Social Web Marketing in China: How brands are using Sina Weibo

Since the popularity of Facebook, Twitter and Youtube have grown dramatically over the past few years, there have been volumes of discussions about the influence of social web marketing for brands. In China, the buzz now is Sina Weibo. “Weibo” is a semantic translation of “micro-blog” and follows the same basic structure as Twitter but with several differentiating features.

Recently Sina Weibo redesigned its interface for certified brands to provide a new refreshing look with more customizable widgets. Sina Weibo is currently the largest micro-blogging site in China with more than 195 million users and growing. Many brands use Weibo to establish an online presence and collect consumers’ feedback. At the same time, companies strive to maintain a consistent brand image on the platform.

This is Part 2 of a three part series of blog posts discussing approaches brands are using during the 2010 World Cup. These approaches include new product introductions, social media campaigns, and creative brand communication activities.
Now, let’s have a look at the social media campaigns surrounding the event.

Danish butter brand Lurpak recently launched a website called Bake Club. This tool offers baking fans an opportunity to connect online with others who share the same passion. At the same time, it allows Lurpak to connect with its consumers and demonstrate what the brand stands for. In other words, the site allows Lurpak to build brand knowledge, one of the four pillars of brand equity.

A recent study found that 75% of women say social networking sites have little influence over their purchasing decisions 1. According to the study, among all the factors that have a bearing on mothers’ purchasing decisions, price (47%) ranks the first, followed by quality (45.7%) and “other” (3.5%). The fourth highest factor was brand (2%).

While companies find their customers are spending much less money during the economic downturn, they turn to Twitter to help build their brands, promote their products or services, and keep in touch with both loyal and potential customers. This article takes a closer look at how businesses can Twitter up brand equities.

In the digital age of information overload, brands may find that their target markets are becoming more and more difficult to reach with traditional advertising and communications methods. A recent trend is for companies to utilize online and social media to increase brand awareness (Please see previous news on Sunkist, Unilever, and Twitter). But marketers from Sunsilk have found a unique human channel to promote their products— flight attendants.