If you are going to stand any chance of building integrated marketing campaigns in China you need to know the lay of the land. China is different in so many ways, but probably not the ones your thinking. Just take a day to walk around Shanghai and any preconceptions you had will probably be thrown out of the window. China is big, is fast and is way ahead of the game in so many areas.
You may have picked up stories of censorship and the governments unwillingness to allow many web 2.0 platforms to operate freely, especially the social networks. This isn’t all bad, and many of the alternatives are excellent platforms for integrated strategies.
The first thing you need to understand is that Baidu is the preeminent search engine with Google being confined to Hong Kong (you can still run a google search in China, but generally people prefer Baidu). Don’t bother to even consider SEO if your website is not available in Chinese. In fact, don’t even bother to attempt business here if you don’t have skilled marketers, fluent in Chinese on your payroll.
Hudong is a wiki-alike that could help you expand your mind and your knowledge of life in China, definitions of Social networking, or anything else you may have on your mind. It’s more colourful than the Wiki we know and love and unlike many Chinese web 2.0 services doesn’t look anything like it’s western counterparts.
YuPoo has an awesome name and is actually a pretty awesome website. It offers the user a Flickresque experience and provides solid image sharing functionality.
My personal favorite is YouKu – similar in many ways to the little known YouTube. It does what you would imagine a video sharing site would do, and does so in a clean usable interface.
Finally the world wouldn’t be complete without facebook and China wouldn’t survive without Renren. Sadly I don’t have an account, so cant share the functionality that has made this site so popular. However, if you are considering an integrated marketing campaign, consider Renren as it is loved and used by millions.
This has been no more than a glimpse of the tip of the iceberg. If you are prepared to go in with open eyes and an open mind, throw out your existing campaign and start again then China can offer you an incredible experience and some huge rewards.
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