Social media in Asia - the journey of a thousand miles

There's an old Chinese proverb that translates, so I'm told, as "To open a a shop is easy, to keep it open is an art". Seems apt when I look at the way some companies are tackling social media in Asia. I touched on these topics in an interview with ZDNet Asia. The story runs here: Social communication requires small steps - Internet - News. I think it covers the topic well, though felt one of the quotes needed a little more context:

He [Woolf] said businesses that have not budged are typically helmed by "old-school" executives in their 40s who have been successful sales people, but are limited to working with traditional platforms.

"Until the digital natives--people who are adept with digital media--take on more important corporate leadership roles, for now, I do not see the communication platforms of these enterprises to be built around social media," he noted.

The question was on the challenges I'm seeing Asian companies face as they embark on social media strategies. As always, it is hard to generalize about Asian businesses. There are certainly people in their 40s (I count myself in their number) who get this stuff. But as recently as last week a company I've been working with at once asked to accelerate its social media program and in the same breath was reluctant to start micro blogging for fear of saying the wrong thing.

I guess this is a case where we in PR are victims of our own success. We've told companies since 1905 that press coverage was critical to shaping their stakeholders' beliefs. We've happily measured success by the kilogram of press coverage. Yet today we're now telling those executives that had to be cajoled into media interaction that they've now got to get down and commune with their customers. Online. In public. In real time.

I'm no ageist. Some people are doing this well, regardless of their years. But for many - especially in the B2B world - this is a big leap. And in some cases today, a leap too far. Solution? Don't try to fit a square peg in a round hole. Start small. Look at your talent pool and mix it up. Make incremental changes. Be prepared to make mistakes. And learn. 


More here and here.