Download - IBF Gets Social In China
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IBF Gets Social in China
Constance Korol
@demandplanningWith Help from
“Our Man in Shanghai”
@OurManinSH
#SMCLI
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What We Do Here at the IBF
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How Do We Do It?
• Global events where forecasters share lessons
learned/best practices and worst practices
• Through social interaction in Facebook/Twitter/Linkedin
etc.
• Global corporate and individual membership
• Similar to CPA/CFA Certified Professional Forecaster and
Advanced Certified Professional
Forecaster..validating their skill-sets and knowledge
in the field.
• Corporate Training
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Our Members/ Speakers/Customers
are Worldwide
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Why China• China’s economical strength is the
manufacturing sector, most of our audience
• Educate and train teams from multinational
companies and from local Chinese companies
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Adding Social Media into the
Marketing/Customer Service Tool Box
• Two way communication in social media
• We listen and learn from our members and followers and
modify our programs accordingly
• We moderate conversations, adding discussions and
polls.
• Our customers/followers/members are learning from the
shared knowledge.
• “Most of the learnings do not come from within these
four walls.” – M Wachtel VP Demand Planning L’Oreal
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When it Came to China
We Hit the Great Wall
• Global followers in Linkedin, Facebook,
Twitter etc.
• We were not familiar with Chinese culture
• Time Zone Difference
• Language obstacle, which is a key
challenge for foreign companies
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Linkedin as a Source
• Our global connections spearheaded the
campaign to their Asian team/partners
• Needed more outreach
• We needed a team in Mainland China
• Understanding of culture, understand what we
do in supply chain and speak the language
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Enter “Our Man in Shanghai”
@OurManinSHhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1oxbPw1yCX8&hd=1
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Sina to penetrate local market
• You don’t understand China social if you
don’t understand Sina Weibo
• Microblog that far surpasses Twitter in
functionality (threaded comments, groups, audio
messages and direct video uploads).
• Has more than 100 million registered users, expects to
keep growing rapidly, and perhaps even exceeds Twitter
in active users.
• Valued over $2 billion USD
Resource: Mashable 2011 http://mashable.com/2011/03/18/china-top-
social-network/
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Sina Weibo cont.
• Points From Our Man in Shanghai team:
– Sina provided a good way to increase
customer loyalty
– Chinese companies are using Sina to engage
their customers and gain visibility.
– IBF does not have an Asian office/language
barrier, so Sina provided a way for followers
to contact the company directly with ease
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Sina Weibo Points from Our
Man in Shanghai cont.
• Almost every Sina microblogging user will check their
account frequently throughout the day
• Similar to twitter, users sharing breaking news in 140
characters or less.
• Becoming more and more popular recently.
• Compared to Sina, Renren's target audience are
undergraduate/ graduate, main purpose for
friendship/matchmaking.
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Long Term Relationship
• Continue the conversations in Sina Weibo with Our Man
in Shanghai team
• Post conference: Encourage those attendees to continue
the conversation and learning's in the networks
• Side note: Work with government for them to understand
our Association. Their support can amplify our
promotions as they directly communicate with company
leaders.
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Results
• Partnerships were established with local Supply
Chain organizations
• Increased outreach and promotion efforts
• Customer service issues were resolved with
ease
• Lead generation campaign, grow followers and
relationships organically
• Overall penetrating the local market’s social
networks
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Challenges
• Red Seal of Company (China company
requirement) needed to open and operate
a business account in Sina Weibo
• We were originally denied a Kaixin
account for similar issues. Now we are in
review.
• Language barrier, difficult to closely
monitor the conversations back home.
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IBF Social Media Outlets
• Facebook.com/demandplanning
• Twitter.com/demandplanning
• YouTube.com/demandplanning
• Plancast.com/demandplanning
• Quora.com/demandplanning
• IBF group on Linkedin
– Subgroup: IBF's Demand Planning and Forecasting in China
• Blog: www.demand-planning.com
• Sina: http://t.sina.com.cn/demandplanning
• Kaixin: http://www.kaixin001.com/home/?uid=100520603
• All network calendars updated with our event schedule
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Thank You!Please Give to the Red Cross
and help #Japan
• http://wishes.causes.com/wishes/250900?
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