Chapter 21
DIGITAL DRAGONS, ELEPHANTS AND TIGERS
A brief history of social media in Asia and what businesses need to know
In Short
- Why microblogging in China is such a unique story.
- How different Asian markets vary.
- What is the extent of social media use in Asia?
Overview
In this chapter, Zaheer Nooruddin, Digital Chief Marketing Officer and Lead Digital Strategist at Burson-Marsteller Asia-Pacific based in Hong Kong, will introduce you to the dynamic and diverse social media landscapes of the Asian continent. He will examine the most compelling reasons for businesses to participate in social media, the opportunities for communications and marketing, while understanding the many challenges they will face in Asia. He will invite you to consider how companies and organizations doing business in Asia should think to incorporate social media and digital storytelling into their integrated communications and marketing strategies in Asian markets.
Here’s an amazing fact for you to consider: by 2012, the Asian continent will account for half of all internet users worldwide.
Now consider this: just China by itself already produces more than half the world’s internet content, and more than the rest of the world combined.
Living, in Asia, as I do, one can’t help but be fascinated by the sheer numbers one hears about the internet and social media in this part of the world. Encompassing mammoth nations like China and India, the growth story of Asia has only just begun. Indeed, ...
