These Chinese brands have turned from local, national ones to world organisations.

Commercially, these dynamics have just started. In the view of competitors such as Electrolux, Samsung, Whirlpool and Bosch-Siemens, Haier, for instance, calls for between 3% and 4% of the market share in France with a two-digit growth. For those who are constantly wondering about the ROI of social media, Haier represents a shining example of social media strategies contributing to the development of a brand in a different, local ecosystem.

CLICK HERE TO READ THE FIRST PART OF THE STUDY

LENOVO: http://www.lenovo.com/uk/en/index.html - http://blog.lenovo.com - http://social.lenovo.com / HAIER: http://www.haier.com/uk/ / WEIBO:  http://weibo.com / CHINA MOBILE: http://www.chinamobileltd.com/en/global/home.php / BAIDU: http://www.baidu.com / BANK OF CHINA: http://www.boc.cn/en / LINING: http://www.li-ning-badminton.com/

Last year, research agency Millward Brown published a special issue of their BrandZ™ ranking with a Top 50 of the most valuable Chinese brands[1], explaining China’s will to overcome its status as a producer of cheap products.

These brands are already growing outside of their country. Although their value has yet to start competing with the biggest American or European brands, the majority of the Chinese brands are trying to reach the global market quicker than ever. This progressive expansion represents a real challenge for these companies that have to show the most diverse consumers their relevance and differentiation.

Will the 21st century see big Chinese brands emerge with the same reputation as their European and American competitors?

Some figures about the reality of this phenomenon in Europe: which are the most visible Chinese brands in the press, on the internet and on social networks?

CLICK HERE TO READ THE SECOND PART OF THE STUDY

[1] http://www.millwardbrown.com/BrandZ/BrandZ_Top50_Chinese_Brands.aspx

LENOVO: http://www.lenovo.com/uk/en/index.html - http://blog.lenovo.com - http://social.lenovo.com / HAIER: http://www.haier.com/uk/ / WEIBO:  http://weibo.com / CHINA MOBILE: http://www.chinamobileltd.com/en/global/home.php / BAIDU: http://www.baidu.com / BANK OF CHINA: http://www.boc.cn/en / LINING: http://www.li-ning-badminton.com/

New analysis of European PR agencies reveals the success of their own online and offline media strategies.

Kantar Media’s white paper, ‘Walking the Walk – The Top PR Agencies in the Media’, analyses the performance of leading European PR agencies in terms of their use of social media platforms. It also ranks the companies according to their coverage in print and online news media.

Kantar Media News Intelligence analysed 480 PR agencies from France, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom, benchmarking those that perform best on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Pinterest and blogs. Using its freemium media monitoring service Pickanews, Kantar Media was also able to identify the PR agencies that generate the most coverage in news media, both on- and offline. Global social media profiles of international agencies were not included in order to ensure a uniquely European perspective on PR agencies’ media strategies.

Click here to download the study

Are you ready for the visual content revolution?

“Customers judge with their eyes. A consistent visual experience will drive audience engagement and trigger exponential sales” Walter Panatella CEO Kantar Media News Intelligence.

Kantar Media Trends is a web video series dedicated to the emerging online trends in media and PR. Subscribe to our YouTube Channel for more exclusive videos, and join the conversation on Twitter: #KMNItrends

The hype around Pinterest has been met with skepticism from PR practitioners, most of whom have sensibly adopted a wait-and-see attitude to the budding platform. However, since its launch two years ago, the image-sharing site has grown to become one of the biggest social networks in the world. Now that you no longer need an invitation to join, there are more reasons than ever to start using Pinterest for PR.

But first, a short explanation from Mashable’s excellent Pinterest Beginner’s Guide: “Pinterest is a place to organise and share online images that you find interesting or inspiring. Once uploaded or shared on Pinterest, these images become known as Pins, which the user [pinner] can place on customised, themed Boards.”

1. Pinterest’s Popularity is Growing

It was the fastest site in history to break the 10m monthly unique visitor mark (in the US).

Source: comScore via Wikipedia

It has overtaken LinkedIn and is catching up to the Big 3 social networks (Twitter, YouTube and Facebook).

Source: Business 2 Community

It is the 41st most popular website in the world, ranked #50 in France, #32 in the UK and #28 in Spain.

Source: Alexa

2. Pinterest is a Great Source of Referral Traffic

3. Convert Links to Leads

HubSpot already receives a substantial number of visitors from Pinterest and is successfully converting those links into leads.

Pro tip: include landing pages in your pins’ descriptions so that click-throughs convert better.

Source: HubSpot

4. Pinterest Users are Highly Engaged

The average Pinterest user spends more time on site than Facebook and Twitter users combined.

Source: Modea

15% of pinners use no other social media sites.

Source: Compete via Marketing Profs

5. Target: A Desirable Demographic

Most Pinterest users are: women (80%) and young (63% are aged 18-44).

Source: Search Engine Watch

6. Target: A Specific Lifestyle

Pinterest users fall into three of Experian Hitwise’s Mosaic lifestyle segments:

• Boomers and Boomerangs – the baby boomer adults and the teenagers/young adults who live with them.

• Babies and Bliss – the parents of large families (with five or more in their houses), in their 30s and 40s, in full-time work and highly computer literate.

• Families Matter Most – young middle-class families with active lifestyles who are interested in things that allow them to juggle work and parenting effectively.

Source: Experian Hitwise via econsultancy

The most popular content categories on Pinterest focus on family life, home, food and products (% of users that interact with each):

• Food: 57%
• Home: 40%
• Arts and Crafts: 34%
• Style/Fashion: 30%
• Products: 26%

Source: Compete via Marketing Profs

7. Target: Pinfluencers

Plenty of tools exist to help you find popular pins, boards and pinners, and to monitor your own Pinterest influence.

PinReach
Pinpuff
Repinly
Pintics
Curulate

8. Use Pinterest as a Focus Group

[People are] volunteering a lot of information about their interests, passions, dreams and sense of humour in a more natural way on Pinterest than they would on say, a survey or even on Facebook… Use this information to your advantage to glean insights about your target consumers.
- Lauren Drell, Mashable

9. Crowdsource

“If your company hosted an event recently, encourage people to pin and tag the photos as a sort of crowdsourced scrapbook.”
- Lauren Drell, Mashable

10. Communicate your/your Clients’ Corporate Culture

“Pinterest is the perfect avenue to illustrate a company’s culture by making a profile that highlights your brand’s personality… to ultimately connect deeper with consumers. Why not provide a pin for your thoughts? Use your page to publicise your thought leadership initiatives, by pinning images that showcase links to your articles, coverage or video content.”
- Elissa Davis, The Hit Board

PR PInners

Pinterest is currently dominated by US brands and marketeers, but some European PR agencies are getting it right.

Hill+Knowlton Strategies UK – Engagement!
The London agency’s crowdsourced “Community board” has attracted over 200 inspirational pins.

Publicis Activ RP – Proof!
France’s Publicis Activ puts client work front and centre, using Pinterest as a virtual portfolio.

Silvia Albert Inc – Personality!
Silivia Albert pin content about the Spanish agency and its clients, as well as inspirational quotes.

Social@Ogilvy -Thought leadership!
Ogilvy’s global social team pins only infographics produced by the agency and others, establishing their Pinterest page as a valuable resource.

Best Relations – Thinking visually!
Spain’s Best Relations strengthens its branding by producing and pinning bright orange content.