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Margaret Key Market Leader Email: margaret.key@bm.com Twitter: @MargaretKey
KORfA
Koreans are hungry for social media. A garrulous people, social media helps them meet, talk and organize during the working day and beyond. Social media also plays an increasingly important role in public life, for instance helping Koreans organize and run protests against US beef imports. Korea's President has taken to Twitter' .
• Active Accounts
• Inactive Accounts
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Koreans are also fortunate to benefit from the fastest broadband infrastructure in the world'. Catching up on the latest sporting highlights or gaming with your friends is almost as simple as updating your social networking profile or sending an email on your smartphone. Microblogs
Local Internet companies have been quick to rise to the challenge, providing users with a slew of innovative services. Top local portal/search engine Naver's highly successful Knowledge iN Q&A service provided the inspiration for Yahoo! Answers; both Naver and rival Daum have launched real-time social media search services.
Social Networks
Video Sharing
Corporate Blogs
that can benefit, or damage, an organisation's longer-term reputation. There is also the volatile nature of the Korean blogosphere to contend with, made no easier by a widespread culture of anonymous contributions and a willingness to discuss issues that can make other internet cultures appear tame.
So it may come as little surprise to many that top Korean companies - including a good smattering of household name chaebol such as LG, Samsung, Hyundai It is equally little surprise then that microblogs are - are leading the social media charge in Asia. However, it today's preferred social media option. Increasingly has not been plain sailing. popular, easy to use, open and trustworthy for the user, Korean companies figure it is a good way to Generally conservative by nature, Korean companies communicate direct to local and international are keen to be seen as innovative, but would prefer to stakeholders at little cost, while maintaining be innovative without taking on the associated risks. reasonable control over the message. There is also a tendency to view social networks and other social channels as marketing tools to reach out to Social networks are also proving popular, and not just customers rather than as public relations platforms for consumer campaigns. Korean companies are using Facebook and Twitter to draw attention to the latest corporate news and to provide a better service more LG Electronics· Corporate Social Responsibility finely attuned to the evolving needs of journalists, bloggers, analysts and other influencers. Corporate "o!hIIlll~"~"''jI''uwaJfR~·::::::::::7.::;-'::'''-··-· LG --_._--.... .... •••.. ~~lli!l.IiIiIiiI;liiIIsocial responsibility programmes are widely ::;::="_-::..------_.""--- - ..- .. _._communicated through social media.
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Source: http://blog.lge.comJ
LG Electronics launched a CSR campaign to highlight its commitment to hemophiliac sufferers using a corporate blog and Twitter. Users were encouraged to show photos of their blood donations via Twitter, and talk about them on the blog, with LG promising to donate direct to a charity.
Despite the excellent telecoms infrastructure, Korean companies have yet to start using video in any substantive way to illustrate their activities. In this area, PR departments have yet to learn the storytelling skills of their marketing colleagues. As such, it is a space to watch.
1. httpd/twitter.com/#!/BluehouseKorea
2. State of the Internet Report Ql 2010. Akamai Technologies
CORPORATE SOCIAL MEDIA REPORT 2010
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