Luna Chiang
TAIWAN
Group Director Compass Public Relations Email: luna.chiang@compasspr.com.tw
While many top Taiwanese companies are aware of the social media phenomenon, and are considering how to approach this area, most are staying clear of social media for corporate marketing purposes, at least for now.
• Active Accounts
• Inactive Accounts
20%
Why are Taiwanese companies so reluctant? 10%
First, many firms are grappling with the value proposition of social media. How can their activities be measured and financial value evaluated? Culturally conservative, the need to attach tangible value to business activities is regarded as critically important. Microblogs
A second factor is the nature of media outreach in Taiwan, which is often stymied by the lack of in-house communications teams. Basic media enquiries tend to go through the company PR person, with spokesperson duties handled by the CFO - again, a reflection of the importance attached to financial and operational performance - and not well suited to the demands of social media, from initiating and responding to discussions, to ongoing channel management. Third, while a number of major Taiwanese companies are active in social media, they are using these channels almost exclusively for consumer marketing and product promotions. These channels are localised to meet the requirements and behaviours of consumers in specific markets - a global approach is rare.
HTC - Media & Influencer Relations
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HTC is steadily building its profile on the Internet, using social media to communicate and engage with customers and opinion-formers. The company regularly uploads coverage of its press conferences to YouTube, Facebook and its website, resulting in hundreds of thousands of views, and has posted material telling the 'Quietly Brilliant' HTC corporate story (pictured).
BURSON-MARSTELLER ASIA-PACIFIC
Corporate Blogs
Video Sharing
If Taiwanese companies need local inspiration, they would do well to look at phone manufacturer HTC Corporation. HTC uses a combination of Facebook, Twitter and YouTube in English language to highlight and showcase latest products globally, leverage physical events such as press conferences and product launches on the Internet, and build relationships with customers, bloggers and other opinion-formers. It is perhaps little accident that HTC, along with other top consumer technology players such as Acer, regard themselves as global companies with global ambitions. To reach today's consumer technology buyers in all parts of the world, HTC understands it has little option other than to be online, and be where their consumers increasingly are - in social media. However, to stay the long course, even the more global Taiwanese companies will need to move beyond product marketing and look to build trusted, long-term relationships with all manner of stakeholders, and proactively look to build a good corporate reputation .
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Source: http-;'www.youtube.comtwatchhzyai2u3nVlN4
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Social Networks
In the future, we expect to see Taiwan's more progressive companies use corporate marketing in a more substantive way, and with social media at its heart. It is surely a question of when, not if.