1. “You”— Time’s Person of the Year
— also lives in China
- CIC Watch 6 Month Review
Report Period: July - Dec, 2006
CIC Contact: info@cicdata.com

2. “You” – the Person of the Year
Time recently selected “you” as the person of the year because “you”
is taking control of the information age via blogs, message boards and
video. Lucky for us, “you” also lives in China, with 2006 serving as a
breakout year for Internet Word of Mouth (IWOM). Just as in the West,
this was the year that consumers began taking control of their media.
They created their own stars. Dell learned that they can create a crisis.
Bloggers topped the best seller list with their printed blog content and
searched on Baidu for quintessential net star Fu Rong Jie Jie more
than they did Mao Ze Dong. Brands also reached out to consumers for
marketing ideas, asking them to create TVC’s (Pepsi Creative
Challenge) and tapping their net stars to be spokespersons (Sony
Ericsson and Tian Xian MM).
For this report, we have prepared a 6 month review past CIC watches.
It doesn’t cover the whole year, but if these past 6 months are any
indication, we are only at the beginning of a long and interesting ride
with the consumers behind the wheel. We look forward to reporting
more in 2007!

3. Content Highlights
• Be careful, consumers now are in control of your brand image
Welcome to
• Dell Hell China Agenda - Consumers rally on BBS to create a class action
the Crisis
lawsuit against Dell in less than 2 weeks
2.0 era
• KFC’s Woes Continue – Netizens have a good memory
Consumer- • Consumers’ ideas can bring you great marketing opportunities, do not
Brand Co- just ignore popular buzz
Creation • Mega Collaboration – consumers become marketers
Extended • Corporate blog – an emerging trend to share companies’ great work in a
PR/Marketing humanized voice
Channel In • Extending your brand experience to the virtual world
Web 2.0
• While breathing the common Net Language, netizens are also passionate
The Rising to discuss things new like the online “Gate” incidents
Net Culture • Creating Net Stars overnight – you could be the next one
• Not just offline – famous actress Xu Jinglei gets picked by AMD for her
world’s most influential blogger reputation

4. Welcome to the
Crisis 2.0 era
In the "old days," a company crisis typically started
in traditional media, and then was amplified via on
BBS and Blogs. "Black March" of 2005 with SK-II,
Heinz, KFC and others offer plenty of cases. And
Crisis 1.0 Crisis 2.0
this is what we call crisis 1.0.
Now, more and more, crisis' are actually starting on
BBS or blogs. In the U.S., it started with Kryptonite.
Then, Dell Hell, and more recently Comcast and
AOL. For overview in China, see Business Week .
Also, see our analysis here and here. This new era
of crisis is 2.0 now.

5. Be careful, consumers now are in control of your brand image
In China
In July, an offending VW Polo Ads left an impression that
subway commuters should become "aspiring" Polo GP owner so
they can overcome the seemingly working class subway.
The reaction of netizens was fierce, and as netizens are apt to
do in such situations, one poster juxtaposed the original ads with
his own text copy added to Gulfstream Jet adverts.
FYI: Toyota once met similar problem long time ago.
In U.S
A Comcast technician sleeping on my couch: one Comcast (a
famous cable network company in U.S) technician fell asleep on
the consumer’s couch when fixing the network problem. The
consumer recorded this scene with camera, added text subtitle
and background music, then uploaded it on YouTube which
finally made coverage on mainstream media because of the loud
buzz
Source: CIC Watch Jul 1-15

6. Dell Hell China Agenda - Consumers rally on BBS to create
a class action lawsuit against Dell in less than 2 weeks
•June 23, 2006: On IT168 BBS Dell Forum, a consumer complained that Dell shipped notebook with
different chip than advertised on Dell website LINK
•June 24, 2006: IT168 Dell Forum administrator set up a post in the forum inviting others to share their
problems with Dell problems LINK
•June 24, 2006: IT168 set up a “Dell Hell” section on its website to track the issue LINK
•June 28, 2006: Dell responded to the incident, saying it is feeling sorry about the issue LINK
•June 29 , 2006: Shanghai based lawyer Ma Jianrong (马建荣) posted a proposal on IT 168, saying he
would like to provide lawsuit service to “Dell Hell” consumers LINK
•June 30, 2006: Mainstream media began to report the lawsuit that over 200 consumers are suing Dell
LINK
•July 4, 2006: CCTV2 interviews lawyer leading class action suit against Dell and reported the status of
the lawsuit LINK
•July 5, 2006: Dell responded to the incident again, saying consumers can get refund LINK
See BusinessWeek Article about Processor Gate here.
Source: CIC Watch Jul 16-31

7. KFC’s Woes Continue – Netizens have a good memory
April July September - October
2006 2006 2006
“Eating KFC chicken wrap KFC chicken sandwich TVC KFC egg tart TVC is accused
means a ticket to university?” gets accused of spoofing of deceptively portraying a
This controversial TVC Chinese traditional culture. Japanese idea in a Chinese
becomes the start of a serial (sample buzz) way. (sample buzz)
TVC problem. (sample buzz)
We are not stupid,
respect us
We love our country,
do not insult anything Japan is not
related to China welcome here
Source: CIC Watch Oct 16-31

8. Wow! Some of the
customers really
understand the
brand, we should
try these ideas…
Consumer-Brand Co-Creation
With the development of online interactive
technology, working with your customers and
letting them think about the brand at your position
becomes much easier to access. Brands now
have the opportunities to further expand their
value through true engagement.
I think it would be
cool if they have a
TVC like this…

9. Consumers’ ideas can bring you great marketing
opportunities, do not just ignore popular buzz
“Diet Coke + Mentos Mint = Fountain”, in June, 2 creative men
release a super viral video about how they use Coke and Mint to
make a magnificent soda fountain which finally creates a hot
scenario of similar consumer made videos.
While Coke thinks such videos inappropriately displays its Diet
Coke product, Mentos utilizes this opportunity to further associate
its brand image with the popular trend by hosting “Mentos Geyser
Video Contest” in July.
Maybe because of the good success of Mentos Geyser Video
Contest, in October, Coke finally changes its mind to welcome the
original video makers as stars to represent its creativity marketing
event “Poetry in Motion Challenge”.
Source: CIC Watch Jul 1-15/Oct 16-31

10. Mega Collaboration – consumers become marketers
In 2006, many brands launched open source marketing to let consumers design products’ next TVC/logo or
to let them share brand experience in daily lives through videos/text script. The buzz is good for brands, but
more importantly, consumers become marketers by deeply thinking about the brand’s image/value.
Total No. of
Type of No. of
Brand Campaign Description Online Social
Submissions Submissions
Media Mentions*
write down an
Skincare Creative Life creative idea in Video, Text 884 150
daily life
Report on fight
Electronic
"War" Reporter against teeth Text 291 200
Toothbrush
bacteria
write a script for Text, Video,
Computer Writing for XXX 1,311 380
TVC Picture
write a script for
Text, Video,
Beverage Saving XXX XXX TVC 152 2,508
Flash
ending
Acting in brand
Athletic Apparel JDI Video, Text 1,045 6,666
video
write a script for
Creative
Beverage spokesperson Text 26,869 28,154
Challenge
TVC
Note: Based on CIC tracking, estimates and publicly available data.
Source: CIC Watch Aug1-15

11. Extended PR/Marketing
Channel In the Times of
Web 2.0
The interactive web technology not only brings a
sea of change to netizens’ online experience, but
also provides a whole new channel to conduct its
PR and Marketing event. Consumer engagement
has never been so massively close to brands.

12. Corporate blog – an emerging trend to share
companies’ great work in a humanized voice
Companies that blog their
core product/value:
… and more
If your company is also doing great work, why
not yet share with others?
Source: CIC Watch Oct 1-15

13. Corporate blog – an emerging trend to share
companies’ great work in a humanized voice
Executive blogging Blogging your product Blogging your values
Source: CIC Watch Oct 1-15

14. Extending your brand experience to the virtual world
In U.S
1
SecondLife is a popular online virtual life game, recently more
and more organizations enter it to extend their influence
2 Screenshot at left:
1. Dell sets up Dell island for product information sharing,
extensive branding and more…
2. Famous private PR firm Edelman creates new island in
Second Life through cooperation with Electric Sheep
Company.
3 3. For PR, US government organization Center for Disease
Control enters Second Life.
Players can buy their VW polo
and cruise in it in the game In China
Shanghai VW is now making its POLO available in the virtual
gaming world “疯狂赛车”(crazy race). Players can purchase the
virtual car and drive it in the game. POLO banners are also
displayed in the gaming space. Such online-offline mixed
connection would help to establish/strengthen the emotional
bond between brands and consumers.
Source: CIC Watch Oct 1-15/Nov1-15/Dec 1-15

15. The Rising Net Culture
- When online, do
what netizens do
Netizens have special language, create
and worship their own celebrities. Many
offline experiences just do not fine when
they get online. For anyone who wants
to fit in that world, it is wise to start
observing. Furthermore, the net culture
has not only online influence but also
affects the offline world.

16. While breathing the common Net Language, netizens are also
passionate to discuss things like online “Gate” incidents
Common Net Language “Gate” Incidents
粉丝 - fans April
拍砖 - make suggestions University Gate(大学门)
顶 - support
粉 - very June
大虾 (big shrimp)- savvy
Processor Gate (换芯门)
74 (去死) - go to hell
偶 (我) - me June
FT(晕倒) - faint Commentary Gate (解说门)
PMP (拍马屁)- kissing ass
MPJ (马屁精) - people who kiss ass
August
表 - no
Shi Yang Gate (师洋门)
BT (变态)- sick
BS (鄙视)- shame on others
September
撒花 - congratulations
Toilet Gate (厕所门)
Source: CIC Watch Sept 1-15/Oct 16-31

17. Creating Net Stars overnight – you could be the next one
Tian Xian MM
Netizens create Represent
fan site after Become media
focus Sony-Ericsson
finding this ethnic mobile phone
girl
Bus MM
A local beautiful bus conductor’s
photo get uploaded to BBS by
netizens which brings unexpected
fame in local region and finally puts
her on newspaper cover
Ding Beili
Fans take a
picture of a Story gets Interviewed
beautiful girl at an traditional media by major
exhibition attention portal site
Source: CIC Watch Aug 16-31

18. Not just offline – famous actress Xu Jinglei gets picked by
AMD for her world’s most influential blogger reputation
AMD’s (world’s second biggest computer processor manufacturer) new TVC is directed and acted by
world’s most influential blogger Xu Jinglei. The TVC is focusing on her famous blog. The netizen who uses
AMD’s new processor becomes the first one leaves the comment to her blog. This idea is represented by
the Chinese social media term of "grabbing the sofa" or "抢沙发" (the term used to describe the effort to
place the first comment on a blog or BBS post, a point of pride for many).
Source: CIC Watch Jul 1-15