While mature market consumers have been very familiar to online shopping for many years, Brazilians are facing their ecommerce booming right now, a trend that has been started around ten years ago. It is estimated that Brazil has spent R$ 20 billion (US$ 11, 5 billion) with online purchases in 2011, 35% more than 2010, not considering car sales, airline tickets or online auctions. Last Christmas shopping grabbed R$ 2, 20 billion (US$ 1, 26 billion) of that amount, a seasonal record.

Ecommerce fast growth is not an exclusivity of Brazil. Forrester Research survey firm forecasts that the most traditional markets for online shopping - the United States and Western Europe – will lose ground for emerging economies by 2015. It is expected that the Brazilian share of this type of shopping will rise to around 3% of all world commerce - or USD 22 billion out of USD 702 billion - over the next three years.

Although this figure may seem small if compared to the size of the Chinese market projection -expected to reach 22% of all the ecommerce worldwide – Brazil is considered one of the countries with the greatest potential for online sales. Today there are 30 million people who shop online among 91 million internet users. Considering a population of 190 million people, the country development – the 6º biggest economy in the world – and the greater access of high-speed internet and smartphones, this market will surely take gigantic proportions.

Trends

Usually, the most common popular sold products online in Brazil are books, beauty and personal care items, electronics and fashion. But experts point out the evolution of this type of trade for other products in the coming years and also more niche segmentation.

Collective buying sites – such as Groupon, Clickon and Peixe Urbano - are huge in Brazil right now. There are over 1,200 companies selling deals that range from varicose treatments to sushi. This type of business started on 2010 and earned R$ 91, 4 million (USD 51 million) last December, and now the market goes through acquisitions and fusions movements.

Social networks also have a major impact on online purchases for Brazilians, as we are social creatures by nature. A recent case of success is the F * Hits female blog platform, which concentrate 25 of the top fashion and lifestyle bloggers in Brazil. They’ve launched its own e-commerce store, investing in the concept of "social commerce" where participants have support from their style icons to guide their acquisitions. To join this exclusive shopping club, users must be approved.  

Big companies too are learning how to use online opinion leaders to leverage their sales. L’Oreal recently declared that a very important part of their marketing budget is dedicated now to blogs in Brazil – advertisement, goodwill events and sponsored content in the package.

Challenges

For foreign companies who want to invest in e-commerce in Brazil, one of the challenges to be faced is credit card frauds – 1% of all payment transactions online are fraudulent – and distribution logistic issues.

Still, there is a vast open sea for those who want to navigate the possibilities Brazilian web can offer.

A highlight of some of the key findings from this year’s study:

• Trust in government saw its biggest decline ever and government officislas dropped to the bottom of the list of credible spokespeople
• Business fared well in comparison, but still has hurdles to clear - nearly half of our respodents say government doesn't regulate business enough and CEO credibility fell to the lows we saw during the global recession.
• "A person like me" and regular employee both saw big jumps in credibility.
• Japan showed just how fragile and volatile trust is - the events there decimated not just trust in government and the energy sector, but also had a severe impact on trust in media, NGOs, the finance sector, among many of the other metrics we studied.

For more information, please visit www.edelman.com/trust.

As approaching a new, challenging year, we will surely welcome new colleagues in our network, even newbies in the crazy PR world… We would like to greet them with these 5 interesting tips http://www.prdaily.com/Main/Articles/10351.aspx , written on Ragan’s PR Daily “from a prior victim to help keep you focused, sane, and successful”.

The tips, talking about time-management, team communication, time preparation, initiatives and even breaks, can help the future Edelman newbies but also be a helpful reminder for the “veterans”!

When Americans set out to identify cultural differences between the USA and another country, the set of variables they use to make these distinctions can be as different as Texas and Korean style barbeque. Some people will dive right into web-based searches and may or may not dig deeper to verify sources or accuracy of the content. Others will go “old school” and purchase a Lonely Planet guide. I once even had a friend traveling to a remote region in Mexico try to prep himself for Montezuma’s revenge by drinking Florida lake water by the gallon prior to his trip. Ironically, the “Sunshine State Sickness” was far worse than anything he contracted in Mexico.

For many, there is no tried or true method of analyzing cultural differences. However, while working with a colleague from Edelman Taiwan, it’s been interesting to go about this by comparing the different ways we raise consumer awareness for the brands we work with. In the past year, I’ve helped solve consumer irritation, through a light-hearted campaign, by listening to irritated individuals sound off via Twitter about everything ranging from broken air conditioners to co-workers who chew gum too loudly; I encountered the first-family of “Black Friday” who camped outside of a retailer more than to score discounts on electronic gadgets; and have led media relations for the amusement park industry’s largest trade show that showcases everything from the latest in high-tech rollercoaster development technology to the latest in funnel cake technology. Overall, this has been a year with campaigns that generally have a large focus on fun and humor.  

But I’ve learned that some cultures, notably Taiwan, have a very different consumer and media landscape that dictates the way people are engaged. For a long time Taiwan has been known as the “behind-the-scenes” enablers because the country has many business-to-business tech companies that develop chips and semiconductors that go in to final consumer electronics, but no consumer facing brands of its own. In order to make the country remain competitive in the global market, the Taiwanese government is quite eager to change this and cultivate consumer brands of its own.

When these brands do emerge in Taiwan there will still be a great challenge in raising awareness through the country’s media. Celebrities and reporters play a huge role in shaping Taiwanese consumers’ perceptions. However, to reach the country’s homogenous consumers, the ultra-competitive media often times resort to sensational journalism to attract and retain readership and viewership. As a result, there is little to no investigative journalism and reporters’ credibility isn’t high.

While America certainly has its share of sensational journalists, there tends to be more trust of consumer brands and their portrayal through mainstream media. As Taiwan looks to develop a new collection of core consumer brands, the greatest challenge to their success could be overcoming the sensational media and its powerful influence over its citizens.

This summer Durex launched the Little Devil, the newest toy in their Play range. The Little Devil is a vibrating penis ring with a little devil’s head for extra clitoral stimulation. Edelman Amsterdam proposed an activity to tease the editors prior to the product launch and even create some online buzz via social media. This action resulted in a two-staged campaign.

Part I: Teasing Editors

As a way of ‘foreplay’, Edelman Amsterdam created a teaser video to trigger curiosity for the Little Devil. The video captured the range of reactions as people of various age groups were presented a little red box with the Little Devil inside. The video, which starts and ends with subtle hints to the Little Devil, shows the range of both hysterical and disgusted faces as people react to an (for the viewer) unidentified object inside a little red box. The journalists received the link to the video via an email announcing that a ‘little devil’ would be coming to them soon. Only after they receive the product mailing they would find out what the trigger was for all the different kind of reactions in the video. As a result of sending out the media teaser, the video received over 40 views within the first half-hour. There were also numerous enthusiastic replies from journalists telling us that we genuinely triggered their curiosity, with some even requesting to publish the video. Click here to see the video: “How does Holland react on the Little Devil?”

Part II: Devil In A Box

After the first phase, we sent the journalists a product mailing so they could experience the product for themselves prior to writing about it. By this point, the teaser video had already sparked attention for the product mailing, which also had the same cheeky touch to it. The mailing included the same red box from the teaser video with the product inside and a card with the text: “What will release your inner devil?”

The editors from one of the most prominent Dutch magazines for young women, Viva were so surprised with the mailing that they wrote a very positive post on their Facebook fan page in which they raffled the Little Devil. Due to the positive feedback and great response on their raffle, we supplied them with ten additional Little Devils. In addition, the press release was picked up by several blogs and online media. On top of that we also surprised the producers of one of the largest Dutch radio stations, radio Veronica, with the product mailing. Resulting in 15 minutes of fame: a live interview with Durex’ product manager about the Little Devil. In total, about 256,000 people within the target group where reached. We´re confident that this two-staged approach won´t be like a ´one-night stand’, but rather serves as inspiration for future projects with Durex.

Miami was gripped with the excitement of the Miami Heat’s NBA Season, the play-offs and most of all with the Finals. Then, we were filled with disappointment. Our team had it all and somehow managed to let the championship slip away. The Mavericks stunned us with their superior performance and we watched them celebrate in our court on a well-deserved win.

In retrospect, we probably expected too much from a young team who played together for the first time. James and the entire Miami Heat organization said they learned a lot from this Season; and as communicators there is a lot to learn as well. After all, the Miami Heat and its players became the villains of the NBA and Lebron James reaffirmed his title as the most hated man in sports due to their behavior as an organization and in great part thanks to the power of the mainstream media and the online behavior of consumers.

From the Decision to the Celebration to the Finals, the media covered the Miami Heat in a less-than-favorable light and sports fans all over the country (and even the world) flocked to social media to express their disdain for the team and its players – specifically Lebron James.

During the Finals, negative media coverage sky-rocketed and consumer sentiment spiked on across social networks. The combination of these two factors left the team and James with a tarnished reputation in the country (mostly among basketball fans).

The graph below and the news and related blog posts demonstrate the just how relevant Lebron was online and the negative sentiment of the posts.

Here are just a few examples of the sentiment on social networks.

• On You Tube: Video of Wade and James mocking Nowitzi, reaches more than 500,000 views and is covered by mainstream media portraying them as childish and arrogant

• Ohio fans take to Twitter to support the Mavericks with a message of stopping the Heat. The Twitter handle gained 6,000 followers in less than a couple of weeks.  The Miami Herald reported, “Meanwhile, on Tuesday, a LeBron hater who goes by the name Cleveland Todd started a CavsforMavs Twitter account. By Thursday, he had 2,277 followers, including some from Australia, Colombia, England, and one who wrote: “Hey Man! LeBron hate from halfway around the world in India!”

•  The Facebook page has more than 13,000 followers

• LeBron James parody account reaches more than 31,000 followers

The Miami Heat and James are without a doubt the most scrutinized members of the NBA and an example of how in today’s digital age, sports teams need to win on and off the court. The Miami Heat received absolutely no credit for making it to the Finals in just one year; instead their loss was celebrated by thousands. Without a doubt, the Miami Heat and its players were defeated in the court of public opinion by the thousands of consumers (basketball die-hard fans and not) who took their passion for the game online.

It’s no surprise that family dynamics are changing.  According to the US Census, only 4% of today’s families fall into their definition of “traditional” – SAH mom, working dad with kids under 18. 

That said, we’ve noticed that marketers who target families tend to speak in generalities.  How many times have we heard  “We’d like to target moms, 25 – 54.”  And while there is nothing wrong with targeting moms – after all, the 83 MM moms in the U.S. alone are a hugely influential audience, with more than $2 trillion in spending power – we also know that not all moms are alike, and that mom herself is facing an ever-changing landscape of balancing work and family that has added a whole new level of complexity for brands seeking to reach her.  It also got us thinking – what about other members of the “modern family” of today?  Dads, multicultural audiences, GLBT parents, grandparents.  How are they influencing purchase decisions within the family, and what should brands be doing to better reach them?

All of this and more led us to conduct a study, in partnership with StrategyOne, titled “Marketing to the Modern Family.”  We took a close look at the influences on families today – from the economy to demographic shifts, technology to health & wellness – and tapped a diverse expert panel to help us.  The experts included single and GLBT parents, working moms, multicultural heads of household and grandparents with a range of knowledge in technology, finance, pop culture and health & wellness.  We fielded the study in August to 2,400+ members of the “Modern Family,” with an oversample for GLBT and multicultural populations. 

Here’s what we found:  the essence of parenting hasn’t changed, but all of these factors have caused a shift.  And Parenthood today looks very different as a result. 

Here’s a few findings…

• The Motherload Gets Heavier:
  • 41% of moms say they are the sole decision maker for their family purchases
  • Plus, they are taking on more than they did in the past
    • Managing family finances (70% to 86%)
    • Earning money (61% to 75%)
    • Buying technology oriented items (57% to 78%)
    • Buying a car (57% to 84%
• Universal Parent – The Era of Gender Surrender:   Economic pressures and blended family models have redefined individual roles within the family and skill sets have replaced gender
  • 62% of moms and 54% of dads feel that parenting roles will be redefined away from the traditional “mom and dad” roles of the past
  • 33% of dads say they take on role of traditional mom
• Democratization of the Family
  • 68% of parents say that children have influence on family purchasing decisions
  • 67% of grandmothers with involvement in taking care of their grandchildren say they have influence on family purchases
  • More than a third of mothers and fathers say that it’s likely their children will live at home after college
• Dad Demands to be Involved: 
  • Dads report their responsibility for taking care of kids has more than doubled since their childhood
  • Past…dads were in charge of financial security (93%), purchasing consumer goods (76%) and discipline of children (84%)
  • Present…all this and more
    • Taking care of children (44% to 84%)
    • Buying groceries (32% to 70%)
    • Cooking (22% to 67%)
    • Cleaning (18% to 70%) and doing laundry (11% to 64%)
• Traditional Becomes Traditionall: 
  • About 20% of moms and dads say their children will not identify with the same ethnic group as they do
  • 66 percent of gay dads are more likely to buy products that have ads reflecting their sexual orientation
  • There is a growing number of women who choose to have a baby alone

This led us to our 5 & 5:  Five insights and 5 recommendations on how brands can get started.

1. Find your Action Consumer:  Not all moms are the same – what subset of this power demo is right for your brand?
2. Go outside your bullseye – use the 80/20 rule when it comes to brand messaging (80% of your budget can be spent on core target, but 20% could be used to market against new audiences)
3. Don’t Stereotype – think universal parent and view the whole family as your palette
4. Rethink channel planning – use transmedia storytelling to resonate with all family stakeholders
5. Test and Learn – think about how 1-5% of your overall marketing spend can be used to optimize the future

We welcome your thoughts and feedback.  In the meantime, if you have questions, please feel free to contact us at modernfamily@edelman.com.

I have always thought that our moods are unique-people live and experience  things differently within their own culture and this affects their moods accordingly. Some areas of astrology and Blood Group Research claim that a person’s mood can  be predicted,  I think it’s hard to believe that one person’s mood could be predicted, and even less likely for a large group of people. However, it seems that as a PR practitioner, you have to know the art of communication, including when to communicate.

This weekend, I was about to click ‘send’ on an email to my boss which contained some bad news when I remembered some advice given to me by my boss, “Don’t give bad news on a Friday”.  Would Monday morning be a good time? I asked myself. The facts told me otherwise...

To develop a news angle for  a recent  Wrigley’s campaign, ‘Benefits of Chewing’, we cooperated with a psychologist from the famous Sun Yat Sen University in Mainland China on some research. The research was based on the study of  people’s expressions, especially stressful emotions shown on Weibo, the Chinese version of Twitter.   The study included the observation and gathering of data on real life behavior, as it took place. As a result, the findings based on 1.2 billion posts from across 34 cities in China, are quite representative.

The key findings brought great news value to our communications program but I think they are also helpful for day to day life in the office.  

The findings are as follows:

1. Negative expressions and emotions are at their highest levels on a Monday morning. 

With stresses accumulated over the weekend, and the prospect of a whole week of work ahead, people tend to show negative feelings during the first few hours of work on a  Monday. 

(I think it would be wise to refrain from giving bad news early on a Monday to avoid the resulting  negative emotions becoming angry letters printed on Weibo!) 

 2. Negative expressions and emotions are at their lowest levels on a Thursday. 

(If you’ve got to pick a day to give bad news, Thursday is your best bet.  It gives people time to handle the bad news on Friday and gives them a buffer period over the weekend to face up to it.)

I sent a ‘thank you’ note to the expert psychologist leading this research with some additional key learnings and received his feedback – “Go and check when the government releases bad news.”

Are consumers in the Spain and the U.S. similar or different when it comes to social media? How are brands engaging consumers through social media? How is the media landscape changing? We decided to take a look at several relevant topics from both a Spanish perspective and a U.S. (consumer-tech) perspective…

A Spanish Perspective from Madrid

 • What are the top three social networks that are most prevalent in your country (in a work environment)?

1. Facebook and Twitter – that’s it!

• How are businesses engaging consumers on these networks?

1. Businesses are hosting events on behalf of the brand and developing applications to increase traffic to branded Facebook pages. Contests have also become very common – fans participate to win an experience.
2. Twitter is only used by brands that want to engage early adopters/geeks like tech clients or super trendy brands.

• How do you use social networks in PR campaigns?

1. We are the ones who put together the campaign ideas. Almost all client businesses have a Facebook page so social media has become a key part of the overall PR strategy.

• How are media engaging on these networks (i.e. do reporters ask for story ideas, accept pitches on Twitter, FB, etc.)?

1. This is not very common. I would say about only about five reporters out of every 100 engage in this way.

• How is the media landscape changing?

1. Media is becoming more present in our day-to-day lives – magazines are no longer just magazines. Branding outside of the issue is giving a new experience to all consumers. For example, Vogue Fashion Night Out , Glamour shopping night out offer a new way for publications to bring their brand to consumers.
2. Journalists are starting to be audiovisual – adding more and more photos and video to traditional online coverage to tell the story.
3. Content doesn’t end in print – additional content can be found on the publication’s website including video interviews, more text, etc.
4. Publications already have Twitter, Facebook and even bloggers who co-write for the online version.
5.The focus of articles has changed. Articles now talk about blogs, Facebook and Twitter as well as new websites and new tendencies.
6.Readers are increasingly collaborating to create content. Newspapers include pictures from readers that show what they are talking about — http://www.elpais.com/blogs/

A U.S. (Consumer-tech) Perspective from the Silicon Valley

•What are the top three social networks that are most prevalent in your country (in a work environment)?

1. Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn (from a business networking standpoint)

•How are businesses engaging consumers on these networks?

1. Facebook has become the dominant site for companies are using to engage their customers (followed closely by Twitter). Companies use Facebook to host contests, offer exclusive discounts/coupons (only distributed through Facebook and Twitter), interact with fans, handle customer service inquiries, ask for feedback/ideas, etc.
2. Facebook and Twitter are being used more and more for customer service requests. Companies that are truly engaged monitor sites regularly and often have dedicated staff that post, review customer posts and respond.

•How do you use social networks in PR campaigns?

1. For many clients we develop complete social media programs – Facebook contests (using Edelman digital to develop tabs for the contests to run through), draft Facebook and Twitter content, etc.

•How are media engaging on these networks (do reporters ask for story ideas, accept pitches on Twitter, FB, etc.)?

1. Reporters are increasingly asking for sources on Twitter. Many (especially in technology) are open to being pitched through Facebook and/or Twitter.

•How is the media landscape changing?

1. Content is king – the more the merrier! Videos, photos, exclusive materials to post online, etc. are all appreciated and accepted.
2. Facebook is becoming a prime source of news…your friends care, why wouldn’t you?
3. One story, many ways to discover it. Stories are written, printed, posted online, tweeted, put on company Facebook pages, blogged about, etc. If you didn’t see the original, chances are you will see it somewhere (if it’s of interest).

When we began this exercise we thought that Spain and the U.S. would be a bit more removed from one another on the topics above – not the case! We are much more global than we originally thought. Consumers across the globe are beginning to act more and more similar and tactics for engagement are more or less the same. Now is the time to bring more GLOBAL interaction into our programs…