Breaking Through the Great Firewall of China

Made Essential Reading on 08 April 2010 Richard Turrell

These are the headline figures that have the traditional .com countries feeling the pressure of fast developing Internet populations and fuel a common marketing discussion on how to target rapidly growing online communities.

But with discussions often comes blinkered insight. Unfortunately most people’s knowledge of Chinese online communities is gathered through negative tabloid headlines. The Great Firewall of China, Google Censored, China blocks Youtube, China blocks Twitter… Headlines that help portray Digital China as a closed region, however all it takes is for a quick look beyond the headlines and you see a blossoming online community.

Western marketing has become comfortable in that we almost expect other regions to follow our ideals and to succumb to the same Marketing techniques. Firsthand experience has quickly taught me that this is not the case…

I have a good friend and author who lives in Hunan province, China and as a result have helped him combine both a Chinese and western fan base. Although there are definitely different strategies and techniques to overcome, it is not as bleak as the Western press make out. Political tendencies aside, unless your key revenue stream is based in pornography or violent video games then as long as you abide by the Internet regulations, generating interest and acceptance is more than achievable.

Where you will come unstuck is the level of restriction placed on social media. Although Blogs are on the whole inaccessible (there are exceptions) English language websites can sit alongside Chinese Language Internet so you can easily share a common language in a very different society. As well as the negative legislation there is a continued movement for users to register their true identities before posting comments, something that has gathered much opposition from the political spheres but for the world of Marketing you can but see the positives.

So now that I have sown the seeds of possibilities I cannot help but defend why the aforementioned limitations and restrictions should not be viewed as a deterrent when placed alongside our own established Web Hierarchy. Simply take a step back and look at a Western online community that relies on Facebook, YouTube and Google. Although restriction and censorship is a moral dilemma to a digital marketer, when placed in a society that does not rely on the ‘big three’ it offers a mass of opportunities to a savvy digital marketer.

Without coining an overly used phrase from a well known bank, local knowledge is everything. Unless you understand the communities and societies that you are trying to market to you have very little chance of being successful. So whether you are targeting China, India, Eastern Europe or any other region my advice is that knowledge and research will be rewarded, be respectful of localised laws and try not to believe everything you read in the Tabloid press!!

*http://www.internetworldstats.com/stats.htm
**Source: McKinsey Quarterly, March 2010