About 60 of our Digital Influence strategists from across Asia descended upon Hong Kong last week for our Black Belt Summit. We had worksessions on a boat, a great meal on a "Thai" beach, and even bet on the ponies as we say in America. This is our 4th Summit in about as many years and I was struck by the following highlights including the appetite for iPads:
Integrated Social Media on the Rise
Our strong hubs in Hong Kong, Singapore, Beijing/Shanghai and Australia are pleasantly infecting all of our business in those markets and the region. That means that we are truly walking the walk of "integrated social media" which blends paid, owned and earned media to deliver a bigger impact.
Fast Growth
The rate of growth in Vietnam, Malaysia, India, Taiwan, and the Philippines confirms that these markets are firmly in the "experimentation" phase of social media adoption and will start to evolve into operationalizing this year. The rate of adoption in these markets and others worldwide is the x-factor that make it impossible to make accurate predictions about social media spend. In general, we all underestimate how fast social media is getting applied to marketing and communications in these markets.
- Check out these posts on social media in Vietnam
- And this wiki on Malaysia (and other parts of Asia)
China Social Network Map
Most markets have embraced Facebook pages as a cornerstone of their social strategy. Our teams and clients are actively managing these spaces via conversation calendars. The 700 million-pound-gorilla known as Facebook has proven its relevance in all but the Chinese market. There, market conditions still favor the home-grown social networks. See this China Social Network map from our team.
iPad for Business
While the US is known for its endless device hunger - we adopt more varieties of devices that some other markets - about 1/6 of the 17 million Ipad 1&2's were sold in Asia. You can actually learn a bit more of how brands are using iPad-based solutions by checking out our iPad for Business presentation which includes work from Cathay Pacific, Burberry and my personal favorite, Jetsetter.
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