As the Communications Chair for EO Beijing 2011-2012 I was proud to enter our Chapter for the Global EO Marketing Awards. We worked well as a team and raised the profile of the Chapter considerably.
We used a combination of English & Mandarin channels over a consistent time period to build brand awareness based on the EO Global corporate branding guidelines with localized initiatives. We leveraged our internal resources and also partnered with local organizations to deliver our marketing campaign without any cost to the Chapter.
The communications team used a combination of traditional and digital channels to communicate the EO Experience. We believe that the members are the best ambassadors for the organization, and used them as spokespeople across video, social media, print, advertising and literature. A partnership with Agenda Magazine (circulation 20,000 each 2 weeks) has lead to a series of our members being interviewed and advertisements placed. We have secured coverage in national Chinese language and English language newspapers for our members and EO as forum for entrepreneurs.
Our overall challenge has been to reach out to the Chinese audience to extend our membership, and as the EO Portal doesn't support Mandarin, we used local social media channels and our Chinese members to build awareness. We established Youku (video) and Weibo (microblog) accounts for our chapter which generates Mandarin traffic. The Weibo (twitter) now has over 120 followers and used these to publicize our chapter events and also news about entrepreneurship. The positioning has been EO as a support group for entrepreneurs and as a cultural exchange between western and Chinese entrepreneurs. http://www.slideshare.net/slideshow/embed_code/12059425
Our marketing activity led to the development of a solid pipeline of interested entrepreneurs, over 60 during the period of the campaign, and has opened the channels to conversations with existing and supporting sponsors. Perhaps just as important is that our members who have been profile in the media have seen increased interest in their business, and the reputation of EO has been enhanced.Along the way, because our marketing strategy was to include the members themselves, we have reinforced the sense of belonging to a dynamic and successful Chapter.Key learnings: - the need for EO platforms to manage local language. We have had to build a new set of Chinese channels to be able to showcase Mandarin content; this leads potential members away from EO. The other key learning: interest in entrepreneurship is strong in China and there a desire to learn more about how western entrepreneurs operate. EO has a unique opportunity to fill this space.
EO Beijing has used the complete mix of media and has included all of its members in a bi-lingual campaign which has created both local and national coverage for EO. All this delivered by the resources of the members. It has provided excellent ROI for EO, and added value for its own members at personal and corporate level. Therefore our Chapter Branding campaign has achieved a large mindshare in a limited amount of time using creativity, connections and commitment.
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