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(headline) Google  +  opens  up  for  brands  

Internet  conquers  China’s  Tier  5  ciBes  

Vietnam’s  first  private  online  shopping  site  

Week  of  November  7,  2011  

Source: http://techrice.com/

Source: http://www.synovate.com/

Source: http://www.mashable.com

A new research report by Synovate (n=66000+), a research house part of Ipsos, shows that the Internet permeates China far beyond the known mega cities on the costal belt. Internet access in tier 5 cities now stands at 53%, not far behind the 61% figure in tier 1 cities. A quarter of the population has gone online using their mobile in the past month. The report further shows that Internet overtook all other media as the most engaging. It has the highest engagement score of 77, followed by television with an index score of 73, and mobile with the score of 68.

In a market environment with a multiplicity of Groupon clones, Brandsfavor created an online private shopping club which offers members the chance to get up to 70% off branded goods. Like other private shopping sites, sales on Brandsfavor are based on small windows of just two to five days since supply is relatively scarce. Registered members receive email notifications informing them about the latest offers. Vietnam is an often neglected market. With currently about 30 million users, Vietnam’s internet penetration stands at approx. 30%. It’s hence a market with huge pontential.

Google has announced that its social networking platform Google + will henceforth be open to brands. Brands can finally set up brand pages. As of now, there is a high risk of fake brand pages being set up due to the relatively lax verification mechanisms. Badges are offered by the search engine giant to give brands the chance to prove the authenticity of a page. At the moment brand pages are difficult to find. A search query needs contain a brand name and “google plus” in order to be successful.