The digital age
We are now in an era that has moved from the industrial and information age to a new era: the digital age (also known as the post-information society). Humanity has relied on the Internet, computers, and the Internet of Things to dramatically improve the efficiency of social production. This also brings challenges and opportunities for every company and brand. Will they keep up with the tide of the times and succeed in standing firm, or will they lag behind and gradually withdraw from the stage of the times? In this regard, the choice of marketing approach is particularly important.
About my thoughts
There is no doubt that different marketing methods will bring different image building and exposure to a brand. The level of brand image and exposure will largely determine whether the audience will choose to buy the brand’s products.In this digital age, the impact of traditional TV and billboard advertising and marketing has been greatly reduced by the increased use of mobile phones and computers.In contrast, emerging social media such as: Facebook, Weibo, Little Red Book and even official mainstream media reviews can have a significant impact on brands.(As a result of the COVID-19 epidemic, the difference between traditional and emerging methods of communication has become more pronounced: billboards and posters are virtually useless because people are restricted in their travel; and television has been largely replaced by mobile phones)
However, in this article, I don’t intend to give you an indication of the marketing choices that brands should make, I just want to explain how important social media is to a brand and the impact it can have, so that you can think about it and pay attention to it. Sometimes social media can have more of an impact than you think.
H&M’s Xinjiang cotton event in China
On 24 March at 10.48pm, the Central Committee of the Communist Youth League (a mainstream Chinese media outlet) posted an affirmation on Weibo (Weibo, a mainstream Chinese information-sharing platform on par with Twitter in the US) about the H&M group in question, in which H&M blatantly stated that they agreed with allegations of forced labour and discrimination against ethnic minorities in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, as reported in the media from civil society organisations, and decided not to apply to cotton originating from Xinjiang. The Central Committee of the Communist Youth League of China points out that this is completely untrue, in fact completely false and a rumour, and that automated technology is now widespread in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, where picking is basically carried out by machines. Thus, the Communist Youth League advocates that we should boycott H&M.
Once this statement and topic was raised, the Weibo topic was read by 660 million and discussed by 293,000 people after CCTV news named H&M’s actions. Chinese netizens unanimously issued a boycott of H&M products, saying we won’t buy H&M products anymore! After 6.40pm on 24 March, many Chinese e-commerce platforms such as Taobao and Jingdong Suning Tesco took down their products, and a search for the H&M keyword showed that no products matched the criteria. In addition, the H&M store app was removed from the mobile app stores, such as Huawei and Xiaomi.
By this point, the impact of the mainstream media’s microblogs has gone far beyond mere commentary and has involved restrictions on the brand. And in the second quarter 2021 financial results announced by H&M since then, sales in the Chinese market plunged 23% year-on-year in the reporting period (i.e. 1 March — 31 May 2021), with losses reaching US$74 million. From this, we can see that social media, at this time, is the beginning of destruction for H&M under the Chinese market, not only by losing market share but also by leaving a vilified impression of China among the Chinese masses. Clothing brands are highly substitutable, so why should the Chinese masses choose H&M?
Erke Donation Event
On 20 July 2021, following the flooding in Zhengzhou, Henan Province, China, companies in China announced donations for disaster relief, and on 21 July, the national sports brand Erke quickly made its way to the top of the micro-blogging list after announcing a $50 million donation for disaster relief despite its own poor business conditions. The brand has become the focus of public attention. According to Erke’s financial statements, which were “picked up” by netizens, Erke made a loss of 220 million in 2020 and a net profit of more than -60 million in the first quarter of 2021. In response to Erke’s large donations, netizens have expressed their heartache. Erke has thus been pushed to the top of the public opinion.
And this event not only increased the exposure of Erke, but, most importantly, shaped people’s goodwill towards Erke as a patriotic company, thus prompting them to switch from feeling sorry for the company to buying its products. Chinese netizens spontaneously entered Erke’s Taobao flagship shop and the Jitterbug live broadcast to purchase products, expressing their support for the conscientious company in this way.According to Alibaba data, the night of July 22, Erke Taobao live more than 2 million people to participate in the sweep, the product once the shelves were empty. According to the report released by Jingdong, on July 22 and July 23, Erke’s sales increased by 280% year-on-year, and the sales on the 23rd day increased by 52 times year-on-year. In the face of the netizens’ enthusiastic support move, the chairman of Erke issued an appeal during the live broadcast, advising netizens to spend rationally and leave the heat to the disaster in Henan.
Opportunities or Strikes
In the case of the two brands mentioned above, the process was the same: firstly, the brands published the information themselves on their official websites/blogs, which was discovered by netizens and the media and quickly attracted a lot of attention and thought among Chinese netizens on Weibo. The social media and the internet played a crucial role in this process, but the outcome was completely different depending on the direction of public opinion, or rather the position of the brand and the correctness of the content (whether it was slandered or not). For H&M, it was a blow.
At this point, I believe what I’m about to say should be straightforward for you all, and that is: social media is a double-edged sword that can have a far greater impact (both positive and negative) than you might think. For brands, social media is certainly a tool that they need to take seriously, but how they use it is something that marketing departments need to decide carefully. There is also one more thing we need to be aware of as web surfers: in this age of data, we need to be careful about what we say on public discussion platforms, as you don’t know if what you send out will have an immeasurable impact on you. And of course, remember to protect your privacy and don’t give criminals the opportunity to take advantage of the fact that social media can also reveal
