The media landscape in China has changed dramatically in recent years. According to the most recent report of the China Internet Network Information Center, there are currently 111 million Internet users in China. The number of blogs in China is estimated to reach 60 million by the end of 2006. And although most blogs may not have a large following, there is indeed a growing number of blogs that help to shape peoples’ opinions on companies, brands and products. Weber Shandwick established a dedicated Web Relations team that powers PR campaigns with online strategies that enable our clients to influence online audiences and decision makers.
This article is based on some recent commentary of our Web Relations team in Media magazine and South China Morning Post on the increasing importance of blogging in China.
Do blogs impact brands?
Brands are in blogs! Millions of bloggers around the world discuss brands and many influence brand perceptions with their opinions. Brand owners seem to have lost a lot of control in this age of personal media. But companies can use blogs to their advantage. By simply listening in, you will gain valuable insights on consumer behavior, much like the information you get from conducting focus groups. Tracking buzz-volume in blogs allows you to measure brand performance. The influencer map today has changed, so make sure you treat influential bloggers like you treat other influencers. Give them easy access to exclusive brand content to make them even more influential and support their cause with advertising if necessary. But always respect the blogger’s independence.
Are companies catching on?
Although Google launched a corporate blog in China and Siemens China also has one, corporate blogging is still very much in its infancy and primarily dominated by personal blogs. We do see a second wave of blogs that are more professionally or industry oriented, including a number of influential blogs by reporters. I think it will only take a few recognized corporate personalities or a recognized corporation to launch their corporate blog to set the spark for the third wave of blogs that will be corporate oriented. How successful they will be really depends on the blog content. If it is merely a different package for the same newsletter content, success will be limited. They will really need to feature more “behind-the-scenes” type of content to capture attention. There will undoubtedly be more corporate blogs, but probably few really successful ones!
Should all companies launch blogs?
Blogs lend themselves very well to reach Internet audiences, which are generally highly educated and affluent. However, traditional company structures and hierarchies can make it difficult to launch pure corporate blogs. There are a number of issues that need to be addressed first. For example, blog content often needs to be very current in order to be considered relevant, thus previous approval processes may not be applicable anymore. Another issue is the type of content that will be featured in a blog, as it will provide commentary and opinions on current developments in—and outside—of the company. Current approval processes for external communication may not be suitable to deal with the speed and type of content in blogs. Also, very few people within the organization will want to be held responsible for a strong opinion that may not be extensively tested or pre-approved. I therefore think that many companies will regard it as a risk-factor rather than an opportunity as the more flexible control mechanisms are not accepted yet. These issues will need to be addressed before launching a blog.
What types of companies should use blogs?
We believe that technology-oriented companies will be the first to launch corporate blogs since the medium often has the right reach and influence amongst their industry target audiences. Also, companies who are very active in specific vertical industries will see a relative early adaptation of trade blogs. Vertical industries generally will lend themselves better for specialist or technical commentary to closed industry circle. We therefore advise our clients to launch industry specific blogs or internal blogs first before considering launching a corporate blog. This will allow them to get used to the medium in a more controlled environment first.
Some Leading Corporate Blogs
 Google China
http://www.googlechinablog.com/
 IBM:
http://www-03.ibm.com/developerworks/blogs/page/BillHiggins
 Macromedia
http://weblogs.macromedia.com/mesh/
 Microsoft
http://blogs.msdn.com/msdnwebcasts/
Antony Cheng
Senior Consultant, Web Relations, acheng@webershandwick.com
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