Stefan Schneider, Geschäftsführer von 3digitaminds, erklärt: “Ziel ist es einen Marktplatz für Beratungsdienstleistungen im Finanzbereich auf regionaler Ebene zu schaffen und Ratsuchende und Berater zusammen zu führen. Wir sehen hier eine klare Marktücke und Bedarf für zielgerichtete und qualitativ hochwertige Informationen sowohl von Konsumenten als auch von Finanzberatern.“

Warum gerade Finanzberater / die Berater-Branche?

Wer in den Suchmaschinen nach Finanzberater oder Steuerberatern, etc. sucht wird schnell fündig. Allerdings nur mit standardisierten Branchenbucheinträgen, die alle gleich aussehen und keinen Informationsgehalt haben. Buylando bietet teilnehmenden Beratern ein Tool um sich von den Standardinhalten abzusetzen und mit einem qualitativ hochwertigen Expertenprofil präsent zu sein, wenn nach ihnen gesucht wird. Potenzielle Kunden können sich somit vorab über den Berater informieren und sich ein erstes Bild machen. Bewertungen von anderen Kunden runden den ersten Eindruck ab.

Weiterhin erhalten teilnehmende Immobilienmakler und Versicherungsmakler, etc. personalisierte Web-Widgets und Banner, um selbständig mit diesen Formaten lokale Werbung zu betreiben und den Bekanntheitsgrad zu erhöhen. Beispielsweise können diese Direktmarketing-Tools auf regionalen Internetportalen, z.B. zum Thema Finanzen platziert werden. Oder in bestehende Dokumente des Kundenverkehrs integriert werden, wie zum Beispiel Emails, PDF Dokumente, Vordrucke, etc.

Buylando setzt dabei auf zwei der wichtigsten Online-Marketing Trends: Die Online-Suche und der Einfluss von Kunden-Bewertungen. Bei der Vielfalt von Beratern in Deutschland ist es wichtig dann präsent zu sein, wenn der Kunde z.B. nach einem Steuerberater vor Ort sucht. Qualitativ hochwertiger Content überzeugt den Kunden und liefert gute Suchergebnisse. Zusätzlich sind positive Bewertungen von Kunden wichtige Einflussfaktoren beim Kaufentscheidungsprozess im Internet.

Folglich erhlaten Berater die Möglichkeit ein aussagekräftiges Expertenprofil mit ihren Kompetenzen zu erstellen. Es stehen Direktmarketing-Tools bereit mit deren Hilfe die Finanzberater mehr Aufmerksamkeit in ihrer lokalen Zielgruppe generieren können. Kunden bewerten die Berater nach diversen Kriterien und geben ihr Feedback zur Beratungsleistung ab.

Ergänzt wird das Angebot von Buylando durch einen kostenlosen Versicherungs-Check, der auf Basis der persönlichen Situation des Users Empfehlungen für einen optimalen Versicherungsschutz errechnet. Ziel ist es auf eine Über- oder Unterversicherung hinzuweisen und diese Situation zu vermeiden.

Das Finanzportal basiert auf innovativen Webdesign und bietet hohen Informations- und Nutzwert.

Please contact us for further information or knowledge exchange.

Oliver Hickfang, Partner of 3digitalminds, told cookiesncode some details about his philosophy of fashion mass customization in China. Read the whole interview here:

What are your personal associations with the term “mass-customisation”- what does it mean to you?

When I first time ever heard about mass-customisation I thought, isn’t that just a new commercial buzz word or – even worse – a contradiction in itself? I asked myself, how can a company make money by following a single customer wish on a scalable mass production plattform? Now, some years and some purchases of mass-customized products later I know better: the combination of smart management, smart production processes, the interactive web and last but not least the outsourcing of tasks to the customer makes mass-customization possible. And, by the way, DIY is nothing new but a re-invention of the “do it yourself” movement from the 50s and 60s when the mass effective production took place in the western world and some people just weren’t unsatisfied with style and image guidelines from the industry. The combination of our actual production and distribution knowledge with the creative and social knowledge of the customer will create the best customized products we have seen so far.

Do you remember in which context you first came across it?

As I remember the first time ever I purchased a customized product was some years ago during an Indiatrip where I found a custom tailor for suits. After measurement and agreeing on the style details the suit was ready to wear within 5 days. I had the chance to visit the production place and was surprised about the well organized processes: each tailor was responsible for sewing just very few dedicated pieces of the suit, one tailor sewed all pieces together and one was responsible for the final quality check. The concept of mass production with a personal touch was fully understood.

Do you know why there is this sudden interest in MC and related concepts at the moment?

First: people are sick and tired of wearing boring clothes or possessing mass products which they might find in their friends place as well. A person in an affluent society who basically has everything needs the next kick which is something special, personal, and individual. Second: The social web along with borderless interaction stimulates consumers to exchange and show their creations. Nothing is more appealing and worth talking about than own achievements and nothing is more interesting for friends to share and be proud of. Third: where a demand is also a supply. Companies are aware of the trend for customization and by answering it with products and services they even more stimulate the development.

Why/ in which situation did you decide to employ MC/work with MC- a little background?

Some years ago I had the idea to open a company for mass customized business shirts but a great offer from an international consulting company came across so I skipped that idea. However, I never totally buried that idea. After living in Chinafor some years and experiencing the matchless demand of 1, 3 Billion people with black hair and brown eyes for appearing a little bit more individual I decided to open my own company in the co-creation field.

How did that work out for you- what new challenges did it raise for you and how did you deal with them?

Asian markets, especially China, are highly challenging and demanding. Not only concerning the set up and the running of a company but also the complex cultural background and history which effects consumer’s predispositions. For example, the color white in Europemeans beauty and virginity; in Chinait might be associated with death as well as the number 4. Especially Chinais facing a development from an agricultural based country to a modern industrialised country in now time. While Europeand the USAneeded some decades to introduce landline telephone to every household the Chinese just skipped the landline and introduced mobile smart phones. Very fast developments not seldom have their victims and often the law and reliably regulations stay behind the actual reality. From my opinion the biggest challenge in Chinais having a strong and reliable network, a long term vision and piece of mind.

Source: Social e-commerce in China, mass customization & personalization

The report, jointly released by the China Economic Monitoring & Analysis Centre (CEMAC) of the National Bureau of Statistics and The Nielsen Company, is the result of a survey of 3,500 shoppers across the country.

Overall, consumer confidence increased one point to 109 after five quarters of continuous increase in China.

In the rural area, the index is 117, up six points from the last survey, which is attributed to the central and local governments’ stimulation policies and an increase in income levels for farmers and migrant workers.

On the other hand, consumer confidence fell in urban areas. The index for tier one cities dropped five points to 101, and seven points to 98 for tier two cities. For tier three and four cities, the index was 100 and 104 respectively.

“After several consecutive quarters of increasing consumer confidence in China, it was inevitable that we would eventually see a pullback like the one we see this quarter with consumers in China’s upper city tiers. Confidence cannot increase indefinitely. There is a limit,” said Mitch Barns, Greater China president for Nielsen.

Increasing consumer prices and stock market volatility are believed to be two of the reasons for the drop in confidence in tier one and two cities.

Broken down by income, the confidence index rose with two and three points among low and mid income groups respectively, but dropped by seven points among consumers in a higher income bracket.

The report also finds that Chinese consumers are most concerned about their income, followed by health and education for their children. Other key concerns include rising food prices, healthcare, job security, parents and career development.

Source: http://en.campaignchina.com/Article/228745,chinese-consumer-confidence-drops-in-cities-rises-in-rural-areas.aspxhttp://en.campaignchina.com/Article/228745,chinese-consumer-confidence-drops-in-cities-rises-in-rural-areas.aspx

Google publicly declared its intention in March to move its Chinese-language Internet search operation in Hong Kong in hopes of bypassing censorship laws for companies that operate in mainland China, but the public showdown with the Chinese government never seemed destined for a happy ending. Google announced late Tuesday night that China will not renew its Internet Content Provider license–a key authorization scheduled to expire Wednesday–unless Google stops redirecting Google.cn visitors to Google.com.hk.

It seems unlikely that its newest strategy will past scrutiny either. Instead of automatically redirecting Google.cn users, Google has created a landing page at Google.cn “where users can conduct web search or continue to use Google.cn services like music and text translate, which we can provide locally without filtering,” Google said in a blog post. “This approach ensures we stay true to our commitment not to censor our results on Google.cn and gives users access to all of our services from one page.”

Read the full story here:  http://news.cnet.com/8301-30684_3-20009111-265.html

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Baidu to hire U.S. engineers to work in China

Baidu Inc, China’s leading search engine, will start hiring software engineers directly from the United States early next month, as it seeks to expand its technological capabilities and raise its global profile.

Baidu (BIDU.O) stands to be the biggest beneficiary in China’s search sector after Google Inc (GOOG.O) relocated its China servers to Hong Kong following a high-profile spat with Beijing over censorship and hacking.

Baidu would hire 30 mid-to senior-level software engineers from Silicon Valley at a job fair on July 10 to drive new technology projects, its first direct hiring from the United States, a Baidu spokesman told Reuters on Tuesday.

“Baidu believes that talent is the key to our success as a company, and we go where ever the best talent can be found, whether here in China or in Silicon Valley,” Zheng Bin, Baidu’s human resources director said in a statement to Reuters.

“As we develop more and more advanced search technologies, our need for world-class talent will only continue to increase.”

Baidu is a household name in China but not well known overseas. Baidu Japan, the firm’s venture into the Japanese search market, has been loss-making ever since its inception.

Read full article here: http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTOE65S0332010062

This article includes the following topics and has a regional focus on China, South Korea, Japan and partly India:

1. Demographics on social media use in Asia (China, South Korea, Japan, India)
2. Developing a social media strategy that pays into SEO and includes PR activities
3. Explanation of social media channels

1. Demographics on social media use in Asia (China, South Korea, Japan, India)

The following graphs and tables show information about the use and penetration of social media in China, Japan, South Korea and India.

» Click on picture to enlarge

Channel usage per country:

Every market is different:

Still, different markets show different user behavior. A reason for this could be the maturity and the development of a country in general. In the following table the item “research / find products to buy” gives an indication: The more developed the country the higher this shopping and comparison related behavior is listed. That’s no proof of course, but an indicator.

» Click on picture to enlarge

» Click on picture to enlarge

» Click on picture to enlarge

2. Developing a social media strategy that pays into SEO and includes PR activities

You need to have a strategy to fully leverage the potential of social media for SEO. All activities should be coordinated by one person/department. It’s possible that different departments participate in the social media execution, e.g. PR, sales, customer support, but one coordinator needs to remain the helm.

Steps of a social media strategy:

1. Understand your target group. Listen and learn and collect consumer insights. Find out where your target group likes to stay online.
2. Your target group consists of different kind of online contributors. Define the right channel for the respective user group.
3. Execute the channels.
4. Make sure that channel manager communicate with each other to leverage content and create links
5. Track, collect more consumer insights, learn more and use this information to refine your approach.

3. Explanation of social media channels

SEO/search engine results:
All content created in the channels will finally be picked up by search engines and add to your visibility especially for brand and product related keywords. It’s important that good and high-quality content is available in the search engine result pages to create upmost influence. If you do a search for your product or brand you will notice that search engine results are consumer dictated.

Just test yourself for your brand name or product name. How many results do you find among the first 20 results that are user-generated content, i.e. blog posts, forum discussions, video uploads, product reviews, Q&A sites? And how many results are based on your own distributed content, i.e. own website, press releases,etc.?

Blogs:
The majority of blogs in the blogosphere are personal blogs and niche blogs which generally don’t have many views. But they are observed by peers and category specialists or found in the search engines. A good story from a small blog can create some good buzz. On the other hand, a negative product or brand comment/experience can spark the flame. The mega-blogs with million of readers certainly have a strong impact when you get some coverage there. Blog marketing is an essential part of your online marketing communication strategy and goes hand-in-hand with online PR.

Forums:
In China, traditional forums and BBS are still the leading channel of user-generated content. More users contribute to a
forum than to a social network or than write a blog. But also for other countries, forums are an equally important channel.  Forums are mostly expert communities that focus around a certain topic or category. There are always a couple of power contributors who are responsible for most of the content. But for the normal consumer, forums are a powerful and very influencing source of information. Moreover, forums have the characteristic that very few people participate, but many, may people read. Also, for marketers forums are a valuable source of consumer insights.

Reviews:
Reviews should be divided into editorial reviews and consumer reviews. Editorial reviews are often based on product samples that a marketer sends out to a blog or review site to write a profound but independent review. Oftentimes this is part of the PR strategy of a marketer. These editorial reviews oftentimes are also extremely detailed and critical. Reviewers have a high standard and lots of professional experience and see things and specs from a different point of view.

Consumer reviews on the other hand are not as detailed and deep. Often they consist just of a few sentences. But they are an extremely important influencing factor. Web pages of products listed on shopping portals or price-comparison sites which have no consumer reviews normally look very boring: Product image, specs, price. That’s it. Totally exchangable, nothing convincing. A web shop which has consumer reviews and star ratings for the products listed has a much higher conversion rates than shops that have only product data. Products with many reviews and ratings are considered popular and worth buying than products without any user experience comments.

» Click to enlarge

Social networks:
Facebook and social networks are a big hype, but when it comes to your online marketing mix you should priorize what can have a big impact and what not. Social networks should certainly be part of your online activity but expectations should be realistc. Remember that only a low percentage of Facebook pages have more than a thousand fans. And to get in the area of 100,000 fans you already must have a strong brand awareness in public life. Before you engage in Facebook be sure where your fans are and what content you can provide to them. Be sure that you have the resources to communicate with them on a daily basis.

Source: The pictures are taken from a globalwebindex presentation and  you can find them on slideshare.

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According to local reports, the Search Engine Marketing Standard and Regulation is being circulated to drive out disreputable companies who tarnish the reputation of SEM in China and help to steer the healthy advancement of SEM.

Among the goals of the organisations involved include a wider education of the benefits of SEM for businesses looking to become involved with the medium, including an appropriate way to engage in it.

The regulations come one year after Baidu found itself embroiled in several SEM controversies, including accusations of blocking searches containing words associated with the melamine milk scandal as well as being found to have accepted money from fraudulent medical companies to include their websites in Baidu’s top search positions.

In response to the latter, Baidu launched an ad platform that separates its list of paid links from its general search listings.

Disgruntled companies unhappy with their dealings with Baidu further pledged to launch a mass lawsuit against the search engine in December. Each of these hurdles contributed to Baidu’s revenue drop that same month.

According to Barney Loehnis, head of Isobar Asia-Pacific, which is engaged in a search engine optimisation partnership with Baidu, the SEM landscape in China has become increasingly more focused on transparency following the incidents Baidu faced in 2008 as well as pressure from music and video providers looking to preserve copyright entitlements.

In the market, rival Google has worked to make its operations transparent, and Loehnis points out that the regulations are an attempt by Baidu to prove that it is also taking the matter seriously.

“Baidu has traditionally not been as transparent as others in showing what’s a paid result and what’s not, and in that case some consumers wouldn’t be aware of the paid or not paid and the result is that Baidu has fallen at one end of the spectrum where it’s not always known where they’re making money and not making money,” Loehnis said. “Any group operating in transparency has got to be good from a client’s point of view and I would interpret Baidu’s action as a step in the right direction.

“However, some Chinese companies do claim the moral high ground for more political reasons, so I think so it’s up to Baidu which way it falls and follow through to maintain these guidelines,” he continued.

Separately, Baidu announced the launch of a marketing promotion that will see it give Rmb 100 million (US$14.6 million) of display search ads to companies. The offer aims to promote its Baidu Search Marketing Services platform and gives participating companies a 60-day image display ad worth up to Rmb 10,000 ($1,464).

According to reports, the promotion was launched to help broaden Baidu’s image as an ad-sales provider.

Source: http://www.media.asia/newsarticle/2009_09/Baidu-helps-to-launch-SEM-regulatory-guide/37292

Businesses and brands are no longer the ones that spread out the message. Consumers do the brand building for the brand. Brand managers have to adopt and change their communication strategy: from shouting to listening, from persuading to convincing, from being bold to being subtle, from purely delivering a message to the consumer to also delivering a consumer feedback to internal departments, from throwing products to the market that nobody needs to products that deliver real customer value.

Why need to change? Because…

• Consumers talk to consumers about a brand but not to the brand
• Consumers trust the opinions of other consumers, even though they don’t know them
• Consumer experiences influence purchase decisions
• People like to express themselves
• The tools to easily do that exist and are available to basically anybody

From consumer voices to consumer insights

It is one thing to be aware of the strength of consumer opinions but the real challenge and value is to learn from it and to transport the consumer’s feedback back into your company to improve processes, service and products. It won’t transform your company from a product-driven company to a customer-centric business if nothing else changes. But it’s a great beginning to let various departments in your company get totally new insights and different perspectives and make key people feel the power of consumer opinions.

Businesses that understand this concept and implement it into the corporate culture can truly benefit in the long term because they satisfy the client, deliver true value for the money and are talked about positively.

3digitalminds is experienced in implementing consumer-focused online concepts

This is not only theory, but based on experiences which we made with clients. We implemented these concepts in companies and as a result, clients increased their awareness in the target group, they are now neck-to-neck to competitors which they never believed they could be within one year and they use the consumer voice to improve their products and influence the corporate culture. This is truly a new experience for managers because they get to know details and opinions they have never heard or seen before about their own company and products.

You need to know more on this? Contact us, please.

And it’s based on the pure need of human beings for communication, affirmation, support and connections.

• Consumers ask for help during their decision making process
• They like to share experiences and look for confirmation in their peer group
• They look for advice
• Consumers participate in blogs, forums, product review sites, social networks and connect

Experiences backed by statistics

And to make these claims more objective, here is a recent research from Nielsen about the power of consumer opinions and their influence.

Chart:  Have some degree of trust* in the following forms of advertising in April 2009

Source: Nielsen Global Online Consumer Survey April 2009 / Base: All Respondents; *E.g. 90 percent of respondents trusted “completely” or “somewhat” recommendations from people they know

http://www.my-life-in-china.com/online-marketing/the-power-of-online-consumer-voices/

Speaking to Media at the Cannes International Advertising Festival, Schmidt confirmed google.cn was back online. “Officially, what I can say is: we will continue to meet with the Government to address their concerns, and we wish to communicate directly with them in regard to our services and progress in addressing this problem.”

China’s crackdown on Google is the latest move in its recent efforts to crackdown on pornography. Earlier in June, the government issued a directive requiring the installation of Green Dam Youth Escort software on Chinese computers as of 1 July.

The software aims to protect youth from pornography and other inappropriate materials.

However, the Chinese Government has come under intense criticism both inside and outside China. Critics argue that the software will enable the government to increase its censorship of content accessible to the more than 300 million Chinese people who currently use the internet.

Schmidt said that it was at their “peril” that governments attempted to impose blackouts on media such as TV, internet, radio and mobile phones.

He added that the search giant, which owns video-sharing website YouTube, consistently tried to explain to regimes that restrict communication that, ultimately, attempts to isolate a population fail.

“We have lots of lawyers, lawyers in every one of these countries,” Schmidt said. “We explain if they do this [block freedom of speech and communication] what will happen. Sometimes they moderate their behaviour and sometimes not. If they don’t listen to us it is at their peril.”

Schmidt expanded on this point: “By ‘peril’ I mean it is what the citizens will do, citizens can no longer be restricted by the kind of strategies evil dictatorships [use]… you can’t keep people in the dark.”

Schmidt said he hoped that the many clips of violent protest scenes in Iran, for example, posted on YouTube – in many cases the only footage available following reporting bans for international media – had helped to “moderate an over-reaction by the government”.

“The internet is the strongest force for individual self-expression ever invented,” Schmidt said.

“Governments around the world, even democratically elected, have difficulty with [the flow of] information online. Dictatorships and closed communities one after the other will try and shut down communication from inside. Strategies governments use trying to shut down people’s speech are terrible strategies and will not succeed,” he added.

Source: http://www.brandrepublic.asia

According to China sources, Twitter became inaccessible in the country at 5pm on Tuesday, widely noticed to be blocked after access of popular external programmes Tweet Deck and Twhirl also became patchy or non-existent.

“We started to notice an even more random and broader approach to website filtering in Beijing over the long weekend just passed. Those of us in the China marketing community are accustomed to heavy-handed filtering of blameless as well as politically sensitive websites, but this week, with the 20th anniversary on Thursday, has largely rendered the web unusable for us,” said Simon Cousins, chief executive of PR agency Illuminant Partners, describing the internet’s performance as “off kilter” all week.

“This latest block of Twitter and Flickr really hurts us, and our ability to service our clients in the mainland. They’re both important business tools.”

Cousins added that access to Tweetie, an iPhone application, via China Mobile was also blocked.

A Beijing-based agency source added that the 2 June blockage was “particularly bad” because his company’s external server based in San Francisco was also unable to process requests for Twitter and Flickr URLs.

The block is a setback for Bing, which only debuted its Chinese-language site this week.

The event followed reports that users on social networking sites also experienced difficulty as pages either stalled or had delayed loading times.

A representative from Yahoo, owner of Flickr, could not be reached in time for press.

Source: http://www.brandrepublic.asia/Media/newsarticle/2009_06/China-blocks-social-media-ahead-of-Tiananmen-anniversary/35783