This was the motivation behind our latest Wall Street Journal webinar in which Thomas Crampton,  Ogilvy & Mather’s Asia-Pacific lead for  Social Media, together with Erik Johnson, Facebook’s Vice President for Asia-Pacific, discussed Facebook and its implications for businesses in Asia.  Highly interactive in nature, this webinar was yet another successful session of the social media training series by Ogilvy & Mather, the Wall Street Journal Asia and Citrix that takes a hard-nosed look at the real meaning for business of recent trends in social media in Asia.

Ogilvy On: Facebook in Asia

1) The Consumer-Patient

2) Physicians/Healthcare Providers

Consumers have become increasingly empowered to take their health into their own hands via the Internet, gaining access to vast medical information portals, self-monitoring and self-diagnosis tools, and peer support social networks. In China, for example, 80% of consumers conduct online research before consulting their doctors. In Asia, bringing these tools to mobile phones has been key in increasing access to more reliable health information. This is evidenced by the rise of mobile health apps, which indulge our burgeoning obsession with ‘the quantified self.’ However, it can also be as simple as being able to SMS a network of doctors for answers to pressing questions in real-time.  SMS remains a powerful tool to connect patients and doctors in Asia (See mDhil.com in India and Buddyworks in the Philippines). As questions of trust persist in the healthcare industry, Asians increasingly refer to social networks to confirm or deny rumors or to simply look for the most credible answers. Likewise, social networks serve as a strong source of support for others going through a similar experience.

From the physician’s point of view, they have to now manage this newly empowered patient, who comes to them armed with information and data gathered online. They find they are having to make themselves more accessible via a multiplicity of channels while adhering to established codes of ethics and confidentiality (as often official regulatory guidelines about physicians’ social media conduct are lacking). Indeed doctors are now blogging and on instant messaging services, out to raise awareness as well as their own profile in their field. Eighty percent of Chinese doctors use online resources for general medical news or to stay up to date with clinical information. There has been an absolute explosion in doctors’ social networks. Check out DXY.cn in China for proof, where over 2 million doctors converse, exchange knowledge, and set up professional profiles. These networks are popular in Asia particularly where doctors don’t have access to the multitude of hard copy peer review journals as in the West. They are looking to stay current with research and cross-reference solutions for their patients. Like their patients, doctors are increasingly embracing mobile technologies to facilitate patient care and research.

All the major pharma companies have a social media presence but face intense scrutiny and increasing regulation. So what value can the pharma maker provide to the social media savvy patient/doctor?

• Curate credible and trustworthy medical information. Become a destination for reliable answers for disease management, not just a brochure of products
• Facilitate conversation and support networks. Bring those facing similar challenges together
• Give them useful tools that are relevant to your products and their lives. Breathe branded utility
• Be transparent, open and honest. Display a willingness to exchange information and care
• Gather intelligence from these forums to innovate and spur R&D

Thoughts? Questions? Additional insights? Leave your comment below or email me at lisa.werner@ogilvy.com.

This is an interesting survey and provides a glimpse on how small and medium sized businesses are dabbling (or not) in social media.

Tim Reed, CEO at MYOB and quoted in the release, observes that the hype in social media hasn’t yet translated to full scale adoption, which in my opinion is not a surprise, especially as 35% of those surveyed don’t even have a website.

What do you think?

More importantly, the digital savvy business owners and marketing teams in these businesses are focusing on their websites, and optimising content for search. The latest MYOB Business Monitor also reveals:

•    Female business owners are slightly more online savvy than male business owners, with 39% of female business owners having a website compared to 32% of male business owners.  Female business owners are also more likely to use social media to promote their business (Female 20% vs Male 17%).
•    Businesses in West Australia are more likely to have a website (40%) and more likely to use their website for marketing and sales – ecommerce (25%).  Compared to Queensland, with 32% of businesses with a website and 17% using their website for sales and marketing.
•    Business owners in New South Wales are the most likely to belong to business networks online (22%), compared to business owners in West Australia (11%).
•    Businesses in South Australia are more likely to use social media to promote their business (27%), compared to businesses in New South Wales (15%).

According to the Oxford dictionary, ‘Influence’ is defined as ‘The power or ability to affect someone’s beliefs or actions.’ In order to successfully influence someone, it is essential to gain their respect and trust by actively demonstrating you are interested in them and understand them. In the case of most brands, this merely equates to jumping on the latest digital bandwagon. For example, getting onto Twitter just because ‘every other teen is ‘Tweeting’ these days’. Hanging out in teenage hotspots is one thing, but if a brand doesn’t understand teens’ needs and motivations for being there in the first place, success will merely boil down to luck. It’s no wonder so few brands have succeeded with this challenging group of consumers.

In 2009, Ogilvy Malaysia set out to better understand and effectively influence this elusive group, by conducting research specifically to uncover the role of technology in the life of 15-18 year old Malaysian teens.

3 key discoveries were made:

Firstly, the basic needs of teens have largely remained the same throughout the years.

The 5 basic needs of teenagers have been identified as the need for Self-Expression, 24/7 Communication with Peers, Privacy , Self-Achievement and a Sense of Belonging. All these needs are manifestations of a deeper need for Identity Discovery and Development.

A child’s identity is shaped solely by his or her parents. Upon reaching early teenage years, the need to discover and define one’s self emerges . In helping teens discover who they really are, the opinion of peers take precedence over those of their parents. It becomes exceedingly important for teens to belong and be accepted by their peer groups, to ensure they are not perceived as inadequate. This explains certain cult-like tendencies, such as worshipping the same movie stars, wearing the same clothes and rebelling against traditional authority.

The second discovery is that these digital natives cannot imagine life without technology.

Having grown up in a digital world, this generation lives and breathes technology. Perpetually online and connected 24/7, a 16 year old said “The Internet is like oxygen, when my computer doesn’t work I feel like my world has ended.” (Source: Ogilvy Malaysia 2009 research: ‘The Transitory World of Gen C Teens’). Almost half of Malaysian teens interviewed feel more comfortable expressing themselves on MSN instead of in person , and more than half feel naked without their mobile phone (Source: Ogilvy Malaysia 2009 research: ‘The Transitory World of Gen C Teens’) Technology has become a key part of their lifestyle, integrated in just about everything they do.

Finally, most importantly, a new ‘Transitory World’ has emerged as a result of technology.
For the generations of teenagers who had to discover and develop their identity without the benefits of technology, the process of identity discovery and development was a difficult one, often resulting in high social anxiety for fear of ridicule and rejection.

Thanks to technology, a whole new world has emerged for the teens of today, making this process significantly less painful and intimidating. Located in between their private and public worlds, the ‘Transitory World’ is an experimental buffer zone where teens are able to freely explore, express and experiment with the formulation of their identity before taking the giant leap of showcasing this identity in the public world.

Ubiquitous technological platforms such as mobile phones, social networking sites (SNS), instant messengers (IM) and blogs reside in the ‘Transitory World’. The fast, fluid nature of these tech-platforms assist teens in exploring and defining their identity with immediate affirmation.

SNS and blogs provide teens the canvas to easily create material that can be interacted with, commented on and changed quickly. Teens are able to update their online profile and blogs and receive almost instantaneous comments and feedback from friends. Different groupings on IM and private SNS groups help to further reinforce and establish existing peer groups. Mobile phones allow them to constantly keep their friends in the loop, strengthening their sense of belonging. The ‘Transitory World’ helps mitigate the anxiety, embarrassment, and humiliation teens often experienced during the crucial transition from their private world to the public world.

The ‘Transitory World’ is a fertile, safe-haven, where teens are receptive and open-minded. As it is still relatively untapped and uninhabited by brands, there is a huge opportunity for first-movers to greatly influence and impact teenagers. To do this, brands firstly need to realize the existence of such a world. They also need to understand how to best use technology to assist teens in meeting their basic needs, using the right technology platforms to meet their different needs.

By navigating and optimizing the ‘Transitory World’, brands will be finally be able to engage, influence and ‘put a ring’ on this highly prized group of consumers.

Why Tweetup?

Some of you might have seen tweets about the Ogilvy’s APAC Digital Influence Summit lately. Ogilvy’s DI Summit is an internal event held by the Asia Pacific Regional team where all the digital experts from around the region will be attending a 3-day event in Hong Kong to exchange digital knowledge, connect and bond with other team

Although the event is not open for public, we would like to offer you a chance to meet our team, head of the global digital influence team John Bell will also be flying all the way from Washington DC! It is a very rare opportunity for you to meet all of us at once, in the offline world!

When?

Tweetup will be held this Sunday, June 27th at 7pm. Not the perfect timing for tweetup but due to the World Cup schedule, this is the only time when venues are available.

Where?

Tweetup will be held in RED Soho as usual.

Address: 2/f, Kinwick Centre, 32 Hollywood Road, Soho Central. (Right next to the escalator above hollywood road)

How to sign up?

Here

See you there!

The whole country seems to feel an overwhelming desire to see, capture and carry as much as possible. They want to touch, see, touch again and see it again and most importantly, see it through the lens of a camera.

The experience is all about capturing everything in sight with as many mega pixels as possible. And sightseeing is like a race against time, and innumerable fellow travelers.

Desire to capture the evidence of being in a place can even surpass the desire to experience the place itself.
So while the Chinese travelers are busy capturing they can sometimes lose on the moments and experience part. Add to this the fact that if they are unable to organize what they capture – they can even miss on these memories.

The relative inexperience of the Chinese leisure traveler is a reflection of China’s stage of development, and it offers fertile ground for marketers.

There are various ways to helping these Chinese travelers. And marketers of technology products can especially play an important role in this.

Film and camera companies can help Chinese tourists, many of whom are first-time owners of high-end digital cameras, find better ways of organizing travel pictures. Photographs can be brought to life in more ways than just sprinkling them on a blog, e-mailing them as large files or dumping them in some obscure corner of the hard drive,
For example, PC and Television companies can inspire the users through easy to use though music-layered slide shows on that can be viewed on large flat-screen TV sets. Right now only Apple comes close to providing this kind of inspiration.

Mobile phone companies and wireless carriers could offer more ways to use location-based services by developing and marketing applications that help people learn more about the temple in front of them or the myth about a lake they are walking past.

Even non- technology brands have many opportunities. Brands related to travel, travel accessories and hospitality could play a more important role here. So could brands that help people better understand the places and artifacts that so far they have only been clicking and carrying home in the flash memory of a newly acquired digital camera.

Automakers can help those traveling by car discover unknown attractions on the way to the hotel.

For those less savvy with technology, marketers could bundle promotional materials such as city guides with tourism accessories like North Face backpacks or camera lenses.

Advertisers have experimented with these ideas in western countries but in China, most remain unknown — even though the mainland has become a massive market for domestic tourism.

A moment between shooting those shadows

It is no secret that the Internet in China has been an agent for reform, and it is serving as a valuable tool for people to explore a world often beyond their reach. The Internet is not only serving China’s growing set of Netizens though. It is quickly replacing traditional media as brands and companies seek to connect with their consumers in new and different ways. With the exception of Google, international platforms that offer a cut and paste version of their American or European sites simply fail and often get banned. Popular sites such as Facebook and Twitter have fallen victim to the Great Firewall of China. While young innovative Chinese Netizens can find a way to get to these sites, why would they want to? Chinese social media is simply way cooler.

The Internet in China is dominated by long-running, multi-service portals like Sina, QQ and Sohu that have been offering social networking, discussion forums, blogs, instant messaging and other “socialised media” long before Twitter and Facebook. As the nationally preferred form of social media, bulletin board systems (BBS) are available in every imaginable topic, and in these forums, Netizens can be extremely vocal, resourceful, risk-takers, subversive and sometimes a little worrisome.

However, for the most part Netizens are simply seeking entertainment and escape. The bulk of internet users in China, young white collar urban Chinese, are informed, intelligent and generally optimistic about the future. This state of mind is exemplified by one of the hottest games at Kaixin called Parking Wars. Players earn virtual mullah for parking in their friends’ spaces and issuing parking infringements if they catch their friends parking on their home turf, with more money earning you shinier wheels. It is simply addictive and unrivalled by anything on Facebook.

Netizens love the collective and escapist nature of the Internet where avatars have become a nationwide obsession and are carefully designed as a form of self expression and extension of personality.  QQ offers avatar clothing and hairstyles for 1-5 RMB apiece. Many friends are made only in avatar form online, with Netizens never actually meeting face to face.

With no hesitation about inundating friends with requests to play this game, read that blog, join in this conversation or watch that video, the Internet and social media are no less than a national addiction. This addiction, and fast growing channel, has become the opportunity and challenge for companies and brands. The question everyone is asking is how to get started?

The first movers among companies and brands in leveraging the Internet to reach their customers know that a true digital brand experience requires creativity, authenticity and originality.

Chile

The government of Chile in promoting Chilean wine in China understood this. With limited funding and an ambitious agenda, ProChile, the Chilean government body responsible for the promotion of Chile and Chilean Wine, found gold with their online campaign.

China’s rapidly growing wine industry is full of both opportunity and a challenge. The opportunity rests among China’s rapidly growing wine connoisseurs, who seek new and different types of wine. The challenge was that Chinese consumers often default to French wine and high prices, focusing on the status achieved by the association of consuming French wine.

What Chinese consumers didn’t know was that Chile has affordable and high quality wines. The Chilean government wanted to reach out to Chinese wine consumers and help them understand that there was more to choosing wine than just comparing price tags.

The primary objective of the campaign was to increase Chilean wine sales in China. Beyond that, ProChile wanted to promote Chile to create a stronger brand presence for Chilean wine. The result, after only three months conducting a multi-phased digital campaign, was that Chilean wine moved up in the rankings of wine exporters into China.

Background

Wine is one of the fastest growing alcoholic drinks in China among a defined target audience of young (25-35 years old) urban professionals. However, after conducting research, young urban professions were often embarrassed to order or purchase wine because of a lack of understanding about the product. At the same time this group of people fell in the demographic of heavy Internet users. They were the foundation of China’s flourishing social media scene. These consumers were found to often look to bloggers for advice and viewed the internet as an instrument for self study and a place to share knowledge and recommendations.

Hence, it was obvious that online education and social media engagement should serve as the cornerstone of a campaign to build awareness, trial and preference for Chilean wine.

Strategy

Seeking to empower consumers with knowledge and confidence, the campaigned focused on arming netizens with the tools to buy or order wine. To create a bigger brand presence, images were used and information disseminated about Chile as a constant backdrop to everything undertaken.

A three-phase campaign roll-out was launched:

Phase 1: “I love wine.” During this phase every Netizen was invited to learn about wine appreciation, appealing to all current and would be wine drinkers.

Phase 2: “I love Chilean wine.” Focusing on the specific advantages of wine from Chile, the second-phase of the campaign encouraged people to convert to Chilean wine. Here, the campaign highlighted the affordability, taste quality and sustainability practices that set Chilean wine apart from the wines of other countries. In the process, we introduced netizens to the different regions of Chile, furthering education.

Phase 3: “I love Chile.” With a solid understanding of Chile, through Chilean wine, the door was open to introduce Chinese consumers to other products produced by Chile – fruit, salmon, urban transportation and tourism.

The main channel to begin discussion of Chilean wine was to leverage the blogosphere and make this viral. To begin with, the campaign involved collaboration with four influential bloggers asking them to stage a competition. Each week over four weeks the bloggers were sent a bottle of Chilean wine, together with information and facts about Chile.

The thrust of the blogger involvement centered on getting them interested in writing about the wine in their blogs in their own personal style. The blogger’s posts were aggregated at a site developed for the campaign, zhiliwine.com. This allowed us to create a lasting and permanent record of the event. Throughout the campaign over 70,000 netizens voted for their favorite articles, with many bottles of Chilean wine offered as give-aways for the competition. Blog posts were featured on the front pages of some of the biggest portals.

A broad social media footprint is important for every brand, and marketers need to take their message to the places where netizens are already investing their time and trust online. To extend the campaign message, popular social media was leveraged with content continually added to encourage debate and to help establish a community where netizens were able to discuss wine. Specifically:

• Kaixin – Chinese social network site where wine fans could come together and share wine drinking tips.
• Youku – Chinese video sharing site (like Youtube) where content was produced specifically about Chilean wine and this was uploaded for all to view.
• Flickr – Furnished numerous photos of Chilean wine, landscapes and other activities by ProChile in China.
• BBS forums – Seeded information in more than 50 relevant BBS forums to encourage interest.

The campaign empowered Chinese consumers to drink wine with ease, and impress their friends and business associates with “Webisodes” (short videos), created specifically for online video sharing networks as a tool for self-study. Through the webisodes the campaign delivered simple tips such as how to open a wine bottle, how to taste wine with confidence, and how to pair wine with Chinese food.

In addition to the online outreach, a comprehensive Interactive e-book in cooperation with Chilean wine companies in China was created, and the Chilean wine companies provided content and incorporated the e-book into their own marketing strategies.

Beyond social media, the campaign involved working with editors and producers of major portals to promote the campaign vehicles: the e-book, the videos and the blogger competition. It was important to reach out to editors of the more traditional online media so that the campaign reached people who do not use social media heavily, but who regularly read major Chinese websites such as Sina and Sohu.

After only three months, the greatest achievement was seeing Chilean wine climb from the fifth to the fourth largest exporter of wine to China, according to the Commissioner General of ProChile in China.

Like the country itself, social media in China is fast paced, constantly changing and growing faster than anywhere else in the world. For brands looking to get on China’s digital highway, seatbelts, a GPS and a little sense of adventure are a necessity. There is no more rewarding or amazing place to do social media.

Michael Darragh is Digital Strategic Planner at Ogilvy Public Relations Worldwide / Shanghai and producer of World Expo Blog.

From May to October 2010, Shanghai will play host to the largest world fair in history and the organising bureau are ensuring it is a digital expo too. Expo Online is a key measure of their digital communications and we are now able to get a preview into what’s in store.

You can browse the 5.25 square-kilometre site and interact with the various country and corporate pavilions on the Pudong and Puxi sides of the Huangpu River respectively.

In the screen capture at the top of this post you can see a section of the Asia Pacific area of Expo 2010. The big brown pavilion with a red marker on top is Australia. To its left you can see Thailand, and on the right Singapore, Malaysia and New Zealand. Meanwhile in the image below you can see the big Korean and Japanese pavilions.

Next year Expo Online will enable users to have a fully interactive experience, going inside the virtual pavilions and enjoy beautifully created digital experiences in several languages. Until then have fun playing around with the current version and if you want to learn more about World Expo 2010 Shanghai, check out my blog.

One of the rules that he points out is one that we tend to forget: ‘Quality NOT quantity’. Too often PRs get flack for doing a last minute dash to sign up as many people in their network to become friends/ fans on their clients’ Facebook groups and pages or on their Twitter handles.

As PRs, we need to continue to educate our clients that the real value does not lie in the sheer volume of people we sign up but rather in the quality of the people we engage (even if it’s only a handful!).

Consider who your target audience is, where do they frequent and how to reach them. Who is in your fans/ friends extended networks. Are they the right audience to target?

Using Twitter as an example, it’s important to do the analysis and drill down into who the person is that you want to connect with, get to know them, follow them for a while and find out what they write about. Also have a look into who follows that person, are they the appropriate person for your client to be reaching out to or is there someone in their Twitter network that is better?

This tool can help you determine the most appropriate people to follow:

If we want to get some real and long lasting results for our clients, the key is to make sure that we’re speaking to the right audiences!