FMCG Blog FMCG Views and News

There were/are some very nervous Chinese based multi national executives over the past 3 months. As the Chinese Tainted Milk Scandal evolved and it was discovered the problem was more wide spread than just the SANLU products, we had even more indication of the Opaque nature of the Chinese Government.

The Olympics were on and the government had ordered that there was to be no bad news during this period that would affect the Games. So this is where the nervousness comes in. I have been told that many senior executives were removed from Mainland China for their own safety during this period.

The companies felt there was a risk of their people being held by authorities to keep the story hidden.  Well the story was buried for a number of weeks and who knows what damage and suffering this caused to poor helpless babies and children.

The story posted yesterday on the USNEWS web site by Paul Mooney gives a very good insight into the machinations and ramifications of this wide spread problem in China.

The scandal also raises the significant issue of Brand protection. Cadbury, Nestle and Unilever brands were all affected by the Melamine contamination and recalls internationally have been costly both financially but also to Brand Health.

Doing business in China is very different and negotiating with Central and Local Governments as well as with local partners is a very complicated business. The story was covered up and executives did flee China because they felt unsafe.

Why are we prepared to treat China differently? Is it because they scare us?

Tim

Posted under News

Technorati a leader in Blog search and measurement is up to Day 5 of its annual review, “State of the Blogosphere – 2008″ and has looked at the status of BRANDS in blogs. This is of obvious interest to us here at FMCGBlog because we live and breath Brands and Communication  strategies.

We are still in the early days of blogging and corporate bloggers are still experimenting with style and substance. The most successful corporate bloggers have the same characteristics as social bloggers, they are informative, passionate, topical and entertaining/funny.

The article on Brands while lacking any deep analysis does present some very interesting survey results based on Technorati research.

Some of the most interesting insights detailed by the authors were;

“Twice as many bloggers look to other blogs compared to TV, print, or outdoor advertising to learn more about products and services”

“More than eight in ten bloggers post product or brand reviews, and almost nine in ten blog about brands that they love (or hate)”

This leads to the next challenge, how do marketeers influence these people. Web 2.0 is a challenge for the corporate world because any interaction is seen as manipulation and fake. A corporate blogger or forum poster has to be open and show their cards or they will damage the brand when they are found out. But what influence can they have when they obviously come from conflicted point of view?

This challenge has led to, as the article states;

“one in three bloggers has been approached to be a brand advocate. Of
those, more than six in ten were offered payments of some kind.”

Crediblogity - I just invented a word, couldn’t find it on google anyway; The more credible a blog, the more influential its commentary on Brands will become. Get on that band wagon and free samples, holidays etc will follow.

What about Forum posting? Any Comments?

Tim

Posted under Marketing