VW ads and BBS responses to them, from Word of Mouth blog

The mainland's 80 million bloggers wield an influence that can seem even bigger than their numbers—as some unfortunate companies have learned

What marketing executives would ignore a market with a customer base the size of Britain and Canada combined? Not many, if they wanted to keep their jobs. But that is exactly what many executives in China are doing when they ignore the power the mainland's 80 million active bloggers and online bulletin boards, or BBS, users can exert on their companies' bottom lines.

Even marketing heavyweights like Volkswagen and Häagen-Dazs and politically connected private-equity firms like the Carlyle Group have been no match for Chinese bloggers. These three outfits have all stumbled when faced with the fast-paced, unfettered growth of China's blogosphere, where discussion of product launches and marketing campaigns runs rampant...

The article tells the stories of online nightmares for Volkswagen, Häagen-Dazs and the Carlyle Group.

You can find more information about similar corporate nightmares at Sam Flemming's Word of Mouth blog. Two recent relevant posts:

- Planes, trains and automobiles: VW Polo GP too elitist for Chinese netizens
- Crisis 2.0: China vs. the West

Flemming owns CIC Data, a company that monitors BBS boards and blogs for corporate clients.