On 4th February 2o1o, CIC and Ogilvy Public Relations Worldwide launched a monthly report on Chinese-language Internet Word of Mouth (a.k.a social media buzz) related to Shanghai World Expo 2010.

“This report’s findings show how China’s netizens are already discussing many aspects Shanghai Expo, from tickets to pavilions to sponsors,” said Thomas Crampton, Asia-Pacific Director, 360 Digital Influence, Ogilvy Public Relations Worldwide. “Chinese consumers can make or break brands online, so listening is the first step to developing a powerful strategy to engage them.”

“China has one of the world’s highest levels of engagement within social media, with brands featuring in many discussions,” said Sam Flemming, chairman and founder of CIC. “Anyone looking to truly understand Chinese consumers – and the digital world that is so important to them – can find no better place than social media.”

The report, ExpoSay, tracked 128,854 Expo-related comments taken from 13,994 blogs, bulletin boards, news and social networking sites in the Chinese Internet space during December 2009. Ticket-related topics were the subject of most online Expo chatter.

Ten key findings from this report:

1. BBS were the most popular platform to discuss Expo, followed by blogs. These two platforms accounted for 68% of total buzz.

2. Expo buzz peaked during Week 2 (Dec. 8-14) after an announcement of an impending price increase (from 140 RMB to 150 RMB) of the Expo ticket. The news quickly brought predictable criticism and became a hot topic for discussion.

3. Phrases about “what (price) to buy” and “how to buy” became the most frequently associated keywords with “Shanghai Expo Ticket”.

4. Among the buzz around buying a ticket, “way to buy” and “place to buy” became hot topics. Group purchases and online purchases are the most common way to buy a ticket.

5. Expo tickets has become a hot incentive for various brand campaigns and organization activities. Happy awarded netizens were showing off their tickets online.

6. Mobile phone tickets are expected to change purchase modes. Discussions centered around the benefits of the
RFID SIM card (as a mobile credit card), the mobile device (whether it supports the card or not) and where to get a mobile phone ticket (which service halls sell the card).

7. Expo Global Partners including China Mobile, General Motors, Bank of Communications and State Grid accounted for almost 50 per cent of buzz among all sponsors.

8. Nonsponsors were the subject of more than 80% of buzz, primarily due to content contributions from Sina, Sohu and Netease, all of which are major Chinese portals and competitors of senior sponsor QQ.

9. Taipei overtook Hong Kong as the second most discussed city among Netizens when pop singer Wang LeeHom was named goodwill ambassador for the Taipei Pavilion.

10. USA overtook Japan to be the most mentioned country as news of movie star Jackie Chan’s imminent appearance on a Shanghai World Expo float in the Rose Bowl Parade broke in December.