Kelvin Bytes News Letter: Marketing Eco-systems in China
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Cover Story: Marketing Eco-systems in China
What are the same?
The marketing concepts are the same in China or not, for example, marketing segmentation, conversion rates, and (virtual) foot traffic.
What are different?
However, your typical Email Direct Marketing (EDM) won’t work in China because most of Chinese users don’t use it.
Social media will be your friend but Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube are blocked in China. Therefore in order to succeed in the Chinese market you need to familiar with the Chinese social media eco-system.
| China Social Platform | Platform Name Meaning | Global Equivalent | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mini chat | Nothing like it | Whatsapp + Facebook + Game + App Store + Office suite | |
| Mini blog | |||
| DianPing | Review | Zomato | |
| Lieping | Hunt & hire | There is another newer contender called “maimai”. It is sporting on an AI recommendation engine to extend your professional network. | |
| Tiktok | Tiktok is basically short video version of Instagram. “Red little book” is a new dog on the block. It is a TikTok for exposing audiences to new products but its videos seem to be more salesy. | ||
| Youku | Good & cool | YouTube | |
So, what do the Chinese users use you may ask? WeChat, DianPing, Weixin, Little Red Book and etc. Social Media Marketing User behaviour
WeChat is a super app. It wants to be your Internet by provide all your digital service you will want all within its eco-systeme, from chat to social groups to marketing to payment to game to work. It’s crazy.
| WeChat Sub-systems | Similar Services | Audience |
|---|---|---|
| WeChat personal account | Individual | |
| Taobao | eBay | B2C eCommerce |
| WeChat Discover | Google+ circles | Individual |
| WeChat official account | Facebook pages or marketing portal | Media, Company |
| WeChat official account | Chat and bot | Company |
| WeChat Mini Programme | An app store but no installation is required (or you won’t feel the installation) | Company |
| WeChat Work | Office suite | Company |
DianPing
DianPing (点评) means review in English. It is popular for two main functions, which are geo-fencing and recommendations.
The scenarios is that Joe Blow arrives in a big shopping mall for first time. DianPing’s geo-fencing search engine will tell him any interests (restaurants, cinemas, pubs and etc) near by. Joe will skim through the options, the reputations (stars), and comments left by previous visitors.
Once decide on a resturant, Joe will use DianPing again for recommendations on dishes. Here we go. This is how DianPing can generate foot traffic for a restaurant.
Unfortunately, DianPing’s customer journey often ends here. Once Joe sit down at a dining table he will close DianPing and order his dishes in person or via a WeChat mini program.
Related Articles
China Microsoft Dynamics 365 Partner Opportunity from Mark Smith
China
National Day Parade and Missiles Naming Convension
I am always ignorant about Chinese military development, but decide no longer the case while watching the PLA military parade during the Chinese national day ceremony.
Terminologies
| Abbr. | Full Name | Example |
|---|---|---|
| ICBM | Inter Continental Ballistic Missile | DF-5B |
| SLBM | Submarine Launched Ballistic Missile | JL-2 |
| IRBM | Intermediate Range Ballistic Missile | DF-26 |
| MIRV | Multi Independently Targated Re-entry Vehicle | DF-41 |
| HGV | Hypersonic Glide Vehicel | DF 17 |
Naming convension
| Abbr. | Full Name | English Translation | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|
| YJ | Ying Ji 鹰击 | Eagle strike | Smallish missles compare to the others |
| HQ | Hong Qi 红旗 | Red Flag | Between HQ and DF, I think there is a fuel difference |
| DF | Dong Feng 东风 | East Wind | |
| JL | Ju Lang 巨浪 | Tsunami | Submarine based ICBM |
National Day Parade and QR Code
The prevalence of QR code in China is obvious when you can spot them on Chinese soldiers’ dog tags.
Microsoft
Microsoft just announced a slew of new devices. My first reaction was in a to see Microsoft and Google pertnering is
| Product | Catefory | CPU | OS | Price | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Surface Duo | Phone (folding) | ARM Qualcom? | Android | |||
| Surface Neo | Phablet? (dual screen) | ARM Qualcom? | Windows X | |||
| Surface Pro 7 | Tablet | Intel / AMD | Windows | From $750 to $2200 | The device to go for if you want to run Win32 applications. | |
| Surface Pro X | Tablet | ARM Qualcom | Windows | Comparative to iPad Pro. | ||
| Surface Go (no change) | Laptop | Windows | ||||
| Surface Book 3 | Laptop | Windows | ||||
| Microsoft Ergo Keyboard | Periphral | |||||
CRM
Alibaba and SalesForce announced partnership in Auguest 2019. The detail of the partnership will come later. Microsoft Dynamics 365 online seems to be ahead of the game in the Chinese market. Their Chinese version of the Dynamics 365 online is called “moon cake”, and it is on the ground and running since July 2019. Also, SalesForce lacks of an on-premise version which Microsoft has. Disclaimer: I am bias on this one.
Tools
document.designMode
Web browser > Dev tools > console > document.designMode = “on” || “off”
It allows you to edit a web page like a Work document