International Guide to Social Media Global Guide · International Guide to Social Media Overview...

International Guide to Social Media

Global Guide

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ContentsBrazil - Overview 3 SocialNetworks 4 Social Gaming 6 Video Sites 6 SocialInfluencerBrands 7 Language&Culture 10 Perspectives 12

China - Overview 13 SocialNetworks 14 Weibo (microblogging) 15 Video Sites 15 Location-Based Apps 15 SocialInfluencerBrands 16 Language&Culture 17 Language 17 Culture 17 Censorship 18 Perspectives 19

India - Overview 20 SocialNetworks 21 SocialInfluencerBrands 22 Language&Culture 23 Perspectives 24

Japan - Overview 25 SocialNetworks 26 Social Gaming 28 Blogging 29 SocialInfluencerBrands 30 Language&Culture 32 Perspectives 34

Mexico - Overview 35 SocialNetworks 35 SocialInfluencerBrands 37 Language&Culture 38 Perspectives 39

South America - Overview 40 SocialNetworks 40 Language&Culture 42 Carnivals & Festivals 43 Football 44 Perspectives 45

USA - Overview 46 SocialNetworks 46 US Hispanic Population 48 SocialInfluencerBrands 49 Language&Culture 52 US Hispanic Population 53 Perspectives 54

Scandinavia - Overview 55 SocialNetworks 56 SocialInfluencerBrands 60 Language&Culture 63 Perspectives 65

Russia - Overview 67 SocialNetworks 67 SocialInfluencerBrands 71 Language&Culture 73 Perspectives 75

DACH - Overview 76 SocialNetworks 77 SocialInfluencerBrands 81 Language&Culture 83 Perspectives 85

Eastern Europe - Overview 86 SocialNetworks 87 SocialInfluencerBrands 90 Language&Culture 92 Perspectives 95

Turkey - Overview 96 SocialNetworks 97 SocialInfluencerBrands 99 Language&Culture 100 Perspectives 102


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Overview

Brazil

AccordingtothecomScorereport‘2012BrazilDigitalFuture

inFocus’,BrazilistheseventhlargestInternetmarketwith

auserbaseofover46millionpeopleaged15andoverin

2011(afigureup16percentfrom2010).TheBrazilian

governmenthasspearheadedrapiddevelopmentininternet

connectivity,resultinginbroadbandadoptiongoingfrom

virtuallynothingtoconnecting88percentofthepopulation

inthelastfiveyears.Ithasalsoconcentratedonproviding

computerstopoorerareasofthecountryinanattemptto

bridgethetechnologygapbetweenrichandpoor.

53percentofBrazilianconsumershaveaccessedtheinternet

atleastonceintheirlives.Tento24yearoldsaremostlikely

tohaveeverusedtheinternet;eMarketerfoundthat69per

centoftheconsumersitsurveyedhadusedsocialnetworking

sites.48percentofBrazilianconsumersareexpectedto

accesstheinternetatleastonceamonthby2016(that’s

around103millionusers).ByDecember2011,Brazilhad

about78.5millioninternetusers.It’spredictedthat80per

centofBrazilianhomeswillhaveinternetaccessby2014.

In this report:

• SocialNetworks• SocialGaming&Video• SocialInfluencerBrands• Language&Culture

“In 2011 Brazil was the seventh largest Internet market in the

world with over 46 million users aged 15 and over”

In this series:

• UnitedStates• Mexico• India• China• LatinAmerica• Scandinavia• France• Germany

FurtherreportsdueQ32012






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BrazilInternational Guide to Social Media

Social NetworksUntilveryrecently,thedominantsocialnetworkinBrazilwasGoogle’sOrkut.Itmayhavefailedtocatchoninother

markets,butitspopularityexplodedinBrazilwhenGoogletranslateditssocialnetworkintoPortuguesein2005.

Justoverayearago,Forbesreportedthat90percentofOrkut’spageviewscamefromBrazil,withcomScorereporting

thatanaverageof31.2millionvisitorsloggedinfromBrazilin2010.What’smore,Orkutisstillgrowing–veryslightly

(ithad5percentmorevisitorsin2011,from2010).

However,withtheincreasingadoptionofFacebookinBrazil,somehavebeencomplainingaboutOrkut’sfunctionality.

Specificallythelimitonfriendnumbers,photosharingissuesandproblemswithdiscussingtopics.AlthoughFacebook

officiallyovertookOrkutasthemostpopularsocialnetworkinBrazilasofDecember2011,Orkutremainsincredibly

popularinthecountry,promptingHootsuitetointegratewiththenetworkinApril2012.

Untilrecently,loggingontoFacebookfromBrazilwassorarethatin2009usernumberscouldn’tevenbemeasured.

But2011hasbeenabanneryearforFacebookinBrazil-ithada192percentincreaseinuniquevisitorsbetween

December2010and2011,makingBrazilthesecondlargestuserofFacebookat51,174,300users.(USAisinfirstplace

with155,7070,160users,andIndiainthirdwith49,807,020.)

TimespentonFacebookalsoincreasedfromanaverageof37minutesattheendof2010to4.8hoursinDecember2011,

makingFacebookthemostengagingsocialnetworkinBrazil.Facebookusersaremainlyconcentratedintwoofthe

majorcities,withover34percentfromSãoPauloandover12percentfromRiodeJaneiro.Themajorityofusersare

betweentheagesof15and24.

Asanation,Brazil’seconomicpowerisgrowing,givingBraziliansmoredisposableincomeandextraleisuretimeto

spendit–aswithotherslowertake-upregionssuchasJapan,somesaythatthereleaseofthefilmTheSocialNetwork

helpedboostFacebook’spopularity.(AnotherfactorworthmentioningistheabilitytoseecertainFacebookpages

withouthavingtofirstcreateanaccount.Orkutforcespeopletosignupbeforetheycanseeitinaction,Facebooklets

surfershaveasneakpeekfirst.)

“Facebook had a banner year in Brazil in 2011, with over 51 million users making it second only to the US in terms of users”







Social NetworksDespiteFacebook’sastronomicassentationtothetopofthesocialmediachaininBrazil,comScorereportthat87per

centofsocialmediausersarekeepingtheirOrkutprofiles,aswellastheirnewFacebookones.(Howlongtheywill

dothishowever,isanothermatter.)

GooglemaycontinuepushingOrkutinBrazil,butGoogle+isalsogainingusersinthecountry.GooglehostedBrazil’s

firstofficialHangoutinNovember2011,andsincethenBrazilhasbecomethenationwiththethirdhighestnumberof

Google+users–althoughatjustover5percent,it’sstillsomewaybehindtheUSAwhichmakesupalmost31.5percent

ofGoogle+users.Datadialestimatesthatnearly70percentofBrazil’sGoogle+usersarethoseinthe18to24agerange.

BusinessnetworkingsiteLinkedInlauncheditsPortuguesesitein2010,andopeneditsSãoPauloofficeinlate2011,

bywhichtimeithadaround6millionusersinBrazil.Membershipgrew91.6percentintheyearafterlaunchingin

Brazil’snativelanguage.

BloggingisaverypopularmediuminBrazil,reachingan80millionstrongaudienceinQ12012.Infact,Brazilhas

theworld’slargestbloggingaudience,accordingtocomScore,witha96percentreachamongstBrazilianinternetusers.

Tumblriscurrentlyverypopular:usernumbersincreasedby206percentbetweenDecember2010and2011,and

quantcastlistsBrazilasthesecondmostrepresentedcountryonTumblr,with10,763,475uniqueusers.Tumblrrecently

launchedlocalisedoptionsforBrazilwithmeet-upeventsinCuritiba,RiodeJaneiro,andSãoPaulo.

Twitterhasaround33.3millionusersinBrazil,whichisthecountrywiththesecondhighestusernumbersworldwide

(behindtheUSAandaheadofJapaninthirdplaceandtheUKinforth).Therearestill,however,moremessages

peraccountinJapanthanBrazil.Again,Twitterisstillgrowing,andincreasedusernumbersby40percentbetween

December2010and2011.

Twitteriswidelyusedbyjournaliststodistributenews,anditspopularityhasbeencitedasamajorfactorintheriseof

hacktivisminBrazil.TherehavebeenvariousTwitter scandals:theBraziliangovernmentsuedTwitterforhosting

accountsthatwarnedofspeedcameratraps;alawstudentwasjailedfor17monthsfortweetingthateveryoneinthe

NorthofthecountryshouldbekilledforvotingforthecurrentPresident;andwhenAmericansinger/songwriterNicki

MinajtweetedaboutafuturetriptoBrazil,thetourismaccount@visitbrasiltoldhernottobother.

“When American singer/songwriter Nicki Minaj tweeted about a future trip to Brazil

@visitbrazil told her not to bother”







Social MediaSocial gaming

SocialgamingisverypopularinBrazil,withthemarketpredictedtobeworth$238millionby2014,withauserbase

of52.3millionpeople.Crucially,95percentofBraziliansonlyplaythesegamesinPortuguese,somethingthatforeign

developersshouldnotebeforedesigninganOrkutgamewithoutlocalisation.Socialgameshavebeenhardertomonetise

inBrazilasaresultofcomparativelylimitedcreditcarduse,butBraziliangamingdevelopersarestartingtousemicro-

payments,providedbycompanieslikeTutudo,tobreakthisbarrier.

MentezisoneofthelargestsocialgamingcompaniesinLatinAmerica.AsofFebruary2012itpublishedfouroutofthe

topfivepopulargamesonOrkutBrazil.Itstotaluserbasespansaround22millionactiveusersperweek.

Anothersocialgamingcompany,Vostu,hasaround3.5millionmonthlyactiveusers,gaining338percentmorevisitors

betweenDecember2010and2011.ItslongrunninglegalbattlewithgaminggiantZyngahasputadentinthecompany’s

profits,butit’sstillgrowingdespitethechallenge.CEODanielKafiehaspredictedthattheworldwidesocialgaming

advertisingmarketwillreach$1.6billionUSDbytheendof2012.

Video Sites

InDecember2011comScorereportedthatBraziliansviewedinexcessof4.7billionvideosonline,whichwasanincrease

of74percentonthepreviousyear.YouTubeisthemostpopularvideosite,andBraziliscurrentlyissixthlargestmarket.

Itreaches79percentofthecountriesinternetusers.

In summary

• Orkut,oncethemostdominantsocialnetworkinBrazil,hasbeenovertakenbyFacebook• BrazilisthesecondlargestuserofFacebookintheworld• BrazilhasthethirdhighestnumberofGoogle+usersworldwide• Bloggingisverypopular,witha96%reach.Tumblristhepreferredplatform.• Over33millionpeopleuseTwitter,makingBrazilthesecondhighest• Thesocialgamingmarketispredictedtobeworth$238millionby2014• YouTubereaches79%ofBrazil’sinternetusers

“The social gaming market in Brazil is predicted to be worth $238 million by 2014, with over 52 million users”







AccordingtoMarketingWeek,theaverageBrazilianhasaround231friendsacrossvarioussocialnetworks,andjudging

byfiguresreleasedbyT-Index,theirnetworksarelikelytogrow.T-IndexpredictsthatBrazilwillhavethefourthlargest

onlinemarketshareby2015(behindChina,USAandJapan,andjustaheadofGermany).

Todate,Brazilianbrandshavebeenslowtousesocialmedia.Responsestoa2011surveybyOrbiumrevealedthat42

percentofrespondentshadneverinvestedinasocialmediacampaign,althoughtheywereinterestedindoingsoin

thefuture.10percentsaidthattheydidn’thaveanyinterestinrunningsocialmediacampaigns.AstudybyForbesand

WeberShandwickrevealedthat41percentofBrazilianexecutivesthoughtthattherisksofsocialmediaoutweighedthe

benefits.

Brazilianconsumersareaheadofbrandswhenitcomestosocialmediause.A2011studybyOh!Panelreportedthatover

61percentofBrazilianssearchforproductinformationonsocialmediachannelsbeforemakingapurchase.81percent

usesocialmediatolookfornewproducts,andmorethan75percentsearchfordiscounts.

eMarketerhaspredictedthatmorethanhalfofbusinesstoconsumerecommercesalesinLatinAmericaduring2013will

befromBrazil.By2015ecommercesalesfromBrazilareexpectedtoreach$26.9billionUSD.SomeBrazilianbrands

andpersonalitiesarealreadyusingsocialmediatoconnectwithconsumersandfans.Insomecasesinternationalbrands

areleadingtheway.ItmaybethatreluctantBrazilianbrandswillwaittoseewhatresultsthepioneershavebeforetaking

theriskthemselves.

InJune2012SocialbakersfoundthatofthetenfastestgrowingFacebookbrandpages,fivewerefromBrazil.Ofcourse,

Facebookengagementismuchmorethansimplygettingsomeoneto‘Like’abrandpage–afterall,theymaynever

returntothepageorengagewiththebrand.Atthemoment,Brazil’squestionresponserateisalow22percent,sojust

overoneinfivefansreplytobrandquestions.Thissuggeststhatwhilepeoplearecurrentlypreparedto‘Like’apage,they

aren’tbeingencouragedtoengagewiththebrandoncethere.

ThemostpopularFacebookpagesinBrazilbelongtocelebritiesratherthanbrands.BrazilianfootballerKakáownsthe

mostpopularpagebyfarwith17,521,444fans.He’sfollowedbyBrazilianlyricistandnovelistPauloCoelho(8,851,047)

andBrazilianTVpresenterLucianoHuck(7,016,401).

Social Influencer Brands

“T-Index predicts that Brazil will have the fourth largest online market share by 2015 (behind China, USA and

Japan, and just ahead of Germany)”







Social Influencer BrandsThebrandpagewiththelargestfanbaseisBraziliansoftdrinkbrandGuaraná Antarctica with6,485,146fans,

followedbySkol,themostpopularbeerbrandinBrazil(5,835,549fans)andcosmeticsbrandL’OréalParisBrasil

(4,114,791fans).

ExamplesofbrandsusingFacebooktoengageandattractfansincludeHeinekenBrazilwhichstartedacampaignin

January2012called‘1Like1Balao’(1Like,1Balloon).Everytimesomeone‘Liked’thebrandsFacebookpageanother

balloonwouldbeblownupandaddedtotheoffice.Videosweremadeshowingthestateoftheofficeasthecampaign

progressed.Itonlytookadayforthebrandtogetthousandsofnewfollowers.

Radiostation102.1MixFM’sWorldAIDSDayawarenesscampaigntookadifferentapproach.Thestationpostedtwo

videostoFacebook:asexyvideoofaman,andasteamyvideoofawoman.OnceaFacebookuserviewedthisvideoclip,

itposteditselftotheviewer’sFacebookWall.Thusthe‘virus’spreadtoover1millionFacebookaccountsandachieved

6,000views.Facebookendeduphavingtoblockthevideobytheday’send.

ThemostfollowedTwitteraccountsinBrazilarethoseofcelebrities.Brazilianfootballer@KAKAdominatesTwitter

aswellasFacebookwith11,826,554followers(asof18/07/12).HealsobecamethemostpopularathleteonTwitterin

April2012.BrazilianAxéandMPBsingerandsongwriter@ivetesangalohas6,711,202followers,andfellowAxésinger

@ClaudiaLeittehas5,611,139.(AxémusicisafusionofAfro-CaribbeanandAfro-Brazilianmusicgenera’s,whileMBPis

Brazilianpopmusicwhichisoftenassociatedwithcarnival.)

Themostfollowedbrandstendtohavefarfewerfollowers,unlesstheycomeupwithabrilliantwaytotapintoBrazil’s

heart.BraziliantelecomsbrandClaroachievedthisbypartneringwithfootballlegendRonaldoonTwitter.Theaccount

@ClaroRonaldohasalmost3.5millionfollowers.Thebranddecidedtodothiswhenitsrivalbrandgotselectedtobea

WorldCupSponsorandtheydidnot.Atonepointtheaccountwasgaining5,000followersanhour.

Brazilianairline@TAMAirlinesisthesecondmostpopularbrandonTwitter,butfarbehindClarowithalmost

360,000followers(andquiteabitofdirectengagementwiththem).TVandTelecomsprovider@Vivoemredehasjust

over335,000followersonTwitter.Perhapsunsurprisingly,thetopbrandsarefromindustriesthatneedtofocuson

continuouscustomerservice.

“Every time someone ‘Liked’ the brand’s Facebook page another balloon would be blown up and added to the office”







Successfulcampaignstendtoweaveinmajorculturalevents.VolkswagenpromoteditssponsorshipofthePlanetaTerra

FestivalbylaunchinganinteractivetreasurehuntforticketsusingGoogleMapsandthehashtag#foxatplanetaterra,

whichstartedtrendingaftertwohours.SportsdrinkbrandPoweradecreatedavisualfeedoftweetsaroundamuch

hypedBrazilvs.Argentinafootballmatch,whichgenerated455,000tweets.

YouTubeisanotherhighlypopularplatforminBrazil,andlikeotherplatforms,themostpopularchannelsarenot

thoseofbrands,butpeople.ThemostpopularchannelisthatofJoePenna,aBrazilianguitaristknownonYouTubeas

MysteryGuitarMan.Thechannelhasover2millionsubscribersandthe188videoshavehadover370millionviews.

Brazilianimprovisationaltheatreshow,Improvávelisnextwithover450,000subscribersandalmost280millionvideo

viewsonits232videos.FollowedbythechannelofoutspokenBrazilianvloggerFelipeNeto,whohasover960,000

subscribersandinexcessof130millionvideoviewsonhis40videos.

ThemostpopularBrazilianbrandonYouTubeisBancoItaú,aBrazilianbankwhichhasover51millionvideoviews.

Themostpopularvideostendtofeaturebabies,childrenandfamilies.(Infact,themostpopularoneonthechannelis

adubbedversionoftheAmericanfatherrippingupajobrejectionletterandhisbabyhavingfitsofgiggles.)NikeBrazil

(NikeFutebol)isthesecondmostpopularwithover44.5millionvideoviewsoffootballrelatedcontent.Finallythere’s

SonyMusicBrazil,whichhasover29millionvideoviews.

Theviralvideohitof2011wasacampaignbyNissancalledPôneisMalditoswhichfeaturedamanhavingamechanical

problemwithhistruck,openingthebonnettocheckwhatwaswrongandfindingalotofanimatedponies.Nissan

Brazil’smarketingdirectorattributesaspikeinsalesanddoubleinregistrationstotheseYouTubeads.


“Like other platforms, the most popular channels on YouTube are not those of brands, but those of

individual people”

In summary

• Brazilianinternetusersarehighlysocialandbrandsneedtocatch-up• EcommercesalesfromBrazilareexpectedtoreach$26.9billionUSDby2015• BrazilianbrandClaropartneredwithfootballerRonaldotogainmoreTwitterfollowers• ThemostpopularTwitter,FacebookandYouTubepagesbelongtopersonalities• Brazilianbrandsarealsopopularonsocialmedia







Language & CultureTheofficiallanguageofBrazilisPortuguese,whichisspokenbyapproximately200millionpeopleworldwide,andisstill

themostpopularlanguageintheSouthernHemisphere.

TwelvepercentofallTweetsareinPortuguese,makingitthethirdmostusedlanguageonTwitter(behindEnglishand

Japanese).Brazilian’sareincrediblysocial,whichhastranslatedeasilyontosocialnetworkingplatforms.

Brazilisalargelyreligiousnation,withastrongRomanCatholiccommunity.SocialnetworkssuchasOrkuthavebeen

usedtocreateandre-enforcereligiousnetworksonlineandinthecommunity.It’saveryraciallyandculturallydiverse

nation,whichisevidentinmusic,cinemaandliterature.

Family,andsocialconnectionsoutsidethefamily,arecentraltoBrazilianculture.Bothimmediateandextendedfamily

havealwaysbeenseenasawaytoprotectitsmembersinsociety,butfriendsarealsoimportant.Inthebusinessworld,

nepotismisexpected,asfamilyandfriendsshouldlookoutforeachother.Theinfluenceoffriendsandfamilyshouldnot

beunderestimated.

Initsstudy,Oh!Panelfoundthat79percentofBrazilianssaidthattheyhavemoreconfidenceoverproductpostsmade

onsocialnetworksbyfriendsandfamily,thantheydidinsimilarpostsfromanexpertontheproduct.

Brazilhasastrongclasssystem.There’salargewagegapbetweentheclasses,andwomen,whocomprise40percentof

theworkforce,aremainlyinlower-paidjobs.Thegovernment’spoliciesonrollingoutbroadbandandcomputerstoas

muchofthecountryaspossiblehasresultedintheinternetaudienceinBrazilgrowingbeyondthemiddleclassesand

expandingdowntheeconomicscale.

Evidenceoftheimpactofthiscanbeseenonsocialmedia.Forexample,YouTubeisbeingusedbychildreninpoorparts

ofRiodeJaneirotosharevideosofstreetdancebattles.KnownasSmallStepBattle,themovementhasbeencreditedfor

makingchildrenhealthierandkeepingthemoutoftrouble.

“Portuguese is the most spoken language in the Southern Hemisphere”

“The influence of friends and family should not be underestimated”







TwoofthelargestinfluencesonBraziliancultureareCarnivalandthenation’spassionforfootball(asisevidentfrom

themassivefollowernumbersonsocialchannels).TheCarnivalisbecomingmoresocial.In2012theCarnivalpartnered

withYouTubeandGoogle+tobroadcasttheeventsworldwide.Brazilwillbethehostforthe2014WorldCupandthe

2016OlympicGames,andthetourismboardisalreadylaunchingdigitalcampaignstoattractvisitorsandpromotethe

events.

It’sclearthattheBraziliangovernmentwantthenation’sdigitaleconomytogrow.EventhePresidentusedasocial

mediacampaigntowinvotersoverduringthe2010election,butinternationalbrandsthatwanttoengageBrazilians

oversocialmedianeedtoembracethecountry’scultureandlanguageiftheywanttodobusiness.

Language & Culture

In summary

• Brazil’sofficiallanguageisPortugueseandisspokenby200millionpeopleworldwide• BrazilisveryreligiousandhasastrongRomanCatholiccommunity• FamilyandfriendsarecentraltoBrazilianculture• Thenationhasaclasssystem• Aggressiveinternetroll-outpolicieshaveresultedinthelowerclassesgaininginternetaccess• TwoofthelargestculturalinfluencesaretheCarnivalandthecountriespassionforfootball







PerspectivesThelinksbelowprovidefurtherinformationandanalysisonthethemesexploredinthisreport.

Marketing Week’s detailed article for brands looking to expand into Brazil

Research and analysis of Brazil’s internet users from eMarketer

Insights into developing Social Media trends in Brazil

Ricardo Geromel at Forbes offers a detailed analysis of the Brazilian mobile and internet market

Brazil Business article on the state of social networking in Brazil

TranslateMediaisagloballanguageservicescompanywithofficesinEurope,NorthAmericaandAsia,workingwith

clientswhofindthemselvesinvariousstagesofthebusinessinternationalizationlifecycle.Thiscanbeanystagefrom

initialtranslationsoflandingpagesandmarketingcollateral,throughtoCulturalcheckingofbrands,Transcreationof

PrintandTVAdvertising,MultilingualSocialMediaMonitoring&CommunityManagement,andprovisionofnative

representatives.

VisittheTranslateMediawebsiteorcontactweb@translatemedia.comformoreinformation.

About TranslateMedia






http://www.emarketer.com/Article.aspx?R=1009153&ecid=a6506033675d47f881651943c21c5ed4

http://newsletter.usmediaconsulting.com/2012/03/6-new-social-media-trends-in-brazil/

http://www.forbes.com/sites/ricardogeromel/2012/03/29/what-is-brazils-most-promising-sector/

http://thebrazilbusiness.com/article/the-brazilian-social-network-war


mailto:web%40translatemedia.com?subject=International%20Guide%20to%20Social%20Media


Overview

China

MorethanoneinfiveinternetusersareChinese.Thenation’s

500millioninternetusersarejustbehindJapanontime

spentonlineperdayatanaverageof2.7hours.Internet

connectivityisnotexpectedtoreachthemajorityoftheone

billionstrongpopulationuntil2015.

AlthoughChinablockswesternsocialnetworks,domestic

socialnetworkingsitesareimmenselypopular.Halfof

internetusersareonmorethanonedomesticsocialnetwork

and30percentlogontoatleastonenetworkeveryday.

Chinablocksforeignsocialnetworkingsites,andcensors

postsondomesticsocialnetworks,yetsocialnetworking

remainshugelypopularamongstyoungurbanites.

China’sfamousonechildpolicyhasresultedinyoungsters

lookingforthecompanionshipofotherstheirownageonline.

Thiscombinedwiththegeneralmistrustofgovernment-

controlledmediahasresultedinsocialnetworkingbecoming

thequickest,cheapestandmosttrustedwaytocommunicate

overlongdistances.

In this report:

• China’smostpopularSocialMediasites• Videosites&Location-basedapps• InfluencersinChineseSocialMedia• ChineseLanguage&Culture• OnlineCensorship

“China’s famous one-child policy has resulted in youngsters looking

for the companionship of others their own age online”

In this series:

• UnitedStates• Mexico• India• Brazil• LatinAmerica• Scandinavia• France• Germany








ChinaInternational Guide to Social Media

Social Networks

QZoneiscurrentlythemostpopularsocialnetworkingsiteusedinChina.Populatedmainlybyteenagers,ithasover

190millionactiveusers(481millionregistered).ThepopularityseemstobedowntoitsownerTencent’sresources

ratherthanbeingthebestserviceonthemarket,anduserstendtomoveontoothersocialnetworkswhentheygrow

up.AlsoQZoneuserspostundernicknamesastheuserbaseissoyoung,andtheytendtogotheretomakenewvirtual

friends,ratherthantalktoexistingones.

RenRen,launchedin2005,isChina’sanswertoFacebook.Ithasabout95millionactiveusers.Around74percentof

itsusersareunder30andmostarestudentsorofficeworkers.LikeFacebook,usersareencouragedtobuildupcontent

inRenRen,whichmakesitharderforthemtoconsiderleavingthenetwork.

Kaixin001isanotherFacebook-typesitewhichallowsuserstouploadimages,downloadgamesandblog.Its40million

activeusersaremainlyunder30(61percent),butithasahigheramountofusersinthe30-39demographic(33per

centasopposedtoRenren’s18percent).Whenanalysedinlate2011,traffichaddroppedby65percentover18months,

whichresultedinTencentinvesting$100mUSD–inturngainingsomeaccesstothemorewhite-collarKaixinuserbase.

Pengyouusedtobeasocialnetworkforkids,butisnowanothernetworkusedbystudentsandofficeworkers.

Launchedin2010,ithasaround80millionactiveusers.PengyouisanotherTencentnetworkandaRenRenandKaixin

competitor.

DoubanisanotherFacebooktypesocialnetworkfoundedin2005.Itsbestknownforbook,musicandmoviereviews.

Over71percentofDoubanusersareunder30,andithasaround20millionactiveusers,variouslydescribedasurban

youth,or“trendyyoungpeople”.

China has a thriving social networking scene with dozens of popular networks.

“RenRen is China’s answer to Facebook, with about 95 million active users”







Social NetworksWeibo

Sina Weibo(Weiboliterallymeansmicroblog,andoccupiesthesamedomainasTwitterinChina)launchedin2008

andisgenerallyconsideredtobetheChineseversionofTwitter–althoughwithmorefunctionality.Ithadover250

millionregisteredusersasofOctober2011,and25millionmessagesaresentviathesiteperday.Sinaalsocampaignsfor

specialcauses,suchasthesocialfarmingcollective,whichhelpsfarmerswithdirectsourceselling.

Tencent WeiboisSina’smaincompetitorandmorelikeTwitter.It’sreportedtofeatureabetteruserexperiencethan

Sina,whichseemstobefocusingmoreonmonetisation.Foundedin2010,itpullsmostofits20millionactiveusers

fromQQ(aTencentownedinstantmessengersite).

Video

YouKuistheChineseversionofYouTube.Launchedin2006,userscanuploadvideosofanylength.It’swellknownfor

itslibraryofTVshowsandfilmsandfeaturesmanyprofessionallyproducedoriginalvideos.YouKuisalsomuchmore

relaxedaboutcopyrightthanYouTube.

YouKuhasitsowncomputeranimatedmini-series–Miss Puff –whichisincrediblypopularamongurban22-29year

oldsandunder21s.BrandsworkwiththeproducersofMissPuffintheformofproductplacement.Forexample,you’ll

getlingeringshotsofthebackofherMacBookoracloseupofherMarlborocigarettes.

Location-based apps

Jiepang launchedin2010andisverysimilartoFoursquare.It’salocationbasedmobileappthatletsuserscheck-in

atlocations,earningrewardsanddiscounts.IthasjustannouncedadealwithTencent,whichwillallowuserstolog

intoJiepangusingtheirTencentaccount,givingJiepangaccessto700millionTencentusers.

Therearemanyothersocialnetworkssuchas51.com,whichhasbeenpopularinmoreruralareas,anddatingsocial

networkslikeJiayuanandZhenai.cent),butithasahigheramountofusersinthe30-39demographic(33percent

asopposedtoRenren’s18percent).Whenanalysedinlate2011,traffichaddroppedby65percentover18months,

whichresultedinTencentinvesting$100mUSD–inturngainingsomeaccesstothemorewhite-collarKaixinuserbase.







Social Influencer BrandsChinesesocialnetworkusersappeartohavemorerespectforbrandsthatusesocialmediatoreachouttothem.

95percentofChineseinternetuserssaythatbrandsthatmicroblogcanbetrustedtosomeextent.Thatmaynot

soundgroundbreaking,buttheChinesetendtobemorescepticalofwhattheyaretold,aresultperhapsofahistoric

relationshipwithgovernmentandmisinformation.

Despitetheuncertainty,61percentofwebuserssaythattheyhavemadeapurchasebecauseofdigitaladvertising.

InternationalbrandsarestartingtoreachouttoChineseconsumersoverdomesticsocialnetworks.WhenRenRenasked

itsuserswhattheirfavouritebrandsonthesitewere,thetoptrustedbrandswerebothglobalbrandnames:Coca-Cola

andSamsung.OtherbrandspickedoutintheirowncategorieswereEsteeLauder,CK,Nike,AudiandVW.

SinaWeibo’stopthreebrandaccountsareallinternationalbrands:Durex,StarbucksChinaandadidasOriginals.Sina

isalsostartingtobecomepopularwithwesterncelebrities,withactorslikeTomCruisetakingtothesitetoengagefans.

How brands are using Chinese social networks

• McDonald’sKaixin001campaign,GroupLunch,encourageduserstoarrangetomeetforlunchatalocalMcDonald’s.150,000peopleendedupparticipating.

• Chanelhasbenefitedfromgrouppurchasingwebsitemeituan.com.3,000bottlesweresoldinlessthantwodays,aftera60%discountonChanelNo.5.

• L’OrealbrandBiothermopeneditsSinaWeiboaccountin2011andquicklyacquiredover40,000followersbyengagingwithfansandansweringquestions.

“61% of Chinese web users say that they have made a purchase because of digital advertising”







Language

AlthoughthereareseverallanguagesanddialectsspokenacrossChina,SimplifiedMandarinisthemainwritten

languageusedinmainlandChina,butSinaWeiboisdevelopinganEnglishlanguageversion.Oldergenerationssaythat

internetusageisstartingtomodifythewaythatlanguageiswrittenandspokenbytheyoung,butit’shardtoknowwhat

istheimpactoftheinternetandwhatisjustkidsjustbeingkids,addingtheirownadaptationstolanguage.

Culture

AccordingtoasurveybyJackMortonWorldwide,BrazilianandChineseinternetusersarethemostlikelytoengagewith

brandsonline.Wordofmouthinformationisimportantinanationwhereofficialnewssourcesaredistrusted,

andbrands,especiallyforeignones,canbeseenasmoreimpartial.

Theimpactoflawssuchastheonechildpolicyonmoderncultureshouldn’tbeunderestimated.Thepolicywas

introducedin1978inanattempttocurbthemassiveChinesepopulationgrowth.Thechildrenoftheonechildpolicy

havebeendefinedasindividualistic,spoilt(apparently,theyliketheirluxurybrands),economical,westernisedand

sceptical.

Growingupwithoutsiblingshasencouragedthemtoformfriendshipsonline,andlivinginastatewheremisinformation

isrifehasledthemtodistrustofficialsourcesofinformation-hencetheloveofmicroblogging.Popularandslightly

anti-authoritybloggersincludeHanHan,ahighschooldropoutwhohasbloggedaboutdemocracy,andMurongXuecun.

Language & Culture

“The children of the one child policy have been defined as individualistic, spoilt, and westernised...apparently

they like their luxury brands”







Language & CultureCensorship

Theyoungergenerationmaybeturningtosocialmediatogettherealstory,butsocialnetworksandmicroblogsarestill

subjecttocensorshipbytheChinesegovernment.

OneincidentwassparkedbyahitandrunatHebeiUniversity.Thedriverchallengedhisonesurvivingvictimtosue

himifhedared,saying:“Goahead,suemeifyoudare.MydadisLiGang!”(thedeputypolicechiefofaneighbouring

district).ThiscausedmanyWeibouserstospeculateaboutcorruptionandledtothegovernmentorderingthenetworks

tostopall“hyperegardingthedisturbanceovertrafficatHebeiUniversity”.

SinaWeibohasatleast100censorsonthepayroll,anditwilloccasionallydeletemessagesandaccountsthatusecertain

keywords.On31stMarch2012sixpeoplewerearrestedand16websitesshutdownfor–whattheofficialnewsagency

called–spreadingfalserumoursontheinternet.TheserumourshadalsoappearedonSinaWeiboandTencentWeibo,

andsobothsiteswereapparentlypunished.Asaresultbothsitesprohibitedusersfrompostinganycommentsbetween

31stMarchand3rdApril.

ANewYorkTimesjournalistopenedanaccountonSinaWeibotodiscoverjusthowmuchcensorshipwentonthere,

andafterafewlowkeyrebelliouspostshesentamessageoutaboutTiananmenSquarewhichwasdeletedwithintwenty

minutes.Oncethemediabecameawareoftheaccountitwasdeleted.

“Sina Weibo has over 100 censors on the payroll and will delete messages and accounts that use certain keywords”








EUAsiaCentreWebsite

Bamman,O’Connor&Smith(2012)onCensorship

HPLResearchPaperonChinaTrends

McKinseyChinaSocialMediaBoomGraphic

TheChinaObserver

ChinaDaily

ResonanceChina

ChinaInternetWatch





representatives.








http://www.eu-asiacentre.eu/pub_details.php?pub_id=33

http://brenocon.com/censorship.bamman+oconnor+smith.fm2012.pdf

http://www.eu-asiacentre.eu/pub_details.php?pub_id=33

http://www.hpl.hp.com/research/scl/papers/chinatrends/china_trends.pdf

http://brenocon.com/censorship.bamman+oconnor+smith.fm2012.pdf

http://www.mckinseychina.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/McKinsey-Chinas-Social-Media-Boom.pdf

http://www.hpl.hp.com/research/scl/papers/chinatrends/china_trends.pdf

http://thechinaobserver.com

http://www.chinadaily.com.cn

http://www.resonancechina.com

http://www.chinainternetwatch.com




Overview

StatisticsreleasedinDecember2011reportedthatJapan’s

populationofinternetusershadreachedover101million

(around80percentoftotalpopulation).Theseusersspend

anaverageof2.9hoursonlineperday-longeronlinethan

bothChina(2.7hours)andtheUS(2.3hours).

UnlikeChina,Japandoesn’tblockwesternsocialnetworks;

infactTwitterandFacebookarethemostpopularmicro

bloggingandsocialnetworkingserviceinthenation.

However,thereareafewdomesticnetworksthatarealso

incrediblypopular,themostnotableofwhichisMixi,with

morethan21millionregisteredusers.

In this report:

• SocialNetworks• MobileGames• Blogging• SocialInfluencerBrands• Language&Culture

“Japanese users spend longer online than both China and the US.”

In this series:



Japan







JapanInternational Guide to Social Media

Social NetworksFacebookhadarealstrugglegettingafootholdinJapan.Themainbarrierstoadoptioninitiallywerelanguage(the

JapanesenetworkMiximakesitfareasiertoconverseinJapanese),securityconcerns(peoplefeltMixiwasamuchmore

secureplatformandlessspammy)andmarketpenetrationissues(ifallofyourfriendsareonMixiandnotFacebook,

you’regoingtouseMixi).Inaddition,FacebookorganisesinformationinawaymostJapanesesocialnetworkuserswere

unfamiliarwith,whichalsoprovedaproblem.

AnotherstumblingblockwasFacebook’srealnamepolicy.Japaneseinternetusersareveryprotectiveoftheirprivacy

andprefertobeanonymousonline.HomegrownsitessuchasMixi,GreeandMobageadoptedelementsofFacebook,

suchasallowingthirdpartyapps–whichfurtherreducedthedriveforuserstomaketheswitch.Althoughusers

continuetofindthesitedifficulttouse,Facebookdidgetsomeelementsright,forexample,FacebookJapanletsusers

displaytheirbloodtypedetails,asit’sconsideredimportantinformationtosharewithfriends.

Butafteryearsofslowgrowth,Facebook’susernumbershavesurgedinthepastyear.It’sthoughtthatthe2011

earthquakeandtsunamiresultedinpeopletakingtoFacebooktofindfriendsandfamilyinordertokeeptheminformed

oftheirsituation.It’salsolikelythatthereleaseofTheSocialNetworkcontributedtoFacebook’spopularity.Facebook

isnowsettobecomethemostpopularnetworkinJapan,withover10millionactivemonthlyuserscurrently,andthis

figureisgrowingfast.(It’sworthnotingthatJapanhasaGaijin(foreign)populationofaround2million,whoprobably

accountforsomeofthisfigure.)

JapaniscurrentlytheonlycountryinwhichTwitterismorepopularthanFacebook.UnlikeFacebook,tweeterscanstay

anonymousiftheyprefer,andhardlyhavetoprovideanyinformationtoestablishanaccount.It’salsofarlessriskyfor

them,asfriendscan’tgiveawaytoomuchinformationaboutthemaccidentally.

InOctober2011itwasreportedthat14percentoftheworld’stweetswereJapaneselanguage.Twitterissopopular

inJapanthatthe16,197tweetspersecondthenationsentduringNewYear2012celebrationscrashedTwitter,and

amassive25,088tweetspersecondweresentwhenHayaoMiyazaki’sCastleintheSkywasshownonTVon9th

December2011.InJanuary2012,JapanwasthethirdmostrepresentednationonTwitter,behindBrazilandtheUS,

withjustunder30millionaccounts.AccordingtofiguresfromDecember2011,teenagegirlsspentthemost

timemicro-blogging.

“Another stumbling block was Facebook’s real name policy. Japanese internet users prefer

to be anonymous online.”







Social NetworksAgain,the2011disastersawpeopleturntoTwitterforfast,freeandreliablecommunication,andalthoughmanyused

Facebookduringthistime,thenumbersrelyingonTwitterweregreater.However,therapidriseinthepopularityof

FacebookhasledTwittertobeworriedenoughaboutitspositionastopdogtoformapartnershipwiththeJapanese

answertoFacebook,Mixi.

MixiisJapan’sanswertoFacebook,anditcurrentlyremainsthemostpopularsocialnetworkwithover15millionactive

monthlyusers.LikeFacebook,usersareallowedtopostphotosandsharelinksandcomments.Mixiuserstalkonforums

dedicatedtospecificthemes.

It’sworthkeepinginmindthatMixi,likeotherJapanesenetworks,isverypopularonmobileplatformswhichcanresult

indifferencesinquotedusernumbers–forexample,ComScorehassaidthatMixihas13.4millionusers,buttrackthe

mobileusersandthatfiguregoesuptoaround23million.

Foundedin2004,Mixihasover21.6millionregisteredusers,accountingforroughly80percentofthesocialnetwork

marketinJapan.ItwasheavilyinfluencedbyFriendster,andremainedthemostpopularsocialnetworkingsiteor

micro-bloguntil2010whenTwitterovertookit.IttriedtofightbackagainstTwitterbyallowinguserstosendtweetlike

messagesof150charactersfrom2009,butthischangedidn’tstoppeopleflockingtoTwitter,andwhilebothFacebook

andTwitterusernumbersarestillgrowing,Mixi’snumbersareremainingratherstatic.

OneofthebigattractionsofMixioverFacebookwastheabilityitgaveuserstofinetunetheirprivacycontrolstodictate

whocouldseespecificpostsanduploads.Userscouldevenseewhohadviewedtheirprofiles.However,Mixiremoved

thisfeatureinmid-2011,anduserswerenotpleasedwiththechange.

Otherwesternnetworks,likeGoogle+andLinkedIn,arestilltryingtomakein-roads.Google+,whichhas40million

accountsworldwide,hasonly2millionusersinJapan.GooglegaveGoogle+localisedfeaturesatlaunch,suchas

Japaneselanguageusermenus,whichmadeiteasytousethesite,butitstumbledonthesamerealnameproblemthat

hadirkedusersofFacebook.Japaneseusers,keentousetheironlineidentitiesonGoogle+,decidedtochangetheir

usernamesover–whichresultedinfindingthemselveslockedoutoftheirownemailaccounts.

“Mixi has over 21.6 million registered users, accounting for roughly 80 percent of the

social network market.”







Social NetworksLinkedInhasbeenlatetotheparty,launchinginJapanduringOctober2011.LikeGoogle+itlaunchedwithlocalised

languagesupport.ByApril2012ithadover400thousandJapaneseusers,andinthesamemonthitlaunchedaHow-To

sitetointroducenewuserstotheservice.

Mobile games/social gaming

Mobiles,especiallymobilegamingandsocialnetworking,arebigbusinessinJapan.Thecountryhas122millionmobile

subscribers,and65percentofmobilesshippedin2011weresmartphones.The2011earthquakecausedaspikein

demandforsmartphones,assuppliesweretemporarilycutandpeoplebegantorealisethattheywantedaphonewith

increasedfunctionality.Oneinfivemobileusersaccesssocialnetworksorblogsfromtheirmobilephones,andover55

percentaccessapps(only45percenttext).

MobilegamingisincrediblypopularinJapan,andmanyuseingamesocialfeaturestokeepupwithfriends.Japanese

mobilesocialgamingpublisherGreehasaround190millionsubscribers(mostlyviarecentlyacquiredplatformOpen

Feint)andaround29millionactualusers–almosttwicethenumberofMixi.Greeoperatesagamingplatformwhere

userscanplayfreegamesusingmangastyleavatarstointeractwitheachother.Thegamesaremonetisedviaspecialin-

gameitemssuchasweaponryandclothing.

GreeisnowinworldwideBeta,andcurrentlyhasagreaterrevenuethanrivalwesterngaminggiantZynga.It’seven

temptedlongtimeFacebooksocialgameproducerstoleaveFacebookforitsspecialistnetwork.It’srecentlymadea

numberofregionalacquisitions,inanattempttoextenditsreach.Greeisoneofthesocialgamingprovidersthathas

promisedtoworkwiththeJapanesegovernmenttocreateindustryguidelinesinthewakeofrecentingamegambling

scandals.

MobageisGree’smainrivalwitharound21.7millionusers.MobagerebrandedfromMobage-townanddesignedan

Englishlanguagelogoin2011asthecompanywantedtotakeitssocialgamingplatformtowesternmarkets.Described

asamixtureofFacebookandZynga,Mobagealsoletsitsusersearnvirtualmoneybyclickingonadvertising.

“Gree has a greater revenue than rival western gaming giant Zynga.”







Social NetworksBlogging

Japanesebloggingplatformsarehugelypopular,with80percentofJapan’sonlinepopulationvisitingabloginJune

2011.Japanalsoleadsthewayintimespentreadingandengagingwithblogs,withpeoplespendinganaverageofover

60minutesinthesamemonth.PlatformssuchasAmeblogobeyondsimplebloggingandallowyoutocreateanavatar

whichyoucandressandusetoengagewithotherAmeblousers.Themostpopularbloggingplatform,FC2,hasnow

launchedinmultiplelanguagesandlocalities.

BloggingissopopularinJapanthat2011statisticsplaceFC2asthemostpopularsocialmediachannel,reaching50.5

percentoftheonlinepopulation,andtwootherbloggingplatformsarealsointhetopfivesocialchannels-Ameblo(38.2

percentreach),andSeesaa(29.2percent).

Other networks

YouTubeiscurrentlythesocialmediachannelwiththesecondhighestreach(46.9percent),justaheadofWikipediaat

46.3percent.Thismaychangesoon,asnewcopyrightrestrictionscouldmeanthegovernmentplacesrestrictionson

YouTube,or,accordingtosomereports,blockitcompletely.

In summary

• Afterarockystart,FacebookisonitswaytobecomingthemostpopularnetworkinJapanwith over10millionactivemonthlyusers

• TwitterisstillaheadofFacebookinJapan,with30millionaccounts.14%oftheworldstweetsare inJapanese

• Mixi,Japan’sanswertoFacebook,isstillthemostpopularsocialnetworkwith15millionactive monthlyusers

• 2millionofGoogle+’s40millionaccountsareJapanbasedandLinkedInhasaround400,000 usersinJapan

• SocialgamingismassiveinJapan.Greehasaround190millionsubscribersandMobage21.7 millionusers

• Bloggingishugelypopular,80%ofJapansonlinepopulationvisitedabloginJune2011

• YouTubehasareachofalmost47%inJapan







Japanesebrands,whichareofcoursebestplacedtoknowtheirownmarket,useTwitter(96%),YouTube(82%)and

blogs(54%)formostoftheirsocialcommunication;withMixi(34%),Gree(30%),Facebook(24%)andMobage(16%)as

lesspopularalternatives.

ItmayseemoddthatbrandsarenotmakinggreaterstrideswithFacebookengagement,seeingasthat’soneofthefirst

choicesforwesternbrands,butthereluctanceofJapanesewebuserstoembraceFacebookhasplayedabigpartin

that.Researchintothetop100JapanesebrandsfoundthatthemajorityofthemwerenotonFacebookatall,andthat

thosewhichweredidn’ttrytoengagefans.Manydidn’tpermituserstoposttothebrandswallorprovidemanyupdates

themselves.Comparedtowesternbrands,theydidn’tprovidemanymethodsofcontactingthebrand.

OfthethreemostpopularFacebookpagesinJapan,themostpopularisFacebook,thesecondisagolfingmagazineand

thethirdaJapanesefashionlabel.Manybrandsprefertouseananimeavatarastheofficialvoiceofthebrand,asthey

knowthatJapanesewebusersalsoprefertousethem.AfewbrandsarestartingtotailortheirFacebookofferingby

providingexclusivecontentandrunningcampaignstogeneratelikesandengagementinexchangeforfreeflights,virtual

currencies,orcollector’sitems.

Facebook’susernumberscontinuetorise.AswellastheFacebookmovie,andthenetworkactingasawaytokeepin

touchduringthecrisis,celebritiesandotherhigh-profileusershavebeenrepeatedlypushingtheirFacebookpagesin

interviewsandonthenews,givingitmorepublicityandencouragingpeopletotaketheleap.

NowthatFacebookisbecomingmorepopularinJapan,brandslookingtouseittoengagefansmaywishtoconsiderthe

culturaldifferenceswhenencouraginginteractions.Japanesefansaremorelikelytoengagewithotherusers,byoffering

adviceforexample,thantheyaretorespondtothebranditself.OnestudywhichlookedattheAPACregionfoundthat

theywerethenationleastlikelytogivepraise.Brandsneedtorememberthis,aswellastheculturalnormsthatfans

adhereto,whentheycommunicateoversocialnetworks.Otherwisetheyriskbeingseenasintrusiveandimpolite.

60percentofJapan’stop100brandsareonTwitter,butdonotengagefans.Theculturalstickingpointsthatcraftuser

responsesalsoshapethoseofthepeoplebehindthebrand.IfJapanesesocialnetworkusersfinditintrusivetotalkabout

themselvestoomuch–evenontheirownFacebookwall–justimaginewhatthatsamepersonwoulddowhenaskedto


“Research into the top 100 Japanese brands found that the majority of them were not on Facebook at all”







Social Influencer BrandsmarkettheirbrandonTwitter!40percentofJapan’slargestbrandsaresostumpedonwhattodowithTwitterthatthey

don’tevenhaveanaccount.

SocialPages,likebrandpages,wereintroducedonMixiinSeptember2011andbrandshaveusedthemtohostsimilar

campaignstoFacebook,askingparticipantstobecomefriendsorinstallappsinexchangeforthechancetowinprizes.

Themajormobilesocialgamingcompanies,GreeandMobageinvolvebrandsnotonlythroughadvertising,butthrough

brandedsocialgames(suchasDisneyonGree’splatform)andtie-upswithmajorgamingfranchiseslikeFinal

FantasyonMobage.

Inanattempttoincreaseitsuserbase,Google+partneredwiththeJapanesepopphenomenonAKB48(apopactof

64girlsintheirteensandearly20s).Thegroupcomprisesfoursub-groupsandhasateamoftraineeswhoaspiretobe

includedintheact.2011recordsaleswereamassive$200million.Theline-upforaparticularsingleisdeterminedvia

twoannualevents,oneinwhichmembersofthepublicvotefortheirfavouritestar,andtheotherwherethe64girlsplay

rock-paper-scissorstodeterminewhowillbesinging.AKB48hasatotalof90individualaccountsonGoogle+andmake

upmostofthetop100mostpopularGoogle+Japanpages.

McDonald’sJapanhasgonefrombeingin10,000circlesinFebruary2012,toover50,000inJuly2012.Thebrand

makesgooduseofGoogleHangoutstolaunchnewproductsstraighttobloggers–whichshowsjusthowwellthe

McDonald’sknowsitslocalaudience.

“McDonald’s makes good use of Google Hangouts to launch new products straight to bloggers”

In summary

• 96%ofJapanesebrandsuseTwitter,but60%ofthetop100brandsdon’tengage followers• Themajorityofthetop100JapanesebrandsarenotonFacebook• Mixiintroducedsocialpages(likebrandpages)inSeptember2011• Google+haspartneredwithJapanesepopsensationAKB48–thegrouphas90 accountsontheservice







Language & CultureTheofficiallanguageofJapanisstandardJapanese,whichhasagrammarsystemdesignedtore-enforcepoliteness

(Honorificspeech).JapaneseisthesecondmostusedlanguageonTwitter.

TheJapanesehavebeenreluctanttoembracesocialmedia.Therearefewerpeoplevisitingsocialnetworkingsites,

andtheyspendlesstimeonthemthanothernations.Forresterreportedthat13percentofonlineJapaneseadults

visitFacebookonamonthlybasis,withmorepreferringtovisitsitessuchasTwitterorMixibecauseoftheanonymity

allowedonthesesites.

Asmentioned,Facebookclashedwithspecificculturaltraitswhichmadeadoptionproblematicatbest.Traitssuchas:

RiskAvoidance-JapaneseusersseeahugepotentialforembarrassmentonFacebook.Userswouldbedeeply

embarrassediftheynoticedthattheymadeaspellingmistakeorfactualerrorontheirwall.Thiscouldbeoneofthe

reasonsthatFacebookhasrecentlyalloweduserstoeditoldstatusupdates.Additionally,theideathatafriendcould

uploadapictureofyou,tagyou,andthatcompletestrangerstoyoucouldbeseeingyourpictureandnameishighly

undesirabletothemajority.Onesurveyresultshowedthat89percentofrespondentsdidnotwishtodisclosetheirreal

namesonline.Unlikesomewesternnations,Japanesesocialnetworkuserswouldratherkeeptheirvirtualfriendlistto

closefriendsonly,ratherthancasualacquaintances.

Deference–issoingrainedinJapaneseculturethatareluctancetoquestionauthorityhasbeencitedasbeingatthe

heartoftheFukushimadisaster.Onasocialnetworkinglevel,ifanyoneyouregardedashigherstatusthanyoutriedto

addyouasafriendorcontactyouwouldfeelobligedtoaccept–whichinturnwouldmakeyoumoreconcernedabout

whatyoushared.Youwouldnotwanttobeviewedpoorlybyasuperior.

Harmony–iscentraltoJapaneseculture.Peoplearemorelikelytousethemostpopularsocialnetwork,theonethat

mostoftheirfriendsareon.NotehowFacebookhadahardtimeattractingusersuntilpeoplewereforcedtouseitduring

acrisisanditbecameaculturalforce(withthemovieandhigh-profileendorsements).OneonFacebook,mostwould

notfeelabletorejectorignorefriendrequests,eveniftheywantedtobecauseitwouldbeconsideredrude.Manners

andpolitenessareveryimportanttotheJapanese,andmostuserswouldratherpostsveryfewupdatesthanrisklooking

“Japanese is the second most used language on Twitter.”

“The influence of friends and family should not be underestimated”







self-importantbyclutteringuppeople’snewsfeedsonFacebook,orappearingcriticalofothers(especiallysomeone

consideredsuperiortothem)orbrands.

Escapism-Japanesewebusersplaceahighvalueonanonymityonline,asmanychoosetousetheironlineactivitiesasa

formofescapism.PrivacyisacorevaluefortheJapanesewebuser.

Language & Culture

In summary

• TheofficiallanguageisJapanese• JapaneseusershadproblemstakingtoFacebookduetocertainculturaltraitswhichprevented themfromsharingthenetworksethos,includingtheneedtouserealnames







PerspectivesA detailed analysis of the problems Facebook had in Japan

A look at how some brands are using Facebook successfully

Great article from Tokyo based blog skeptikai on social networks in Japan

The New York Times looks at why Facebook failed to take off in Japan

Japan Times asks if Google+ will prove a hit in Japan





representatives.








http://www.techinasia.com/problem-with-facebook-in-japan/

http://www.clickz.asia/5853/the_secrets_of_facebook_japan_brand_fandemonium

http://skeptikai.com/2012/02/14/the-social-network-wars-in-japan-mixi-twitter-and-facebook/

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/10/technology/10facebook.html?_r=3&pagewanted=all

http://www.japantimes.co.jp/text/nc20110720aa.html#.T_Rfj_VphiM




Overview

Around121millionofIndia’s1.2billionpeopleareonline.

Itseemsarelativelysmallnumber(proportionately,at

least),butaccordingtoreports,2012willseeanexplosion

ininternetgrowth,drivenbythetakeupofmobilephones.

Fixed-linebroadbandinternetpenetrationisstillonlyat

around10percent,whileIndiahasareported700million

mobilesubscribers,alargeproportionofwhomliveinrural

areas,witharound200,000beingaddedeachday.

Inareaswhereinfrastructureandfixedtelecomlinesare

patchy,andmanypeoplewouldhavetowalkmilestoaccess

theinternet,itmakessensethatinternetusewillbedrivenby

theavailabilityofaffordablemobilephonesandtablets(the

Akaash II tablet,whichwillretailfor2263IndianRupees

-about£26–wasannouncedinJune).Asaresult,brands

targetingIndianconsumersneedtothinkmobilefortheir

campaigns,websitesandsocialnetworkpagestobeeffective.

In this report:

• SocialNetworks• SocialInfluencerBrands• Language&Culture

“According to reports, 2012 will see an explosion in internet growth, driven by the

take up of mobile phones.”

In this series:



India







IndiaInternational Guide to Social Media

Social NetworksNielsenresearchshowsthatthereare50+millionactivesocialmediausersinIndia,andtheyspendmoretimeonsocial

mediathananywhereelse.AccordingtoTheNextWeb,FacebookisthedominantsocialnetworkinIndia(andistipped

tobecomethelargestFacebookmarketintheworldby2015),followedbyLinkedInandthentheGoogle-ownedOrkut

(witharound18millionusers).StatisticsfromtheGlobalWebIndexshowthat49percentofIndiansocialnetworkusers

nowhaveaGoogle+account,soit’spossiblethatOrkutusersmaystartmigratingover,orchose

tokeepbothprofilesactive.

TheIndianEconomicTimesreportsthatFacebookinIndiahasaround38millionusers(around40percentof

whomaccessthesiteviaamobilephone);althoughSocialBakersputsthisfigureatnearer50million.AnalystRajesh

Prabankhar(whoalsoputstheFacebookuserbasealittlehigher,at46millionusers)saysthatsocialnetworkusersin

Indiaaremostlyurban,male,andunder34yearsold.AccordingtoWatConsult,asocialmediaconsultingfirm,Mumbai

hasthehighestnumberofFacebookusersat3.7million,followedbyChennaiat1.2millionusers.

LinkedInisalsogrowinginIndia,justbehindtheUKintermsofusernumbers(10.6million).InaninterviewwithThe

IndianEconomicTimes,HariKrishnan,LinkedIn’sbusinessheadinIndia,saysthatmobileusechangesaLinkedIn

user’sbehaviour,focusingon“fourkeyareas:userprofiles,statusupdates,groupsandtheinbox.”

Videoconsumptionisalsoontherise.PrasantNaidu,writingforStartupAsia,predictsthatvideowillboominIndiain

2012,driveninpartbytheviralnatureofBollywood,andinpartbyanincreaseinsocialTV.YouTube’spopularitycan

bedemonstratedbythemusicvideo“WhyThisKolaveriDi”whichwasaviralhitatthecloseof2011.Thesongwasa

combinationofTamilandEnglishandgotaround40millionviewsonYouTubebytheendofJanuary2012–aswellas

trendingonTwitter.

In summary

• Indiahasover50millionactivesocialmediausers

• FacebookisthebiggestsocialnetworkinIndia,witharound38millionusers

• Orkuthas18millionusersandLinkedInaround10.6million







WhatdoIndianconsumerswantfrombrandsonsocialmedia?Neilsen’sresearchindicatesthatisisn’tterribly

differentfromtherestoftheworld,with53percentwantingtohearaboutsalesanddiscounts,50percentlookingfor

informationonindustrytrends,and48percentneedingadviceonusingandmaintainingproductsandservices.

BrandswoulddowelltotakenoteasForresterResearchhasdiscoveredthatIndiansocialmediausersaresomeofthe

mostengagedusersintheworld:83percentwerefoundtobecritics;80percentcontentcreators;and79percent

conversationalists.57percentofonlineconsumersarewillingtoreceivebrandinformation.

ThebiggestbrandsonFacebookinIndia(andbearinginmindFacebookisthebiggestnetworkinIndia,itwouldbefair

tosaythesearethebiggestbrandsonlineinthecountry)are,accordingtoSocialbakers:Indiantelecommunications

companyTata Docomo(over8.3millionfans)andIndiansunglassesbrandFastrack(over4.1millionfans).

ButsearchonlineforthemostinnovativesocialcampaignsinIndia,andonenamecropsupagainandagain:the

Indian Food LeaguecampaignbyHippo.It’sasimplecampaignwhichpitsregionaldishesagainsteachother,and

encouragesuserstocommentonavirtualchalkboardshowingtheday’smenu.Italltiesintothecricketseason;theidea

beingthatfriendsandfamilieseattogetherastheywatchthecrickettogether.Ithasaveryspecificregionalappeal,and

usesTwitterandFacebookaswellasthehubofthecampaign,amicrositeforusergeneratedcontent.

Anotherinterestingsocialcampaignfor2012isMTV’s‘NanoDrive’–asocialstreamingrealityshowwhichshows

fourteamsdrivingacrossthecountryforthreeweeks.Thecontestantscompeteforsocialengagement,byblogging,

takingphotosandvideosthataresharedonsocialplatforms,andtweeting;thewinneristheteamwhogetsthehighest

engagement(likes,retweetsetc).ThewinningteamwilleachwinaTata Nano.


India’s most innovative social media campaign? Hippo’s Indian Food League.

In summary

• Peopleusesocialmediaprimarilytogetdetailsonsalesanddiscounts• InternationalbrandDoveisthemostpopularonFacebook,followedbydomestic telecomscompanyTataDacomo• MTV’sNanoDriveisjustoneexampleofbrandsusingsocialtoengagefans







TheEconomistestimatesthat438official‘mothertongue’languagesarespokeninIndia(theunofficialnumbervaries

hugely).ThemostwidelyspokenisHindi;GooglelauncheditsTranslatorinHindiin2007,anditsHindiportalin2009.

InSeptember2011,TwitterlauncheditsTwitterportalinHindi.Hindibloggingisalsoontheup,withIndiBlogger

hosting1500blogsinHindi.

ThebigsocialnetworksarestartingtorollouttheirofferingsinotherIndianlanguages:Googlenowofferssearchin

eightotherIndianlanguagesincludingPunjabiandBengali;andFacebookisalsoavailableineightlanguagesonmobile.

TraditionalIndianculturalvalues,suchasgenderspecificroles,thecastesystemandstrongfamilyties,stillexist,butare

comingunderpressure.Somesaythatthisistheresultofaglobalisedeconomyandtheexposuretothewestwhichthe

youthhavegainedwhileworkingincallcentreenvironments.It’seasytoseehowincreasinguseofglobalsocialmedia

siteswouldincreasethiswesterninfluenceandthereforeweakenthesetraditionalinfluencesfurther.But,analystsat

GartnerarenotsurethatsocialmediagrowthinIndiawillbeasstrongasothernationsanyway,primarilyduetothe

desireforprivacy.

Additionally,theIndiangovernmentisbeginningtocensortheInternet.TheInformationTechnologyactcompelssearch

enginesandinternetserviceproviderstodeletedisparagingorblasphemouspostswithin48hoursofacomplaint.Ithas

alsobannedPastebinandVimeoforallegedlypostingcopyrightedmaterial.

Language & Culture

“Analysts at Gartner are not sure that social media growth in India will be as strong as other nations anyway, primarily due to the desire for privacy.”

In summary

• ThemostwidelyspokenlanguageisHindi,butthereareover438officiallanguagesin India• Someareconcernedthattraditionalvaluesarebeingerodedbyexposuretowestern cultures• TheIndiangovernmentisstartingtocensorvariousaspectsoftheinternetinaccordance withculturalnorms,suchasthedemandthatpeopledonotblaspheme.








AveryusefulsiteforIndiansocialmedianews

GoodblogpostfromBikramKSinghoniMediaConnection,aboutthefutureofsocialmediainIndia

comScorestatisticsforTwitterinIndia

ThisblogfromtheWallStreetJournallooksatthetrendofyoungurbanIndiansabandoningsocialmedia

InterestingblogpostonthewesternisationofIndianculture





representatives.








http://lighthouseinsights.in

http://www.imediaconnection.in/article/971/Digital/future-of-social-media-in-india-a-report.html

http://www.mediabistro.com/alltwitter/india-trending-topics_b19587

http://blogs.wsj.com/indiarealtime/2012/01/24/report-young-urban-india-ditches-social-media/

http://blog.crossculture.com/crossculture/2012/04/the-shifting-social-dynamics-in-modern-india.html




Overview

Mexicocurrentlyhasapproximately40.6millioninternet

users(a15percentincreasefrom2011).Internetusersare

spendinganaverageofover4hoursonlinein2012,and

increaseofnearlyanhourfrom2011.

eMarketerpredictsthatsocialnetworkuseinMexicowill

increasebyalmost28percentin2012,andthat65per

centofMexicaninternetuserswillusesocialnetworks.By

2014,thisfigureisexpectedtoreach71percentofMexican

internetusers.Mexicoiscurrentlythefifthlargestmarketin

theworldforFacebook,withSocialBakersreportingover36

millionusersandover32percentpenetration.Eightyper

centofusersare34yearsoldandunder.Forty-eightpercent

ofFacebookuserssaythattheyusethesiteonadailybasis,

andthenetworkwaspredictedtoreach25.6millionusers

inMexicobytheendof2012,soit’sgainingusersatamuch

greaterratethansomeanalystsexpected.

In this report:


In this series:



Mexico

Social Networks







MexicoInternational Guide to Social Media

Social NetworksSemiocastanalysisrevealedthatofthe383millionTwitterprofilescreatedbeforeJanuary1st2012,11millionaccounts

werecreatedinMexico–makingittheseventhbiggestmarketforTwitter.Twenty-sixpercentofthenation’sTwitter

accountsareactive(justbelowthe27percentglobalaverage).

MexicoistheeighthlargestmarketforGoogle+intheworld,with1.6millionprofilesoriginatinginthecountry(asof

27/07/12).It’sjustbehindGermany(whichhas1.7millionusers)anditistiedwithSpainandItaly.Around72percent

ofMexicanGoogle+accountswerecreatedbymen,andalmost68percentofusersareaged18to24.

Around3.6percentofglobalYouTubetrafficisfromMexico,withfourpercentofusersvisitingthesitemorethanonce

aday.AccordingtoaDecember2012comScorereport,86percentofonlinevideoviewersinMexicoviewedtheirvideos

onYouTube,while39percentusedFacebook.

InJanuary2012,itwasreportedthatMexicowashometo2.1millionofthe147millionLinkedInusers–whichisa

growthrateofnearly76percentsinceJanuary2011.Meanwhile,Mexicoisreportedtobethesecondlargestmarketin

LatinAmericaforPinterest,withjustover16percentofLatinAmericanPinterestusers.

In summary

• Socialnetworkinguseisgrowing,with71percentofinternetusersexpectedtousesocial networkstin2012

• MexicoisthefifthlargestmarketintheworldforFacebook,andtheseventhlargestforTwitter







ThemostpopularFacebookpagesinMexicoare:bandMana(over5.7millionfans);professionalwrestlerRey

Mysterio Jr(over5.3millionfans);andbandLa Arrolladora Banda El Limón(over4.5millionfans).Oncemore,

thetopbrandpagesarelesspopular.Blackberry Mexicohasalmosttwomillionfans,Starbucks Mexicohadover

1.7million,andmovietheatrechainCinemaxhasmorethan1.4millionfans.

OnYouTube,themostpopularchannelsare:vloggerGabriel Montiel’schannelWerevertumorro(justover67million

channelandalmost592millionvideoviews);animatedvideochannelvetealaversha(over11.3millionchanneland

approaching270.5millionvideoviews);andvloggerchannelhectorlealvlogs(over6.4millionchanneland53.5million

videoviews).Whilethemostpopularbrandchannelsare:drinksbrandCanal Oficial de Gladiator Mexico(over

613,000channeland387,000videoviews);andHSBC Mexico(nearing58,000channelviewsand19,000video

views).PeoplearejuststartingtoengagewithbrandsonGoogle+.CanonLatinAmericaisthemostpopularbrand,with

1080followers,andChevroletMexicoisanotherpopularcompanywith454followers.


Professional wrestler Rey Mysterio Jr has 3.4 million more fans on Facebook than Starbucks Mexico.

In summary

• BrandsarestartingtousesocialchannelstoengageusersinMexico

• ThemostpopularsocialmediapresencesinMexicotendtobelongtopersonalitiesratherthan entertainmentcorporations







Language & CultureMexicohas68recognisednationallanguagesandapproaching100nativeAmerindianlanguagesspoken(Nahuatl

beingthefirstlanguageofoveronemillionMexicans).Spanishisthedominantlanguageinthecountry.Ethnically,60

percentofMexicansareclassedasMestizo(amixtureofAmerindianandSpanish),30percentAmerindianormainly

Amerindian,ninepercentwhiteandonepercent‘other’.

LikemanyCentralandSouthAmericannations,Mexicanculturevaluesstrongfamiliesandclose-knitcommunities.

Thereisgreatsuspicionofofficialcorruption,whichstronglocalandfamilytieshelptoprotectagainst.Itisalsoavery

hierarchicalsociety,bothathomeandintheworkplace.

Mexicoalsohasaverystrongtraditionalcultureofmasculinity(orMachismo),whichisstartingtodiminishaswomen

asbeginningtotakeontraditionalmaleroles.However,Mexiconowhasafemalepresidentialcandidate,butsomeare

stillquestioningifawomancandothejob.

Socialmediahasbeenusedtoprotestpoorsocialandeconomicconditions,withtheMexicanpublicstatingthe“Iam

132”campaignwhichaimstoshowtheworldtherealproblemsthatpeopleareexperiencinginthecountry.Individual

journalistsandbloggershavetriedtoworktohelpbringdowndruggangsbyreportingincidentsviasocialmedia–with

theeditor-in-chiefofthePrimeraHoranewspaperbeingbeheadedfordoingso.

The editor-in-chief of the Primera Hora newspaper was beheaded for reporting gang incidents via social media.

In summary

• MexicoismostlySpanishspeaking,thoughhas68recognisedlanguages• Familiesandclose-knitcommunitiesareanimportantfeatureofMexicansociety• Socialmediahasbeenusedtohighlightsocialproblemsandcampaigns







PerspectivesLinkedIn statistics for January 2011 to 2012

Excellent article on social networking and engagement in Mexico





representatives.








http://www.slideshare.net/amover/linkedin-demographics-statistics-jan-2012

http://www.public.site2.mirror2.phi.emarketer.com/Article.aspx?R=1008960#3WxfRvsiuuCDHcLz.99


http://www.translatemedia.com/?&utm_source=Mexico-PDF-link&utm_campaign=IGSM


Overview

TheCentralandSouthAmericaregionscomprise18

independentnations.Whilethesecountriesmayshare

borders,eachhasauniquehistoryandculture.

AsofDecember2011therewere50.1millioninternetusers

inCentralAmericaand173.1millioninternetusersinSouth

America.WeAreSocialreportsthatinternetpenetration

intheCentralandSouthAmericaregionis36percent,

demonstratingthemassivegrowthpotentialintheregion.

However,itshouldbenotedthatinsomecountriesinternet

connectivityisstillpatchy.Forexample,abloggerfroman

indigenouscommunityinBoliviamayhavetotravelthree

andahalfhoursbybustoreachthenearestcityandupload

hisblogposts.

WhencomScoreanalysedwhich20countriesspentthemost

timeonsocialnetworksinthemonthofApril2011,fiveof

themwerefromSouthAmerica.

In this report:


In this series:



South America

Social Networks







South AmericaInternational Guide to Social Media

Social NetworksArgentinacameinatnumberthreeonthelistat8.4hours,followedbyVenezuela(6th)andColombia(8th)atseven

hours;Chile(9th)6.7hoursandPeru(18th)4.9hours.Brazil,with4.4hoursdidn’tmakethelist.

Facebookispopularintheregion,especiallyinSouthAmerica,withover53millionusersinBrazil(26.38%

penetration),19.3millionusersinArgentina(46.68%penetration)andalmost20millionusersinColombia(38.25%

penetration).SouthAmericaisoneofthefastestgrowingregionsforFacebook,addingover20millionusersinthe

past16months.ThemostFacebook-friendlyCentralAmericannationsareGuatemala,withjustovertwomillionusers

(15.31%penetration),ElSalvadoratnearly1.5millionusers(23.45%penetration)andHondurasatjustoveronemillion

users(14.49%penetration).

Google+isusedbymanyintheregion,especiallyArgentina,wheremorethan825,000peoplehaveanaccount.

InCostaRica,bloggingisusedasawaytoliftthelidoncorruptpractices.Oneofthemostpopularblogs,ElInfiernoen

CostaRica,ispublishedunderthepseudonymElChamuko.ItusespopularCostaRicanbloggingplatformTicoBlogger,

whichallowsbloggerstodistributecontentoversocialmediachannels.

TwitterispopularinSouthAmerica,withthreeSouthAmericannationsmakingthetop10Twitterpenetrationlistinfor

themonthofMarch2011–Brazil(no.3/23.7%),Venezuela(no.5/21%)andArgentina(no.7/18%).

“In Costa Rica, blogging is used as a way to lift the lid on corrupt practices.”

In summary

• 5outofthetop20nationsspendingthemosttimeonsocialnetworksareinSouthAmerica• SouthAmericaisoneofthefastestgrowingregionsforFacebook• Brazilhasover53millionFacebookusers,Guatemalahasovertwomillion• Over825,000ArgentiniansareonGoogle+• Brazil,VenezuelaandArgentinawereinthetop10TwitterpenetrationlistforMarch2011







PeopleinPeru,Brazil,ColombiaandChilearemoreopentobeingcontactedbybrandsonsocialmediachannelsthan

theyareresistant,whichisn’tsurprisingasaround46percentoftheCentralandSouthAmericanmarkettalkabout

brandsovertheinternet(Argentinaleadtheway,with25percentofthepopulationdiscussingbrandsonline).

Brandsviewingtheareaasasingleregionshouldthinkagain–thetopbrandsinsocialmediaineachcountryare

different.McDonald’sCostaRicaisnearing152,000Facebookfans,whereasPizzaHutElSalvadorhasover197,000

fans.Claro,aTVandphonelineproviderpopularonTwitterinBrazil(theresultofapartnershipwithRonaldo),isthe

mostpopularFacebookbrandpageinGuatemala(almost442,000)andHonduras(justover246,000).Fashionbrand

LoveableisthemostpopularbrandpageinNicaragua(nearing130,000)andbeerproducerQuilmesCervezaisthemost

lovedpageinArgentina(at1.9millionfansandcounting).CinemachainCineplanetisthemostpopularbrandpagein

Peruwitharound1.2millionfans.

In2010SouthAmericanretailerHomecentreSodimacranasuccessfulsocialmediacampaigncalled‘Themanwhogave

everythingaway’.AColombianmanwokeuponemorninganddecidingtogiveallofhispossessionsaway.Hesetupa

FacebookpageanduploadedvideostoYouTubedetailinghisplans.TheFacebookpagegainedanaverageoftwofans

everysixminutes,andthepagewasviewedalmost350,000times.Onthedayitself,peoplelined-upoutsidetheman’s

houseandtookawayallofitscontents.Oncehishousewasemptyherevealedhe’ddoneitbecause‘theHomecenter

HouseSeasonisthebestexcusetorenovateyourhomeatthelowestprices.’


In summary

• 46%oftheCentralandSouthAmericanmarkettalkaboutbrandsonline• BrandsareconnectingwiththeCentralandSouthAmericaonanationallevel• Regionalbrandsareusingsocialmediachannelstoengagewithlocalmarkets• Businessesareusingsocialmediatoengageaudiencesintheproductsbackstory• Globalbrandsareturningtheirsocialpresencesintoaninteractiveexperience







Language & CultureThelanguagesandculturesofSouthandCentralAmericaareincrediblydiverse,andhavebeenshapedbycolonisation

and,inmanycases,immigrantsettlersintermarryingwithnativetribesoverthecenturies.Theresultisarichlydiverse

ethnicandreligiousmixture.

ElevenCentralandSouthAmericancountrieshaveSpanishastheofficiallanguage:CostaRica,ElSalvador,Honduras,

Nicaragua,Panama,Argentina,Chile,Colombia,Ecuador,UruguayandVenezuela(althoughthereareover40

indigenousdialectsspokeninVenezuelathatarealsoclassedasofficiallanguages).

Argentina isanothercountrywithSpanishasitsofficiallanguage,butEnglish,Italian,GermanandFrencharealso

spoken.

Boliviahasthreeofficiallanguages:Spanish,QuechuaandAymara.Guatemalahastwo,with60percentofthe

populationSpanishspeakingand40percentAmerindian.

ThepeopleofParaguayhavebothSpanishandGuaraniasdominantlanguages.SpanishandQuechuaarethemain

languagesinPeru,whereasPortugueseistheofficiallanguageofBrazil.

BelizehasEnglishastheofficiallanguageandSpanish,aswellasnativetongueslikeMayan,GarifunaandCreole,as

lessdominantlanguages.

Suriname,hasDutchasitsmainlanguage(over60percentofthenationspeakit)andSrananTongo,Hindi,Javanese,

Maroonandotherindigenouslanguagesspoken.

Cultureisagain,verydiverse.Duetovaryingcolonialinfluencesmixingwithdifferentlocalindigenouspopulations,each

nationhasitsownvibrantanduniqueculture.Thereareafewculturaltraitsandactivitiesthatarecommontomany

countriesintheregion.

“A richly diverse ethnic and religious mixture.”







Carnivals and festivals

TheseareheldinmanyCentralandSouthAmericannations.ThewordCarnivalisrootedinCatholictraditionandrefers

tothedaysleadinguptoLent,whichhashistoricallybeenatimeoffeastingbeforeabstainingduringthe40daysofLent.

However,thisperiodoffeastingisalsoseeninnon-Christiantraditionasacelebrationofseasonalbounty.Forthis

reason,manyofthelargelyCatholicCentralandSouthAmericannationshavepre-Lentcarnivals.

ElSalvadorholdsmanyfestivalsthroughouttheyear,butitsmaincarnivalistheCarnivalofSanMiguel–asevenday

eventheldinNovemberthatcelebratesthepatronofthepopulation,OurLadyofPeace.Guatemalaholdsanannual

eightdayCarnivalinMazatenango,whichisseenasawaytogetalloftheexcesspartyingandfeastingdonebeforeLent

begins.Panama’s“losCarnavales”celebrationsarethelargestfestivalcelebrationsinthecountry,startingfourdays

beforeAshWednesday.TheCarnivalofLaCeibainHondurasisthelargestCarnivalinCentralAmerica.It’sheldinMay,

andhonoursthepatronsaintofLaCeiba,SaintIsidoretheLaborer.Arguablythemostfamouscarnivalintheworldis

Brazil’sRioCarnivalheldforfourdaysintherunuptoEaster.TheRioCarnivalattractsapproximately500,000foreign

visitorsayear,andattractsworldwidecoverage.Colombia’sBarranquillaCarnivalisanotheronethatlastsforfour

daysbeforeLent.TheeventhasbeendeclaredaWorldMasterpieceoftheOralandIntangibleHeritageofHumanity

byUNESCO.TheVenezuelacarnivallastsfortwodaysbeforeLentandisregardedinthesamewayasChristmas,with

peoplechoosingtocelebratewithfamily.

Carnivalsarealsoheldatothertimesoftheyearfordifferentreasons.BelizeholdsitsmaincarnivalonSeptember10th

tocelebratethe1798victoryoftheBattleofSt.George’sCaye–whentheBritishsettlerspreventedaSpanishinvasionof

BelizefromMexico.

CostaRicahasfestivalsandcarnivalsthroughouttheyear,mostnotablythePuntarenasCarnival,whichisavibrant

celebrationofCostaRicanculturelasting10daysinFebruary.Argentina’smaincarnivaltakesplaceinGualeguaychú

andisnowknownas‘TheCarnivaloftheCountry’.ThePuntaArenasWinterCarnival,whichwasonlyestablishedin

1997,hasbecomeanationaleventforChile(andvisitingArgentines).Paraguay’sEncarnaciónCarnivalisthehighlight

ofthecountry’sfestivalseason.TheCajamarcaCarnivalisPeru’smonthlongculturalcelebration,whichfeaturesmass

waterfightsandtraditionalgiftgiving.UruguayhasthelongestCarnivalseasonintheworld,lastingallsummer.

Language & Culture







Nicaragua’slongestCarnivalisheldinthecityofBluefieldsandlastsfortheentiremonthofMay(althoughthe

majoreventsareattheendofthemonth).Thecarnival,PalodeMayo,iscelebratedasatributetoanAfricangoddess

offertility.TheCarnavaldeOruroisBolivia’slargestcarnivalandcelebratesPachamama(MotherEarth)andTio

Supay(Godofthemountains).It’satraditionalUrucelebration.Ecuador’sfestivaltraditionspre-datethearrivalof

Christianity,thelargestisLaFiestadelaFrutaylasFlores(FestivalofFruitandFlowers),heldinAmbato.Thenation’s

childrenalsoengageinvigorouswaterfightsduringthefestivals.

Football

FootballistremendouslypopularacrossCentralandSouthAmerica;infactthereareonlythreenationswhereanother

sport(baseball)ismorepopular,theyareNicaragua,PanamaandVenezuela.

FootballevenlitthefusethatcausedabriefwarbetweenElSalvadorandHonduras.Thefourdayconflict,known

astheFootballWar,tookplacein1969andtheresultinglanddisputesarestillunresolved.Thewarwascausedby

overpopulationinalandpoorElSalvadoranddisputeswithitsmoresparselypopulatedneighbourHonduras.Itwas

inthisenvironmentthatthetwonationsfacedeachotheronthefootballfield,twice.Bothmatchesresultedinfights

breakingoutamongstthefansinattendance,andviolenceawayfromthearena.AfterElSalvadorwonthesecondmatch

thecountrydissolvedalltieswithHonduras,accuseditofgenocideanddemandedreparations.Nationalpressfedthe

badfeelingandtwoweeksafterthelastmatchElSalvadorinvadedHonduras.

SeveralCentralandSouthAmericannationsareusingsocialmediatotacklesocialproblemsandboosttheeconomy.

NGO,theorganisationforyouthempowerment,isusingsocialchannelsandbloggingtohighlightitsworkinHonduras.

ThethreemostpopularFacebookpagesinBelizearealllocalhotelsandNicaraguaisusingFacebooktopromote

tourism.However,socialmediacannotreachallareas.InDecember2011theColombianarmysentmessagestorebel

FARCsolderstodemobiliseandreturntotheirfamiliesforChristmas.ItdidthisbyputtingthemessagesintoChristmas

ornamentsandlettingthemfloatdownriverintooccupiedjungle.

Language & Culture

In summary

• CentralandSouthAmericahasnounifiedculture,eachnationisuniqueanddiverse• OfficiallanguagesincludeSpanish,PortugueseandDutch,andvariouslocallanguagesineach nationCulturaleventsandtraitscommontomanynationsinclude:apassionforfootball;strong familytiesandCarnivals








DetailedreportontheTop50mostvaluableLatinAmericanBrands2012

ValuableinsightsintotheBrazilian,LatinAmericanandUSHispanicmarkets





representatives.








http://www.millwardbrown.com/brandz/2012/LATAM/Documents/2012_BrandZ_LATAM_Top50_Report.pdf

http://newsletter.usmediaconsulting.com


http://www.translatemedia.com/?&utm_source=SAmerica-PDF-link&utm_campaign=IGSM


Overview

TheUnitedStateshasanonlinepopulationofaround190.7

millionpeopleaged15andover(whichrepresentsfiveper

centgrowthfromQ12011).AccordingtocomScore’sanalysis

ofworldwideinternetusageinQ12012,theaverageU.S.

internetuserspends38.8hoursonlinepermonth(behind

Canadaat44.3hours,andaheadoftheUKat35.1hours).

Thereareroughly32.2millionHispanicsonlineintheU.S.A

andthisfigureexpectedtoreach42millionby2014.

TheUnitedStatesisFacebook’sprimarymarket,with

155,551,340usersanda50.14percentpenetration.55per

centofFacebookusersareaged34andunder,andslightly

morewomenthanmenusethesocialnetwork.Thesitegets

around167millionuniquevisitorspermonthfromtheU.S.,

withanaveragemonthlyuseofoversixandahalfhours.

Althoughit’sstillgainingusers,at4percentgrowthbetween

May2011and2012,itsgrowthisslowingcomparedtoother

socialplatforms.

In this report:

• SocialNetworks• Hispanicpopulation• SocialInfluencerBrands• Language&Culture

In this series:



USA

Social Networks







USAInternational Guide to Social Media

Social NetworksSemiocastanalysishasshownthatofthe383millionTwitterprofilescreatedbeforeJanuary1st2012,107.7millionwere

createdbyusersintheU.S.,makingitthebiggestuserofTwitterintheworld.It’sthefourthmostactivecountryon

Twitter.Around39millionuniqueusersvisitthesitefromtheU.S.eachmonth,withanaveragemonthlyusepervisitor

of39minutes.Twitterexperienceda58percentgrowthinU.S.usersbetweenMay2011and2012.

Unsurprisingly,theU.S.alsohasthehighestnumberofusersonGoogle+,with29millionprofilescreatedintheU.S.

Google+getsaround18millionuniquevisitorsamonthfromtheU.S.,andtheyspendanaverageofsixminutesonthe

site.Over45percentofGoogle+usersareaged18to24,andthemajorityofU.S.usersaremale(60.37percent).

OnlinevideoisverypopularintheU.S.InJune2012,comScorereportedthatthetopthreevideositeswere:Google

videosites(mainlyYouTube)whichhad154,507totaluniqueviewsandaveraged1,238.1minutesofviewingtimeper

viewer;Yahoo!sitesat51,453uniqueviewsand75.5minutesperviewer;andFacebook,whichhad49,003viewsand

20.3minutesperviewer.InMarch2012,U.S.internetusersviewed187millionminutesofvideo.Hoursofviewinghave

increasedfrom14.7peruserinMarch2011to21.4inMarch2012.Almost23percentofYouTube’s

trafficisfromtheUnitedStates.

Withoutdoubt,thefastestgrowingsocialmediasiteintheUnitedStatesatthemomentisPinterest,whichexperienced

astaggering4377percentgrowthbetweenMay2011and2012.Ithas12millionuniquevisitorspermonthfromtheU.S.

andtheaveragemonthlyusepervisitorisonehourand17minutes.BloggingplatformTumblrisalsogrowingquickly,

itsU.S.userbasegrew168percentbetweenMay2011and2012.Ithas17millionuniquemonthlyusers,whospendan

averageofonehour38minuteseachonthesite.

LinkedInhasseenagrowthinU.S.usersof67percentbetweenMay2011and2012.AsofJanuary2012,ithad147

millionmembersworldwide,58.5millionofthemintheUnitedStates.LinkedInhas33millionuniquevisitorsamonth

fromtheU.S.,whospendanaverageof17minutespermonthonthesite.MySpacemaynotbetheforcethatitusedto

be,butitstillhas19millionuniquevisitorsamonthfromtheU.S.,whospendanaverageof12minuteseachonthesite.

“Pinterest experienced a staggering 4377 per cent growth between May 2011 and 2012.”







Social NetworksUnited States: Hispanic populationSocialmediausebyU.S.Hispanicshasgrownby38percentinthelastyear(comparedtoagrowthof16percentinthe

U.S.asawhole).Socialmediaisthesecondmostpopularonlineactivityafteremail,with77percentofthoseonline

usingsocialchannels.NielsenreportedthatthethreemostusedsocialplatformsamongstU.S.HispanicswereFacebook

(16.7millionusers),Twitter(3.4millionusers)andLinkedIn(1.8millionusers).

Bloggingisalsoverypopular,with5.6millionpeopleusingBlogger,2.5millionWordpressand2.3millionTumblr(in

fact,ofallthetopsocialnetworksintheU.S.,TumblrhasthehighestconcentrationofHispanicusers).Hispanicswere

thefastestgrowingethnicgrouponFacebookandWordpressin2011.

In summary

• TheUSAisthebiggestmarketformostgloballysuccessfulsocialmediachannels• Pinterestisthesocialchannelexperiencingthehighestgrowthat4377percent• TheUSHispanicpopulationwasthefastestgrowingethnicgrouponFacebookandWordpress in2011• Facebookadoptionisgrowingatafasterthanexpectedrate• ThemajorityofonlinevideoviewersuseYouTube







In2011,exacttargetreportedthat65percentonU.S.onlineconsumerswereactiveonFacebook,with42percentof

themhaving‘liked’atleastonecompany.Thetop10mostpopularpagesonFacebookintheU.Sareallentertainersor

TVshows.Thethreemostpopularpagesbelongto:rapperEminem(over60millionfans);popularcartoonseriesThe

Simpsons(nearing59millionfans);andpopsingerLady Gaga(justover53millionfans).

Thethreemost‘Liked’brandsintheU.S.are:retailerWalmart(over18millionfans);retailerTarget(over16million

followers);andfast-foodbrandSubway(over15millionfans).Somebrandshavelaunchedinnovativecampaignson

Facebook,oftenlinkingupwithothersocialmediachannels.However,onoccasionthesecampaignshavepushedthe

limitsofFacebook’spolicies.In2009Burger KinglaunchedasuccessfulFacebookcampaigncalledWhopperSacrifice,

whichofferedfansafreeburgeriftheyde-friended10Facebookfriends.Thecampaigntookoff,with234,000people

beingvirtuallydumpedforthesakeofafreeburger.However,BurgerKingstoppedthecampaignwhenFacebookasked

ittomakechanges.Theappsentthede-friendedpersonanemailtellingthemthey’dbeendumpedforafreehamburger,

andFacebookdoesn’tnotifypeoplewhenthey’vebeen‘de-friended’.

ExactTargetreportedthat17percentonU.S.onlineconsumershavecreatedaTwitteraccountatsomepoint,andnine

percentofthemarecurrentlyactiveTwitterusers.Fivepercenthavefollowedatleastonecompany.(It’sworthnoting

thatthesamereporthighlightedthat41percentofworldwideTwitterfollowershavefollowedabrand,onlytounfollow

theaccountatalaterdate,andthatwhenaskedwhytheyunfollowed,overhalflistedthereasonastheaccount’stweets

becametoodullandrepetitive.)

Thetop10TwitteraccountsintheU.S.areallentertainers,apartfromthe@BarackObamaaccount,whichcomesinat

fourthmostfollowed,withover18millionfollowers.Thetopthreeaccountsare:@ladygaga(approaching28million

followers);@katyperry(justover24millionfollowers);and@britneyspears(over19millionfollowers).It’snosurprise

thatthemostfollowedbrandshaveafractionofthefollowersofthesebignamesaccounts.

FoodretailerWholeFoodsisthemostfollowedbrand,withover2.8millionfollowers.ItusesitsmainTwitteraccount

@wholefoods,inadditiontospecialistinterest,andmanylocalstoreaccountstoengagewithindividualcustomers.

CoffeechainStarbucksisnextwithover2.7millionfollowers:itusessocialmediacampaigns(suchastherecent


“Burger King launched a successful Facebook campaign called Whopper Sacrifice, which offered fans a free

burger if they de-friended 10 Facebook friends.”







Social Influencer Brands#INDIVISIBLEcampaignwhichaskedpeopletohighlightindividualsmakingadifferenceintheirlocalcommunities)

toengagepeopleaboutinterestsoutsideofitscoreproduct.AnotherpopularbrandistheSamsung MobilesUS

account,whichhasover2.4millionfollowersandisprimarilyanewsfeed(thebrandhasaseparatecustomersupport

account@SamsungSupportwhichhadjustover39,000followers).

InDecember2010,Mercedes-BenzaskeditsFacebookfanstovolunteerasdriversina‘TweetRace’.Oncethe

driversandteamswereselected,thebrandusedsocialchannelstobuildonlinebuzzabouttheFebruary2011race.The

Mercedes-BenzTweetRacesaweachteamdrivingaspeciallykittedoutMercedes-Benzinaraceagainsteachother.

EachteamhadtogenerateenoughsupportonTwittertoprogress,andeventuallywin,therace(getfourtweets,drive

onemile).Thecampaignendeduphavingnearly30,000participants,andgainedthebrand77,000Twitterfollowers,

72,000Facebookfansandaroundtwomillionvideoviews.

AsforYouTube,thethreemostpopularchannelsare:entertainmentbrand,Universal Music Groupwhichis

approaching43millionchanneland7billionvideoviews(itonlyhas34videouploads,butmostoftheviewscomefrom

itsplaylistpagewhichfeaturesmusicvideosbygenre);gamingentertainmentnetworkMachinima(approaching150

millionchanneland3billionvideoviews-itusestheplaylisttabtolistvideosbygamingtitleandhasaneventstab

forliveonlinegamingstreams);andhow-tochannelExpert Village(over32.6millionchanneland2.5billionvideo

views).

ThethreemostpopularbrandedYouTubechannelsintheU.S.are:animationgiantsDisney Pixar(over3.2million

channelviewsandnearing179millionvideoviews);drinksbrandRed Bull(over1.1millionchannelviewsand94.4

millionvideoviews);andgamingbrandEA Sports(over10.3millionchannelviewsandalmost84millionvideoviews).

OneofthemostpopularrecentYouTubecampaignswasfromOld Spice.Theaftershavebrandcraftedcampaigns

aroundthecharactersOldSpiceGuyandlaterOldSpiceGuyvsFabio.Althoughthefirstcampaignwasseenasmore

successful,thesecondrunhelpedOldSpicegain22millionYouTubeviewsinaweek,andthechannelbecamethemost

viewedofthemonth.Inanotherexampleofbrandsusingmultiplesocialchannels,OldSpicealsogained68,000new

Facebookfans.

“Mercedes-Benz Tweet Race saw each team driving a specially kitted out Mercedes-Benz in a race

against each other.”







PinterestisprovingtobeabrilliantchannelformanyAmericanbrands,withcomScoreresearchreportingthatU.S.

PinterestusersfollowmorebrandsthanTwitterorFacebookusers.InFebruary2012,Mashablelistedthetopbrands

atthetimeasbeing:weddingblogPerfectPalette(atthetimeithadover244,000followersand6925pins,thathad

risentoover265,000followersand8415pinsinAugust2012);hintsandtipsmagazineRealSimple(inFebruaryalmost

35,000followersand1795pins,increasingtoover145,000followersand3780pinsinAugust);andhairandmake-up

siteTheBeautyDepartment(whichhadalmost30,000followersand255pinsinFebruaryandalmost230,000followers

and476pinsinAugust).

AccordingtocomScore,PinterestbuyersspendmoremoneyandbuymoreoftenthanLinkedIn,Twitter,Facebookand

Tumblrusers.Withthisinmind,brandshavestartedmakingPinterestpartoftheirsocialmediacampaigns.Fashion

brandUniqlo’sDryMeshcampaigncreatedamovingimageonPinterestbycreatingandpinningfromover100

accounts.HondahasusedPinteresttooffertoppinnersa“Pintermission”–givingthem$500totakethedayoffpinning

andgetoutandseesomeoftheplacesorthingstheyhavebeenpinning.

Again,thetoppagesonGoogle+arethoseofcelebrities.BritneySpearsstillhasthepagewiththemostfollowers(nearly

fourmillion),meanwhilerapperSnoopDogandGoogleCEOLarryPagearebothapproaching3.5millionfollowers.

Themostpopularbrandpagesare:VolkswagenUSA(over942,000followers);Chevrolet(over855,000followers);

andSamsungUSA(nearly772,000followers).Googledoesn’tallowcontests,sweepstakes,specialoffersorcoupons

onGoogle+,sobusinesseslookingtoengagefansonthenetworkneedtobecreative.PopularcomicbrandMarvel

EntertainmentusesitsGoogle+pagetolinktocouponsandofferslistedonotherwebsites,whichisallowedunder

Google’stermsofservice.


In summary

• U.S.brandsarerunningsocialmediacampaignsthatinvolvemultiplesocialchannels• U.S.brandsarecomingupwithinnovativecampaignswhicharetailoredtothehabitsof specificsocialchannels• TheU.S.Hispanicpopulationaremorelikelytofollowbrandsthantheaverageinternet user







Language & CultureTheU.S.hasnoofficiallanguage–althoughthereisanon-goingdebateaboutmakingEnglishthenationallanguage.

It’sestimatedthatover80percentofthepopulationhasEnglishastheirprimarylanguage.TwelvepercentoftheU.S.

populationspeakSpanish.In2010theU.S.CensusBureaureportedthattherewere325languagesspokenintheUnited

States.AccordingtoaDecember2011report372,095peopleinNorthAmericaspokeaNativeAmericanlanguage(the

mostpopularbeingNavajoat169,471).

U.S.cultureisstronglyinfluencedbyculturalvaluessuchasindividualismandliberty.Americanstendtohaveamore

individualisticworldview,believingthatgovernmentshouldallowpeoplethefreedomtoachievetheirgoals.This

philosophyleavesthosewhocannotorwillnotseektoimprovetheirownsituationswithouttheaidofthestate,because

stateinterferenceintheprivatelivesofindividualswouldbeseenasencroachingonpersonalfreedoms.(Interestingly,

researchbyPewrecordstheoppositeattitudeintheUnitedKingdom,wheremostwouldprefermorelimitedfreedomso

thatthoselessfortunatecouldbesupportedbyastrongerstate.)

Americancultureiscelebratedforbeingmeritocratic.Forexample,theAmericanDreamidealisthatanyonecangrow

uptobePresidentoftheUnitedStatesiftheyworkhardenough.Somearguethattheinherentinequalityofmeritocratic

societieseffectivelypreventsthis,astalentedchildrenfromworkingclassareastendtogrowawayfromtheircommunity

ratherthanusetheirtalent,intelligence,wealthandopportunitytobenefitthosetheyleavebehind.

PrivacyistakenextremelyseriouslyintheUnitedStates,withtheBillofRightsdetailingwhatthegovernmentneeds

todobeforeit’sallowedtoinvestigateanindividual’sbody,houses,papersandpersonaleffects.Someformsofmodern

communicationareprotectedundertheElectronicCommunicationsPrivacyAct(1986),buttherehavebeencallsto

includemoremodernformsofcommunication.

ThemostpopularsportintheU.S.isAmericanFootball,whichissopopularthattelevisionnetworksCBS,FoxandNBC

havesaidtheywillstartpaying$3billionayearintotalfortherightstoscreenitfrom2014.TheSuperBowlisprobably

themostpopulareventoftheyear,withthe2012matchbeingwatchedby111.3millionviewers.

“U.S. culture is strongly influenced by cultural values such as individualism and liberty.”

“15 per cent of the U.S. population is Hispanic.”







TheethniccompositionoftheUnitedStatesisaround80percentwhite,13percentblack,4.5percentAsian,0.97

percentAmerindianandAlaskannative,0.18percentHawaiianandPacificIslander,and1.61percentofpeopleare

classifiedasbeingtwoofmoreraces.

United States: Hispanic population

ThetermHispanicreferstosomeoneofSpanish,HispanicorLatinooriginandcoverspeoplefromCentralandSouth

AmericaaswellasMexico,Cuba,PuertoRico,theDominicanRepublicandevenSpain,buttheU.S.CensusBureaudoes

estimatethataround15percentoftheU.S.populationisHispanic.Seventy-twopercentofHispanicdigitalinfluences

useEnglishonline,wheremanycometogetherincommunitiestodiscusstheirsharedculturalheritageandinterests.

Language & Culture

In summary

• TheU.S.ismostlyEnglish-speakingwithastrongcultureofindividualfreedom,thoughhasno officiallanguage• FifteenpercentoftheU.S.populationisHispanicandtendtouseEnglishconverseonline







PerspectivescomScoreanalysisofonlineJanuary–March2012

LinkedInstatisticsforJanuary2011to2012

InterestingsocialmediastatisticsfromFebruary2012

Detailedreportonbrandsonsocialmediaandconsumerengagement.





representatives.








http://www.comscore.com/layout/set/popup/Request/Presentations/2012/State_of_the_Internet_US_Q1_2012_PDF?req=slides&pre=State+of+US+Internet+in+Q1+2012+



http://www.exacttarget.com/resources/SFF8.pdf




Overview

TheScandinaviancountries(Denmark,NorwayandSweden)

shareacommonculturalheritage,whichcanbeseenin

thewaypeopleandbusinessesapproachsocialmedia.It’s

alsooneofthemostconnectedregionsintheworld.Over

97percentofthepopulationofNorwayareconnectedto

theinternet,makingitsecondonlytoIcelandinglobal

connectivity.Swedenfollowsonitsheelswithaconnectivity

rateofover92percent,andDenmarkwastheninthmost

connectednation,with89percentofthecountryhaving

access.WhenyouconsiderthattheDecember2011report

listsUKinternetpenetrationasfourteenthandUSastwenty-

seventhintheworld,it’sclearthattheregioniswellprepared

fordigitalbusiness.

WhencomScoreanalysedtrafficinMay2012,itrecorded

SwedenasbeingthemostactiveonlineoftheScandinavian

nations.6,305,000Swedeswereonlineduringthemonth,

spendingover24hoursontheinternet.Duringthesame

month,3,719,000DaneswereusingtheInternet,spendingan

averageof22hoursonlineinMay,andinNorway3,310,000

peoplewereonline,spendinganaverageof29hoursonline.

In this report:


In this series:



Scandinavia







ScandinaviaInternational Guide to Social Media

Social NetworksFacebook

AccordingtoAlexa,FacebookisthesecondmostpopularsiteinDenmark(behindGoogle.dkandaheadofGoogle.com).

SocialBakers*ranksDenmarkforty-ninthintheworldforFacebookpenetration,with53percentofDanishpeopleon

Facebook.Fifty-fourpercentofusersare18to44,andthelargestagegroupisthe25to34yearoldswith612,305users.

ThetopthreeFacebookpagesinDenmarkbelongtoVolbeat(aband,with962,666likes),tennisstarCarolineWozniacki

(478,851fans)andtransportandfreightcompanyMaerskGroup,whichhas467,724fans.

FacebookisthemostpopularwebsiteinNorway(withGoogle.noandGoogle.comassecondandthird).SocialBakers*

ranksNorwayfifty-fifthintheworldforFacebookpenetrationandjustover61percentofinternetusershavean

account.Sixtypercentofusersarebetween18and44,withthemostbyJulydominantagegroupaged25to34

(568,340users).ThethreemostpopularFacebookpagesinNorwayarebeautybrandLancômewith2,994,689fans,

bandDimmuBorgir(854,765fans)andfashionbrandOnePiecewith734,722fans.)

FacebookisthesecondmostpopularwebsiteinSweden(Google.seisthemostpopular,withGoogle.cominthirdplace).

SocialBakers*ranksSweden36thintheworldforFacebookpenetration.Justover57percentofinternetusershave

aFacebookaccount.Sixty-onepercentofFacebookusersareaged18to44,withthemostrepresentedgroupbeing

25to34yearolds,with958,024users.ThemostpopularFacebookpagesinSwedenbelongtothebandMaherZain

(4,867,462fans),footballerZlatanIbrahimovic(3,688,664fans),andbandAvicii(2,561,355fans).EventheSwedish

royalfamilyareonFacebook(nearing84,000likes).Inearly2012theypostedthefirstpictureofthenewborncrown

princessVictoriatotheirFacebookaccount.It’shadover30,000likesandmorethan3,600sharessincethen.

Twitter

FiguresreleasedinDecember2011revealedthattherehadbeena100percentincreaseinTwitterusersinDenmark

in2011(from28,000to55,000users).Atthetime625ofthemostactiveDanishuserswerecreatinghalfthetweets

originatingfromDenmark,and22,000tweetswerebeingsenteveryday.TennisplayerCarolineWozniackiwasthemost

followeduserwith247,000followers,withNATOsecretarygeneralAndersFoghRasmussenadistantsecondwithjust

over27,000followers.(BySeptember2012Wozniacki’sfollowercounthadrisento405,320,whileFoghRasmussen’s

“It’s one of the most connected regions in the world.”







Social Networksfollowersnownumber111,285).ByMarch2012thenumberofTwitteraccountsinDenmarkhadrisento70,000,

possiblypartlyduetoTwitterlaunchingaDanishlanguageversioninDecember2011.Twitteriscurrentlytheeighteenth

mostvisitedsiteinDenmark,aheadofwordpress.com(twenty-fifth)andjustbehindblogspot.dk(seventeenth).

TwitteralsolaunchedinNorwegianinDecember2011,however,itcrowdsourcedthetranslationofkeyterms,which

resultedinincorrectlanguageuse,andsomecomplaintsfromusers(aswellasparticipants).Therewereapproximately

252,200TwitterusersinNorwayinJanuary2012,witharound6,000newaccountsregisteredeachmonth(it’s

estimatedthatthenumberofaccountshadincreasedto284,997byJuly2012).ByMay201211percentofthe

populationhadTwitteraccounts,with410,000peopleloggingononceaweekinthefirstquarteroftheyear.Twitteris

thefifteenthmostvisitedsiteinNorway,aheadofBlogspot.no(sixteenth)andwellbehindWikipedia,whichistheeighth

mostfrequentedwebsite.

Swedenwasapproaching300,000TwitteraccountsinMay2012,withmorethanhalfofthemcreatedintheprevious

year.IntellectaCorporate’sannualreport,theSwedishTwittercensus,foundthatthenumberofaccountscreatedin

Swedenhadtripledintheyearsincethepreviouscensus,withmorethan50percentoftheaccountsactiveinthemonth

beforethereportwaspublished.InDecember2011VisitSwedenandtheSwedishInstitutejoinedforcestocreatethe

CuratorsofSwedencampaign.Eachweek,anewnominatedSwedishtweetertakesoverthe@Swedenaccountand

tweetsanythingtheylike.(TheorganisershandedtheaccountovertoaSwedishtweeterwhoalreadyhadatimelinefull

ofquestionableopinions,andshedidn’tchangehertoneoncerepresentingthenation–tweetingracistandhomophobic

messagesduringhersevendaysandgainingSwedenalotofnegativepublicityintheprocess.)AsofSeptember2012,

TwitterwastheseventeenthmostpopularsiteinSweden,aheadofWordpress(twentieth)andbehindillegalstreaming

sitePirateBay(fourteenth).

YouTube

YouTubeisthefourthmostvisitedwebsiteinDenmark(Wikipediaisthesixth).Accordingtosocialbakers,themost

visitedYouTubechannelisgamingreviewchannel,gamereactorTV(nearing13,500,000channelviews).Thisisfollowed

byfastfoodbrandMcDonaldsDanmarkwithover654,500channelviews,andmobileoperatorTelenorDanmarkwhich

isapproaching619,000channelviews.

It’salsothefourthmostvisitedsiteinNorway(thenextmostpopularsocialsitebeingWikipedia,whichrankseighth).

Themostpopularchannelhasover526,000views,andisaboutlongrangeshooting.Thesecondandthirdmostpopular







Social Networkschannelsbothbelongtomobileoperators.Chesshasover252,500viewsandnetcommlinghasover136,200.

YouTubeisalsothefourthmostvisitedsiteinSweden,withWikipediainsixthplace.Themostviewedchannelin

Swedenisgamingfanchanneltejbz(nearing81,157,000views).That’sfollowedbyengine4600,whichhasalmost

5,669,000viewsanddoesn’tseemtohaveadedicatedsubjectmatter.ThethirdmostpopularchannelinSwedenis

mobilecommunityswedroid(nearly4,909,000views).

LinkedIn

LinkedIniscurrentlytheeighthmostpopularwebsiteinDenmark.SocialbakersfigurespublishedinDecember2011

revealedthattherewere2.5millionLinkedinUsersintheNordicregion(Finland,Norway,DenmarkandSweden),

with806,134usersinDenmark(rankingitjustbehindSwedenintheregion).Itdid,however,havethehighestlevelof

penetrationatover14percent.

LinkedInisoneofthefastestgrowingsocialnetworksinNorway.It’srankedasthetwenty-firstmostpopularsitein

Norway(aheadofPirateBayattwenty-two,andbehindBlogspot.no).LinkedInlaunchedaNorwegianlanguageversion

inJuly2012.AtthetimeLinkedInstatedthattherewere600,000Norwegianaccountholders.

LinkedInisthethirteenthmostpopularsiteinSweden(behindBlogspot.se,whichiseleventh,andaheadofPirateBay

atfourteenth).ItlaunchedaSwedishlanguageversioninNovember2011,whenLinkedInreportedthatthereweremore

than800,000Swedishaccountholders.AsofJune2012ithadrisentooveronemillionusers.

Google+

Thereareapproximately368,700usersofGoogle+inDenmark.Over73percentofthemaremale,andover48percent

arebetween18and24yearsold.Themajorityofusersarestudents,andmostcomefromCopenhagen.

Norwayhasalmost320,800usersonGoogle+.Again,over73percentaremale,andthelargestagegrouparepeople

between18and24(over57percent).Mostaccountholdersarestudents,andasizablemajoritycomefromOslo.

Google+ismuchmorepopularinSweden,whichhasover502,000users(almost75percentmale).Around52percent

areaged18to24,andmostarestudentsandfromStockholm.







Social Networks

Local networks

Norwayhasseveralsmallsocialnetworksthathavebeenrunningforawhile.Biip.noisasocialnetworkaimedatteens

(infactin2008,theownersclaimedthatfewpeopleover24areonthesite).Usernumbersareprettystatic,there

were447,247inNovember2011andthefigurehadonlyincreasedto447,356byJuly2012.Origoisanetworkabout

localcommunitiesandit’sdividedintoareaswhereuserscaninteractwitheachother.It’sgrownfrom174,136usersin

November2010to293,854usersbyJuly2012.UnderForestisaculturalnetworkbuiltaroundasharedeventscalendar.

Foundedin2005,itwasestimatedtohavehadover21,000usersinquarterthreeof2011.

In summary

• AlloftheScandinaviancountrieshaveaveryhighpercentageofinternetconnectivity• FacebookisthemostpopularsocialnetworkinScandinavia• TwitterisgrowinginpopularityinScandinavia.Swedenhasbeenespeciallyinnovativewithitsuse ofthe@Swedenaccount• YouTubeisthefourthmostvisitedsiteinScandinavia,withamixtureofbrandsandindividualsas themostpopularchannels• LinkedInisgrowinginpopularityintheregion• Google+ispopularintheregion,with18-24yearoldstudentsfromcapitalcitiesbeingthemost representeduser







Facebook

Themost‘Liked’brandpagesinDenmarkarenational,ratherthanglobalbrands.Transportandfreightcompany,

MaerskGroup(467,724fans)isthemostpopularbrandpageinDenmark.StøtBrysterne–theofficialpageofthePink

RibbonCancerSociety’scampaignagainstbreastcancer–has428,147fans,andmen’sfashionbrandJack&Jonesisthe

thirdmostpopularbrandwith352,067fans.

LuxuryDanishchocolatebrandAnthonBergusedFacebooktocelebrategenerosity(whilespreadinggoodvibesabout

thebrand),whenitsetupapop-upchocolateshopforadayandgaveawayfreechocolate.Theonly‘condition’wasthat

therecipienthadtoagreetocarryoutthegooddeedonthelabel(suchasprovidingbreakfastinbedtoyourpartner).

Thecustomersusedin-storeiPadstologintoFacebookandagreetothepromise,whichwasthenpostedtotheir

wall.Thecustomersthenpostedpicturesofthemkeepingthepromise.Thecampaigncreatedalotofword-of-mouth

positivityaboutthebrand,anditgeneratedalotofgoodmediacoverageforthebrand.

AccordingtoareportbySocialbakers,NorwayisthemostsociallydevotednationonFacebook,whichissaythat

Norwegianbrandshaveanimpressive87percentresponseratetoquestionsaskedtothemonFacebook(forcontext,the

UKisrankedsixteenthwith45percentandtheUSAdoesn’tevenmakethetoptwentywithamere22percentresponse

rate).Over47percentofthelargest500companiesinNorwayhaveanactiveFacebookpresence.

ThemostpopularbrandonFacebookistheNorwegianpageofglobalbeautybrandLancôme,whichhasover2,992,000

likes.Thisisfollowedbytwonationalbrands,NorwegianfashionbrandOnePiece(almost736,000likes),anda

Norwegianphotographer’spageTSOPhotography(approaching309,500likes).

VisitNorwayusedaFacebookapptoincreaseitsfanbasefrom12,000to31,000injust45days.Aswellasusingdaily

questionsandquizzes,thecampaignofferedthechancetowinafreetriptoNorway.Theagencybehindthecampaign

reportedthattravellerswere80percentmorelikelytobookatripafterlikingapagethantheywerefromrespondingto

traditionaladvertising.

SwedenrankedthirdbehindNorwayandKenyainsocialbakersmostsociallydevotedtop20.Brand’shada77percent


“Luxury chocolate brand Anthon Berg used Facebook to celebrate generosity and promote good deeds.”







Social Influencer BrandsresponseratetofansquestionsonFacebook.ThemostpopularbrandsonFacebookinSwedenaregamingbrandFree

LunchDesign(nearing557,000fans),chocolatebrandmarabou(around386,500fans)andHalloweencandybrand

Hallonlakritsskalle(around359,500fans).

LaundrybrandAriel’sFacebook‘FashionShoot’campaign,designedtoincreaseengagementinaverylowengagement

area,featuredaliveinstallationinStockholmCentralstationwitharobotarmcontrolledbyFacebookfans.Therobot

wasusedbyfanstoshootjamandotherfoodstuffsatmovingtargets–clothes.Fanswoneachitemofclothingthatthey

hit.ThentherewasthedefythedarknesscampaignbySonyEricson,designedtocheerpeopleupduringthedarkwinter

days.Overfourdays,peoplecoulduseFacebook,mobilesandwebappstoentermessageswhichwerethendisplayed

onthebigscreenatStureplaninStockholmduringSwedensdarkesthours,capturedonthenewXperiarayhandsetand

senttotheintendedrecipient.Therewereover3,000greetingssent(whichincluded11marriageproposals),14million

pageimpressionsandmentionsoninfluentialblogs.

Twitter

Twitterfollowerstatsaredifficulttoattainatanationallevel,becauseTwitterdoesn’trequireuserstoidentifytheir

homecountrywhentheysignup.AccordingtoAtcore,thethreemostfollowedbrandsinDenmarkare:gamingaccessory

makerSteelSeries(ithadalmost38,000followersbySeptember2012);toymakerLEGO(around34,500followersby

September2012)anddigitalpublishingtoolproviderIssuu(headingfor18,500followersasofSeptember2012).

Accordingtosocialbakers,themostfollowedNorwegianbrandsonTwitteraremobileprovider@NextGenTelwith1634

followers,followedbyonlinemagazine@Datamagasinet(736followers)andcruisecompany@StenaLineNorge(188

followers)-althoughithasbeenreportedthatover29percentofthe500largestcompaniesinNorwayareonTwitter.

SocialbakersreportsthatthemostpopularSwedishbrandsonTwitterare;cruiseline@stenaline_se(1028followers);

mobileoperator@halebop_sverige(979followers)andtelephoneoperator@Telia_foretag(843followers).

YouTube

ThemostpopularbrandchannelinDenmarkistheDanishpresenceofglobalfastfoodbrandMcDonalds,withover

654,500 channel views. That’s followed by two national mobile operator brands, Telenor (over 618,700







Social Influencer Brands654,500channelviews.That’sfollowedbytwonationalmobileoperatorbrands,Telenor(over618,700views)andTelia

(over54,600views).

Norway’smostviewedbrandedYouTubechannelsareallmobileoperators.Chesshasover252,500views,Netcomhas

over136,200viewsandtheNetcomcustomeraccounthasalmost128,500views.

ThemostviewedbrandchannelsinSwedenaremobilecommunityswedroid(nearly4,909,000views),toybrand

legosverige(over3,686,200views)andfastfoodbrandmcdonaldssv(approaching1,438,000views).Ciderbrand

RekorderliglaunchaviraladcampaignduringAugust2012.TheRekorderligSwedishSchoolvideosaredesignedto

teachciderdrinkerstheculture,traditionsandheritageoftheSwedishcider.Thechannelisgettingcloseto124,000

views.

In summary

• DanishbrandsaccountforthethreemostlikedbrandsonFacebookinDenmark• NorwegianbrandstoptheleagueforresponsivenesstocustomersonFacebook• SwedenwasthethirdmostresponsivenationonFacebook• ThemostfollowedbrandsonTwitterseemtobenationalbrandsratherthanglobal• YouTubeispopularforviewingmobilerelatedvideos







Language & CultureDenmarkhasadiversepopulationthatincludesScandinavian,Inuit,Faroese,German,Turkish,IranianandSomali

nationalities.Danishistheofficiallanguage,andEnglishisthemostprevalentsecondlanguage.Faroese,Greenlandic

(whichisanInuitdialect)andGermanarealsospoken.

Denmarkhasastrongcultureofequality,forexample,alawgivinghomosexualpartnerstherighttomarryinChurch

waspassedinJune2012.However,wealthinequalityisgettingworseinDenmark,butupwardmobilityisstillrelatively

high.ModestyisdeeplyingrainedinDanishculture.JanteLaw,publishedin1933byaDanish/Norwegianwriter

AkselSandemose,wasusedforyearstopromotemodestyinScandinaviancultures.Theimpactisstillevidenttoday.

TheDanishtendtotrynottodoanythingtobeseenasbetterthananyoneelse.HyggeisDanishwordwhichishardto

translateintoEnglish,it’saDanishculturaltraditionwherepeoplegatherfamilyand/orfriendsaroundtosocialise,eat

anddrink.Punctualityisalsoanimportantculturaltrait.Thenationalsportisfootball–thenationalcoachevenbanned

theteamfromTwitterduringEuro2012tokeepthemfocused.

Norway’spopulationisover94percentNorwegian(includingaround60,000Sami–indigenousArticarea–people),

otherEuropean’smakeup3.6percentofthepopulation,withothernationalitiescomprisingtwopercent.Bokmaland

NynorskNorwegianaretheofficiallanguages,therearealsosmallSamiandFinnishspeakingpopulations.

TheRoyalNorwegianEmbassyinLondoncarriedoutasocialmediacampaignin2011inanefforttohelpchange

theperceptionofNorway.TheEmbassywasconcernedthatthenationhadaboringimage,andsetaboutpromoting

Norwegiandesigners,musiciansandculturaleventstotherestoftheworld.

NorwaysharesmanyculturaltraitswithDenmark,includingthenationaltendencytowardsmodestyandpunctuality.

Non-traditionalfamiliesareverycommonandnottabooatall.Childrenaretaughttobeindependentfromayoungage.

EqualityistakenveryseriouslyinNorway.Bothstateownedandprivatebusinessesmusthaveaminimumof40per

centrepresentationofbothsexesduetoalawpassedin2003.In2011theEqualityMinisterproposedputtinghealth

warningsonairbrushedbillboardads.Theconstitutionwasamendedin1990toallowthefirstbornchildofthemonarch

“The Danish national coach banned the team from Twitter during Euro 2012.”

“Norwegian business must have a minimum of 40 per cent representation of both sexes.”







tobecomeheir,maleorfemale.In2008,Norwaylegalisedgaymarriageandartificialinseminationviathegender-

neutralmarriagelaw.Norwayhasastrongreputationforhumanrights,andishometotheOsloFreedomForum.

Sweden’spopulationincludesasignificantnumberofFinnishandSamiminorities.Foreignandfirst-generation

immigrantpopulationsincludeFinns,Yugoslavs,Danes,Norwegians,GreeksandTurks.Theofficiallanguageis

Swedish,withsmallSamiandFinnish-speakingpopulations.

Sweden,likeDenmarkandNorway,hasastrongcultureofequality.Boastingisseenasunacceptableandchildrenare

notbrought-uptobecompetitiveorseethemselvesasspecial.Consensusisveryimportantandevenstretchesintothe

businessworldwhereleadersgeteveryone’sopiniononamatterbeforemakingafinaldecision.Swedishpeopledon’t

liketogiveadefinitiveanswerwithoutdueconsideration,preferringtodiscussandfindacommongroundthatway.

Lagom,theconceptof‘everythinginmoderation’isprobablythemostpowerfulculturaltraitandstretchestoallareasof

Swedishlife.

Language & Culture

In summary

• ThethreeScandinaviancountriesallplaceahighvalueonequalityandmodesty• HyggeisacelebrationofabundanceinDenmark,wherepeoplegatheraroundfriendstoeatand drink• NorwayisaleadingforceinhumanrightsandhoststheOsloFreedomForum• Sweden’sconceptofLagommeansthatSwedesbasetheirentirelivesaroundmoderationrather thanexcess.







PerspectivesAgoodsourceforglobalinternetdata

Asourcedetailingtopwebsitesbycountry

Anexcellentsourceofsocialmediastatsbynationorbrand

WebsitethatprovidesGooglePlususerstatsbycountry

Agoodsitefordetailedcountryinformation

AbookdetailingtheculturalheritageofSweden.

AblogaboutsocialmediainNorthernEurope

Sweden’sofficialsite

NorwegianExpatwebsite

Norwegiannewssite

BusinessinformationaboutDenmark

Danishtourismsite






http://www.internetworldstats.com/top25.htm

http://www.alexa.com/topsites/countries

http://www.socialbakers.com

http://www.plusdemographics.com/country_report

https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook

http://www.scribd.com/doc/71478085/Modern-Day-Vikings

http://socialmedianordic.com/

http://www.sweden.se/eng/home/society/government-politics/facts/openness/

http://www.stavangerexpats.com

http://www.newsinenglish.no

http://www.prodenmark.com/danish-culture-lifestyle/

http://www.visit-denmark.dk






representatives.











Overview

RussiahasthesecondlargestInternetpopulationinEurope;

ithad61.5millionusersby31stDecember2011.(Germany

leadswith67.4millionandtheUKfollowsRussiawith52.7

million.)DuetoRussia’smassivepopulation(estimatedat

138,789,892in2011),Internetpenetrationis44.3percent,

whereastheUKhas84.1percent,andGermanyhasan87.7

percentpenetrationlevel.eMarketerforecaststhatthiswill

increaseto67.9millionusers,and49.2percentpenetration

bytheendof2012.AccordingtocomScoreRussianInternet

usersspentanaverageof25.5hoursonlineduringthemonth

ofMay2012.

Russia’slargestsocialnetworkisthedomesticFacebook

rivalVkontakte(ВКонтакте),alsoknownasVK.Thesite,

whichalsohasanEnglishlanguageversion,waslaunchedin

2006andcurrentlyhasaround33millionuniquevisitorsper

day.ByMay2012,VKhad110millionusers,around70per

centofwhomwerebasedinRussia.VKreporteditshighest

dailyvisitseveron10thSeptember2012(38.4millionvisits,

comparedto31.6millionforrivalnetworkOK).

In this report:


In this series:



Russia

Social Networks







RussiaInternational Guide to Social Media

Social NetworksIt’sthesecondmostvisitedsiteinRussia(behindRussiansearchengineYandex),andappearstobeverypopular

amongstteenagers.Althoughithasbeenclaimedthatthesitegetsalotofspam,andhassomeissueswithprivacyas

alotofuserdetailsarerevealedinsearchresults.VKalsoattractscontroversyforsomeofitsservices.Userscanuse

thesitetosharefiles,andthenetworkisfrequentlysuedforcopyrightinfringementduetothedearthofmusicvideos

uploadedonthesite.UsersalsologintoVKtoplaygames,themostpopulargameonthesitehas8.7millionplayers.

Thesocialnetworkhasbeenaccusedofpromoting‘extremistpropaganda’bytheRussianStateDumaViceSpeaker,

forexampleallowingvideosofbannedextremistgroupstobepostedonthesite.It’sbeenreportedthattheKremlinis

planningtolaunchaGovernment-backedcompetitortoVK,byusingexistingnetworkrussiawithoutdots.rf(asocial

networksetuptodiscusssocialissues).

ThethirdmostpopularsiteinRussiaisMail.ru(Google.comisfourthmostvisited),asearch,emailandwebportal

thatownssocialnetworks,OdnoklassnikiandMoiMir(MyWorld).It’salsoRussia’sleadingonlinegamingcompany

with19.1millionuserspermonth.Itreportedlyreachesaround84percentofRussianinternetusersamonth.Mail.ru

averagemonthlyusersincreasedto30millioninDecember2011from27.2millioninDecember2010,andMyWorld’s

haverisenfrom19.5millionto20.2millioninthesameyear.

Mail.rulaunchedabloggingservicein2005andtheonlinegamesportalandvideoservicein2006.MyWorldwas

launchedin2007,andin2010itacquiredastakeingaminggiantZyngaandsocialdiscountwebsiteGroupon.China’s

Tencentbroughtastakeinthefirmin2010.Oneofitssocialnetworks,MyWorld,introducedaVIPstatusservicein

February2011,whichprovidesuserswithspecialfeaturessuchasbeinginvisiblewhenonline,beinghighlightedasaVIP

andhavingdedicatedtechnicalsupport.

AnotherRussiansocialnetworkisOdnoklassniki(OK).Theclassmatesreunionsitewassetupin2006andiscurrently

theseventhmostvisitedsiteinRussia,justbehindYouTubeandaheadofFacebook.InDecember2010OKhad69per

centofVkontakte’sdailyusers,byDecember2011thiswas89percent.Averagemonthlyusersreached20.8millionin

December2011(upfrom17.4millioninDecember2010),anddailyactiveusersgrewby82percentinthesameyear

(witharound37percentofuserscomingfromoutsideRussia–mainlyformerSovietUnionnations).Intotal,thesite

hasaround90millionactiveaccounts.

“It’s been reported that the Kremlin is plaaning to launch a Government-backed

competitor to VK.”







Social NetworksOdnoklassnikilaunchedapartnershipwithvideostreamingsiteRutubeinApril2011,andintroducedamusicservice

andvideochatfunctionalityinJune2011.ItalsointroducedaneventsfeatureinNovember2011.InDecember2011it

madeuserprofilessearchablebysearchenginesandenhancedprofileprivacysettings.Atthesametime,Mail.rumadeit

possibleforuserstolinkprofilesandcross-postbetweenMyWorldandOK.TheEnglishlanguageversionwaslaunched

inJune2012.

FacebookistheeighthmostpopularsiteinRussia,afterOdnoklassnikiandaheadofWikipedia.Russiaisthetwenty-

ninthlargestmarketforFacebook,withapproximately6,413,660users.Socialbakersreportsthat4.60percentofthe

populationofRussiaareonFacebook(10.74percentofinternetusers).

ThethreemostpopularpagesonFacebookinRussiabetweenMarchandSeptember2012were;tennisstar,Maria

Sharapova’spage(8,214,432fans);theFacebookRussiapage(5,414,369fans);andcomputermanufacturerDell’s

customerpage(3,602,752fans).

eMarketerforecaststhatthenumberofRussiansonFacebookwillincreaseby62percentin2012,andpredictsthat

socialmediausageasawholewillriseby11.1percent,suggestingthatFacebookmaybestartingtobecomemore

dominantattheexpenseofthemoredominantnationalnetworks.

ThetwelfthmostvisitedsiteinRussiaisTwitter,behindRussianbloggingsiteLiveInternet.ruandafewplacesahead

ofblogger.com.RussiaisthefourteenthmostrepresentednationonTwitter,andhadfewerthan10millionaccounts

asof1stJuly2012.InJuly2011YandexreportedthattheRussianspeakingaudienceonTwitterhadreachedthe1

millionmark,byFebruary2012thisfigurehadreached1.68million(itnodoubthelpedthatTwitterintroducedRussian

languagefunctionalityinApril2011).

AccordingtoSocialbakers,thethreemostfollowedTwitteraccountsinRussiaare:musicbrandMTVRussia(888,188

followers);newssiteForbesRussia(417,937followers);andRussiannewschannelRT_Com(399,421followers).Mail.

rulaunchedaRussianequivalenttoTwitterinJanuary2012.FutubrahasmorefunctionalitythanTwitterandhasbeen

describedasacrossbetweenTwitterandTumblr.Itstillhasawaytogothough,andiscurrentlythe3,573rdmostvisited

websiteinRussia.

YouTubeisthesixthmostvisitedsiteinRussia,behindGoogle.ruandaheadofOdnoklassniki.It’sthemostvisitedvideo

siteinRussia(Vimeoisthe191stmostvisitedandRuTube293rd).TheRussiangovernmentperiodicallythreatensto

blockaccesstoYouTube,mostrecentlyovertherecentcontroversialAmericanfilmseenasmockingtheProphet.The







Social Networksfunnyvideochannel,Max(621,241,696videoviewsand1,258,744subscribers);andgunandexplosiveschannelDmitri

(466,547,201videoviewsand2,645,327subscribers).

GooglePlushasapproximately1,399,365usersinRussia;over75percentaremale.Forty-sevenpercentareaged18to

24.Usersaremorelikelytobestudents,andmostresideinMoscow.LinkedInappearstobelesspopularinRussia,it’s

thesixtiethmostvisitedwebsite,andhas1.4millionusersacrossRussia,RomaniaandTurkeyinJune2011.However,

theRussianlanguageversionwaslaunchedinthesamemonth,sothisfigureshouldstarttorise.

PinterestisintheprocessofconsideringlaunchingaRussianlanguageversion(it’scurrentlythe307thmostvisited

website),butbythetimeitdoesmakeadecisiontheRussianPinterestclone,Pinme(launchedinDecember2011and

currentlythe1052ndmostvisitedsiteinRussia)mayhavegrabbedalargershareofthemarket.

Blogging

In2011theBBCreportedthattherewereover40millionblogsinRussia,withseventotenpercentofthembeing

updatedatleastonceamonth.Itreportedtheaudienceatbeingaround15millionpeople.Blogstendtobeusedasa

waytoexertfreedomofspeechagainstgovernmentandit’scommonforthepopularonestohaveuptofiftythousand

subscribers.

RussiancompanySUPpurchasedbloggingplatformLiveJournalin2007.It’sthetenthmostvisitedwebsiteinthe

country(makingitmorepopularthanRussianplatformLiveInternet.ru,blogspot.comwordpress.com,blogger.comand

Tumblr).InMay2011,LiveJournalhadoverfivemillionregisteredaccountsintheRussianlanguage.Russiansspendan

averageof8.44minutesonLiveJournaladay.

In summary

• VkontakteisRussia’slargestsocialnetwork,with110millionusers(mainlyteens)• Mail.ruisquicklydevelopingintoasocialhub,withaveragemonthlyusersof30million• Odnoklassnikiisstartingtocatch-upwithVkontakteasteenagersbecomeschoolleavers• Facebookhasalmost6.5millionRussianusersandispredictedtogrowsignificantlyin2012• Twitterhaslessthan10millionactiveaccounts,andMail.ruhaslaunchedaRussianversion calledFutubra• YouTubeisthemostpopularvideosite,butisregularlythreatenedwithbeingblocked• GooglePlusandLinkedInhavefewerRussianusersthanthebiggerplayers,butLinkedInusers arelikelytoincreasewiththeintroductionoftheRussianlanguageversion• PinteresthasyettolaunchaRussianlanguageversion,inthemeantimeRussiancompetitor Pinmehaslaunchedtofillthegapinthemarket• BloggingisverypopularinRussia–therearecurrentlyover40millionblogs







Vkontakteallowsuserstocreateunofficialbrandpageswheretheycancreatecommunitiesaroundbrandstodiscuss

thingsandaskeachotherquestionsaboutproducts,servicesetc.OfficialbrandpagesaresimilartoWikipediaentries.

Followersofthebrandcanupdatethepagewithinformation,butthepageisultimatelycontrolledbyadmins.

OnebrandthathasusedVkontakte’sfeatureswellisClearasilRussia.Thebranddecidedtorunits2010ClearasilGoes

SocialcampaignforitsSTAYCLEARlineonVKduetoitsmainlyteenageuserbase.Thebrandcreatedabrandpage

whereitcreatedcontentandengagedusers.Italsojoinedapopulargroupcalled‘Agroupofthosewhoarenotafraid

tochangeandknowwhattheywant.’Thegrouphadanappwhichallowedpeopletotaketheirprofilepictureusingthe

apptouseonVK.ClearasilcreateditsownprofilepictureappcalledCLEARBOOTHandhostedinwithinthegroup.The

CLEARBOOTHappencourageduserstoentertheirbefore,duringandafterprofilepictureswhileusingtheSTAYCLEAR

product.Attheendofthecampaigntheyhadtheopportunitytohavetheirpictureformpartofavideomontage.

Overthecourseofthecampaign,13,000photoswereuploadedandover120,000commentswerepostedonthebrand

page.Over16,000messageswerepostedonthegroupwallandaround12,000inthediscussionarea.Atotalof1,118,606

profilepictureswerecreatedusingtheapp,andover500,000usersparticipatedinthepageandusedtheapplication.

STAYCLEARsawanincreaseinsalesof30percentinayear.

MarsalsochosewellwhenitusedFriendsReunitedstylewebsiteOdnoklassnikitorunitsM&MsLoveTriangle

campaign.Marswantedtore-introducethegreenM&McharactertotheRussianaudience.AsGreenwasafemale

character,andthemorewidelyknownRedandYellowweremale,thebranddecidedtoplacealovetriangleattheheart

ofthecampaign.

ItcreatedthreeprofilesforthecharactersonOdnoklassniki,andfilledtheprofilewiththesamekindofcontentthatany

regularuserwouldpost.Ittreatedthecharacterslikerealpeople,postingupdatesaboutthelovestorydaily.Userswere

alsoencouragedtovisitandexternalmicrositewhichwascreatedtopushsalesandgivepricestousers.Eachcharacter

gotbetween1.5and2millionfriendseach,withmanypeopleengagingwiththecharactersontheirpages.

ThemostpopularbrandsonFacebook,YouTubeandTwitterbetweenMarchandSeptember2012wereRussian

divisionsofglobalbrands.OnFacebook,anti-virusproductESETNod32isthemostpopular(255,546fans);carbrand


“Over 500,000 users participated in Clearasil’s STAYCLEAR campaign, and the product line saw an

increase in sales of 30 per cent in a year.”







Social Influencer BrandsAudiRussiaisalsopopularwith184,756fans;whileoutdoorgearbrand,BurtonRussiahas103,554fans.

ThemostpopularbrandsonYouTubeare:gamingbrandElectronicArtsRussia(19,890,095videoviewsand51,506

subscribers);mobilebrandsNokiaRussia(5,985,227videoviewsand3,388subscribers);andSonyericssonrus

5,865,450videoviewsand4,091subscribers.

Meanwhile,SocialbakersreportsthatthemostfollowedaccountsonTwitterbetweenMarchandSeptember2012were:

environmentalcharityGreenpeaceRussia(57,273followers);carbrandJaguarRussia(44,475followers);andmobile

brandHTCRussia(34,857followers).

In summary

• ClearasilandMarsaretwobrandsthathaveusedRussiannetworksVkontakteand Odnoklassnikitotargettheirspecificaudiences• Russianstendtofollowthelocalversionsofbrandpagesonthemajorsocialnetworks, presumablybecausethesepresencesareinRussianlanguage







Language & CultureRussianistheofficiallanguage,andit’sestimatedthatit’sspokenby81percentofthepopulationandtheirfirstandonly

language.Thereareoveronehundredminoritylanguagesspoken,withmostspeakersalsospeakingRussian.Themost

popularminoritylanguageisTartar,spokenbymorethanthreepercentofthepopulation.

The2002censusreportedthatthepopulationcomprised79.8percentRussian,3.8percentTartar,twopercent

Ukrainian,1.2percentBashkir,1.1percentChuvash,and12.1percentunspecified.

MostRussiansarestronglypatrioticandtakegreatprideinbeingabletowithstandharsherenvironmental,socialand

politicalsituationsthanotherswouldbeabletocopewith.Itgenerallytakesalongtimetobuildarelationshipoftrust,

whichisoneofthereasonswhyRussiansvaluesincerityandpatience.

Duetotheirpoliticallytumultuousheritage,thereisastrongcultureofwhattheRussianscallSamizdat.Thetendency

toself-publish,developedduringSoviettimesandre-asserteditselfwiththedecreaseinpressfreedomandpopularityof

bloggingintheearly2000s,whentheblogscenestartedtobecomeextremelypoliticallyfocused.

Russianshaveahistorybuiltonagriculturalcommunityheldland,withdecisionmakingbeingtakenbyalocalassembly

ofheadsofthehousehold.Thissocialstructurewaspervasivepriortothe1930sandasaresultthereisstillastrong

senseofcommunityinRussia.

MaintainingyourtieswithinthecommunityissoimportantthatRussianshaveaword–svyasi–whichreferstothe

needtohaveinfluentialfriendsorconnectionsthatcanhelpyoumakeyourwayinlife.Thisisoneofthereasonsthat

Odnoklassnikiissopopular:Russiansseeitasveryimportanttomaintainschoolfriendships.There’sadayeachyear

dedicatedtomaintainingtheseties,whenformerpupilscanvisittheirhighschoolstocatch-upwithteachersand

classmates.

“Samizdat, the tendency to self-publish, developed during Soviet times and re-asserted itself with the popularity of blogging in the

early 2000s.”







Language & Culture

In summary

• Russianistheofficiallanguage,withover100minoritylanguages• MostRussiansareextremelypatrioticandproudoftheirculture,heritageandpeople• Thereisastrongcultureofself-publishingwhichexistedmanyyearsbeforeblogging• CommunityisstillveryimportantinRussia,asismaintainingfriendshipsandconnections• ManyRussiansstillcelebrateNameDay’sandfollowtraditionalnamingconvent

NamesareveryimportantinRussia:namingconventionsarestillused,wherethemiddlenameisapatronymicof

father’sfirstnameformedbyadding‘-vich’or‘-ovich’forboysand‘-avna’or‘-ovna’forgirls.NameDays(theday

dedicatedtothesaintthatanindividualwasnamedafter)usedtobeseenasmoreimportantthanbirthdaysinRussia,

butnowbirthdaysaregivenmoreprominence.Yetthedayisstillmarkedbypeople,withcards,partiesandgifts.







PerspectivesFromRussiawithlikes:KremlintolaunchFacebook-stylesocialnetwork

SocialMediainRussia:whyisVKontaktebetterthanFacebook?

AnalysisofsocialmediainRussia

vKontaktereachnewrecordindailyvisits,openvisitsstatisticstoeveryone





representatives.








http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/jun/19/russia-kremilin-facebook-social-network

http://www.youngdigitallab.net/social-media/social-media-in-russia-how-comes-vkontakte-is-better-than-facebook/

How Are Russians Using Social Media? http://www.thesocialpenguinblog.com/2012/02/28/how-are-russians-using-social-media/

http://www.russiansearchtips.com/2012/09/vkontakte-reach-new-record-in-daily-visits-open-visits-statistics-to-everyone/ Mail.ru group annual report 2011 http://corp.mail.ru/files/Mail.Ru_Group_AR_FY2011.pdf




Overview

Germany,AustriaandSwitzerlandarethemainGerman

languagespeakingnations,andaregroupedtogetherunder

theDACHacronym.

Germanyisthesixteenthmostconnectednationintheworld,

andover82percentofthepopulationareconnectedtothe

internet(asofDecember2011).WhencomScoreanalysed

webtrafficinJune2012,therewere51,825,000unique

visitorsinGermany,spendinganaverageof24.5hoursonline

each.

Austriahasaninternetpenetrationlevelofalmost75percent

inDecember2011,makingitthethirty-thirdmostconnected

country.comScore’sJune2012analysisrevealedthatthere

were4,868,000uniquevisitorsinAustriaduringthemonth,

spendinganaverageof13.5hoursonlineeach.

Switzerlandhasthehighestinternetpenetrationlevelsofthe

DACHregion,atjustover84percent(reportedinDecember

2011).AnalysisbycomScoreinJune2012showedthat

4,978,000uniquevisitorsloggedoninJune,spendingan

averageof17.5hoursonline.

In this report:


In this series:



DACH







DACHInternational Guide to Social Media

Social NetworksFacebook

AccordingtoAlexa,FacebookisthesecondmostpopularsiteinGermany(behindGoogle.deandaheadofGoogle.com).

SocialBakers*ranksGermanytenthintheworldforFacebookusernumbers,withmorethan30percentoftheGerman

populationonFacebook.Around27percentofthenation’s24millionplusFacebookusersare25to34yearsold.The

topthreeFacebookpagesinGermanyarethoseofGermanfootballerMesutÖzil(7,147,375fans),Germanindustrial

metalsensationRammstein(5,989,949fans)andfootballclubFCBayernMunchen(5,059,504fans).

InJuly2012SocialBakersreportedthatGermanywastheexperiencingthefastestgrowthinFacebookusernumbersin

Europe.However,thathasn’tpreventedconcernsfrombeingraisedaboutthenetwork.Germandataprotectionexperts

re-openedaninvestigationintoFacebook’suseoffacialrecognitiontechnologyinAugust2012.Theyarguethattheopt-

outphototaggingsuggestionsystemisagainstEUdataprotectionlaws.However,Facebookstandsbythetechnology,

citingthenotificationsystemassufficientinsafeguardingtheuseofuserimages.InlateAugust2012,consumerrights

organisation,VerbraucherzentraleBundesverband,calledonFacebooktomakeitclearertousershowmuchpersonal

datatheyarehandingoverwhenclickingplayonanApp.

FacebookisalsothesecondmostvisitedwebsiteinAustria(behindGoogle.atandaheadofGoogle.com).SocialBakers*

ranksAustriafifty-secondintheworldforFacebookusernumbers.However,becauseofitssmallerpopulation(more

than8.4millioncomparedtoGermany’sover81.7million)Austriahasahigherpenetrationrateofmorethan35per

cent.Almost27percentofthenation’s2.8millionplusFacebookusersare25to34yearsold.ThetopthreeFacebook

pagesinAustriaaredirtbikeracingcompanyKTMRacing(824,176fans),generalentertainmentaccountsUnnützes

Wissen(753,329fans)andaha.schönfürdich(568,428fans).

Austrianlawstudent,MaxSchrems,hasfiledmanycomplaintsagainstFacebookforitsdatapolicies;convincedthat

Facebook’sAmericanlawyersdon’tunderstandhowstrictEuropeandataprotectionlawis.Heformedadvocacygroup,

EuropevFacebook,whichchartstheprogressofthevariouslegalbattleswiththenetwork.

FacebookisalsothesecondmostvisitedwebsiteinSwitzerland(behindGoogle.chandaheadofGoogle.com).

SocialBakers*ranksSwitzerlandforty-ninthintheworldforFacebookusers,butduetoitssmallerpopulation(more

than7.9million)itsFacebookpenetrationrateisthehighestoftheDACHcountriesatmorethan39percent.Morethan

28percentofSwitzerland’sthreemillionplusFacebookusersarebetweentheagesof25and34.ThetopthreeFacebook

pagesinSwitzerlandbelongtoWorldNo.1SwisstennisplayerRogerFederer(11,702,235fans),coffeebrandNespresso







Social Networks(1,770,048fans)andgeneralentertainmentaccountaha.schönfürdich(568,428fans).

Switzerlandisgreatatusingsocialmediatopromotelocalcommunitiesandtourism.Forexample,Obermutten(aSwiss

villagewith79residents)usesitsFacebookpagetopromotethevillage.InMay2012ithadmorethan17,000fans,and

a250percentincreaseintraffictoitswebsite.TheFacebookpagehadmorethan45,000fans,andwasusingthesite

topollonwhatthelocalfarmershouldnamehisnewcalf(receivingmorethan1,100suggestions).Thecampaignwona

goldawardatthe2012EuroEffieAwards.SwissTourism’sMySwitzerland’scampaignHolidaysWithoutInternetused

videoanddatafromFacebooksAPItoencourageparticipantstovisitSwitzerlandanddisconnect.

studiVZ

studiVZisaGermanlanguagesocialnetworklaunchedin2005andpopularintheDACHregion.Aimedatcollege

students,it’sbeencomparedtoFacebook.DuetoalloftheprivacyconcernsaboutFacebookinGermany,studiVZ

focusedonreachingandmaintaininghighstandardsofsecurity,butitdidn’tstopusersfromheadingtoFacebook.The

networkdroppedtoaroundfourmillionactiveusersintotal,andisduetobecloseddowninlate2012.

VZNetworks,ownersofstudiVZ,hasrenameditselfPoolworks,andoncetheoldnetworkisshutdownitannouncedit

wouldlaunchaskillbasedsocialnetworktargetedatschoolchildren–IDPool.However,inSeptember2012Poolworks

wasboughtbyinvestmentfirmVertCapital,anditsnewManagingDirectorisBeboCEOAdamLevin.

Twitter

AnalysisofthemostpopularlanguagesusedonTwitterbetweenJuly2010andOctober2011showedthatGermanwasn’t

adominantlanguageonTwitter(itfeaturedinthe‘otherlanguages’data,whichmeansunderonepercentofTweets

wereinGerman).

TwitteristhetwentiethmostvisitedsiteinGermany,andhadaroundfourmillionaccountsattheendofJanuary2012,

whenitwasranked18outofthetop20mostrepresentedcountriesonTwitter.AccordingtoSocialBakers,thethree

mostfollowedTwitteraccountsbelongto;GermanmediaproductionproviderSoundInvisible(1,345,011followers),

GermanrecordproducerandtranceDJPaulvanDyk(741,650followers),andNewYorkbasedtelevisionmusicchannel

VH1(717,624followers).AsofJuly2012,GermanyhadaroundoneTwitteraccountforeverytenpeople,whereasthe

U.K.hasoneforeveryotherperson.TwitterrecentlyblockedusersinGermanyfromaccessinganeo-NaziTwitter

accountattherequestoftheGermanGovernment.







Social NetworksTwitterseemstobemorepopularinAustria,beingthethirteenthmostvisitedwebsite.SocialBakersreportsthatthe

threemostpopularTwitteraccountsbelongto;actorArnoldSchwarzenegger(2,627,996followers),drinksbrandRed

Bull(781,881followers)andspacejumperFelixBaumgartner(186,176followers).InSeptember2012SocialMedia

RadarAustriareportedthatthereweremorethan53,000activeTwitteraccountsinAustria.

TwitteristhetwelfthmostvisitedsiteinSwitzerland.SocialBakersreportsthatthethreemostfollowedTwitteraccounts

areguerrillamarketingagencypierre-yvesrevaz(38,514followers),flightoperatorSwissInternationalAirlines(34,665

followers),andfootballclubFCBasel(10,533followers).DuringtheLondon2012OlympicandParalympicGames,the

SwissfanzoneTwitteraccountacquired1,500users.

YouTube

YouTubeisthefourthmostvisitedwebsiteinGermany.SocialBakersliststhethreemostpopularchannelsasKontor

recordsdancechannel(1,358,048,761videoviews),thevideochannelofcomedyduoDieAussenseiter(350,791,911video

views)andgamingchannelalbertoson(172,253,077views).

InApril2012,theHamburgStateCouncilruledthatYouTubehadtodomoretopreventusersfromre-postingorre-

mixingmaterialflaggedasviolatingcopyright.InOctober2012,YouTubeannouncedthatitwouldbelaunchingnew

channelsinGermany,specifictothelocalaudience.

YouTubeisalsothefourthmostvisitedsiteinAustria.SocialBakersreportsthatthethreemostviewedchannelsare

agriculturalchannelagropictures(5,206,620videoviews),mobileoperatorT-Mobile’sGermanchannel(2,473,520video

views)andtechnologychannelenifacha1(1,437,293videoviews).

YouTubeisagainthefourthmostvisitedsiteinSwitzerland.SocialBakersreportsthatthetopthreechannelsare;make-

upandbeautychannelmisschievous(111,925,962videoviews),tourismSwitzerland’schannelmyswitzerland(1,867,970

videoviews)andgreenenergychannelb4energylink(447,981videoviews).MySwitzerlandusesYouTubetoshowcase

tourismvideoslikeSwitzerland–morethanjustmountains(309,876views)andSwitzerland–SummerHoliday

(279,093views).







In summary

• SwitzerlandhasthehighestlevelofinternetpenetrationintheDACHregion.• FacebookisthemostpopularsocialnetworkintheDACHregion,andthe secondmostvisitedsite.• TwitterappearstobemorepopularinSwitzerlandandAustriathanitisinGermany.• YouTubeisthefourthmostvisitedsiteinalloftheDACHcountries.• XingispopularinallDACHcountries;LinkedIniscurrentlytryingtocatchup.

Social NetworksLinkedIn vs Xing

LinkedInisthethirty-secondmostpopularwebsiteinGermany,whilerivalGermanbusinessnetworkXingisthe

thirteenthmostpopularsite.Xingwasfoundedin2003andhadmorethan11millionmembersworldwideasof

November2011,includingfivemillionintheDACHregion(asopposedtoLinkedIn’stwomillionDACHmembers).

LinkedInlaunchedaGermanlanguageversioninFebruary2009totryandcompetewithXing,andopeneditsfirst

GermanofficeinMunichinAugust2011.It’sbeenestimatedthatLinkedInDACHregionmembershipisgrowingattwice

thepaceofXing,butasLinkedInwillonlyreleasefiguresonceDACHmembershipnumbersreach3million,it’shard

forcommentatorstobeaccurate.InAustria,LinkedIniscurrentlythetwenty-fourthmostvisitedwebsite,whileXingis

twenty-third.MeanwhileinSwitzerland,LinkedInispoweringahead,it’sthetenthmostpopularsite,whileXingisthe

twenty-sixth.

Google+

GooglePlushasalmosttwomillionusersinGermany,over75percentofwhomaremale,and46percentaged18to

24.Themostrepresentedoccupationisstudent(23percent)andnearly11percentofusersarefromBerlin.Although

GooglePlusalsousesfacialrecognitiontechnology,Germandataprotectioncampaignersdon’tseethisasaproblemas

thesystemisopt-in.

GooglePlusisapproaching292,000usersinAustria,over72percentaremale,and53percentareaged18to24.More

than20percentofusersarestudents,andalmost11percentarefromGraz.

GooglePlusisgettingcloseto277,000usersinSwitzerland,over78percentaremale,and49percentareaged18to24.

Morethan10percentofusersarestudents,andmorethaneightpercentarefromGeneva.







June2012researchbyExactTargetrevealedthatGermansocialmediausersarewillingtoengagebrandsoversocial

media,aslongastheygetusefulinformationfromdoingso.Onemulti-platformcampaignthat’sbeensuccessfulin

GermanywasfortheAstonMartinVanquish,whichincreasedvisitorstotheGermanwebsiteby216percent.

Oneofthebestexamplesofmulti-platformcampaignscanbeseeninAustria’sRedBullSpaceJump.Itachieved2.6

millionsocialmediamentionson14thOctoberalone.TheTwitteraccountreached251,031followers,theFacebookpage

got711,222likesandhad287,012peopletalkingaboutit.Ittookunder40minutesforaphotoofthekneeling,victorious

FelixBaumgartnerwhichRedBullpostedontheFacebookpage,tobesharedmorethan29,000times,receivingover

216,000likesand10,000comments.Almost7.3millionpeoplewatchedtheeventonYouTubeasithappened.

TheSocialMediaSwitzerland2012reportsaidthatathirdofSwissbrandsandorganisationswerenotactiveusersof

socialmedia.Forty-sixpercentconsideredittooexpensive,28percentsaiditdidn’trepresentenoughbenefitstothe

businessand24percentcitedalackofinterestfromitstargetaudience.Biggerbrandsweremorelikelytobeusing

socialmedia,and55percentofthemhadbeenusingitforunderayear.

Facebook

ThemostpopularFacebookbrandpagesinGermanybelongtointernetretailerAmazon.de(1,857,597fans),McDonald’s

Deutschland(1,825,350fans)andGermanfashionandsocialshoppingsiteStylefruits(1,397,924fans).

ExactTargetresearchfromJune2012revealedthatalmost40percentofGermanpeoplesurveyedhadfannedatleast

onebrandororganisation,andthatyoungerusersweremorelikelytofanorlikepages.Thirty-twopercentfanneda

brandtokeepupdatedwiththecompany’sproductsandservices,whileonly14percentdidsobecausetheywantedtobe

seenascool.Twenty-fivepercentfannedtogainaccesstoexclusivecontentfromthebrand.

FoodbrandNutella’sFacebookcampaigntodrivesalesandawarenessinGermanyhadgoodresults.Theadvent

calendarcampaign–wherepeoplewhoplayedtheAppcouldclickonadooradayandpossiblywinaprize–reached

3.8millionpeopleonFacebookwhohadnotseentheTVcampaign.Fifteenpercentofsalesafterthecampaignwere

attributedtoFacebook.GermansausagemakerReinertPrivat-FleischereiturnedpeoplesFacebookprofilepicturesinto

sausageversionsaspartofitsFacebookcampaign,whichquicklyspreadoverFacebookaspeopleplayedtheAppand

sharedtheresultswithfriends.








Social Influencer BrandsThemostpopularFacebookbrandpagesinAustriaaredirtbikeracingbrandKTMRacing(824,176fans),men’s

groomingbrandAXEEffekt(297,709fans)andbeautyandhomecareretailerBIPA(289,553fans).WhenBIPA

launcheditsFacebookpageitsEveryoneWinscampaigngaveeverynewfana15percentdiscountontheirnextin-store

purchase.Thebrandgot15,000fansinthefirsttwoweeks,andsalesroseby150percent.

ThemostpopularFacebookbrandpagesinSwitzerlandbelongtocoffeebrandNespresso(1,770,048fans),tourism

boardMySwitzerland(331,311fans)andmen’sgroomingbrandAXEEffekt(297,709fans).TheSocialMedia

Switzerland2012reportsaidthatinApril20122.9millionSwisspeoplehadaFacebookaccountwhichtheyusedatleast

oncepermonth.Eighty-fivepercentoftheseuserscheckedtheiraccountweekly,withtheremaining15percentlogging

ineveryday.

Twitter

ThethreemostfollowedbrandaccountsonTwitterinGermanyareGermanluxuryfashionbrandHugoBoss(112,161

followers),GermanmobilephoneproviderT-Mobile(35,688followers)andonlinegameBrickForce(6,487followers).

ExactTargetresearchfromJune2012reportedthatsevenpercentofGermanTwitterusershadfollowedatleastone

brandorbusinessonTwitter.Twentypercentof25to34yearoldsidentifiedthemselvesasfollowers.Thetopreason

tofollowwastogetthelatestnewsonthecompany(27percent),while26percentfollowedtogetmoreinformationon

personalinterests.

ThethreemostfollowedbrandaccountsonTwitterinAustriaaredrinksbrandRedBull(781,881followers),theAustrian

accountofmobilenetwork3(1,251followers)andmobilenetworkT-Mobile(567followers).

In summary

• Germanconsumersconnectwithbrandsonsocialforinformation ratherthanentertainment.• ThemajorityofthemostfannedFacebookbrandpagesarelocalorlocalisedbrands.• MostDACHbrandsseemtobehesitanttotaketoTwitter,unlessit’susedaspartofa cross-platformcampaign.







Language & Culture

The2001censusrevealedthatGermanywasover91percentGerman,2.4percentTurkishand6.1percent‘other’

(mainlyGreek,Italian,Polish,Russian,Serbo-CroatianandSpanish).TheofficiallanguageisGerman.

Culturally,German’stendtovalueseriousnessandformality–orbürgerlichkeit,anditcouldbearguedthatthisimpacts

adoptionanduseofsocialnetworks.AsonebloggerputitwhendescribingthedownfallofPoolworks:“There’snocasual

yetwell-financedinfrastructurethatwillfundbrash,brilliantkids.Germans--oratleasttheoneswhohavemoneyand

accesstotechnology--prize‘seriousness’toomuch,anddon’trealizethattheInternetisdrivenprimarilybygossip,

chatter,videos,andgames,andthatthereisseriousmoneyinthesethings.”It’snotuncommonforGermanstocontinue

torefertoneighboursusingtheirtitleandlastname,evenifthey’veknownthemforyears.

Theprimarypurposeofcommunicatingisgenerallyseenasamethodtoconveyusefulinformation,ratherthanawayto

passthetimeofday,andsoGermansmaybemoreunlikelytoengageinfrivolousconversation,suchastalkingforthe

sakeofit.It’sevidentthatthisimpactstheGermanicsocialmediastyle,withmanypreferringtousesocialchannelsto

getinformationfrombrandsratherthanengageinbanter,orappearlikethecoolkid.Forexample,theGermanlanguage

haseightwordsmeaningcomfort,eachonerepresentingadifferentformofcomfort.

PrivacyisamajorareaofconcernforGermanpeople.ExactTargetfoundthatGermanconsumersweremoreworried

aboutmaintainingprivacyonlinethanothercountriesdid.Thistraitwasalsoseenin2010,whenmorethan244,000

householdsaskedGoogletoblurtheirhomesonthenewGoogleStreetView(aroundthreepercentofthe8.5million

householdsinGermany’slargestcities).

AnotherstrongculturaltraitisthetendencyforGermanstocompartmentalizetheirlivesintological,constituentparts.

Forexample,notonlyareworkandhomeusuallykeptseparate,butcommunicationatworkisoftenstymiedbyonly

communicatinginformationtothosewithinyourownteam.(ThisisalsoastrongAustriantrait.)

Culturally,footballisimmenselypopularinGermany,asisMunich’sinternationallyfamousOktoberfest,a16day

festivaldedicatedtocelebratingbeer,describedastheworld’slargestfair.Around6.4millionpeopleattendedthe2012

fair,drinking6.9millionlitresofbeer.







Language & Culture

In summary

• Russianistheofficiallanguage,withover100minoritylanguages• MostRussiansareextremelypatrioticandproudoftheirculture,heritageandpeople• Thereisastrongcultureofself-publishingwhichexistedmanyyearsbeforeblogging• CommunityisstillveryimportantinRussia,asismaintainingfriendshipsandconnections• ManyRussiansstillcelebrateNameDay’sandfollowtraditionalnamingconvent

The2001censusresultsreportedthatAustriawasover91percentAustrian,fourpercentformerYugoslavs(including

Croatians,Slovenes,SerbiansandBosnians),1.6percentTurks,0.9percentGerman,and2.4percentother.German

istheofficiallanguage(88.6percent),otherlanguagesusedincludeTurkish(2.3percent),Serbian(2.2percent)and

Croatian(1.6percent–andanofficiallanguageinBurgenland).Otherlanguagesmakeup5.3percentofthelanguages

spoken.

TheGermanwordGemütlichkeitisusedtodescribetherelaxed,leisurelylifestylethatmostAustriansprefertolead.The

averageretirementageiscurrently58.9formenand57.7forwomen,oneofthelowestinEurope.

Austriaisalargelyconservativenation,thankstothelackofmigrationandrespectforAustriantraditions.It’salsonot

unusualforAustrian’stobeseenasquitebluntordirectintheircommunicationstyle.

LikeGermans,Austriansarequiteformalandhierarchical.Aswellasonlyusingpeople’sfirstnamesiftheyareclose

friendsormembersofthefamily,Austrianstendtousetheformalversionofyou’sie’ratherthantheinformal‘du’,

unlessinvitedotherwise.

A2008surveyconductedbytheMinistryofscienceandresearchfoundthatthetopfivevaluesthatAustrian’swantedto

teachtheirchildrenwere:healthyliving(71percent);beingcarefulwithmoney(66percent);beingpoliteandfriendly

(62percent);installingadesiretolearn(60percent);andbeingobedienttosuperiors(60percent).Theleastpopular

valuetopassonwastheEuropeansprit(20percent).







Perspectives

Agoodsourceofinformationonbusinesscommunicationstyles

MustreadarticlesformoredetailsontheGermaninternetprivacyconcerns

ReadformorebackgroundonLinkedInvsXing

DetailinghowGermanusersinteractwithbrandsonsocialmediachannels

MoredetailsonsocialmediauseinAustria

FurtherreadingondataprotectionconcernsinAustria

SalesforceblogontheRedBullStratoseventandsocialmediaimpact

ReportonsocialnetworksinSwitzerland

MoreinformationonSwissbusinessesandsocialmedia





representatives.











Overview

ThelevelofInternetpenetrationinEasternEuropeannations

varieswidely.Thethreemostconnectedcountriesare:the

SlovakRepublicwithmorethan79percentofthepopulation

withInternetaccess;theCzechRepublic(almost71percent)

andHungary,wheremorethan65percentofthepopulation

wereconnectedtotheinternetbyDecember2011.

Polandwasn’tthatfarbehindHungary,with62percent

ofthepopulationwasconnectedtotheinternet,butthe

RepublicofMoldovahadjustover50percentofthe

populationconnectedbySeptember2012,andBulgariahad

almost49percentofthepopulationconnectedtotheinternet

byDecember2011.

FallingbehindintheInternetconnectivitystakeswerethe

Ukraine(accordingtoonestudy,59percentoftheUkrainian

populationhadnotusedtheInternetbyMarch2012),

Romania,wherejustover39percentofthepopulationwere

connectedtotheinternetbyDecember2011,andBelarus

whichreportedaround3.1millioninternetusersinthe

countryin2011(aroundathirdofthepopulation).

In this report:


In this series:



Eastern Europe







Eastern EuropeInternational Guide to Social Media

Social NetworksFacebook versus local networks

AccordingtoAlexa,FacebookisthemostvisitedwebsiteinRomaniaandBulgaria,thesecondmostvisitedintheSlovak

Republic,HungaryandPoland,andthethirdmostvisitedsiteintheCzechRepublic.Facebookisslightlylesspopularin

theRepublicofMoldova,whereit’sthefifthmostvisitedsite,andevenlesssointheUkraine(seventhmostpopular)and

Belarus(tenthmostpopular).

Morethan23percentoftheonlinepopulationofRomaniaisonFacebook,andthemostlikedpagesallbelongto

Romanianmusicians(suchasElenaAlexandraApostoleanu–akaInna-whosepagehasnearing6.7millionlikes).

Thirty-fourpercentofBulgariansareonFacebook,withthemostpopularpagebelongingtoBulgarianfootballer

DimitarBerbatov(over1.3millionlikes).November2012sawthousandsofBulgariansjoiningtheFacebookgroup“film

thepolice”whichaimedtoshowpoliceofficersactingirresponsibly.

ThemostpopularpageintheSlovakRepublicbelongstoafashionblogger(over2.2millionlikes),whileinthemost

likedFacebookpageinHungarybelongstojewellerybrandExtremeSilver(morethan955,000likes).Polandisranked

twenty-fifthintheworldforFacebookuse.ThemostpopularpageisageneralentertainmentpagecalledDemotywatory,

whichisapproaching1.5millionlikes.(Socialnetworknk.plusedtobethemostpopularnetworkinPoland–with12.3

millionuserstoFacebook’sninemillionbackin2011–butitiscurrentlythetwenty-secondmostpopularwebsitein

Poland).Recentresearchhasshownthatwhile40percentofPolespredominantlyuseFacebook,37percentmainlyuse

nk.pl.ThemostpopularFacebookpageintheCzechRepublicisagovernmentroadsafetypagewithover502,000likes.

It’softenthecasethatFacebookislesspopularwhenthereareother,moreestablishedlocalsocialnetworksinexistence.

ThemostpopularFacebookpageinMoldova(withover497,000likes)belongstoaMoldovanpopsinger.However,

only6.17percentofthepopulationhaveFacebookaccountsatthetimeofwriting.Themostpopularsocialnetwork

inMoldova,Faces.md,shutdowninMay2012,leavingRussiannetworkodnoklassniki.ruasthemostpopularsocial

networkandthirdmostvisitedsiteinMoldova.(It’sseenasaneasiernetworktouse,andusersarepredominantlyfrom

ruralareasofMoldova).InSeptember2012odnoklassniki.rucausedsomecontroversyinMoldovawhenitblocked

18yearoldNicolaePetrov,adminofthelargestgroupinMoldova.Thegrouphad369,000users,andwasusedto

provideinformationandaplacefordiscussion.PetrovfeltthatitwasbannedbecauseitdiscussedunifyingMoldovaand

Romania,anddisgruntledusersplannedacomplaintscampaignagainstthenetwork.

Odnoklassniki’srivalsocialnetworkvk.comismuchmorepopularthanFacebookintheUkraine(it’sthethirdmost







Social Networksvisitedsite).Only4.62percentofthepopulationhasaFacebookaccountatthemoment,withthemostpopularpage

beingagenericfanpageforpeoplethatlikecars(over330,000likes).VKisthemostpopularsiteinBelarus,while

Facebookislanguishingdownintenthposition,justaheadofodnoklassniki.ruineleventh.Themostpopularpage

belongstotheBelarusiantennisplayer(andworldnumberone)VictoriaAzarenka(172,275likes).

Twitter

Twitterdoesn’tseemtobehugelypopularinEasternEurope,ifyougobyvisitorstothewebsitealone(settingasidethe

numberofpeopleaccessingthesiteviaamobileapporviaatoolsuchasTweedeck).It’stheseventeenthmostvisited

siteinBelarus,wherethemostpopularaccountisthatofbloggerbygirl,whichhas22,214followers.It’stheeighteenth

mostvisitedsiteintheUkraine,wherethemostfollowedpagebelongstoUkrainiansingerAnastasiyaKamenskih

(617,847followers).

ThemostpopularTwitteraccountinMoldovabelongstoawebdevelopmentblogcalleddesignmodo(206,360

followers),andTwitteristhetwentiethmostpopularwebsite.It’sthetwenty-secondmostvisitedsiteinbothRomania

andBulgaria.ThemostfollowedaccountinRomaniabelongstocarmanufacturerBMW(6618followers),whilein

Bulgaria,themostpopularaccountisthatofCanadian/BulgarianactressNinaDobrev(morethan2.8millionfollowers).

Twitteristhethirty-fifthmostvisitedsiteintheCzechRepublic,themostfollowedaccountisthatofCzechIceHockey

starJaromirJagr(90,858followers).Twitteristheforty-seventhmostvisitedsiteinHungary,wherethemostfollowed

accountisalifestyleandfashionaccountcalledBienHu(just771followers).Finally,theSlovakRepublicandPolandboth

listTwitterastheirfifty-seventhmostvisitedwebsite.TheSlovakRepublic’smostfollowedaccountbelongstoSlovakian

modelScarlettRumor(779,572followers),whilePoland’smostpopularaccountbelongstogamingsiteWorldofTanks,

@wargaming_netPL(2859followers).

YouTube

YouTubeisverypopularinEasternEurope,it’sinthetopsixwebsitesvisitedforallcountries,butappearstobemost

popularinMoldovaandRomania.It’sthesecondmostvisitedsiteintheRepublicofMoldova,wherethemostpopular

pageismobileoperatormoldcell’schannel,whichisapproaching210,000videoviews.It’sthethirdmostvisitedsitein

Romania,wherethemostpopularchannelisallaboutclubbing(morethan1.2millionvideoviews).







In summary

• TheSlovakRepublichasthehighestlevelofinternetconnectivityat79percent• odnoklassniki.ruismorepopularthanFacebookinMoldova,andvk.ruismorepopularinthe Ukraine.• FacebookisthemostvisitedwebsiteinRomaniaandBulgaria• TwitterappearstobelesspopularinEasternEurope,withBelarusandtheUkrainevisitingthesite themostfrequently.• YouTubeisverypopularinEasternEurope,especiallyinMoldovaandRomania

Social NetworksYouTubeisthefifthmostvisitedsiteintheCzechRepublic,themostpopularchannelbeingclubbingchannelrukahore,

whichhasmorethan23.5millionviews.It’sthesixthmostpopularsiteinBelarus,wherethemostpopularpagebelongs

toavlogger(videoblogger),andisapproaching34,000videoviews.

LinkedIn

LinkedInappearstobelesspopularinEasternEurope;it’stheseventeenthmostpopularsiteinRomania(aRomanian

languageversionwaslaunchedinJuly2011),theeighteenthmostpopularsiteinBulgaria,andthetwenty-firstmost

visitedsiteintheCzechRepublic.LinkedInlauncheditsCzechlanguageversioninJanuary2012,atthetimeitreported

having250,000Czechusers.ThesiteappearstobelesspopularinPoland(althoughinApril2012,whenthePolish

languageversionwaslaunched,itwasreportedthattherewere500,000Polishusers,it’sstillthefortiethmostvisited

siteinthecountry);theUkraine(forty-first)andBelarus(forty-eighth).

Google+

GooglePlusisn’tmassivelypopularinEasternEurope.Noneofthenationsareinthetop15countriesforGooglePlus

users.PolandhasthemostGooglePlususers(morethan626,000),68percentofwhomarebetweentheagesof18and

24.TheUkraineisnearing444,000users,and45percentofthemare18to24,andRomaniahasmorethan370,000

users,53percentbetweentheagesof18and24.

ThenetworkislesspopularinBelarus(approaching97,000users–87percentbasedinMinsk),andintheRepublicof

Moldova,whichhasjustover29,000users,around84percentfromChisinau.







InMoldova,thereseemstobeadisconnectbetweenbrandsandconsumers,withmostMoldovanbrandsandcelebrities

maintainingFacebookpages,whilethemajorityofMoldovaninternetusersprefertouseodnoklassniki.ru.Meanwhile,a

studyintosocialnetworkusageinRomaniarevealedthatthemostpopularreasonforsocialnetworkusewastoconnect

withfriends(over65percent),followedbyrelaxation(over40percent)andtogetrelevantinformation(20percent).

Facebook

ThemostpopularbrandpageinbothRomaniaandHungaryisjewellerybrandextremesilver(697,271likesandover

57,000peopletalkingaboutthepage).ColgateRomaniausedaFacebookAppcalledZambometeru(orSmilemeter)to

trackinteractionswithitssocialmediacampaigninSeptemberandOctober2012.Backin2010,SaatchiHungaryand

T-MobilejoinedforcestocarryoutastreetartcampaignthatdemonstratedhoweasyitwastouseFacebookonmobile.

Overthe10daysofthecampaign,thepagereceivedmorethan18,000likes.

FashionbrandsarethemostpopularinboththeSlovakRepublicandBulgaria.LegendsofSlovakiahasover328,600

likes,andBulgarianbrandKoketnahasalmost251,000likes

ThemostpopularFacebookpageintheUkrainebelongstonightclubbrandmetroclub(nearing104,000likes),whilethe

mostpopularpageintheCzechRepublicisthatofdrinksbrandKofola(over363,700likes).TheCzechRepublictourism

boardrecentlychangeditsslogantoCzechRepublikeinanefforttoreachouttothesocialaudience,andstartedrolling

thechangesouttoallofitssocialpresences.

InBelarus,themostpopularFacebookpagebelongstocarmanufacturerMercedesBenz(6075likes),whileinPolandits

mostpopularpageisSerceIRozum(morethan1.4millionlikes,whichismobileproviderOrange’spage(andappears

tocentrearoundthebrandsPolishmascots).InMoldova,webdeveloperDesignMododominateswithover80,000likes

andmorethan1600peopletalkingaboutthepage.

Twitter

Webdevelopmentfirm,DesignModo,hasthemostfollowersofanybrand-ownedMoldovanTwitteraccount(over

206,000).InBulgaria,domesticmobileoperatorGlobulhasthemostfollowers(approaching1000),whileAVprovider

AVASThasthelargestfollowerbaseintheCzechRepublic(morethan70,000).ThemostfollowedTwitteraccountinthe

SlovakRepublicbelongstoadvertisingagencyWebPomoc(over26,000followers).









Romania’smostfollowedaccountiscarmanufacturerBMW’sRomanianaccountwhichhasover6,600followers.

Poland’siscruisefirm,StenaLine,with259followers,meanwhileinthemostpopularbrandaccountinBelarusbelongs

toAlfa-Bank(981followers).

YouTube

InfournationsoftheEasternEuropeannations,themostpopularbrandedchannelsbelongtomobileoperators.In

theCzechRepublic,it’sthelocalTMobilechannel,withmorethan24.5millionvideoviews.IntheUkraineit’slife.ua’s

channel(nearing458,000views).Bulgaria’smostviewedbrandedchannelwasMTel(over178,000views).InMoldova,

theMoldcellchannelhasover209,000videoviews.

InPoland,fashionchannelstoprocenttvhasapproaching46millionvideoviews,whileEAGamesCzechRepublic

channelisthemostpopularchannelintheSlovakRepublicwithover4millionviews.ThechannelforClujLife(akindof

eventsandpartywebsite)hasover1.2millionviewsinRomania.

InAugust2012,DurexPolandusedYouTubeaspartofitssocialmediacampaign,creatingavideothatreceivedover1.3

millionviews.

In summary

• MoldovanbrandsseemtofavourFacebook,whileconsumerspreferodnoklassniki.ru• Somebrands,likeextremesilverarepopularinmorethanonecountry• WebdevelopmentbrandDesignModoispopularacrossallsocialchannelsinMoldova• Themostpopularsocialpresencesareoflocalbrands,orlocalisedglobalbrands







Language & CultureCzech Republic

The2001censusreportedthatthepopulationcomprisedover90percentCzech,morethanthreepercentMoravian,

almosttwopercentSlovakandfourpercentother.ThemainlanguagespokenwasCzech(94.9percent)followedby

Slovak(twopercent)andother/unidentifiedlanguagesjustoverthreepercent.

Accordingtothe2012Eurobarometerreport,49percentofpeoplespeakatleastoneforeignlanguage.Twenty-seven

percentofthepopulationcanspeakEnglishwellenoughtoholdaconversation(followedby16percentSlovakian,and

15percentGerman).Only19percentofCzechsunderstandEnglishwellenoughtouseitonline.

TheCzechRepubliccelebratesquiteafewnationalholidays,including:theDayofRestorationofCzechIndependence

(therepublicwasfoundedin1993)on1stJanuary;LiberationDay(markingliberationfromNazioccupationin1945)

on8thMay;WorkersDay(celebratingtheworkforce,mostspendthelongweekendattheirweekendhomes);and

CzechoSlovakIndependenceDay(whichcelebratesthecreationoftheCzechoslovakianRepublicfromtheAustro-

HungarianEmpirein1918andisstillobservedintheRepublicon28thOctober).Peoplealsocelebratenamedays,and

haveacarnival/masqueradeseasoncalledMasopust(knownasFasinekinSlovakia).

TheCzechRepublicclaimstohavethehighestconsumptionofbeerintheworld,andthemostpopularsportsare

footballandhockey.

Belarus

The2009censusrevealedthatalmost84percentofthepopulationwereBelarusian,justovereightpercentRussian,

aroundthreepercentPolish,1.7percentUkrainianandjustoverthreepercentother.Theofficiallanguageswere

Belarusian(23.4percent)andRussian(70.2percent),withotherlanguagesmakingup6.4percent.

Belarushasnationalholidaysfor:IndependenceDay(markingtheliberationofMinskbytheSoviettroopsfromthe

Nazis)on3rdJulyandasecondIndependenceDaycelebratedbysomeon25thMarch,markingthetimein1918when

BelarustemporarilybrokefreeofBolsheviksrule.







Language & Culture

Belarushasstrongregionalties,withRussianbuyingaround70percentofitsexports.It’salsointerestingtonotethat

theQueenofPolandisaBelarusian.Belarusismainlyrural,withseverallargercities.

Poland

The2002censusshowedthatalmost97percentofthepopulationwerePolish,0.4percentidentifiedasBelarusian,0.1

percentUkrainianandother/unspecified2.7percent.TheofficiallanguagewasPolish(almost98percent),andother

languagesmadeup2.2percent.

Accordingtothe2012Eurobarometerreport,50percentofpeoplespeakatleastoneforeignlanguage.Conversational

Englishisusedby33percentofthepopulation,19percentcanholdaconversationinGerman,and18percentin

Russian.

SixtypercentofPolishpeopleliveincities.Namedaysareveryimportanttocommemorate.It’simportanttousethe

correctformoflanguageinPoland,forexample,peoplecanonlyuse“Ty”for“you”iftherelationshiphasprogressedto

thatlevelofinformality.

Hungary

The2001censusreportedthat92.3percentofthepopulationwereHungarian,1.9percentwereRomaand5.8percent

wereotherorunknown.ThemainlanguagewasHungarian(93.6percent),withother/unspecifiedat6.4percent.

Accordingtothe2012Eurobarometerreport35percentofpeoplecanspeakatleastoneforeignlanguage.Only16per

centofHungariansunderstandEnglishwellenoughtouseitonline.Just20percentofHungarianssaythattheyuse

Englishwellenoughtouseitinconversations,with18percentsayingthattheycanholdconversationsinGermanand

threepercenthavingconversationalFrench.

MajornationalholidaysinHungaryinclude:commemoratingthedeathofKingStephenon20thAugust;remembering

thecivilrevolutionof1848(celebratedon15thMarch);andremembranceoftherevolutionon1956on23rdOctober.

LocalfestivalsandfairsincludethesouthernFolkloreFestivalalongtheDanubeandthenorthernregion’sannualPalóc

Festival.







Language & Culture

In summary

• Eachnationspeaksitsownlanguage,althoughtheydoshareminoritylanguages• Althoughseverallanguagesmaybepopular,ingeneral,thereseemstobenostrongdesireto learnasecondlanguage• Thecelebrationofculturallandmarks,suchasindependencedaysorliberation,isstillvery importanttoculturalidentity

Slovak Republic

The2001censusreportedthatalmost86percentofthepopulationwereSlovak,almost10percentHungarian,1.7per

centRoma,onepercentRuthenian/Ukrainianand1.8percentother/unspecified.Almost84percentspokeSlovak(the

officiallanguage),morethan10percentHungarian,1.8percentRoma,onepercentUkrainian,and2.6percentother/

unspecified.

Accordingtothe2012Eurobarometerreport80percentofpeoplecanspeakatleastoneforeignlanguage.Sixty-oneper

centofSlovakssaythattheyspeakCroatianwellenoughtoholdaconversation,while26percenthaveconversational

English,and22percentcanholdaconversationinGerman.

NationalholidaysintheSlovakRepublictendtorevolvearoundtheChristiancalendar,butalsoinclude;Independence

Day(January1st);theliberationoftheSlovakRepublic(May8th)8May;andConstitutionDayon1stSeptember.

AgriculturalareascelebratetheannualgrainharvestwithafestivalcalleddožinkyinAugust.Intheearlyfall,oberačky

celebratestheharvestingofapplesandotherlateorchardcrops.Theselocalseculareventsincludefeastinganddancing.

Ukraine

The2001censusreportedthataround78percentofthepopulationwereUkrainian,morethan17percentRussian,0.6

percentBelarusian,0.5percentMoldovan,0.5percentCrimeanTatar,0.4percentBulgarian,0.3percentHungarian,

0.3percentRomanian,0.3percentPolish,0.2percentJewishand1.8percentother.Sixty-sevenpercentspeak

Ukrainian(theofficiallanguage),24percentRussian,andninepercentotherlanguages.







PerspectivesEuropeanCommissionReport:Europeansandtheirlanguages,publishedJune2012

http://ec.europa.eu/public_opinion/archives/ebs/ebs_386_en.pdf

ExcellentsourceofinformationforthecurrentstateofEuropeanlanguages

ReutersInstitutefortheStudyofJournalism:MediaLandscapeofRomania

http://reutersinstitute.politics.ox.ac.uk/fileadmin/documents/Media_Landscapes/Romania.pdf

GoodviewofRomaniafromajournalist’sperspective

LibraryofCongress:FederalResearchDivision:CountryProfile-Bulgaria

http://lcweb2.loc.gov/frd/cs/profiles/Bulgaria.pdf

ComprehensiveprofileonBulgaria





representatives.











Overview

ThelevelofinternetpenetrationinTurkeyisaround45per

cent,placingitoutsideoftheworld’s50mostconnected

nations.AccordingtooneIntelstudy,over71percentof13to

29yearoldsliveinhouseholdswithacomputer.Twothirds

ofthosequestionedviewedbeingsocialofflineasequivalent

tobeingsocialonline.Threeoutoffivepeoplequestioned

hadregularaccesstotheinternet(twooutoffiveinrural

areas).ThereportstatedthatIzmirhadthemostconnected

population,withalmost80percentofpeoplehavingregular

access.

However,strictinternetlawsmakeitveryeasyforwebsitesto

beblocked.In2010ReporterswithoutBordersplacedTurkey

onalistof“countriesundersurveillance”foritsattitudeto

pressfreedom.InMay2011itreportedthatTurkey’sinternet

regulatorhadbanned138internetkeywordsincludingthe

wordfree.Thewordpichasbeenbannedbecauseitmay

beshortforpictureinEnglish,butithasatotallydifferent

meaninginTurkish.Turkeyalsoblockssitesthatmentionthe

founderoftherepublic,MustafaKemalAtatürk.

In this report:


In this series:



Turkey







TurkeyInternational Guide to Social Media

Social NetworksInOctober2011,comScorereportedthatTurkishinternetusersspentanaverageof10.2hoursonsocialnetworks

thatmonth.ThismadeTurkeythefourthmostsociallyengagednationintheworld.IthasbeenreportedthatTurkish

citizensareturningtosocialmediachannelsinplaceoftraditionalmedia,whichsomefeelisundermoregovernment

control.

ArumourbegancirculationonlineinSeptember2012,statingthattheTurkishgovernmentwasconsideringblocking

FacebookandTwitterattimesofsocialunrestordisorder,butthiswassoondeniedbyofficialsources.

Facebook

FacebookisthemostpopularwebsiteinTurkey,withover40percentofthepopulationusingthenetwork(morethan

10millionofwhomareaged18to24).TurkeyistheseventhbiggestmarketintheworldforFacebook.

Themostpopularpagesareallsportsrelated.FootballclubGalatasarayhasover7.5millionlikesonFacebook,followed

byFenerbahce,whichisasportsclubcoveringmultiplesports(morethansixmillionlikes)andbasketballclubBesiktas,

whichhasmorethan3.7millionlikes.

InFebruary2012,itwasreportedthatFacebookhadalistofrulesforTurkishcontent.ItwasreportedthatFacebook

bannedattacksonKemalAtatürk,imagesofTurkishflagburningandmapsofKurdistan.SupportingtheKurdistan

Workers’Party(PKK)couldresultingettingyouraccountblocked.

Twitter

TwitteristhesixthmostpopularwebsiteinTurkey,witharoundninemillionusers.Themostpopularaccountsall

belongtopopularpersonalities.Turkishstand-upcomedianCemYılmazhasaTwitterfollowingapproachingthree

million,whilethePresidentofTurkeyhasover2.4millionTwitterfollowers.Turkish/AmericancardiacsurgeonandTV

personalityDr.Ozhasaround20thousandfewerfollowersthanthePresident.

InJune2012Turkishclassicaljazzpianist,FazilSay,waschargedwithinsultingIslamicvaluesonTwitter.InSeptember

2012,aTurkishcoupleusedTwittertogetmarried.Theyexchangedvowsbymentioningeachother,andfollowingthe

instructionsofthemayorofficiatingtheservice.







Social NetworksYouTube

YouTubeisthethirdmostpopularwebsiteinTurkey.ADecember2011comScorereporthighlightedthepopularityof

onlinevideoinTurkey,whenitrevealedthatinOctober2011,Turkishinternetuserswatchedanaverageof250.7videos

perviewer(comingfourthinthereport,behindCanada,theU.S.andUK).

ThethreemostpopularYouTubechannelsbelongto:aTVproductioncompany,MadeinTurkey,whichhadmore

than10.4millionvideoviews;aTVgaffclipchannel(morethan7.2millionviews)andtechnologycompanySamsung’s

Turkishchannel,whichhasmorethan3.1millionvideoviews.

YouTubewasbannedfor30monthsin2008(afteruserspostedvideosTurkeydeemedinsultingtotherepublic’s

founder,MustafaKemalAtaturk).InOctober2012YouTubeagreedtooperateinunderaTurkishdomainnameforthe

Turkishmarket.ThisgavetheTurkishauthoritiesmorecontrolovertheserviceintheircountry.YouTubedescribedthis

aslaunchingaTurkishlanguageversion.

MorerecentlyaminorsocialmediacontroversyeruptedwhenTurkishsingerAtillaTaşreleasedasongandvideocalled

YamyamStyle,intributetotheSouthKoreanglobalphenomenonGangnamStyle,whichhasalmost717millionviews

onYouTubetodate.UnfortunatelyforAtillaTaş,hiscompatriotsdidn’tappeartobethatkeenonthesong,whichmany

viewedasanembarrassment.AsocialmediacampaignspranguponYouTube(spreadingtoothernetworksincluding

Twitter)whichrenamedhimAthillasThasosandclaimedthathewasGreek,notTurkish.

LinkedIn

LinkedInisthethirty-secondmostpopularsiteinTurkey,havinglaunchedaTurkishlanguageversioninJune2011.In

April2012itwasreportedthattherewere1.3millionTurkishaccountholders,anincreaseof67percentfromSeptember

2011.

Google+

TurkeywasoneofthefirstnationstotaketoGooglePlus,withmorethan372,000signingupwithinthefirstthreeweeks

oflaunch.Thereareapproximately1,018,529usersofGoogle+inTurkey.Almost84percentaremale,andmorethan54

percentare18to24.Twelvepercentarestudentsandmorethan39percentarefromIstanbul.







In summary

• TurkishmobilebrandTurkcellisoneofthemostpopularbrandsonFacebook, TwitterandYouTube• Themostpopularsocialpageseitherbelongtodomesticbrands,orlocalised globalbrands• SomebrandslikeTurkcellandVolkswagenarestartingtousesocialmediato runcampaigns

Facebook

ThethreemostpopularbrandsonFacebook,inTurkey,are:Turkishmobileoperator,Turkcell(morethantwomillion

likes);mobile,internetandTVproviderAvea(morethan1.8millionlikes);andcarmanufacturerVolkswagen’sTurkish

page(morethan1.6millionlikes).

VolkswagenisoneofthebrandsthathasusedFacebookasaplatformforasocialmediacampaign.Thebrandused

aflipbookof200photostocreateaninteractivemovingbanner,whichallowedpeopleto‘drive’theVWAmarokvia

downastreetdepictedonabanneronthepage.Thecaralsodrovepastalargebillboardwitha‘Like’signonit,allowing

participantstobecomefansofthepage.

Twitter

ThethreemostfollowedbrandsonTwitterareallTurkishbrands.MobileoperatorTurkcell(morethan282,500

followers);performancecentreBabylonIstanbul(morethan252,600followers)andtheTwitteraccountofTurkish

Airlineshasmorethan247,400followers.

TurkcelllaunchedacampaignusingTwitterusingagame.Apictureofaprizecoveredwithpost-itnotesappearedona

website,andeachtimesomeonereadoneofthenotes,andtweetedthemoutwiththehashtag#turkcelltweet,thatnote

wasremoved.Themoremessagesweretweeted,themoretheprizewasuncovered.Thecampaigngeneratedmorethan

55,000retweetsoversevendays.

YouTube

ThemostviewedbrandchannelsinTurkeyonYouTubearecurrentlyalleitherTurkishbrands,orlocalversionsof

internationalbrands.Samsung’sTurkishchannelisthemostviewedbrandedchannelwithmorethan3.1millionvideo

views.MobileoperatorTurkcellisalsopopularwithover2.5millionviews.Finally,mobile,internetandTVprovider

Avea’schannelhasmorethan1.7millionviews.








Language & Culture

In2008itwasestimatedthattheTurkishpopulationcomprised70to75percentTurkishand18percentKurdish

people.Otherminoritiesmadeupsevento12percentofthepopulation.Turkishistheofficiallanguage;Kurdishis

popular,withotherminoritylanguagesalsobeingspoken.Englishisthemostwidelyusedsecondlanguage.Turkishis

spokenbyapproximately220millionpeopleworldwide,andit’sthefifthmostusedlanguageintheworld,accordingto

Turkey’stourismboard.

SportisverypopularinTurkey.OnecomScorereport,conductedinFebruary2012,revealedthatTurkeyhadthehighest

reachforspotssitesinEurope(70.7percent).Globally,TurkeywassecondonlytotheUnitedStates,whichhadareach

of70.9percent.SportissopopularinTurkeythatit’sevenintheConstitution;article59states:

“TheStatetakesmeasurestodevelopthephysicalandmentalhealthofTurkishcitizensofallagesandencouragesthe

spreadofsportsamongthemasses.TheStateprotectssuccessfulathletes.”

FootballisthemostpopularsportinTurkey,butitalsohasitsowntraditionalsport.Yağlıgüreş,otherwiseknownas

oiledwrestling,datesbackto1065AD.

Turkeyis99.8percentMuslim,whichcontributestotheformaletiquettethatiscentraltoTurkishculture.(However,

it’salsotheonlysecularIslamicnationintheworld.)Thenationalflagisregardedassacred.

Olderpeopleandoppositegendersareaddressedformallyunlesstheyhappentobeclosefriendsorrelations,witholder

menbeingaddressedwiththetitle“Bey”andwomenwiththetitle“Hanim”.

Publicholidaysinclude:NationalSovereigntyandChildren’sDayon23rdApril;AtaturkCommemorationandYouth

SportsDayon19thMay;VictoryDayon30thAugust(commemoratingthevictoryoftheBattleofDumlupınarin1922);

andRepublicDay(dividedover28thand29thOctober).

The19thMaycelebrationsusedtoinvolvethousandsofstudentsperforminginstadiumceremoniesaroundthecountry,

butthiswaschangedin2012sothatthemajorityofTurkishchildrentookpartinceremoniesatschoolinstead(one

reasonbeingthatithadstartedtoimpactchildren’seducation).







Language & Culture

In summary

• ThecountryisdividedbetweenTurkishandKurdishpeople,withthevastmajorityTurkish Turkishistheofficiallanguage• Englishisthemostdominantsecondlanguage• Sportfeaturesintheconstitutionandisverypopularinthecountry• TurkeyistheonlysecularIslamicnationintheworld• Eldersandmembersoftheoppositesexareaddressedformallyunlessacloserelationorfriend• Allmajorpublicholidayscentrearoundthefounderoftherepublic(Atatürk)• Thereisincreasingtensionbetweenthosewhofeelthattheseculartraditionsarebeingthreatened andthegovernment

TheTurkishgovernmentrefusedtopermitcampaigngroupsholdingtheirownrallyinAnkaratocelebrateRepublicDay

2012,ascampaignershadstartedusingthedaytodemandchange,andprotestagainstthegovernmentforwhatthey







Perspectives

http://www.rudaw.net-Kurdishonlinenewspaper

http://www.brandingmagazine.com-onlinemagazineaboutbrandinginEurope

http://www.youngdigitallab.net–Italiansocialmediablog





representatives.










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