Japan Finding a Future Hello Economy

Tokyo, 05 May 2010

The Country Brand Index (CBI), an joint research initiative between Weber Shandwick and FutureBrand, ranked Japan as number one in six categories: "advanced technology," "quality products," "nightlife," "most conducive to starting a business," "best plact to hold conferences," and "authenticiy" in 2009. And yet the same study notes that Japan ranks poorly in the category of "transparency," a telling insight in terms of the perception of Japan's place in the global economy. In recent weeks, the nuances of Japanese corporate culture have been put in the spotlight as a number of leading corporations have faced intense international media scrutiny. And yet it is these same companies that have dominated their respective market sectors for years. So what are Japanese companies doing right, and where are they falling short? To address these questions, Weber Shandwick in Tokyo surveyed international journalists with an interest in Japanese business, to better understand their experiences in interacting with Japanese companies. To read the full article by Aki Kubo, President & CEO, Weber Shandwick Japan, click here.

The Influence of New Media on Malaysian Public Affairs

Malaysia, 29 April 2010

Largely ignored by political parties previously, today new media has newfound credibility, especially as a medium to reach a younger audience. This is an increasingly important voting group as half of Malaysia's population is aged 25 and under. Leading the embrace of new media is the Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak who has his own blog and Tweets regularly. The government's new push onlin is also driven by the need to actively engage with the wider public on a number of issues that are potentially divisive and could hurt the country's image abroad. Some of these issues are not new, but with new media's growing audience, both inside and outside the country there are wider and more open discussions. To read full article by Rozani Jainudeen, General Manager, Weber Shandwick Malaysia, click here.

The PR Industry In India - On the Fast Track

India, 08 February 2010

Challenging Times Call for Considered Country Communications

Singapore, 01 February 2010

Weber Shandwick's China Interactive Guide

Beijing, China, 28 September 2009

The China Interactive Guide is an interactive, Flash-based guide to the People's Republic of China. Produced by Weber Shandwick China's dedicated corporate affairs team and public affairs business unit, it is an indispensible resource for international public affairs practitioners, NGO workers, diplomatic missions and international trade offices with an interest in China. It also acts as a portal to many other websites that have useful information for "China Watchers."

The China Interactive Guide contains:
• Information about governmental structures
• Primers on central and provincial leadership
• Contact information for government departments
• Background of media, history and communities
• Demographic data
• An easy-to-navigate, user-friendly format

For any comments or questions, please contact interactive_guide_china@webershandwick.com.

Click here to download the China Interactive Guide.
Click here to download a screensaver based on the China Interactive Guide.

The Middle Kingdom: Where global meets local

10 August 2009

By David Liu, Managing Director, China
This article was previously published by iMedia Connection.      

Nowhere do the polar forces of globalisation and localisation converge as clearly as they do in the "Middle Kingdom", an ancient designation for China. Thirty years after the reform and opening-up policies of the post-Mao era, the 5,000-year-old civilisation is more global than ever before. But the pace of that change shrouds what we believe to be the critical success factor for multinational corporations in China: localisation.

As a longstanding trading hub, Asia has always been at the forefront of globalisation. Of the 60 "global cities" listed in Foreign Policy magazine's most recent Global Cities Index, 23 were in Asia and six in China. The combination of an upsurge in foreign direct investment, a rise in international tourism and greater access to technologies has heralded China's relevance to, and appetite for, globalisation in the 21st century.

Yet it is in this environment that localisation continues to flourish. And, in many respects, China is not alone. Across the world, ethnic conflict shows little sign of becoming extinct. In 2008, the Heidelberg Institute for International Conflict Research revealed that self-determination (the desire of a group to gain independence for itself) was the second leading cause of medium and high-intensity conflict around the world. Today, there is a growing sense of national pride among many people in China. In Western media, for example, much of last year's civil unrest in Tibet was reported as a reaction to government policy. Here in China, it was quite the opposite, with some Chinese beginning to wear their national pride on their sleeve. Quick-acting netizens created a website, "anti-CNN.com" protesting at some international media's use of cropped photos believed to inaccurately portray the situation. And more literally than metaphorically, 2.3 million Chinese added the "I (heart) China" logo to their usernames on MSN's popular chatting application in one day. The impact was profound.

When rumours that respected French company, Carrefour, had contributed funds to the Dalai Lama's cause, the backlash was crippling. Fuelled by the fact that Tibetan independence protestors had reportedly disrupted the Olympic torch relay in Paris, there was a swift call for the boycott of French goods – with Carrefour quickly becoming the number one target.

Carrefour's response was clear and precise. It issued its employees new uniforms bearing the colours and pattern of the Chinese flag and a cap labeled "Beijing 2008." And when, shortly after the Olympic Games, western China was hit by a devastating earthquake, Carrefour immediately donated 23 million yuan (US$3,382,353) to relief efforts – the largest amount contributed by a French company in China. In some respects, it wasn't the size of Carrefour's donation that helped re-establish its position in the market. It was the absolute lack of ambiguity with which it did it. The company acted as a local company would have acted. It demonstrated compassion, generosity and good will in equal measure. And in China, that matters enormously.

Elsewhere, a local approach to the introduction of brands can be pivotal to commercial success. Like most consumers, the Chinese want to consume on their terms. Last year, Weber Shandwick was involved in the local roll out of the "smart fortwo", one of the first sub-compact cars to hit the market. Rather than take a global brand and apply global launch techniques, we started with "found objects" – selectively choosing successful strategies from other markets that would be locally applicable. One such "found object" – a smart fortwo-sized vending machine allowed shoppers to preview and register for a test drive of the automobile in malls – originated in Japan. By coupling this with viral videos that re-imagined the smart fortwo, we tapped into China's burgeoning internet population and, as a consequence, generated more than a million online views of the new car.

Right now, the eyes of the world are on China. If Chinese GDP looks to show the slightest sign of incremental growth over and above market forecasts, international stocks surge. Put that into the context of negative growth across most other developed nations and doing business in China is more attractive a proposition now than it ever has been.

But the pitfalls of business in China are as deep as the opportunities are wide. Which means the rules are simple. Understand the nuances of Chinese culture and the aspiration of its people and their communities, and Western businesses will flourish. But to simply apply the tried and tested rules of other markets and assume they will work is to not only miss the point, but creates the prospect of long-term reputational damage that has far reaching consequences at home as well as abroad.

PR in 140 characters (or less)

09 August 2009

By Yeelim Lee, account supervisor, Weber Shandwick Hong Kong

No longer can brands bask in page-long text rich press releases, now, thanks to Twitter, brands need to communicate their messages succinctly in 140 characters or less. Although there are no official user numbers, it is rumoured that Twitter, the micro-blogging social media tool, has amassed around nine million users in its short existence.

The broadcasting of short messages to global followers is the latest explosion on the social media scene, attracting everyone from the tech savvy digerati to celebrities and government officials. It has pushed the boundaries of internet conversation, allowing you to interact with celebrities as if they were your best friend (I recently engaged with Will Carling and Stephen Fry!).

But beware, the darker side of Twitter enables viral word of mouth to spread faster than ever before - a crisis can now be communicated to a global audience in the time it takes to type 140 characters.

As a result, the communications industry has quickly pounced on the potential of Twitter as a tool for broadcasting company messages, creating communities of advocates, engaging with consumers and even an avenue for crisis communications. To bring this to life, here is one recent example of crisis communications involving PepsiCo and an ill-thought-out advertising campaign.

Huw Gilbert, communications manager for PepsiCo International, approved a Pepsi Max advertisement, which depicted a cartoon calorie committing suicide. Twitter users condemned the advertisement as insensitive to those affected by suicide and a raft of criticisms were posted. Gilbert soon caught on that Pepsi’s online reputation was taking a beating and “tweeted” the following public apology:

“We agree this creative is totally inappropriate; we apologise and please know it won’t run again.”

Several critics saw Gilbert’s tweet and one user responded:

“Thank you...for having the guts to get on Twitter on behalf of Pepsi and give us an update on the suicide ad.”

This example highlights how companies that have a Twitter account are better prepared to respond when something goes wrong. In an era where authenticity and transparency are vital to combat skepticism, this type of direct engagement can preserve online corporate reputation.

Other well known brands on Twitter include Starbucks, Amazon, Gartner and Dell. There are a growing number of brands using Twitter to communicate messages, promote products and provide customer service.

Another example is Bob Pearson, head of communities and conversations for Dell, who recently stated that his company had generated US$1 million in computer-related sales through alerts posted to Twitter alone.

The wonders of Twitter do not stop there. We, as communications professionals, can leverage Twitter as a news monitoring tool, a crisis early warning system, a sales channel, a broadcast channel and an audience engagement tool. I consider Twitter as a vital tool in my job and make it my first port of call on my journey to work. We should be ready to identify potential problems and opportunities to effectively counsel our clients in a way that may be outside of our comfort zone.

Some Twitter lingo:

Music Maestro: A unique take on the real issues facing communicators everywhere

09 August 2009

'33 & A THIRD RPM' might be a rather retro title for the first edition of our European e-newsletter, but the content is no less punchy, powerful and bang up-to-date. In this edition, we talk with some of Weber Shandwick's most connected and influential people about surviving a recession, sorting the digital wheat from the chaff and the permanently in-vogue art of story-planning. And David Liu, managing director of our operations in China, gives his perspective on the polar forces of globalisation and localisation in that market. So whether you're an MP3 addict or a vinyl purest, there's something in '33 & a THIRD' for you. We hope you become a fan, either way.

Video Gallery: Our Views on Current Issues

09 August 2009

Click here to view our video gallery showcasing interviews with regional and global leaders. Topics include: how to manage corporate reputations online; tackling talent management issues in Asia; the rise of advocacy in China; the role of Web 2.0 during the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

Bringing the digital world in-line saves time

09 August 2009

By Darren Burns, managing director, Weber Shandwick Shanghai and Guangzhou

Only 38% of Asian executives say their company's top officers pay a lot of attention to what’s being said about them online, according to a recent Weber Shandwick survey. Yet, according to advance reports from an upcoming Weber Shandwick/Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) survey - due for release soon - 100% of them say they use the internet to judge a company’s reputation, products and services.

There seems to be a serious gap between the way executives think about their own company and how they form opinions on competitors -whatever the reason for this disconnect, it’s clear that online media (in all its forms) is a major source of influence on reputation. And it will only grow in importance.

This is a call to action that communicators must seize to prove their worth in a rapidly morphing environment. To date, we mostly haven’t stepped up to the plate.

Everyone's talking about digital media, online news groups, BBS, etc., but still many companies are taking little action to manage actively - never mind passively - their reputation in the age of 24-hour news.

Many large organisations in Asia are not even tracking online conversations or "buzz" about their brands, products or services. It’s time we started to be serious about tracking our reputations online - especially in an area with the world’s largest online population and some would argue, most rigorous blogosphere (China, especially). To ignore even this most basic of online engagements seems tantamount to negligence.

While preparing for this article I talked to a lot of clients, agency types and other observers to uncover best practice. Those companies with better reputations had simply taken the time to commit to ONGOING communications with key online stakeholders as an integrated part of their overall communications strategy. In other words, bringing digital inline, versus the offline and online approach that is often the case today.

Here are some tips:

• "We don't actively manage our reputation online." Many companies only react when an issue or crisis hits. As agencies,we need to insist (as much as we can) that ongoing online reputation management is key - not a "nice to have". We can’t stop online issues, but we can manage them when it's part of our corporate communications DNA. As best practice, GM in China hired a social media manager in 2007 to actively improve its reputation online - and it's working!
• Monitoring online media in a systematic fashion - Not just the online version of newspapers - we need to include portals, news sites, and influential blogs and BBS. A high percentage of issues and crises now come from online sources and bounce into the "mainstream media." Do you have a tracking tool for online conversations?
• Creating your voice so you can respond in times of trouble - drive BBS, review sites to your own blog to answer allegations and issues. Do you have a dynamic web presence?
• Build a body of news and link it to your site - Utilise the content you create including news releases, articles, etc. This will ensure that more positive news will turn up in searches, therefore building enhancing your reputation. Search is where your reputation is stored for ever.
• "Know thy system" - Do you have contacts at top online news portals? Do you know influential bloggers that could have an effect on your reputation? Do you know that slander and other erroneous news will often be taken off a site if you just contact the administrator?
• Engage bloggers to seek feedback - Depending on your sector, engage online influencers when creating content, or ask them to demo a new product or service before it’s "officially" launched. Don’t underestimate positive word of mouth. Many anti co-X bloggers have been turned neutral or positive after simple engagement.
• Search Engine Optimization is key - Conduct o a key word search for your company and/or product and note how many "non-official" sites appear. Somebody said that search engines are the new media. It certainly is a reputation deal breaker - or maker.
• Convince your leadership - The upcoming Weber Shandwick/EIU study will help. It's not "OK" to opt out of online media. We can’t accept the “we don’t have budget” excuse. If anything, re-deploy budgets to meet the new reality.