It’s also worth noting that Japan has added 500,000 users and Korea 347,000 users in the past month – Japan has the highest growth rate (8.01%) of the top 25 countries – so we also expect to see the social media landscape changing rapidly in both these markets in 2012.

Facebook Asia – January 2012 (as quoted from Socialbakers.com).

]]> http://www.asiadigitalmap.com/2012/01/india-now-worlds-second-largest-facebook-country/feed/ 1 http://www.asiadigitalmap.com/2011/06/listen-a-simple-but-often-overlooked-topic/ http://www.asiadigitalmap.com/2011/06/listen-a-simple-but-often-overlooked-topic/#comments Wed, 29 Jun 2011 17:11:21 +0000 Kevin On http://www.asiadigitalmap.com/?p=3689 As marketers, we are very focused on “doing”, to create that next award-winning campaign. But without really knowing what people are saying about your brand or understanding what values consumers see in your products/services, it will often lead you back to a one-way dialogue. More importantly, it does not address the real business need.

Below are some common questions which I’ve come across in conversations with clients, esp. those who are new to social media.

Q: Why is social media monitoring more expensive that our news monitoring service?
A: Compare the number of newspapers and magazines to the number of websites, blogs, forums, portals, pages on social networks; it requires much more time and effort to find the relevant info from the sea of data. Machine-generated results can only give you so much info and not insights. At the end of the day, you still need a human to analyze the data and provide you with the right advice to help move your business forward.

Q: What if we find negative comments / people complaining about my products / services? What should I do?
A: What if a customer called your hotline to file a complaint?  What would you do?  You would first understand the problem and then address it.  The reality is that you cannot make everyone happy, but you need to try.  What you can do is prioritize and address those that are most important or have significant impact on your brand’s reputation.

Q: I prefer to allocate money to run a campaign rather than a listening program.
A: You should invest in both, but listening should always come first and become a routine just like your news monitoring.  Listening not only serves as a monitoring tool, it can also provide great insights to brand perception and consumer sentiment (without paying for a focus group or a research house to conduct an audit). Most importantly, it can help you address an issue before it turns into a crisis.

So why do we need to listen?  Because everyone good conversation starts with listening.  And social media is all about good conversations and engagement with real people.

Tencent tests microblog translation tool, opening door for Chinese sites to adopt English

http://thenextweb.com/asia/2011/06/22/tencent-tests-microblog-translation-tool-paves-way-for-chinese-sites-to-adopt-english/

Chinese Internet giant Tencent has recently partnered with Kingsoft, maker of the machine translation product PowerWord, and Youdao, Netease’s online dictionary, to bridge the language gap among users of its microblogging platform by developing a microblog translation tool. The technology will be responsible for automatic translations to and from English, while Youdao will offer translations for Japanese and Korean. In addition to these two, Tencent is reportedly in talks with several other major translation companies to bring other languages into its microblogging platform.

Cartier joins other luxury brands by getting a Youku channel

http://www.penn-olson.com/2011/06/21/cartier-lv-youku-video-channel/

Cartier has launched a branded channel on Youku.com, China’s biggest video-sharing site. It joins six other upscale brands – Louis Vuitton, Dior, Burberry, Gucci, Omega, and Mido – in opting to engage with Chinese consumers via Youku as a part of their social media strategy in the country.

Apps in Asia – China huge, Japan most expensive

http://mashable.com/2011/06/22/china-app-store-market-study/

China is now the second largest iOS apprket in the world (after the USA). Japan accounts for most of the revenue in Asia, as Japan is the most expensive in the region. The study also found that the majority of popular iPhone apps in Asia are only popular in Asia. This is especially true in China, South Korea and Japan. In countries such as India and Indonesia, app localization is less important.

Other Asia

Consumers in Southeast Asia bought over 260,000 tablets in the first quarter of this year

http://www.gfkrt.com/asia/news_events/news/news_single/008189/index.en.html

261,000 tablets spanning almost ten brands were sold across seven Southeast Asian markets* from January to April this year. Tablets operating on the Android operating system (OS) has been rising in prevalence and is today the most popular platform embraced by users. In April, almost half of all tablets (46%) purchased by consumers was an Android compared to five months before, in November, where the proportion was only slightly just over one out of ten (13%).

Taiwan-based chip developer reveals Amazon’s plans to release tablet PCs in September

http://www.digitimes.com/news/a20110621PD222.html

Amazon adopts processors developed by Texas Instruments, with Taiwan-based Wintek to supply touch panels, ILI Technology to supply LCD driver ICs and Quanta Computer responsible for assembly, the sources indicated. Monthly shipments are expected to be nearly a million units. The autumn launch will allow Amazon to target Thanksgiving and Christmas shoppers in key markets.

The problem with Facebook in Japan

http://www.penn-olson.com/2011/06/20/problem-with-facebook-in-japan/

In a survey of Facebook users in Japan, all participants agreed that Facebook is less secure, has a more complicated user interface, and is definitely not popular compared with Mixi. Many also had issues with Facebook’s real name policy. Participants also pointed out the Facebook goes against the traditioncal Japanese values of harmony and also is too literal for the very escapism and fiction-frenzied culture of Japan.

Tsutenkaku Tower to get LED lights

http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20110622f1.html

Hitachi will replace most neon lights for its advertisements on Osaka’s signature Tsutenkaku Tower with light-emitting diodes in a bid to cut electricity consumption by half and contribute to nationwide energy-saving efforts.

Southeast Asia to ship over 100 million smartphones this year

http://www.zdnetasia.com/sea-to-ship-100m-phones-this-year-62300828.htm

106 million mobile phones are expected to be shipped across Southeast Asia this year, marking a 19 percent increase from 90 million units last year. The number will increase to 163 million by 2015 at a compound annual growth rate of 39 percent. This region encompasses Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

South Korea – eCommerce Cannes winner for Tesco

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oPM4Ui6Sjfk

Sina Weibo launches a user data center as a potential revenue source
http://techrice.com/2011/06/15/sina-weibo-launches-user-data-center-a-potential-source-of-revenue-infographic/
Sina Weibo is offering their 140 million users tools to track and monitor their own Weibo accounts through data.weibo.com. The site allows users to monitor their own accounts on a weekly basis in five categories: influencer rating, followers, people followed, weekly top weibo, and top trending topics.

Renren to issue social credit card
http://thenextweb.com/asia/2011/06/15/renren-partners-with-china-merchants-bank-to-issue-credit-card-with-social-features/
Renren has just announced its partnership with one of China’s leading commercial banks, China Merchants Bank, to create a co-branded Renren CMB credit card that takes advantage of the social network’s features.
This credit card program takes advantage of social, location, and mobile services, where credit card holders will be able to “check in” from their current locations to receive promotional information from any of the ten thousand Merchants Bank merchant partners who happen to be located within the vicinity.

China: Truth, rumors, and a basket of fruit
http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/evanosnos/2011/06/truth-rumors-and-fruit-baskets.html
China has been awash with rumours and uprisings in recent months. Part of this is due to access to the Internet. Though sites are censored and rumours are eventually erased from the public forum, authorities are still struggling to balance the release of information and public opinion.

Yahoo/Alibaba/Alipay/Jack Ma/Carol Bratz: What happened an what it really means
http://www.chinalawblog.com/2011/06/yahoo_alibaba_alipay_jack_ma_and_what_really_happened_and_what_it_means.html
Yahoo owns a part of Alibaba, which owned Alipay, the online payment business. According to Chinese law, this means it cannot be foreign owned. Yahoo alleges it just recently learned that Alibaba had transferred ownership of Alipay to a fully domestic Chinese entity. Alibaba is saying it did that so as to bring Alipay in line with the laws prohibiting foreign ownership of an online payment company.

Chinese E-Commerce Giant Taobao Splits Itself Up
http://www.businessinsider.com/taobao-split-jack-ma-2011-6?
Taobao, the biggest commerce site in China, is splitting itself up into three sites and entities. Taobao is often referred to as the “eBay of China” but it’s a much broader e-commerce platform and the split reflects that. Now there will be Taobao itself, a consumer-to-consumer marketplace (i.e. like eBay), Taobao Mall, a business-to-consumer marketplace (i.e. businesses open storefront on Taobao Mall to sell to consumers) and eTao, a shopping search engine. Despite the split, still no IPO of Taobao, on the horizon.

Chinese now spend 41% of their online time on social networks
http://thenextweb.com/asia/2011/06/13/chinese-now-spend-41-of-their-time-online-on-social-networks-in-lieu-of-news-sites/
A new report reveals that the Chinese now spend 41% of their time online on social networks, which indicates a major shift in how Chinese netizens are no longer purely consumers of web content, but are now more open to communicate, share, and engage online as well.
(Thanks to Sascha Engel for the link)

Chinese Secretly Copy Austrian UNESCO Town
http://www.spiegel.de/international/europe/0,1518,768754,00.html
Residents of the Austrian mountain town of Hallstatt, population 800, are scandalized. A Chinese firm has plans to replicate the village — including its famous lake — in the southern Chinese province of Guangdong, Austrian media reported this week.

Other Asia

Ebay, Yahoo, Google, Nokia, and Skype announce Asia Internet Coalition
http://www.campaignasia.com/Article/260505,ebay-yahoo-google-nokia-and-skype-launch-asia-internet-coalition.aspx
Ebay, Yahoo, Google, Nokia and Skype have joined forces to launch a new industry association, The Asia Internet Coalition (AIC), which aims to promote understanding and resolution of Internet policy issues in the Asia-Pacific region.

Village in India named after a Groupon clone
http://www.penn-olson.com/2011/06/15/village-in-india-named-after-a-groupon-clone
An Indian Groupon clone has adopted a village called Shiv Nagar in Uttar Pradesh, India, and renamed it to Snapdeal.com Nagar. The one-year-old online group-buying start-up will develop the village’s infrastructure, including installation of water pumps and support of the local school and hospital.

Taiwanese newspaper pre-announces iPad3
http://allthingsd.com/20110614/taiwan-newspaper-pre-announces-7-inch-ipad-3/
Taiwan’s Economic Daily, which correctly predicted some of the specs of the original iPad well ahead of its debut, has stated that Apple has another iPad in the works and intends to launch it before the end of the year. Rumour states that it will have a 7-inch touchscreen with an image resolution five to six times greater than the iPad2.

Malaysia braces for cyber-attacks
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20110615/tc_afp/malaysiaturkeytechnologyinternethacking
Malaysian officials are bracing for hacker attacks on government websites by a group which sabotaged Turkish sites last week to protest against Internet censorship. Internet activists Anonymous warned on a website that they would target Malaysia’s government portal www.Malaysia.gov.my.

Singapore promotes healthy eating with apps
http://www.penn-olson.com/2011/06/10/singapore-promotes-healthy-eating-through-iphone-app/
To promote healthy eating, Singapore’s Health Promotion Board recently launched ‘Healthy Chef,’ an iPhone app that provides healthy cooking recipes for Singaporeans. The app provides over 70 recipes created by renowned chefs in Singapore with choices over Chinese, Malay, Indian or Western cuisines. A user can search for recipes based on calorie level and save them within their shopping list for future reference.
(Thanks to June Saowanee for the link)

China

Microblog saves desperate melon farmer
http://www.china.org.cn/china/2011-06/07/content_22728263.htm
A farmer in China turned to Weibo.com to voice his frustrations about a lack of sales following stories of exploding melons (due to growth chemicals). He said, “The reports of bursting watermelons have brought a miserable life for us. We have tens of thousands of jin (one jin equals half a kilogram) of watermelons waiting to get rotten in the farmlands.” Seven hours after his first post, Fu said in a new post that his melons were almost sold out, but his neighbors were also in need of help.

China’s Sina to launch English microblogging site
http://www.straitstimes.com/BreakingNews/TechandScience/Story/STIStory_677126.html
Sina has announced plans to start an English version of its hugely popular microblogging site by the end of the year. It will pursue this venture with foreign partners. There is some speculation that Facebook could possibly partner with the Chinese giant.

Sina Weibo – competition for Twitter?
http://blogs.wsj.com/chinarealtime/2011/06/08/sina-weibo-competition-for-twitter/?mod=WSJBlog
While Sina’s English site could be a viable competitor for Twitter, Sina appears likely to police user posts on the English version of Weibo just as it does on the Chinese version, where it filters messages for sensitive content to comply with Chinese regulations.

Chinese “cyber attacks” – are they fallacies?
http://the-diplomat.com/flashpoints-blog/2011/06/07/china-cyber-attack-fallacies/
Reports surfaced last week saying that China was behind a hacking campaign. The proof to support the headline was that Chinese IP addresses were involved. What both Google and Siobhan Gorman, who reported on the story for the Wall Street Journal (which we featured in Digerati last week), failed to disclose was that other countries IP addresses were used as well, including South Korea and the United States.

China’s global reach (map)
http://www.npr.org/2011/06/07/136930746/chinas-global-reach
A fantastic resource for tracing China’s foreign investments. Between 2005 and 2010, China invested more than $319 billion overseas, funding projects in energy, agriculture, finance and more. The top countries that China invested in were Australiua ($33.9 billion), the USA ($28.1 billion), Nigeria ($15.4 billion), Iran ($15.1 billion), and Brazil ($14.9 billion).

China increases Internet control, takes down hundreds of websites
http://thenextweb.com/asia/2011/06/08/china-increases-internet-control-takes-down-hundreds-of-websites/
Under the new controls, more than 700 pornographic and copyright infringing websites have been shut down. Individuals have also been banned from registering domain names ending in .cn, which is now now limited to registered businesses in China.
(Thanks to Pete Mitchell for the link)

Other Asia

Korea’s Got Talent – a Korean orphan stuns the audience
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BewknNW2b8Y
Sung-bong Choi, a Korean laborer who grew up as a homeless orphan, supporting himself in the streets by selling gum and beverages, stunned the audience of Korea’s Got Talent with his trained tenor singing voice.

More Korean talent – Lip-synching, badminton-strumming schoolgirls!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oaNj-3cwB38&feature=share
In addition to showcasing fine lip-synching talents, these girls use bushy eyebrows and facial hair to entertain Korea (and YouTube) with hilariously over the top performing.

Media offices receive mysterious coffins in the mail; advertiser arrested
http://www.penn-olson.com/2011/06/06/indonesia-mystery-coffins-advertising/
The sender of these coffins was listed as “Rest In Peace Soon”. Police have raided the sender’s address and found it to be the offices of Buzz & Co., an advertising agency. The company’s CEO, Sumardy Ma, was subsequently arrested. He explained that the coffin delivery was a marketing strategy to launch a book entitled “Rest In Peace Advertising, The Power Of Word Of Mouth Marketing.”

Chunghwa Telecom sets foot in mobile advertising biz
http://news.cens.com/cens/html/en/news/news_inner_36550.html
Chunghwa Telecom recently announced that its online software-download store, Hami Apps, has set up mobile-advertising operation named In-App Advertisement, becoming Taiwan`s first telecom carrier to enter the subcategory of mobile marketing.

Sofitel in Bangkok to unveil Apple-based digital hotel entertainment

http://www.psfk.com/2011/06/apple-based-digital-hotel-entertainment-at-the-sofitel-so-bangkok.html

Each of the hotel’s rooms will be equipped with an Apple Mac mini, which will function as a multimedia center, offering guests digital TV, radio channels, movies, music library, DVD and CD player, and the ability to play your personal iPod, iPhone and iPad

Mobile

Mobile payments to reach $50 billion by 2014
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-06-07/mobile-phone-payments-to-reach-50-billion-by-2014-report-says.html
Consumers worldwide will spend about $50 billion using their mobile phones through a technology called near field communications by 2014 as the payment method gains popularity. North America and Western Europe will account for 50 percent of the total spending, surpassing the Asian market (which is still dominated by Japan).

The Social Web

Top ten luxury brands with highest Facebook IQ
http://www.jeffbullas.com/2011/06/06/what-are-the-top-10-luxury-brands-on-facebook-with-the-highest-facebook-iq/
The top ten are: BMW, Clinique, Audi, Lexus, Bare Escentuals, Benefit, Bobbi Brown, Johnny Walker, Belvedere, and Tory Burch. They were ranked on: size and velocity, programming, engagement, and integration.

100 examples of corporate social media policies
http://www.kokasexton.com/word/100-examples-of-corporate-social-media-policies/
Check out the ways in which companies such as BBC, GM, FedEx, ESPN, IBM, and more treat social media in the work place. This contains great examples from companies of nearly every discipline and would be an excellent resource for any client hoping to write a social media policy.

Creative

Perrier: The more you watch, the hotter it gets (Ogilvy)
http://www.youtube.com/perrier

Ogilvy Singapore celebrates quitters with anit-smoking drive
http://www.campaignsingapore.sg/Video/259924,ogilvy-singapore-celebrates-quitters-in-anti-smoking-drive.aspx

Dove’s Digital Body Language (Ogilvy)
http://apps.facebook.com/dovebodylanguage/

McDonalds’ McFriends
http://vimeo.com/20306234
(Thanks to Sascha Engel for the link)

Nike SB: Support Your Local
http://www.psfk.com/2011/06/nike-sbs-support-your-local-2011-video.html

Hong Kong Death: Clean Air Flash Mob
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cz0zQcpzj38

Social media sandals – a “step” too far?
http://www.trendhunter.com/trends/twitter-inspired-innovation

Augmented reality – String ‘Wonderment’
http://www.wired.com/beyond_the_beyond/2011/06/augmented-reality-string%E2%84%A2-wonderment/

And Finally…

The World’s Most Exclusive Website
http://theworldsmostexclusivewebsite.com/index.php?e=v
This site allows levels of access based on how many Twitter followers a user has. To enter “Room 1,” you need to be a “verified” Twitter user. To enter Room 2, you need to have at least 5,000 followers., and so on. Most users won’t even be able to get through the front door and will be re-directed to the Olive Garden website.
(Thanks to Soohan Han for the link)

If you don’t make it in based on your following, see what is inside here: http://www.businessinsider.com/what-is-the-most-exclusive-website

This week we decipher a series of terms from China’s bureau of riddles: financial spin masters describe the current internet bloated IPO valuations as a “good bubble”; cryptic shenanigans with China’s three mobile operators under scrutiny in an affair over RMB350m of “illegal” money; Xinhua hits back at Google’s “chimerical complaints” of cyberattacks emanating from Jinan, China.

China

China embraces its inner tech bubble

http://blogs.forbes.com/ericjackson/2011/05/31/china-embraces-its-inner-tech-bubble/

Tech industry leaders in China seem to agree that a “bubble” is currently underway in their country. Rather than dread the inevitable fall, however, the executives are focused on the golden age of development that they are currently in. As one leader said, “We’re in the midst of a bubble but a good bubble.  It’s going to create a flight to quality.  The bad companies will lose momentum or die. The market will shrink to a small base of companies.” Soon investors will stop and companies will go under, but the industry as a whole (in China) is focused on the positive.

Western view: Chinese hackers use fake Gmail site to steal activist data

http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2011/jun/01/google-hacking-chinese-attack-gmail

Google has revealed that it had been the target of a phishing campaign seemingly originating in Jinan, a mid-sized Chinese city (six million) known mostly for exports, [72 fresh springs, its muslim population and its status as the IT capital of China twinned with Bangalore, India]. It was aimed at gaining access to the accounts of senior officials in the U.S., Korea and other governments, as well as those of Chinese activists.

China view: “Google’s Chimerical Complaints”… against local chefs making cider-snacks cyberattacks

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/china/2011-06/02/c_13907875.htm

It was the second time that Google arbitrarily pointed its finger at China. Last year, Google groundlessly accused the Chinese government of supporting hacker attack against it and pushed China to abandon legal regulations on the Internet by threatening to withdraw from the Chinese market. The chimerical complaints by Google have become obstacles for enhancing global trust between stakeholders in cyberspace. However, it was too imprudent for the online giant to lash out at others without solid proof to support its accusation. Last year, Google invited the U.S. National Security Agency (NSA), a spy agency, to help with its inquiry into cyberattacks against it… they traced the attackers to computers at Chinese Shanghai Jiaotong University and Lanxiang Vocational School.. The report amused many Chinese at that time since Lanxiang Vocational School enjoys a good fame at training chefs for local restaurants. It is really hard for people with common sense to understand.

Ma might bite Yahoo – Alibaba Group CEO Jack Ma on the Alipay affair, Yahoo and loving employees (video and transcript)

http://allthingsd.com/20110601/alibaba-group-ceo-jack-ma-live-at-d9/

Jack Ma reveals several insights in this interview, including his thoughts on employee training (which he feels should all be done internally), cultural trends in China (customs, people, and government) and business trends in China (mobile, gaming, and search), and Yahoo (which he’d love to buy some day).

New Sina Weibo profiles leak reveals vitual goods, eCommerce integration

http://thenextweb.com/asia/2011/06/02/new-sina-weibo-profiles-leak-reveals-virtual-goods-ecommerce-integration

A leaked screenshot caught reveals more details on what seems to be Sina’s new “QWeibo” profiles, which feature virtual goods and eCommerce integration. Sina has been adding features to the Weibo platform in an attempt to turn it into a complete social network experience instead of simply being a microblogging platform.

10 reasons why China is different

http://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/roach5/English

This report singles out strategy, commitment, delivery, saving, rural-urban migration 316 million Chinese are expected to move from rural to urban China over the next 20 years), consumption, services, foreign direct investment (China is a magnet for the investment of multinational technology companies), education (1.5 million engineers and scientists graduate in China every year), and innovation (China’s aggressive pursuit of patents and new technologies is what sets it apart) as the main differentiator between China and other nations.

China’s seizure of China Mobile leads to wider corruption probe

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-06-01/china-s-seizure-of-china-mobile-executive-leads-to-wider-corruption-probe.html

All three of China’s major mobile carriers (China Mobile, China Unicom, and China Telecom) are now under investigation following the arrest of a China Mobile executive in March. The investigation is a probe of more than 60 people that may involve 350 million yuan of “illegal money”.

Other Asia

Indonesian president responds to defamation in social media

http://www.penn-olson.com/2011/06/01/indonesian-president-defamation-social-media/

The Indonesian government has been facing criticism on social media platforms like Twitter, blogs, in text messages recently. Last week the political world in Indonesia was turned upside-down by the emergence of a specific SMS text containing allegations of corruption against the nation’s government. The SMS spread far enough for the president to comment on it, saying, “I think with the development of information technologies — such as SMS, Twitter, websites, and Blackberry — as well as all types of online media can improve our lives in this nation. But, for those who are not knights, those who use (these media) for character assassination or verbal abuse. That is freedom of speech, [but] when it comes to defamation then it must be accounted for.”

Malaysian to tweet apology 100 times in Twitter defamation case

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/jun/02/malaysian-tweet-apology-defamation

A Malaysian social activist will apologise 100 times on Twitter in an unusual settlement with a magazine publisher in a defamation case. The penalty has sparked debate among internet users about the pitfalls of social media in Malaysia, where authorities have warned people to be more cautious about what they write on blogs, Facebook and Twitter.Fahmi Fadzil, an opposition politician’s aide and respected commentator on social issues, claimed on Twitter in January that his pregnant friend had been poorly treated by her employers at a magazine run by BluInc Media.

Vodafone India sues customer for defamatory Facebook statuses

http://thenextweb.com/in/2011/06/01/vodafone-india-sues-customer-for-posting-defamatory-facebook-statuses/

Vodafone India has sent in a legal notice to a man who has complained about its services on Facebook, asking him to take down the ‘defamatory’ posts. This case is interesting because if the court gives an injunction, it could become a precedent for other popular brands to start sending legal notices against other microbloggers.

Playstation Network coming back online everywhere except Japan, Hong Kong, and South Korea

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/05/31/us-sony-network-idUSTRE74U07A20110531

Following the closure of the service after information was stolen from 77 million accounts, Sony has announced that it will re-launch the service in every market except for Japan, Hong Kong, and South Korea. Sony has declined to comment as to why they are excluding these countries. Around 10% of the affected PSN users are in these countries. Sony has hinted, however, that services will return to these Asian nations only a few days after the others.

The Social Web

Zynga to launch new game – “Empires and Allies” in Indonesian, Chinese, Malay, and Korean

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/zynga-launch-new-game-empires-193468

Social gaming developer Zynga has announced the global launch of Empires & Allies, its first strategy combat game – a release “that includes more social features than any of its other games.” It is debuting in 12 languages, including Indonesian, Traditional Chinese and, for the first time, Malay and Korean. Zynga has more than 250 million monthly active users and is the developer of games such as CityVille, FarmVille, FrontierVille, Mafia Wars and Cafe World.

Facebook close to 700 million users

http://www.socialbakers.com/blog/171-facebook-is-globally-closing-in-to-700-million-users/

The top country (in terms of growth) in the last month was Brazil, which added 1.9 million new users. The rest of the top ten included Indonesia (up 1.5 million), the Philippines (up 1.3 million), and India (up 0.9 million).

Mobile

Intel Ultrabooks are front and center at Taiwan IT expo (Computex 2011)

http://www.zdnet.com/blog/computers/computex-2011-intel-unveils-ultrabook-talks-medfield-tablets/6004

The first ultrabooks, which will be available later this year, will be based on Intel’s second-generation Core processors, measure less than 0.8 inches thick and cost less than $1,000 US. The size, performance and features of these ultrabooks will evolve over the next two to three years as Intel introduces new processor technology.

Location-based marketing hits Colombo

http://www.asiadigitalmap.com/2011/06/location-based-marketing-hits-colombo/

Marketers are beginning to use location-based marketing in the Sri-Lankan capital. They are mainly targeting the “New Urban Middle Class” – a new, small social category. Smartphones aren’t nearly as prevalent as feature phones in Sri Lanka, so ambitions are still tempered.

(Thanks to Asia Digital Map)

Long Reads

Bigerati: May’s most explosive stats

http://www.slideshare.net/OgilvyAsia/bigerati-ogilvy-asia-pacific/

Digital Life: today and tomorrow 7mins state of the world overview

http://youtu.be/iG8KaWxr2gs

Creative

Turkcell Twitter campaign

http://www.simplyzesty.com/twitter/brilliant-twitter-campaign-case-study/

(Thanks to Supavadee Tantiyanon for the link)

LG Loves Indonesia

https://www.facebook.com/LGLovesIndonesia

(Thanks to Dhanushree Sant for the link)

Kitty and Lala: Chinese bloggers take center stage as Intel unveils global campaign

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JFbUbAWbB-s & http://www.campaignbrief.com/asia/2011/06/chinese-bloggers-take-centre-s.html

& Finally…

Take a minute to focus on yourself with these social media visualization tools…

Intel’s Museum of Me

http://www.intel.com/museumofme/r/index.htm

Link this to your Facebook account and embark on a tour of your Facebook world, complete with exhibits showcasing your photos, friends, and statuses.

(Thanks to Alexandra Mecklenburg for the link)

The Social List

http://www.the-social-list.com/

See your “worth” on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, or Foursquare

There were many great learnings and takeaways, but here are a few that I will hang over my desk.

1) As marketers, we should develop social media programs that are not only fun and engaging, but also contribute to the client’s bottom line (we often get hung up on the creativity or virality)

2) The top 3 things CMOs look for in a social media campaign in 2011: (1) Reach & Position (2) Preference (3) Action

3) Set realistic and achieveable KPIs and diagnostics before executing any social media campaign (even better if you could tie it into sales)

4) Did you know that only 10% of friends get your wall post in their news feed?  So understand what are the best days and times to reach out to your audience.

5) Ideas don’t come from social media or technology, it comes from people. Fredrik Haren’s equation that Idea = p(k+i).

6) Don’t just focus on now (i.e. iphone apps, Facebook games), find out how we can help our clients prepare for the future (i.e. social on mobile)

Why “Fast Content”? The quick creation of compelling content is an increasingly important skill to create strong social media campaigns.

The winner of our competition got an all-expense paid trip to the Ogilvy Social Media Summit in Hong Kong from May 25 to 27. We will have more than 50 social media specialists gathered from more than 14 markets for three days of non-stop social media.

Below is a selection of entries received.

Special congratulations Joelynn Chin for winning the competition. Her submission showed a focus on using social media to win a social media competition!

2011 Di Summit Competition Submissions

Last night we launched the IKEA Hong Kong “Bedroom Makeover” photo contest, created to bring real-life value to the social experience. Fans (that could include you!) are invited to upload a photo about their bedroom storage nightmare and tell us how IKEA can help them solve it for the chance to win HK$10,000 in IKEA stuff. Three grand prize winners – determined by a combination of popularity and creativity – will then get to run around IKEA “supermarket sweep”-style and grab as much as they can in 90 seconds.

Check it out here: http://on.fb.me/BedroomMakeover

This experience follows a “Lucky Draw” that ran for two weeks with the objective of growing our community and pre-empting buzz around the Photo Contest. This strategy yielded great anecdotal results: 7,000 fans in two weeks, plus an additional 2,000 fans overnight based on a single “sneak peak” post about the upcoming $10,000 prize bucket.

Now, our focus with “Bedroom Makeover” is very much on rewarding our current community of brand loyalists, leveraging this fan activation to drive earned media within their extended networks.

Both experiences are part of an integrated campaign around the benefits of organised living. Or, as IKEA calls it, the great feeling of being “Happy Inside.”

http://english.people.com.cn/90001/90782/90872/7287763.html

Apparently in bygone days (the 1980s), “three major items” – usually a watch, a bicycle and a sewing machine – could usually secure a woman’s hand in marriage. Over time, Chinese ladies have wisened up and in the 1990s those three items became a modern refrigerator, a TV set and a washing machine. Today, they’ve had enough with three items – now many young Chinese women are demanding that their suitors purchase apartments before even thinking about getting down on one knee. Many starry-eyed youngsters thinks that all of these transactions have taken the romance out of love, and have turned to new technology to relay old sentiments – resulting in 163,000 140-character love letters appearing on t.sina.com (the Chinese microblogging site) on Valentine’s Day. Over sixty-three million Chinese people are microblogging now, so expect and even bigger number of micro-Valentines next year.

Indian website offers virtual wives

http://thenextweb.com/asia/2011/02/15/indian-website-offers-virtual-wives/

Nervous about getting married? Give it a test dive with Bharat Matrimony, an Indian website where bachelors can get a “taste” of the type of wife they would prefer as a life partner. Register, and you will then receive calls during the day with pre-recorded messages from your virtual wife. Once they give it a test, Bharat Matrimony hopes to encourage men to step forward and sign up with their Matrimonial Site, where they can find a real wife.

China: Beware of the Valentine’s Day virus (no, not that one)

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/tech/news/internet/Beware-of-Valentines-Day-virus/articleshow/7492914.cms

The China National Computer Virus Emergency Response Centre issued a message warning computer users not to open spam mail with Valentine’s Day messages in the subject line. Such mails may contain worms like “Worm_ Blebla.B”, “VBS_ILoveyou” and “Vbs_Valentin.A” and do significant damage to computers.

Ogilvy Group Melbourne: Puma unites lonely runners for Valentine’s Day

http://www.campaignasia.com/Article/248486,puma-unites-lonely-runners-for-valentine8217s-day.aspx

The campaign featured the tagline ‘Meet someone fit’. Participants were encouraged to wear different coloured T-shirts to indicate their level of availability. Runners had the option of following a ‘cheeky quicky’ 4.5 kilometre course or a more intense 6.5 kilometre one.

Hef’s hard drive – every Playboy issue from 1953 to 2010 on a 250 GB hard drive fro $299.95!

http://news.creativeleague.com/2010/12/hefs-hard-drive

Over fifty years of great….reading. All in one place!