Community website Renren.com is sprinting ahead to build brand
awareness among Chinese markets across the Asia-Pacific region.
The initial advertising blitz - worth about US$3 million - is
rolling out in the form of TVCs, print and outdoor in China, Taiwan,
Hong Kong and Singapore.
The campaign, produced by Leo Burnett, is aimed at communicating the
benefits and features of the site, including the homepage builder and
the chatroom, to Renren.com's target market.
Renren.com VP of marketing and advertising sales Richard Robinson said
there is now an increasing sense of urgency among dot-com companies to
build faster.
"We are now in a sprint and it'll be interesting to see who crosses the
finishing line and who falls by the wayside.
"It's do or die because many dot-com companies are building brand
awareness in a matter of only a few months. Any longer than that and
you'd be in danger of being overtaken by a rival and missing the boat
altogether," he told MEDIA.
The current campaign winds up at the end of February and it will be
followed very quickly with a second wave of advertising to highlight new
benefits and features.
Mr Robinson said that Renren.com's users typically use nicknames, such
as Astro, Superman, Magician, to identify themselves online.
"What they are doing is becoming someone else. The result is that the
TVC and print executions employs a fantasy concept," he added.
The ads have as their main visuals an astronaut, a rock star, a
white-haired ghost and a pig figure from Chinese mythology.
The main focus of the campaign is on China and Taiwan: which has been
allocated 45 per cent and 30 per cent of the advertising budget
respectively, with the remainder earmarked for Hong Kong and
Singapore.
TVCs, print and outdoor ads have been produced for China and Taiwan, and
for Hong Kong and Singapore, the campaigns consist of print and
outdoor.
There is also a call to action message embedded in the ads: "Go to the
Renren.com website for a chance to win a Philips mobile telephone".
Mr Robinson said a heavy focus is being placed on China because the
numbers of Internet users in the country are expected to be among the
fastest rising of any country.
However, he said that outdoor ads - on buses and TV walls at
high-traffic areas such as in shopping malls - have proven to be the
most-effective.
"When people register onto Renren.com we ask about how they heard about
us and most ticked outdoor ads," said Mr Robinson.
