Brands sometimes choose to involve celebrities as brand or event sponsors, which is a proven effective strategy as celebrities play a dominant role in driving Chinese social media. If you do so, take the time to analyze the Hall of celebrities and understand what type of celebrity your target audience is interested in. CIC recently observed that self-made stars such as Wuyi (武艺), the second runner up of a TV singing competition, had the most followed and highest buzz-generating account on Weibo, promoting the attractive notions that anything is possible and anyone can make it.
Most recent example, NBA player Jeremy Lin, has seen his Weibo account grow exponentially from a couple thousands at the end of last year to over 2.2 million today, after an outstanding initial sporting performance.
When over 5,000 verified companies are competing for attention on Weibo, the use of innovation, campaign creativity and consistency within an account’s strategy are musts to make it worth investing in Weibo. From the conception to the evolving development of a micro blogging brand strategy, it is essential to think of not only how to make the best use of the real-time dual-communication it offers, but also, how to leverage an increasingly sophisticated and integrated social platform to establish your brand as a reference on China’s social grid.
