction remains. So, whether corporate or individual, to take

advantage of the power of social networking, you have to understand the connecting

threads of these networks and take the appropriate action.

It is impossible to find a one-size-fits-all approach to such a diverse social media space. This

report simply offers constructive counsel based on our industry experience and the

historical statistics presented by our extensive analysis of China’s online community. It is a

starting point, designed to stimulate discussion and enhance our collective understanding.

3.1.1 Classifying social netizens

A social network is generally organic. That is, naturally formed and loosely structured, with a

relatively flat hierarchy and little bureaucracy. Based on influence, netizens on social

network can be roughly divided into 3 categories:

Net Star: They have huge influence and although the content they directly contribute may

be limited, their words and actions can ignite hot topics.

• Weblebrities: People who are unknown to the wider public before they become

famous online. Netizens include Sister Furong, Brother Sharp and Xiaopang.

• Celebrities: Real-life icons who have adopted social media. People like 80’s idol

Hanhan, famous real estate developer Renzhiqiang and superstar Yaochen.

Efluencer: Proficient in net language and very active within the online community; they’ve

not only been instrumental in building but also in expanding the influence of net culture.

Efluencers’ pivotal role within social networks will be the subject of greater focus later .

Spectators: Like any crowd, they are large in volume and difficult to differentiate. They tend

to be passive within social networks, rarely posting and may post anonymously.

• Internal Spectators : The registered members of an Internet community who spend

most of their time lurking. They only participate in the hottest of topics.

• External Spectators : Not registered to an Internet community, they identify

relevant topics through reference on other platforms or by their peers.

An Overview of the Evolution of Chinese Social Media P26© 2011 CIC

3.1.2 The interaction of netizens on social networks

When plotting the interaction on social networks, there are essentially two axes:

conversation and activity. Conversation is about opinions expressed and emotions

exchanged; posting, forwarding, replying, supporting and voting. Activities generally occur

spontaneously and are initiated by influential netizens or by the overall community but can

be sparked by a third party. By activity we mean things like offline gatherings, brand

promotions and specific tasks like homework, grabbing floor and holding quizzes.

The Axis of Conversation: First, someone (most often a net star or an efluencer) initiates a

conversation by posting a new topic or forwarding others’ post. Some netizens will

participate in the discussion by replying to this post or voting on it, while others will simply

observe. The number of replies or votes reflects netizens’ passion for participating in the

overall discussion. The number of likes or views reflects the exposure of the topic.

The Axis of Activity: There are essentially two types of social activities: brand sponsored

and consumer-organized. Brand activities are usually launched via public advertising and

then forwarded by efluencers. As it usually requires a certain degree of authority and

relatively wide appeal to initiate and organize an activity, most initiators are either net stars

or efluencers. They may use private messages to pass information to key individuals, assign

specific tasks or facilitate offline events.

Figure 3-1 The connecting threads of personal relationship within a Chinese social network

Source: CIC

Note: The social network in this instance refers to the communication and interaction network of netizens on a social media platform.



3.2 A brief history of China’s weblebrities

In order to distinguish from real-life celebrities, we intend to only discuss net stars in a

relatively narrow sense; weblebrities known to numerous netizens, with great influence on

network platforms like BBS, blog, microblog, SNS, video sites and so on. Weblebrities and

social media platforms certainly complement each other. There have been considerable

discussions and conclusions drawn on the Internet about the development stages of net

stars already. Based on those existing online discussions and CIC’s extensive observation of

the transition of social media platforms, we can divide the development of net star culture

into three stages; text age, image age and multimedia age.

3.2.1 Net stars of the text age (pre-2004)

In the incubation period of Chinese social media, BBS and blog were netizens’ main public

communication platforms. Those were the days of dial-up Internet access, so text was the

main form of expression. The common feature of net stars of this generation is a high

degree of literacy. Representatives of the text age include Pizicai, Ningcaishen, Lixunhuan,

Annebaby, Murong Xuecun and Jinhezai etc.

Figure 3-2 Net Stars of the Text Age

Pizicai, real name Caizhiheng, is popular due to Internet fiction “First Intimate Contact”.

Annebaby, real name Lijie, is famous for “Say Goodbye to Vivian”.

Murong Xuecun gained strong netizen following with “Chengdu, Leave Me Alone Tonight”.

3.2.2 Net stars of the image age (from 2004 to 2006)

In the cultivation period of Chinese social media, photo sharing became more and moreimportant to social media platforms in line with improvements in Internet speed andbandwidth. Net stars of this generation are like cover figures on fashion magazines. SisterFurong, Tianxian mm, Gongjiao mm, Eryue Yatou, Xiaopang and Liumangyan appeared oneafter another.



Figure 3-3 Net Stars of the Image Age

Sister Furong applied for Qinghua Universitiy’s postgraduate program, beginning to post numerous pictures on the Shuimu Qinghua BBS in 2004, causing a sensation.

Xiaopang, whose photo was posted on the Internet by netizens, aroused a spoofing wave almost immediately, spreading quickly across various BBS.

Tianxian mm - “Self-Drive Tour in Sichuan & Xizang by Bicycle: Come Across Tianxian MM?!” was forwarded like crazy and in one night, Tianxian mm took up a prominent position on various Chinese websites.

3.2.3 Net stars of the multimedia age (from 2007 to 2010)

In the development and proliferation period of Chinese social media, multimedia like videosites, microblogs and SNS became the mainstream. In this period, social events and Internet-marketers (so-called Tui Shou) were the driving force behind the new generation of net star,including Fengjie, Brother Sharp and Xuri Yanggang.

Fengjie was well known for a series of shocking marriage-seeking statements on the Internet and on TV. Statements like, “I have been extensively reading from the age of nine … no one can surpass me in 600 years, 300 years ahead and 300 years behind.”

Brother Sharp, a beggar on the street in Ningbo, was famous for a post on Tianya BBS – “SecKill The Most Handsome Passerby in the World”.

Xuri Yanggang, a musical group formed by wandering singers, were snapped by “Pai Ke” (people who like to take photos), uploaded a video of migrant workers’ version of song “In Spring” and suddenly, Xuri Yanggang were starring at the Chinese New Year Television Gala.

Figure 3-4 Net Stars of the Broadband Age

P28© 2011 CIC



3.3 Styles of the Chinese social efluencer

Efluencers are the main contributors of IWOM and social networks are already anindispensable part of their lives. In order to more thoroughly understand the personality andbehavior of efluencers, we picked 300 active online community users (those registered overa year ago and who post more than industry average) from CIC’s social media database(including various Internet communities across the 6 most popular industries; auto, mobilephones, sports, skincare, luxury and baby care). We then carried out an online survey inSeptember and October of 2010. Our aim was to present efluencers in China through threekey aspects: demographics, behavior and persona.

Figure 3-5 Hours Efluencers Spent Online Everyday

3.3.1 Who are the efluencers on social network?

In order to more clearly define the features of an efluencer, we compared them withordinary netizens. In doing so, we found that they come from ordinary netizens but they aremore social media savvy. They are the pioneers and dedicated practitioners of socialnetworking.

Hours spent on the Internet: On average, efluencers spend 55 hours a week on the Internet.That is approximately 3 times the overall netizens average, which is 18.3 hours. On average,an efluencer spends 5-10 hours on the Internet every day. 41.9% of these efluencers spendover 8 hours on the Internet every day. For them, surfing the Internet is like work. The onlydifference is that the former has no weekends.

Data source: “CIC 2010 efluencer survey” ; Sample size=300



Income: More than half (52.3%) of ordinary netizens have a monthly income below CNY

1500, one possible explanation is that the proportion of students and unemployed people

are comparatively high (37.2%). In comparison, the incomes of efluencers are generally

much higher, not only because most efluencers are gainfully employed but also due to the

fact that social media is more developed in first-tier and second-tier cities. Highlighting this

was the fact that people from Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou accounted for 41.9% of this

survey.

Education: Most ordinary netizens are educated to high school level or below (accounting

for 76.9%), while most efluencers have a college degree or above (89.5%). This result backs

up the demand for efluencers’ knowledge and their communication ability.

Occupations: Efluencers are mainly company staff (staff members and managers add up to

57.6%, about two times the percentage amongst all netizens - 26.9%). However, students

account for only 8.1% of efluencers, far less than the proportion in ordinary netizens

(30.6%). Although students are rich in free time, their lack of practical knowledge and

experience hampers their online appeal.

Figure 3-6 The Different Characteristics of Efluencers and Ordinary Netizens

In general, China’s efluencers are mainly white collar workers from first-tier and second-tier

cities. They’ve received a higher education and are good communicators with well

developed interpersonal skills and practical social experience. They have a stable income,

strong purchasing power and have made the Internet a big part of their life. In Chinese,

they’re the “四有达人” – the “Full fledged efluencers” – as in, they have presentation skills,

have a sharing spirit, have purchasing power and have a desire to be online.

Statistics source: Ordinary netizensstatistics come from The 27th Statistical Survey Report about Internet Development in China (2010) by CNNIC; Efluencers statistics are from “CIC 2010 efluencersurvey” ; Sample size=300

P30© 2011 CIC



3.3.2 Strengths of the social efluencer

The “Full fledged efluencers” are dedicated supporters of IWOM. On one hand, they rely on

IWOM for the information about brands and products that drive their purchasing decisions.

On the other, they are the most loyal contributors to IWOM and are willing to share their

knowledge and experience with a large network of online friends and followers. Therefore

they have much more knowledge and reliance on IWOM than ordinary netizens.

Efluencers have a deeper understanding of the Internet and show more trust in IWOM

accordingly

On a scale of one to ten, the credibility of IWOM ranks about 8 to efluencers, closely

following recommendations from friends and family (8.5) but higher than the news or

authorities (7). The “CIC 2009 Netizen Survey” shows the credibility of IWOM amongst

ordinary netizens is scored about 6, slightly below that of the news or authorities. This might

imply that the higher a netizen’s knowledge of the Internet, the greater their trust in IWOM.

IWOM is getting more and more important when our younger generation enters society. For

example, the 80s, who grew up with Internet, and 90s, who grew up with social media. At

the same time, salesmen and advertising’s marginal utility will decrease continuously. For

enterprises and brands, it presents not only a big challenge, but also a big opportunity.

Figure2.3 Credibility of IWOM

Data source: “CIC 2010 efluencer survey” ; Sample size=300

5.0

5.3

7.0

8.0

8.5

Ads

Sales person

News /authorities

IWOM

Friends and families



Efluencers trust reviews of brands and products on BBS, blogs and microblogs whose

focus is on knowledge and information sharing, while remaining professional and neutral

For efluencers, the credibility of professional BBS, blogs and microblogs is equal to

recommendations from friends and family members. As such, the netizens on these

platforms can be counted amongst their trusted friends. The credibility of customer review

websites, Wiki, Q&A websites, brand’s official sites and SNS is scored 8 and above, so they

can be trusted too. In comparison, the credibility of IWOM on e-commerce sites, group

purchase sites and video sites remains a little bit lower because they may be driven by

commercial interests. The credibility of LBS and social bookmarking is pretty low because

there is little content and relatively loose relationships.

Figure 2.4 Efluencer’s Platform Preference

7.5

7.6

7.6

7.7

7.9

8.0

8.0

8.1

8.1

8.2

8.4

8.5

8.6

Social bookmarks

Video sites

Group buy

LBS

E-commerce

SNS

Official sites

Q&A

Wiki

Customer review

Microblog

Blog

Professional BBS

Data source: ““CIC 2010 efluencer survey” ; sample size=300



Efluencers not only gain knowledge of brands and products via IWOM, they are also early

adopters of trends and the first to spot special offers

With reference to Philip Kotler’s theory about consumers purchasing decision making

process, in CIC 2009 White Paper “Making sense of IWOM”, we divided consumers’

purchasing decision process into 6 steps: Needs Arousal, Brand Awareness, Selection of

Alternatives, Evaluation of Alternatives, Purchase Decision and Post-purchase Behaviors.

Knowing the product before making a purchase: In “CIC 2009 Netizen Survey”, 34.6% of

ordinary netizens had needs aroused by IWOM and 56.3% got to know brands through

IWOM. In “CIC 2010 Efluencer Survey”, the ratios of these two were up to 56.2% and 62.4%

respectively. As such, IWOM has much potential in arousing consumer needs and then

boosting consumption.

Comparisons during the purchasing process: The results of efluencer study show that

efluencers are good at using social media to form a personalized purchasing plan.

The purchasing decision and review: IWOM plays a decisive role in forming final purchase

decision for both ordinary netizens and efluencers (about 60%). Also, almost 50% of

netizens will inquire or share usage experience after purchasing. It suggests that social

media can be a highly efficient platform or tool for after-sale service and customer

relationship management.

34.6%

56.3%

41.5% 36.2%

58.7%47.5%

56.2%62.4%

52.9% 53.3% 57.6%47.6%

Efluencers

Figure 3-9 Purchasing Decision Process: Ordinary Netizens Vs. Efluencers

Ordinarynetizens

Needs

Arousal

Brand

Awareness

Selection of

Alternatives

Evaluation of

Alternatives

Purchase

Decision

Post-

purchase

Behaviors


Data source: Ordinary netizens data from “CIC 2009 Netizen Survey” , sample size=520; Efluencers data from “CIC 2010 Efluencer Survey” , sample size=300;

http://www.slideshare.net/CIC_China/making-sense-of-iwom-iwom-white-paper-on-the-role-of-internet-word-of-mouth-in-driving-purchase-decisions








8.9%

15.4%

18.3%

23.7%

30.8%

47.9%

53.8%

54.4%

79.9%

Advertorial

Brand story

Forwarded news

Brand campaign

Disclose bad experience

Q&A

'Shai' products

Product evaluation

Usage experience sharing

Efluencers are loyal IWOM contributors, willing to share knowledge and experience

For efluencers, usage experience sharing posts rank top (nearly 80%). Product evaluation

posts and shai posts are second and third place respectively (above 50%).

P34© 2011 CIC

Although a virtual identity can make people question the credibility of IWOM, social

efluencers hold themselves up as examples; if you have the knowledge and are good at

utilizing Internet tools, IWOM can not only be trusted but relied upon. We believe that, as

netizens increase their level of understanding, more will become efluencers. The average

netizen’s use of social media and IWOM will evolve.

Figure3-10 Efluencer Post Rankings by Topic Angle

Data source: “CIC 2010 efluencer survey” , sample size=300



Segmentation of efluencers’ roles

Although efluencers do not command the same attention as net stars, they tend to have

distinct personalities. In the “CIC 2010 efluencer survey”, we found that there were two key

motives driving efluencers to participate in the social network: social influence and self

expression. On one hand, many efluencers care about their influence in the whole social

network, which is the internal motive to be efluencers. On the other hand, many efluencers

prefer self expression and want to be outstanding, which is the external characteristics of

those efluencers. Based on these two dimensions, we divided efluencers into 7 categories.

Data source: “CIC 2010

efluencer survey” , sample

size=300

The number in the circle stands

for ratios of each category (for

reference only)

Efluencers more interested in gaining social influence than self-expression

The Pundit: logic based commentators, using objective, professional language The Know-all: inclined to learn and share knowledgeThe Moderator: take on management responsibility within the Internet community

Efluencers who care more about self expression than social influenceFans: Passionate and emotional about brands or celebritiesTrend-setters: at the forefront of social networking, digging out freshest news and spreading gossip

Stars: sensational in style, commanding influence and notoriety within the communityKnowbies:

well versed in Internet language and familiar with communities. They sometimes show off the most current net trends, protective of their status in the Internet communities.

Figure 3-11 Seven Categories of Efluencer



In the following section, we will examine the similarities and differences among these seven

types of efluencers using survey statistics. Although roles differ in terms of degree of

activity, these efluencers are important parts of the social media stage, with key

characteristics and inescapable influence.

• Reflecting real life, to achieve an elevated station on the social Internet, like that of a

moderator, you need to be qualified. As such, netizens below the age of 20 are rare and in

some roles, pundits for example, 70% will have a bachelor degree or above.

• Among fans and stars, young women account for the majority. Those with a professional

training college or below education are more likely to become fans.

• Knowbies are mainly young men, most are below 30 and 60% have a bachelor degree or

above.

Figure 3-12 Efluencer Demographics

P36© 2011 CIC

Data source: “CIC 2010 efluencer survey” , sample size=300



Based on the Internet community’s structure;

moderators are easiest to identify, stars have

the largest influence and know-alls are

everywhere. In terms of network content;

pundits focus more on specific topics and in-

depth discussion, trend-setters pay attention

to fresh and funny information and fans

discuss their favorite brands or celebrities.

Knowbies often use the latest Internet

language and are the most sensitive to latest

trends within the community. They’re also the

key blending ingredient of the community

atmosphere.

Moderators: Mainly over 20, they are enthusiastic, enjoy the administrative authority and proactively maintain the community.

Pundit: Compared with moderators, they tend to be more mature, more highly educated and keen on answering questions for other netizens.

Know-alls: Tend to follow online discussion closely and when they speak, they give mature consideration to all aspects of a question.

Fans: Mainly young women, under 30, less well educated and more driven to make friends.

Trend-setters: More highly educated, they’re keen on releasing the latest information, like secret pictures of new cars.

3.4 Social efluencers workshop

If we consider social networking in China to

be a tree, net stars are the flowers, efluencers

are the trunk and the spectators are the

leaves. With that in mind, we have to find the

best way to encourage development of the

efluencers, stimulating their creativity and

promoting growth across the network.

So, after the “CIC 2010 efluencer survey”, we

invited seven different types of efluencers to

discuss their views on social media via online

community. We will return to this in the

second installment of our “From Social Media

to Social Business” White Paper series topic

two, “Online efluencer Workshop”.

In order to help us understand the characteristics of these different roles more vividly, we

will use the following figure to illustrate:

Knowbies: Well versed in net language and familiar with the community. Mainly young men, their emphasis is on knowledge and improving their skills.

Star: Predominantly female, they have great influence within the community, preferring to express their views and evaluate products.

Figure 3-13 Efluencer Persona



About CIC

About CIC

CIC is China's leading social business intelligence provider. CIC enablesbusinesses to fully leverage the power of social media and (Internet Word ofMouth) IWOM intelligence across the organization. Since coining the termIWOM in 2004, CIC has pioneered the industry to help companies meet theirsocial media marketing and social business needs by providing customizedresearch, consulting services, syndicated reports, as well as technicalsolutions and platforms all via an objective, third party perspective. In additionto helping companies leverage social media intelligence for more informeddecisions, CIC is monetizing the social business industry in China by creating anintegrated social business support system.

CIC utilizes its own patent pending technology to capture millions of onlineconversations and “makes sense of the buzz” by assembling them into easy tounderstand intelligence and provides interpretation which informs strategicdecisions and leads to action. CIC gathers and mines over 100 million naturallyoccurring consumer comments every month from a range of uniquely Chinesesocial media platforms including blogs, BBS and social network sites and appliesits unique, China-derived methodology and indexes to provide a detailed andcomprehensive picture of the social media landscape and its implications forbusiness. CIC has well over 2 billion mentions of brands and products from wellover 1 billion consumer comments that have been indexed and archived.

CIC has strong, long term retainer relationships with multinational agencies andFortune 500 companies, including Nike, Pepsi, Intel, L‘Oreal Group, BMW, P&G,Unilever and many more.

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

Copyright Statement








http://www.ciccorporate.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=category&layout=blog&id=12&Itemid=36&lang=en















CIC white paper archive

Find more CIC white papers on our CIC slideshare site: www.slideshare.net/CIC_China

2010: Chinese Consumer Report (in collaboration with Roland Berger) | view

2010: Internet word of mouth proven to have impact (CIC and R3) | view

2010: ExpoSay: Shanghai Expo tickets are the focus of intense buzz in China's Social Media (Edition_1) | view

2009: Making Sense of IWOMTopic 1: IWOM White Paper on the Role of Internet Word of Mouth in Driving Purchase Decisions | viewTopic 2: How IWOM is generated and disseminated | viewTopic 3: How Brands Can Participate in Online Communities | view

2009: Chinese Consumer Report (in collaboration with Roland Berger) | view

2008: The Internet is THE communityTopic 1: The Chinese IWOM Landscape | viewTopic 2: Alternative Ways to Measure Internet Community Dynamics | viewTopic 3: The Diversity of Chinese Net Language | viewTopic 4: Reshaping the Relationship between Brands and Consumers | view

2008: Tuning into Sports IWOM | view

2008: Tuning into Notebook IWOM | view

2007: What's Driving Auto Buzz | view

2007: The Talk About Phones | view

2007: Word of Health: China | view

http://www.slideshare.net/CIC_China/2010-chinese-consumer-report-by-cic-and-roland-berger

http://www.slideshare.net/CIC_China/internet-word-of-mouth-proven-to-have-impact-cic-and-r3

http://www.slideshare.net/CIC_China/exposay-shanghai-expo-tickets-are-the-focus-of-inense-buzz-in-chinas-social-media-edition1-201002


http://www.slideshare.net/CIC_China/making-sense-of-iwom-how-iwom-is-generated-and-disseminated

http://www.slideshare.net/CIC_China/making-sense-of-iwom-topic-3-how-brands-can-participate-in-online-communities

http://www.slideshare.net/CIC_China/roland-berger-chinese-consumer-report-2009


http://www.slideshare.net/CIC_China/q3-wp-topic-twoalternative-ways-to-measure-internet-community-dynamicsen-presentation


http://www.slideshare.net/CIC_China/q3-wp-topic-fourreshaping-the-relationship-between-brands-and-consumers-presentation

http://www.slideshare.net/CIC_China/tuning-into-sports-iwom-q4-2007

http://www.slideshare.net/CIC_China/tuning-into-notebook-iwom-2007-q3-416884

http://www.slideshare.net/CIC_China/whats-driving-auto-buzz

http://www.slideshare.net/CIC_China/talk-about-phones-june-2007-white-paper-slides-cic

http://www.slideshare.net/CIC_China/word-of-health-china-oncology-public


Contact us

Shanghai:Suite 108, Block A, UDC Innovative Plaza, 125 Jiangsu North RoadShanghai, China, 200042Tel: 021-5237 3860 | Fax: 021-5237 3632

Beijing:1006 / 10F, Block C, No. 60, Dongsihuanzhong Road, Chaoyang DistrictBeijing, China, 100025

江苏北路125号华联创意广场A栋108室, 上海, 200042, 中国电话: 021-5237 3860 | 传真: 021-5237 3632

朝阳区东四环中路60号远洋国际中心C座1006室 (100025), 北京, 100025, 中国

Contact us: [email protected]

t.sina.com.cn/seeisee

www.douban.com/host/cic

www.seeisee.com

www.seeisee.com/sam

www.tudou.com/home/iwomchina

@cicdata

CIC_CN

www.linkedin.com/companies/359113

www.jiepang.com/cic

www.slideshare.net/CIC_China


Site: www.ciccorporate.com Blog: www.seeisee.comFounder Blog: www.seeisee.com/samIWOMmaster platform: www.iwommaster.comIWOMdiscover platform: discover.iwommaster.comIWOMexplorer platform: explorer.iwommaster.com