Where Facebook, Twitter, YouTube don’t even exist, parallel entities have emerged, with an entirely different set of rules, strategies and solutions. Not to mention the complexities of the language, obscure to the majority of foreign enterprises but key to entering the Chinese market.

Today, Shanghai-based start-up KAWO, a tool that repackages existing social media accounts into local, real-time Chinese, launched with the vision to open China to the World.

“With 564 million Internet users, social media marketing is an aspect that no company hoping to make an impact in China can overlook” said Andrew Collins, co-founder of KAWO “with this tool, any brand will be empowered to independently and seamlessly build a fan base in China.”

KAWO allows foreign brands, sporting clubs, authors and personalities to create active Chinese social media accounts, by automatically syncing their existing Facebook, and Twitter accounts with their Chinese social media counterparts.

The platform translates, localizes and publishes clients’ existing posts to Chinese social networks, allowing anyone and everyone to have their voice heard in China.

While most social media tools employ crowd-sourced or computer-generated translation techniques to adapt the brands to China, KAWO relies on professionally trained interpreters, and a process where every post goes through two levels of translation, moderation and approval.

“Imagine having years of existing content on Facebook and Twitter and not being able to use it to tap into the biggest market in the World” stated Brian Van Damme, Head Developer at KAWO, “we started this adventure with the dream to allow Chinese fans to connect with their favourite foreign brands in the easiest possible way”.

The start-up is partly funded by Mailman Ventures, the investment fund recently created by Mailman Group, digital marketing agency with a 13 years history of constant innovation.

KAWO is now available for free trials. Just sign up at www.kawo.com to request yours today.

Find out more at: www.kawo.com

The numbers speak for themselves: over 30% of all football fans on Chinese social media are women. Around 60 million total female football fans in the whole country, which corresponds to the entire population of both Italy and the UK, home to the most popular clubs in the World.

But why do so many women follow football in China? According to the infographic released today by Mailman Group, there are 3 main reasons for women to be passionate about the sport:

1. The Popularity of Online Video Streaming

In China, football matches are viewed at home via video streaming rather than at the pub and they become an opportunity for a family gathering.

2. China’s One Child Policy

With the possibility of having one child only, fathers will pass their passion for football on to their daughters, as well as their sons.

3. Celebrity Player’s Sex Factor

As seen in the case of David Beckham, celebrity players are a driving factor as to why fans watch European football.

“These results demonstrate that brands might be missing a key sponsorship opportunity when it comes to football teams…..targeting the untapped pool of female football fans” stated Andrew Collins, CEO of Mailman Group.

Check out the infographic below or download it here.

“These results demonstrate that individual footballers’ pages are much more effective than the team pages themselves” said Andrew Collins, CEO of Mailman Group “we believe this to be a key area of growth for football clubs, the advantages of launching your top players on Weibo as well as having an official club presence, are overwhelming.”

Key insights of this study include:

The top 3 players on Sina Weibo play in Spain’s La Liga and together have a total following of 29M+.

La Liga players dominate Sina Weibo, with 8 times more followers than the English Premier League players.

Tottenham Hotspur star and Weibo newcomer Gareth Bale’s fan numbers and engagement have skyrocketed in just 3 months after his outstanding season.

Michael Owen is one of the most followed players in China, despite retiring this season, due to his dedication to his Weibo page.

Barcelona are leading the way with 5 players sporting their own individual Weibo pages.

To download the infographic in PDF just click here.

Your NLP will change over time and if understood can be the driver behind any significant decision you make.  To properly assess your NLP you must first understand three important things:
Personal Outlook (Where you see yourself going)
Minimum Commitment Return (what do you expect in return)
Personal Values (what is important to you)

So by understanding these factors you can better determine how and what to invest your life towards.  Your NLP will invariably rise as you develop greater skills and experience, however it’s possible it could also decline, as with the uncertainty any big economy may present – however by being accountable for the development of your NLP you can better improve it.  Just as Richard Branson would now only consider high impact and billion dollar investments which align to his goals, you may now consider something much smaller supported by your own beliefs, but he too started where you were.

But how to improve this position?  And more importantly how can you expedite your own NLP?  Have you ever experienced a catalyst moment in your career, relationship or other where you felt a shift in your expectation?  It’s these moments that will offer you the most life changing shift in your NLP and ultimately your success.  You can improve your standing by investing in either of these two factors:
a) Discovering a new set of ideas and deeply understanding them (Low – Medium impact)
b) Consciously completing a well earned accomplishment (High impact)

For Michael Jordan he describes his catalyst as the ‘shot‘ as it’s known amongst basketball fans in which he nailed a basket in game 5 of the 1989 Eastern Conference against the Cleveland Cavaliers with a second to go, giving the Bulls a win to which they ultimately won the championship.  He has since been often quoted as saying that ‘on shot’ was the most significant shot he took, which elevated his personal expectation and allowed him to develop as he did – to be the greatest of all time.

Take time to reflect on your own idea discovery or accomplishments which have supported your development – and if you find yourself short of a few then consider this. Are you giving yourself these ‘one shot’ opportunities?  Or are you letting someone else take the shot?..

I was lucky enough to get a first hand look at the start ups participating in the Start Up arena as a judge and spent the best of 2 days prior to that visiting over a dozen incubators and VC firms.  This gave myself a great overview of the environment, it’s challenges, and the next ventures in the investment pipeline.

Whilst the ecosystem in Singapore offers enormous value to young people getting into the start up environment from my experience it seemed to dilute the commitment and hunger in these people for worlds leading innovation.  Where was the die hard passion you expect to be demonstrated in a pitch?  Where was the ‘wow’ moments in which you’re left wondering ‘this guy is incredible and he will change the world?’

The pitches offered various forms of moderately improving an existing way of doing something – granted this small innovation can create value and at times worth investing.  But across the board the attitude, the energy and the overall ideas we sub par – and it just seemed to be a big game everyone was playing where if the current opportunity failed it made little difference to their lives.

So let’s assume these young people wouldn’t know better.  Let’s say they are doing the best they can do and offering the best they can offer given their own experiences, environment and mentorship.  Which begs the question ‘What are the values of mentorship these people are receiving?’ if we put the onus on the ecosystem and its creators we must look to whom is driving this and how its delivered?  The money is pouring in, VC’s are playing a ‘shot gun’ approach to investment and competition is rich which only amplifies this cycle.

So here we are – we have eager young people wishing to inject there fresh ideas and energy into new initiatives, we have the ecosystem for investment which drives them to Singapore, yet we’re not seeing worlds leading outcomes.  What can we learn from this?  Is it time for programs, ideation and framework to be established that delivers ground-breaking ideas which could impact the world?

2. ”5 Principles for people development. (The success in developing others will depend on how well i accomplish each of the following)

a. Value of people. This is an issue of my attitude.
b. Commitment to people. This is is an issue of my time.
c. Integrity with people. This is an issue of my character.
d. Standard for people. this is an issue of my vision.
e. Influence over people. This is an issue of my leadership.”

3. ”People change when they hurt enough that they have to change, learn enough that they want to change, receive enough that they are able to change.”

4. “According to F.F.Fournies, writing in Coaching for Improved Work Performance, there are four common reasons why people do not perform the way they should :

a. They do not know what they are supposed to do.
b. They do not know how to do it.
c. They do not know why they should. 
d. There are obstacles beyond their control. “

5. “Great leaders understand that the right attitude will set the right atmosphere, which enables the right responses from others.”

6. ”Most people think that success is learning how to never fail. But that’s not true, Success is learning from failure. Failure is the opportunity to being again more intelligently. Failure only truly becomes failure when we do not learn from it.”

7. ”What motivates people?

a. Significant contributions. People want to join in group or pursue a cause that will have lasting impact.  They need to see that what they are doing is not wasted effort, but making a contribution
b. Goal Participation. People support what they create. When people have given input, they have a stake in the issue.
c. Positive dissatisficatoin. Dissatisfied people are highly motivated people, for they see the need for immediate change.
d. Recognation
e. Clear expectations. “

8. “What demotivates people?

a. Don’t belittle anyone
b. don’t manipulate anyone
c. don’t be insensitive
d. don’t discourage personal growth.”

9. “Does the vision make the leader? or Does the leader make the vision? Try ask this to yourself of how you lead yourself on things you do in life. 

Four visions levels of people:

a. Some people never see it. (They are wanderers)
b. Some people see it but never pusue it on their own. (They are followers)
c. Some people see it and pursue it (They are achievers)
d. Some people see it and pursue it and help others see it. (They are leaders)”

10. ”All great leaders posses two things: one, they know where they are going, and two, they are able to persuade others to follow.”

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As in the case with most small or newer entrant brands most people are not ‘in love’ or even remotely interested in following the brand beyond the occasional purchase here and there.  However it’s not to say brands cannot generate a respectable following amongst their target consumers – they simply needs to assess one question ‘Why would someone follow us?’

It’s not a question taken lightly.  By following a particular brand you are accepting the brand or group to populate your social feeds with updates throughout the day.  It’s a commitment that in theory will continue to become more considered as brands become more active in social media – just the one or two posts can be easy to swallow, however if consumers are following 5+ brands with each making a series of 3-10 posts per day, they tend to withdraw having bitten off more than they wanted to chew.

By answering the question above you can allow yourself to step out the ‘biased brand’ role and allow you to consider it carefully.   Unless you are a major football team as with our clients (see here) or a global celebrity (like here) whom have the magnetic pull, you must only consider what is it of value we can offer?

Or as i would state it the ‘Theme’ by which a consumer wishes to associate with, connect with or learn more about.

The benefits to driving value ahead of brand – can lead to an exponential group of target customers.  If you can meticulously manage the balance between brand promotion and valued content you will ensure your group respect you and obviously more likely to stay.

Here’s a few examples:
Bicycle Brand = Outdoors for the Urban Dweller
Pottery Brand = Reading For Weekends
Coffee Brand = Discussions of the heart

These are just a few examples but as you can see each offers a touch point to get connected with consumers that have the potential to become your future customers.