China Comprehensive

I’m sure many people are aware of the level of censorship that occurs in China. This was amusingly highlighted recently by the re-launch of James Cameron’s Titanic in 3D. Having cut Kate Winslet’s nude scene for quite comical reasons, I thought I would look at how censorship affects your attempts to communicate with consumers, the media and other stakeholders within China.  Generally speaking, censorship in China doesn’t have to have an impact on your marketing and communications strategies, but you should be mindful of it. Therefore, I am going to…

Before I get into the facts about Weibo (a Chinese Twitter-style microblog), here are some basic stats about the Internet in China: China has over 513 million internet users; Broadband penetration rate is over 97%; China has over 920 million mobile users; Over 65% of China’s 513 million internet users access the internet via their mobile phones; and Almost 40% of mobile internet users use their mobile phones to access Weibo sites. Put into context, this means that if you are looking for your content to be found by Chinese…

Online search in China is a US$3 billion industry that enjoyed a 70% growth in 2011 and while there are seven major players within the industry, only one is worth talking about. Baidu dominates the China market with well over 80% of the market and it is the first port-of-call for over 90% of all online searches in China. If you want your marketing and communications strategies to be effective in China, and if you have serious aspirations of reaching and engaging with a Chinese audience, it’s time to forget…

Following yesterday’s big announcement that Youku and Tudou are to merge, it seems an ideal time to discuss a growing segment of China’s media landscape – online video sites. With the merger seen as the first step in a larger move towards consolidation, the online video sites are set for some interesting times ahead, but their position will only be strengthened by the growing number of internet users, increased online advertising spend and the continued blocking of western video sites like YouTube. 513 Million Internet Users; Market Scale of Online…

I woke up yesterday and followed the same routine I always do – 1) Check blackberry, 2) Check sports news. It’s a tried and trusted routine that sees me get ready just in time to watch World Sport on CNN before leaving the apartment and psyching myself up for the 30-minute bus ride to the office. I knew I had a long list of things to do, including writing this blog post, so I was glad to see not much new to worry about at work. However, the sports headlines…