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samflemming.com
Sam Flemming warns companies: beware the ides of "Black March" in China. |
China's 123 million Internet users now have enough clout to set the media agenda, says
Sam Flemming of CIC Data, Shanghai. His company monitors weblogs and online bulletin boards in China for corporate clients.
Wrote Flemming: "In 2005 we had what we called 'Black March' when you saw how the Internet was amplifying company crises that started in the traditional media."
'Black March' refers to March 2005 -- when Procter & Gamble, KFC, Heinz and many other makers of consumer products found themselves at the online mercy of their Chinese consumers, after ignoring warnings in traditional-media coverage of international scandals involving those companies. Now, observes Flemming, Chinese Internet users are no longer following the traditional media. Instead, they've become sources of online indignation.
The influence of online media in China is growing partly due to the fast decline of traditional media audiences in China. Both print and TV have seen the tables turn in the past couple of years -- they're losing advertisers.
In recent weeks, Chinese consumers used online influence to force Dell to its knees in order to avoid meeting its customers in court.
According to Flemming, Chinese Internet users are only beginning to taste their power: "I don't think we have seen yet the true fury of a Chinese mob against a brand. I believe it is only a matter of time."
