Representing the Mailman crew is Andrew Collins, featured in the photo below.

For more on the awards visit here.

The Mailman on the far right

1. When requiring registration or a collection of data – allow the user to perform the function first THEN request a form to be completed (ie:  if you need a registered user to write content, have them write first, then ask for data)
2. Don’t distract the user UNLESS you want to.  Keep the flashy banners to yourself as you may be hindering your main objective.
3. Site design – use bright colours, odd shaped buttons, or large fonts to direct eyeballs to those touch points.
4. Create small commitments – then more little small commitments.  (ie: display no more than 300 words of text, then allow the user to request to read more)
5. Content – use pictures of peoples faces.  faces have a way of drawing people in unlike a standard shot of scenery.
6. We are still very basic people – using words like ‘food, danger, and even sex’ can have a greater return of hits.  It’s simply what our brain thinks we need the most attention too.
7. Content about human stories will have greater connections with the audience.  When ever you can use a human story.
8. Less choices will drive greater conversion.  It’s like the kid in the candy store – keep the options to a minimum and allow the brain to follow rather than have to think.
9. Run with small chunks of information. Keep banners simple with options to learn more.  Keep headlines simple and punchy.
10. And finally – make it fun.  More often than not FUN can lead to trust.  The trust can drive greater loyalty and most certainly more WOM with the users friends.

I hope this helps.

If you have any comments please do leave one below

- Andrew

For a small clip on the training check out a production piece by Must Shanghai here.

American Sports can connect with Chinese, but it must be a value led strategy.

Strive not to be a success, but rather to be of value. A. Einstein

Someone had it right very early – the digital age is now living proof of how a value led strategy can lead to greater relationships with customers, long term engagement and can literally win substantial market share.  What I’m really saying is this:  If you have a great product, you can merely lead with value (specific to that audience), listen and open the doors to your brand.

Ambitious Chinese playing NFL

The Chinese market is certainly in awe to the US sporting codes, which provide a clear opportunity for dedicated communication channels capturing this market.  The NBA now reaps well over a billion dollars in revenue through talking directly with the Chinese market.  Now it’s not because of wide participation, or the potential to play in the majors… Or is it?  Does Yao Ming provide that much stimulus?  It certainly plays a role but it’s simpler than that.  NBA speaks Chinese and they lead with value.

What’s more alluring today than the booming Chinese market?  Not just in the home land but also those whom have migrated to developed countries such as Australia, Canada, USA and others.  Chinese citizens are now an influential market and it’s growing bigger every year.  With this movement brings greater migration, more linkage to China and greater cross cultural dependencies.  For a Chinese born American, adapting to a culturally significant ‘local’ sport such as the NFL or MLB can break down barriers of difference, open up more dialogue and obviously create greater friendships.  It’s simply a win for all parties.  I haven’t even touched on the economic benefits of capturing a ‘small’ market like Chinese globally.

The AFL (Australian Football League) have now taken significant inroads in establishing itself as a ‘sport for all’ with a soon to be released Chinese dedicated AFL website.  The focus is not simply to ‘sell’ the game to Chinese but to have them involved in conversations around the game and learn about each other.  The AFL can pat themselves on the back for taking this direction and it will certainly be reflected in the balance sheet if at the completion of a 3-5 year dialogue that 5000+ Chinese are frequenting the ‘footy’ over a weekend – gate takings will show a strong ROI; not to mention merchandise, participation and more.

Taking a direction like this is not an easy decision. But the web certainly makes the opportunity more accessible and achievable.  Content plays a significant role, which one can argue can take a consumer from a position of complete unfamiliarity with a product (or in this case a sport) to a point of ‘I want to participate’ or ‘I want to frequent a game’.  The greatest challenge is getting their attention to a point of openness or what I like to call ‘OPEN FOR SALE’.  To keep it simple I offer these three points of note to undertake when tackling a community of any back ground:

1. Talk in their language
2. Lead with valued content
3. Listen and adapt

It seems simple enough but most marketing challenges are expected to fetch short term results; typical of any corporate however this tact doesn’t stick well with a ‘value led’ strategy as mentioned.

Content can lead to a sale.  It can lead a large pool of customers to love your brand; but you must understand it takes time, just like any relationship.  Proper courtship takes time, well anything worth winning certainly does; it also requires a lot of give and take which most certainly pays off with potentially a life long partner – or in this case lots of life long partners.

Introducing the masters of lifestyle products, featuring all occasions, never missing a beat, with 100’s of product knock-outs and just a few knock downs….accumulating over a massive 280,000 fans…. The real ‘deal’….Phillips!

But where are they now?

Who would have the thought a lifestyle brand such as Phillips would a mass more fans than Kanye West? Well perhaps now they can (sorry Kanye). As we read on you will learn a few ‘DO’s’ and a few ‘TRY NOT’S’ when investing in Social Media.

Let’s firstly look at what they created and what it hosted – a world full of opportunities to explore the products and actually ‘buy‘ the products. Buy being the keyword there if you didn’t pick that up.

THE COMMUNITY

As mentioned the community currently has over 280,000 members. By any one’s standards that’s very impressive. To give you some perspective, that’s over 8 times the community members of Lufthansa. Which we considered a success (see here). Without taking anything away from Phillips, as it is a great example for other products in this category to follow – BUT the fact is Phillips built a great community, which they have since ‘moved shop’ to a location hosted by themselves. More on this later. Let’s focus on the positives form this SoMe experiment.

See the community here.

Log in page - full of features

The page looks a lot like a toaster or a blender. Clean, bright and with multiple features. The page hosts lots of information about Philips products and household tips. It seems to be active with topics for discussion and a general feel of engagement. Lacked a little personal touch but generally a good feel.

One noticeable function is that other members cannot communicate directly with each other on the site – but then again it’s hosted on Renren with plenty of opportunities to meet friends. So there is no direct member engagement, simply with the administrator – a Phillips administrator. This is often the case with big brand name sites as they are concerned with complete freedom of speech on a site in their name, perhaps a risk of negative comments or interactions. Be bold brands!

The activity itself is now very low – the latest forum discussion point was 2008.

TRY NOT: Although this makes sense, a proper community is held with open communication. It’s a great opportunity for Phillips to have consumers talk with other Phillips fans and support each other in campaign competitions, etc. This will generate more buzz and more likely to inspire other members.

THE TOPICS / SECTIONS

ENTERTAINMENT: Information on household entertainment. From TV’s, DVD players to family cinema – you can explore reviews, comments and of course you can ever BUY.
COOKING: Recipes (valued content), best way to cook, using kitchen items, tips, etc.
PERSONAL CARE: Topics on small appliances like electrical razors and hair driers.
HOUSEHOLD: The mighty vacuum cleaners, dryers, washers, etc
MATERNAL: This seemed odd – but again it was simply valued content offering the audience something more – not directly relating to products.
COLORS: Phillips are all about colors which I’m sure inspired this section. A little unclear what the purpose was for this one.
COMPLAINTS / ADVICE: This section hosted mostly negative comments about the products. The administrator was right on it though and responded in an ‘intelligent’ manner. A good tip.

TRY NOT: Give the forums open communication if you aren’t going to manage it properly. We noticed in the forums of discussion it was flooded with competitors products laced throughout conversations. It seemed a bit of a mess, with most of the posts not on Phillips products, it was more littered with advertising of others brands and products. I can understand the transparency Phillips created but at the end of the day – it’s your site and you should maximize the effect of that. Simply requires better management.

DO E-COMMERCE

Product discussions led to a sales point

Now this section was probably the cream of the whole site. This seems to be the driving machine keeping this group moving – all products featured on the site are available to be sold through the community site. And they are actually at a reasonable price, slightly less than other E-commerce sites featuring the same products. The forum and the shop support each other. Consumers would comment on the products in question (or even bought already) in the forum and lead you to a purchase page.

It really is a model for success. A relationship is built and continued with a direct link to sales. Brilliant. Phillips educate the consumer and discuss the products, followed up with a drive to purchase. Seems like the campaign would be paying for itself? Consider this aspect for your brand – could you implement a similar function with a drive to purchase?

OK SO WHAT WAS THE HOOK?

Women were treated very well

A BIG idea or a bunch of smaller ones?  The Philips community site has hosted a series of campaigns and special promotions to drive people to the site. There is on going consumer opportunities to win prizes – rewards for more engagement.

DO: Rewards for engagement. The more active a consumer can be, the more they feel a part of the community, the more likely they will share it – ultimately the more likely they are to a purchase.

I won’t get into the current promotion as they tend to be a similarity to former campaigns. The key take away is incentives for engagement which were offered by Phillips. See below a shot of the recent campaign – users were asked questions and tested on

A recent campaign

A question that has been raised when reviewing this community was how it being managed and how are the community members learning more about Phillips – apart from simply pushing product information. Where is the valued content? Product news and information is helpful when you are looking for those products but is it helpful to build a relationship with the community in the long run. A suggestion may be to integrate a series of news style articles of Phillips offering more than products news, creating a content strategy that WILL last over a long period of time. That will keep bringing people back and growing in it. I’m concerned just slightly about the longevity of this community without a formulated content strategy.

The corporate information also gives the site a sense of distance. Sounds silly I know! But in reality the look and feel is very important for building a connection with someone. The site seemed to simply copy and paste a lot of corporate information. I’m sure it made the administrator’s job easier but in reality a personal touch can go along way. The administrator just simply needs to truly understand the tone and voice of the brand and execute that properly.

INTEGRATION

Again we see no other integration across other SNS sites. SO it seemed the investment was made on Renren – to which now we have identified a Phillips hosted identical community site on http://www.mylife.philips.com.cn/

THOUGHTS

Generally I have to say it’s a very impressive investment into Social Media – and you can really tell it’s a long term project. So the base objectives for the site are being met. The biggest concern I feel is the management. To manage a site like this you need to employ a dedicated team of social marketers and administrators to properly and accurately manage the site.

The site is popular and there is plenty of interaction. Most of the hard work is done – I mean how many of you can claim to have a base of over 100,000 fans? Net alone 280,000. To keep it growing (that’s what it should do) content will need to be relevant, engaging and fresh. The challenge for them now is how to keep the momentum going? And not to let the fan base down.

One other obvious concern is the site being hosted exclusively on Renren. Business 101 ‘always protect your investment’ – so what if Renren is shut down from the Chinese government? What if for some reason Renren cannot stay solvent? What happens then to the community? What if Phillips would like to grow the base from other social network sites, are they really going to be pulled into Renren from a rival SNS site? I doubt it.

AHEAD

What we have seen is Phillips begin to transfer the community to it’s own exclusive site after it built a community hosted on Renren. What was left was a deserted community unmanaged on Renren. Not a good experience for the consumer. Now if that was the objective all along why wouldn’t Phillips have created the community from the start? The costs associated with the Renren endorsed community is obviously very expensive and you are left with a two stage campaign with one objective – your own hosted community. Investing from the start in one dedicated company hosted site allows you to exploit all other SNS channels and not just Renren – not too mention the dollar savings.

TAKEAWAY – Communities are driven by content, it’s the SNS that provides the channel.

If your business limits its online presence to advertising banners and blogging, it’s missing out. The Internet provides powerful networking opportunities that allow users to effectively target their audience by logging on to social sites like LinkedIn, Digg and more. Take advantage of these tools by asserting your company’s presence online and reaching more potential customers, business partners and employees.

See below for a list of suitable sites to promote and grow your business.

Social-Media/Social-Bookmarking SitesShare your favorite sites on the Web with potential clients and business partners by commenting on, uploading and ranking different newsworthy articles. You can also create a member profile that directs traffic back to your company’s Web site.

1. Reddit: Upload stories and articles on reddit to drive traffic to your site or blog. Submit items often so that you’ll gain a more loyal following and increase your presence on the site.
2. Digg: Digg has a huge following online because of its optimum usability. Visitors can submit and browse articles in categories like technology, business, entertainment, sports and more.
3. Del.icio.us: Social bookmark your way to better business with sites like del.icio.us, which invite users to organize and publicize interesting items through tagging and networking.
4. StumbleUpon: You’ll open your online presence up to a whole new audience just by adding the StumbleUpon toolbar to your browser and “channel surf[ing] the Web. You’ll “connect with friends and share your discoveries,” as well as “meet people that have similar interests.”
5. Technorati: If you want to increase your blog’s readership, consider registering it with Technorati, a network of blogs and writers that lists top stories in categories like Business, Entertainment and Technology.
6. Ning: After hanging around the same social networks for a while, you may feel inspired to create your own, where you can bring together clients, vendors, customers and co-workers in a confidential, secure corner of the Web. Ning lets users design free social networks that they can share with anyone.
7. Squidoo: According to Squidoo, “everyone’s an expert on something. Share your knowledge!” Share your industry’s secrets by answering questions and designing a profile page to help other members.
8. Furl: Make Furl “your personal Web file” by bookmarking great sites and sharing them with other users by recommending links, commenting on articles and utilizing other fantastic features.
9. Tubearoo: This video network works like other social-bookmarking sites, except that it focuses on uploaded videos. Businesses can create and upload tutorials, commentaries and interviews with industry insiders to promote their own services.
10. WikiHow: Create a how-to guide or tutorial on wikiHow to share your company’s services with the public for free.
11. YouTube: From the fashion industry to Capitol Hill, everyone has a video floating around on YouTube. Shoot a behind-the-scenes video from your company’s latest commercial or event to give customers and clients an idea of what you do each day.
12. Ma.gnolia: Share your favorite sites with friends, colleagues and clients by organizing your bookmarks with Ma.gnolia. Clients will appreciate both your Internet-savviness and your ability to stay current and organized.

Professional-Networking SitesSign up with these online networking communities as a company or as an individual to take advantage of recruiting opportunities, cross-promotional events and more.

1. LinkedIn: LinkedIn is a popular networking site where alumni, business associates, recent graduates and other professionals connect online.
2. Ecademy: Ecademy prides itself on “connecting business people” through its online network, blog and message-board chats, as well as its premier BlackStar membership program, which awards exclusive benefits.
3. Focus: Focus is a business destination where business professionals can help each other with their purchase and other business decisions by accessing research and peer expertise. Most importantly, Focus provides open, quality information for all businesses that is freely available, easily accessible, and community powered.
4. YorZ: This networking site doubles as a job site. Members can post openings for free to attract quality candidates.
5. Xing: An account with networking site Xing can “open doors to thousands of companies.” Use the professional contact manager to organize your new friends and colleagues, and take advantage of the Business Accelerator application to “find experts at the click of a button, market yourself in a professional context [and] open up new sales channels.”
6. Facebook: Facebook is no longer just for college kids who want to post their party pics. Businesses vie for advertising opportunities, event promotion and more on this social-networking site.
7. Care2: Care2 isn’t just a networking community for professionals: It’s touted as “the global network for organizations and people who Care2 make a difference.” If your business is making efforts to go green, let others know by becoming a presence on this site.
8. Gather: This networking community is made up of members who think. Browse categories concerning books, health, money, news and more to ignite discussions on politics, business and entertainment. This will help your company tap into its target audience and find out what they want.
9. MEETin.org: Once you’ve acquired a group of contacts in your city by networking on MEETin.org, organize an event so that you can meet face-to-face.
10. Tribe: Cities like Philadelphia, Boston, San Francisco, New York and Chicago have unique online communities on tribe. Users can search for favorite restaurants, events, clubs and more.
11. Ziggs: Ziggs is “organizing and connecting people in a professional way.” Join groups and make contacts through your Ziggs account to increase your company’s presence online and further your own personal career.
12. Plaxo: Join Plaxo to organize your contacts and stay updated with feeds from Digg, Amazon.com, del.icio.us and more.
13. NetParty: If you want to attract young professionals in cities like Boston, Dallas, Phoenix, Las Vegas and Orlando Fla., create an account with the networking site NetParty. You’ll be able to connect with qualified, up-and-coming professionals online, then meet them at a real-life happy-hour event where you can pass out business cards, pitch new job openings and more.
14. Networking For Professionals: Networking For Professionals is another online community that combines the Internet with special events in the real world. Post photos, videos, résumés and clips on your online profile while you meet new business contacts.

Niche Social-Media SitesConsider linking up with one of these social-media sites to narrow down your business’s target audience. You’ll find other professionals, enthusiasts and consumers who are most likely already interested in what your company has to offer.

1. Pixel Groovy: Web workers will love Pixel Groovy, an open-source site that lets members submit and rate tutorials for Web 2.0, email and online-marketing issues.
2. Mixx: Mixx prides itself on being “your link to the Web content that really matters.” Submit and rate stories, photos and news to drive traffic to your own site. You’ll also meet others with similar interests.
3. Tweako: Gadget-minded computer geeks can network with each other on Tweako, a site that promotes information sharing for the technologically savvy.
4. Small Business Brief: When members post entrepreneur-related articles, a photo and a link to their profile appear, gaining you valuable exposure and legitimacy online.
5. Sphinn: Sphinn is an online forum and networking site for the Internet marketing crowd. Upload articles and guides from your blog to create interest in your own company or connect with other professionals for form new contacts.
6. BuzzFlash.net: This one-stop news resource is great for businesses that want to contribute articles on a variety of subjects, from the environment to politics to health.
7. HubSpot: HubSpot is another news site aimed at connecting business professionals.
8. SEO TAGG: Stay on top of news from the Web marketing and SEO (search-engine optimization) industries by becoming an active member of this online community.

General Social-Media SitesThe following social-media sites provide excellent opportunities for businesses to advertise; promote specials, events or services; and feature published, knowledgeable employees.

1. Wikipedia: Besides creating your own business reference page on Wikipedia, you can connect with other users on Wikipedia’s Community Portal and at the village pump, where you’ll find conscientious professionals enthusiastic about news, business, research and more.
2. Newsvine: Feature top employees by uploading their articles, studies or other news-related items to this site. A free account will also get you your own column and access to the Newsvine community.
3. 43 Things: This site bills itself as “the world’s most popular online goal setting community.” By publicizing your company’s goals and ambitions, you’ll gain a following of customers, investors and promoters who cheer you on as you achieve success.
4. Wetpaint: If you’re tired of blogs and generic Web sites, create your own wiki with Wetpaint to reach your audience and increase your company’s presence online. You can easily organize articles, contact information, photos and other information to promote your business.
5. Twitter: Is a social networking and microblogging service that allows you answer the question, “What are you doing?” by sending short text messages 140 characters in length, called “tweets”, to your friends, or “followers.”
6. Yahoo! Answers: Start fielding Yahoo! users’ questions with this social-media Q&A service. Search for questions in your particular areas of expertise by clicking categories like Business & Finance, Health, News & Events and more. If you continue to dole out useful advice and link your answer to your company’s Web page, you’ll quickly gain a new following of curious customers.

Job SitesIf you want to secure high-quality talent during your company’s next hiring spree, you’ll need to maintain a strong presence on popular job sites like the ones listed below.

1. CareerBuilder.com: Reach millions of candidates by posting jobs on this must-visit site.
2. The Wall Street Journal’s CareerJournal: The Wall Street Journal’s CareerJournal attracts well-educated professionals who are at the top of their game. Post a job or search résumés here.
3. CollegeRecruiter.com: If your firm wants to hire promising entry-level employees, check CollegeRecuriter.com for candidates with college degrees.
4. Monster: Post often to separate your business from all the other big companies that use this site to advertise job openings.
5. Sologig: Top freelancers and contractors post résumés and look for work on this popular site.
6. AllFreelance.com: This site “offers self-employed small business owners links to freelance & work at home job boards, self-promotion tips” and more.
7. Freelance Switch Job Listings: Freelance Switch is the freelancer’s online mecca and boasts articles, resource toolboxes, valuable tips and a job board.
8. GoFreelance: Employers looking to boost their vendor base should check GoFreelance for professionals in the writing, design, editing and Web industries.
9. Yahoo! Hot Jobs: This site is often one of the first places that job seekers visit. Post open opportunities and check out informative articles and guides to gain insight on the hiring and interviewing process.
10. Guru.com: Build your company’s repertoire with top freelancing professionals by advertising projects on this site, otherwise known as “the world’s largest online service marketplace.”

This research was conducted by Inside CRM.

To celebrate the launch of PostKard’s new spinning rack, we are curating inspiring visual artwork from emerging Chinese creatives we represent. PostKard is printing the card designs and distributing to thousands of venues (e.g. cafes, bars, restaurants, galleries, etc.) throughout its network in China. The first series features three of our favorites: Yan Wei, 96K and Garfield. The next round of cards will come out in March so stay tuned for more.

For more on this article visit here.

“We’re excited to announce a new partnership between NeochaEDGE and PostKard,” write Neocha co-founder Sean Leow on a recent post, “which will provide a unique, offline promotion opportunity for top young creative talent in China.”

Before you dissmiss postcards as “so 1990s” hear us out. PostKard is celebrating the launch of its new spinning racks by packing them with cards from China’s hot emerging visual artists; the artists you’ll want to know about. It’s a simple plan really. NeochaEDGE gets the artists and PostKard distributes the cards at Shanghai cafés, bars, restaurants and galleries so it’ll be easy to get your hands on them. Best part — if one of the artists whose postcard you nabs goes big, which is not a totally unlikely possibility, you can say you were ahead of the game.

“The cards are flying off the rack faster than any designs in PostKard history,” says Leow. “This makes us happy because it means there is yet another platform for emerging creatives to have their talents seen and appreciated by more and more people.”

Read more: Shanghai postcards with an artistic edge | CNNGo.com http://www.cnngo.com/shanghai/shop/crazy-kards-219820#ixzz0hkU3sVxI

For more on this piece click here.

I’m certain they did their research and they were pushing the most affordable product across the BMW line. The volume of QQ members was at least an attempt to appeal to a wider audience. Though it seemed as if the young BMW hopefuls were left at the aisle after being led down the garden path….

The story starts early in May, 2008. BMW and QQ were meeting for the first time at what became more than a simple flirt. An online contest was created, based on Qzone for BMW’s new vehicle line “1”. The campaign featured elements of the 2008 Olympic Games, which was a driver for the overall theme being “1”. Participants were encouraged to share pictures from their life that represented the number 1 – it could be an image of you winning, something unique, or simply an element in your life that represents ‘whole’ or ‘complete’.

The images were then of course voted on by other participants to win some fantastic prizes, including the 1 series BMW. See here: http://bmw1.qzone.qq.com/

A key part of the communication process was BMW’s launch of the 1 series at the Beijing Automotive show – users were encouraged to follow links to information about the Auto show. The show was obviously important on the BMW calendar, so the promotion was a good way to ‘drive’ interest about the launch.

THE RULES:

Any QQ member can join the campaign – though voting was limited to 10 vote’s maximum per member. This was smart as it encouraged the participants to share with friends to increase the votes.

Voting was only valid through the period 7^th March – 10^th April 2008. Overall winners were awarded prizes based on the number of votes and also BMW judges opinion comments.

There were some great prizes; in fact the TOP 90 vote getters were awarded prizes ranging form the actual BMW Series 1 model car to tickets to the Auto Show in Beijing for the launch. There was also a participation prize supporting the active users uploading images daily with a limited edition BMW brand Qzone decoration. I assume it looked great, unfortunately I couldn’t find a sample.

THE NUMBERS

Now the numbers look pretty impressive. Campaign views capped at 2,925,644 times, engaging with over 27,000 participants. The total number of votes was 1,104,241.

See a shot of the campaign here http://706290095.qzone.qq.com/act/1

The image represents a shot of the Qzone home page with BMW 1 entrants. The best number of votes for an entrant was a whopping 23,890 votes! That’s a lot of individual votes,

I sited just one BBS post promoting the “discover the 1 in your life” campaign.

See here: http://bbs.auto.qq.com/b-1001024083/30.htm

COMMENT SECTION – BIG NUMBER

There is a comment section attached with this campaign which drew 52,680 comments. I can safely assume the comments were related to the campaign. Either way it’s a really big number simply for comments.

See comments http://706290095.qzone.qq.com/act/1

NAVIGATION

The campaign was heavily promoted through Qzone and also throughout QQ brand pages. There was a QQ tips section to promote and encourage participants.

Banner advertisements played a key role also. Expensive but Im sure all part of the package with QQ.

TARGET MARKET – IMPRESSIVE

At first I was very skeptical about this campaign hitting a mature demographic more likely to buy a 1 Series BMW. It was sited that among all the participants (uploading and voting), 32.17% were aged between 23-45. Which fits right in the key demographic for BMW 1 Series. The bulk of the participants were from developed cities with a thriving economy. Many coastal city participants reported to have entered the campaign which was a positive sign.

*Slide shown here form agency appointed

INTERACTIVE

The interactive elements to this campaign were somewhat questionable. It was encouraged but seemed to lack depth if a consumer sought more information (for instance an online sales person would have been great)

The four key interactive elements were:

1. Life work uploading of images
2. Online research
3. Comments section
4. The voting (voters could spread and promote their entries by forwarding on)

Fairly basic stuff but again it’s a mature audience BMW are looking to communicate with reflecting on the BMW brand would represent these elements. Nothing gimmicky or tacky.

The layout itself does reflect the 1 series – small and compact.

MORE STATISTICS:

The BMW Qzone traffic has since had over 3,163,805 unique visitors. Total views to date are now at 13,969,172. Some big numbers for this campaign

The notice board has 1497 notes with almost all of them are on BMW. BMW themselves also created 11 different notes for discussion. Astoundingly each had approximately 20,000 views and hundreds of replies, the best are at 44,837 views. Combined the official notes created by BMW attracted 196,728 views and 6,772 replies.

ALBUM

There are 6 BMW albums available to view on the Qzone portal. Many having hundreds of comments after the images. When reading them it seemed as if the responses to these comments (enquires) were not managed properly and I believe could have been managed better – potentially to drive more to the point of sale.

http://user.qzone.qq.com/706290095/photo/ceb3ca67-7b45-4bd7-b08a-bd8956865266

OTHER CAMPAIGNS:

There is another Qzone campaign centered around the BMW Series 1. Its purpose was to push traffic for test drives. Apologies but we cannot report the success relating to that. It did seem successful with approximately 357,825 views with 45,930 participants. There were 1,833 comments for this campaign.

http://706290095.qzone.qq.com/act/2

I would like to ask more questions to the agency that serviced this campaign in relation to follow up after the program. I will be sure to report if we find this information.

THOUGHTS

Originally I was skeptical about the channel BMW used to promote the 1 Series but after having reviewed the campaign overall I would say it’s a great job. Who was I to assume where the wealthy go online – there was a few key factors that added to the success of this campaign

I realized it didn’t matter so much for the proportion of Q users who could afford a BMW but:

1. One doesn’t need to be well educated or the elite of Chinese society to be rich, which is a typical phenomenon in China recently.
2. Whilst the bulk of QQ’s users are not the ‘right’ target consumers; just having such a huge member base created enough influence to warrant the campaign. Just as many msn users also have QQ IDs.
3. BMW Series 1 is the most affordable model with BMW. Price range 285,000 to 450,000.

The numbers would represent a considerable engagement level to support the launch for BMW. The campaign itself would be deemed a success. But sit seems that a campaign was all it was. There is now little follow up from BMW and the site itself is now becoming obsolete, so one must ask the question – why spend so much time on building this house, having all your friends there and then asking them to leave? I’m certain BMW would have taken away an incredible amount of knowledge but how is that being utilized now? It definitely identified a huge potential customer base.

It seems it was more just a campaign than a dedicated investment into social media. Where are all these people who supported this campaign going now?

The integration across other social networks did not exist nor was there more promotional BBS used. Given the maturity of the market BMW would wanting to attract this may be why they did not invest resources into this – but again the sheer volume populating the other SNS sites would seriously warrant an investment.

Interaction was low but I suggest it satisfied the general user’s engagement. Better responsiveness and on time sales people to register test drives and screen potential buyers could have been an opportunity to exploit. Simply having an email address for follow up would not satisfy a credible level of conversions.

Still you would say it was a resounding success. For such a high priced ticket item to generate such numbers really does show the market craves for more interaction from the premium desired brands – using channels like QQ and other SNS sites are a great way for a brand to connect to a really large section of the community. Who would have known there were so many BMW lovers out there?

Our business model makes it easy for you to understand. 

1.    We create a local community website for your brand

2.   We then create content for the community to engage with

3.   That content is then seeded throughout the social network sites

4.   Traffic returns and we continue to create content and seed.

5.   We do this every day, thus creating a continuous, positive flow of traffic

6.   Traffic is directed and measured against our agreed objectives

This is social media made easy.

Listening

We listen to your needs, your objectives and your expectations until we completely understand your business.  We then listen to your customers and non-customers.  We learn what drives purchase, what drives commitment – and what drives them away.

Researching.  Information is collected to best ascertain the opportunity.  We examine the cultural, societal and economic conditions of the market you wish to tackle.  We examine these in view of your objectives.

Identifying.  We help you decide on ‘who’ it is you want as customers.  We advise on communities you could invest in.  We explore ‘where’ in the social networking space our target customers lie and create a pathway to communicate with them.

Strategy

Creating.  Based on that information we decide what it is you (as a brand) can communicate that offers value.  We confirm what cultural or societal values it can support.  Value leads to strong relationships, which leads to brand endorsement and sales.  We make this step clear and achievable.

Content.  It’s the content that ultimately drives the success.  The better the content, the better the results.  Drawing from your brand’s value proposition, content is sourced and prepared for the community site. 

                    We look at what you have.  

                    We look at what we can create. 

                    And we look at what we can find.

Planning.  We have highly experienced production personal to properly plan our content creation, aggregation, and seeding.  We consider the following when preparing for content:

• What do we have available to use?  Is it engaging? How can we present it?
• What is needed to be sourced?  How much?  Where can we source it?  Can we endorse bloggers?  Influencers?
• What is our content timeline?  How do our objectives affect this? How often is content seeded? 
• What social network sites do we include? (Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, etc.) Where are the large groups hosted online?  What forums are popular?
• Who is the best person to manage this project?  Are they properly trained and educated on the brand?
• Can we create a brand bible?  What process can we follow to protect the brand’s corporate identity?

 Creative loop.  We create a simple strong core creative that allows passage of your brand promise throughout our social media structure. From this, elements are formed that allow for user submissions, competitions, voting on content and encouraging the natural sharing of content.   

Measurement.  To find the correct solution we must first begin testing our strategy.  The faster we reach the correct formula the faster we achieve success.  Statistics are reported weekly and summarized allowing for adequate decisions.  This organic measurement structure strategy allows us to keep refining until we reach a formula that meets our agreed objectives.

‘By creating your own online community you create goodwill, loyalty and above all a positive relationship based on value – which ultimately leads to sales.’

Contact us for a more personal introduction to Mailman (link to contact us)