Click on the invitation to request a seat! (or go to bit.ly/advancedfacebook)

Really pleased!

This image, taken from the video, shows me asking the gods of creativity to bring on more great ideas from our team.

Facebook also made a written case study in PDF form.

Over the last few weeks, I have been diving into the topic of F-Commerce, or Facebook Commerce. Much of this is in preparation for a training that our team will be doing with The Wall Street Journal in a few weeks.

Space is limited: wsj-asia.com/webinar

Here are the details, please join!

With 139 million users in Asia an more than 600 million user globally, Facebook is no longer just a social networking site. Facebook and other social networks have evolved into major revenue streams for some of the world’s most innovative brands

Less than one year ago Mark Zuckerberg said social commerce “is the next area to really blow up” and many brands have moved quickly into that space.

Fan counts are giving way to sales numbers, offering excellent case studies for a new industry. There are a range of tools, software, and analytics has sprung up, allowing marketers looking to convert fans to customers.

On Thursday, July 21 at noon Hong Kong time you can join Ogilvy and Mather’s award-winning Asia-Pacific social media learn for a 30 minute presentation on how brands have cracked Facebook as a way to grow their business.

As always in these lively sessions, we will take questions during and after the presentation.

Hosted by Ogilvy’s Thomas Crampton, Brian Giesen and John Stauffer, this session will focus on:

- How to Use Facebook as a Sales Channel;
- Case Studies from Brands are Using F-Commerce;
- Strategy for Building a Virtual Storefront on your Facebook Page;
- Resources and F-Commerce Vendors
- A Facebook Measurement Model.

Preview and participate in our research at: http://bit.ly/ogilvyasia

Register now for a seat at this FREE webinar, space is limited: wsj-asia.com/webinar

Marketing Communications Copywriter

Every day, Facebook is altering the way people communicate and share
information. 500 million people use Facebook to connect and share with people,
causes and brands they care about. The reach and engagement on Facebook
make it an outstanding marketing platform that, for the first time, enables
brands to achieve effective word-of-mouth marketing at scale. At Facebook, you
can play a key part in leading this revolution in marketing. In turn, we ensure
you have everything you need to focus on this mission and be invested in its
success.

We are looking for an experienced copywriter to be a part of our team. We want
copy that engages and yet still makes sense to all our customers – large and
small. As our copywriter you will develop content that makes its way directly to
businesses and agencies. This position requires a blend of writing talent, ruthless
editing, creativity and ninja-like project management skills. You must also ‘heart’
Facebook. This position is full-time and based in Palo Alto, CA.

Responsibilities:
Copywriting and editing across a variety of marketing touch-points
Copywriting and editing for US and Global marketing programs
Produce content for online marketing destinations
Develop keynote speeches and presentations
Edit content produced across the marketing team
Train/mentor others in your art
Produce copy for marketing collateral pieces
Manage relationships and projects with outside vendors
Manage content on Facebook Pages targeted to businesses and agencies

Requirements:

Minimum bachelors degree in English, Design, Journalism, Marketing or
related field
5-7 years professional experience
Previous background in Internet, technology (consumer or B2B) and/or
advertising

Experience working in a brand, communication or design agency
Experience producing advertising copy for multiple mediums
Can turn complex notions into easy to understand ideas that inspire action
Can sell your own ideas effectively
Can manage multiple projects simultaneously start to finish
Writing skills that transfer to all our customers and channels, from small
businesses to the world’s biggest brands
Can handle project lead-times of hours, days, weeks or months
Experience producing materials in Keynote, InDesign, Illustrator, Photoshop
and PowerPoint a plus
Bonus: HTML coding or video editing experience

NOTE: Please include writing samples or a link to a portfolio in your application

UPDATED April 9: Due to a Tweet from a highly credible source, China’s Internet is now echoing with unconfirmed rumors that Facebook signed an agreement with an unknown partner to enter China.

Overnight much has been written about the Facebook/China rumor, with speculation now focusing around a Baidu partnership. Bill Bishop added that Alibaba, Sohu and China Mobile were other possible partners.

Baidu, several people have noted, has not distinguished itself in social so far. Bill Bishop also Tweeted some well-needed skepticism: “don’t get 2 excited about a possible facebook deal for China. remember Myspace.cn w blue chip backers. a disaster here. long b4 us blew up”

Notable postings to watch include: Robin Wauter at TechCrunch, Kai Lukoff, Bill Bishop and Marbridge Consulting.

WRITTEN APRIL 8: Hu Yan Ping, manager and founder of Internet research center DCCI, Tweeted on Sina Weibo an hour ago:

“Facebook really is about to enter China, the agreement is signed. A domestic website will work with Facebook to create a new site. This new site is not interlinked with Facebook.com. Will this live or die in China?”

In the first hour the Tweet received 500 retweets and 178 comments.

Among the initial speculative comments:

– Many said the the tie up will be with portal giant Sina.

– Some suggested the tie up will be with search giant Baidu.

– Some joked that Tencent had really bought Facebook.

In recent months Mark Zuckerberg has met with founders of China net giants Sina, Baidu and Alibaba. Opening a Facebook equivalent in China seems about the only way to enter a market where the government has such a strong say on how the Internet operates.

Who is Hu? According to a conference bio: “Yanping Hu has engaged in China Internet research since 1995 and was the Chief Editor of China Internet Weekly.”
What is DCCI?
DCCI, which stands for Data Center of China Internet, is an Internet research company that does Internet monitoring, interactive marketing, measurement, analysis, optimization services.

Anyone from Palo Alto have other details (or a confirmation)?

This may be a clever move by Facebook. With one more local partner in Vietnam fighting for Facebook’s interests, the platform may be better equipped to avoid an all-out blockage.

Some points we discussed (as quoted by Jamie):

This tide of corporations flocking to the social media platform to capitalize on its massive user base, and Facebook’s push to promote its e-commerce capabilities through its Credits program, indicates the social network’s emergence as an e-commerce force, “[essentially] Facebook commerce or f-commerce”, said Thomas Crampton, Asia-Pacific digital influence director at Ogilvy.

He said in a phone interview that companies are increasingly questioning the need to have separate corporate sites when the bulk of interest and traffic from customers goes directly to their Facebook pages.

Like Evans, though, Crampton expressed reservations of companies going solo with Facebook pages due to the lack of ownership and control over the data it posts on the site.

Ogilvy’s Crampton added that “the days of a single corporate Web site are finished”. He pointed out that there’s a need for third-party platforms that’s where people are gathering and making decisions.

He suggested companies to “tie the two together” by capitalizing on the advantages of social media platforms while enjoying the security of having its own corporate site. A Facebook page, for example, can drive customer traffic to a corporate site, he noted.

Crampton urged organizations to tap all relevant social media platforms to connect with their audience. This is because Facebook may not necessarily be the right platform in markets such as Japan.

He also pointed out that businesses need not care whether a transaction was done on its Web site or Facebook page because, at the end of the day, they have “got a customer”. The “crucial part is in the user experience”, and firms should ensure this is available on all their online platforms.

“The corporate Web site will outlive Facebook,” he surmised.

Do you agree?

Similar curves were seen, for example, when the once-dominant Friendster died in Indonesia, Thailand and Malaysia.

In this case, I made a comparison to Orkut in India, since India and Brazil were the few major nations where Google’s social network dominated.

The data is drawn from Google Trends, an indicator of what people are searching for in given geographies. Over the last two years, Google Trends has been highly accurate and roughly 3 months ahead of data from comScore or other sources.

This may be because Google Trends would pick up on when people start talking about a social network before they actually sign onto it. If Brazil falls, as looks inevitable, there will be a handful of countries where rival social networks beat Facebook and all of them in Asia: Japan, Vietnam, Korea, China. (Did I miss any?)

Since trading my career as a globe-trotting correspondent to work in social media, I seldom seem to get time to take well-considered photographs. Amy’s party offered a great opportunity. Themed after Wong Kar-Wai’s “In The Mood For Love”, women wore a range of colorful qi pao with Hong Kong’s skyline as backdrop. Details on the 1960s fashions at the party here.

The party itself was great, but Facebook discussions continued long afterwards about the images. Just a few years ago, a fun evening like this would have been forgotten quickly. Thanks to social media, the event lives on cyberspace, enjoyed even by those who never attended.

Hardly a revolutionary thought, but for someone who spends a good deal of time helping companies use social media, it was great to see the power of self-publishing for individuals.

PS: This photo features Amy Wood and arts consultant Jonathan Crockett.

Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, in China this week, is perhaps working to grow usage of the site in China.

A zoom in on the Asia part of the map (below) highlights a few other interesting things:

1- There seem to be more Facebook users in Rangoon than Beijing or Shanghai (Both China and Burma/Myanmar restrict usage of Facebook)
2- People using Facebook in Pyongyang are connecting to friends in Seoul (surely a good thing!)
3- Hong Kong and Taiwan have quite a high level of interaction
4- Indonesia’s cartography is almost perfectly defined by the map, showing the intensity of Facebook usage in the country
5- Apart from India, usage of Facebook is concentrated on the coastlines

Any other observations? (See how the data was compiled on the Facebook visualization team‘s page.)

Those quoted in the podcase include:
Stilgherrian, a ZDNet Australia blogger who quit Facebook last week
Thomas Crampton, Asia-Pac director of 360 Digital Influence, the social media arm of Ogilvy
Alistair MacGibbon, former director of the Australian High Tech Crime Centre, these days running the Surete Group.

1- Identity. Facebook doesn’t want to be a website, but the identity infrastructure of the Internet. In time, Facebook has the potential to pose a threat to the governments in terms of identification documents. Imagine one day printing out your Facebook ID instead of using a passport.

2- Mark Zuckerberg controls everything about Facebook. As a direct reflection of Zuckerberg’s beliefs, Facebook is constantly trying to push the boundaries for privacy online. Zuckerberg generally believes that people’s perception of privacy will change over time.

3- Monetization. The lack of an actual business model has had people questioning whether Facebook really is a business – or just a phenomenon. The answer is found in Facebook’s corporate strategy, which is more concerned with improvements and growth than monetization. Once they are large enough, however, there will be many, many ways of monetizing the platform.

More insights into the phenomenon of Facebook can be found in David’s book “The Facebook Effect” that comes out in June.

Read the article here (behind paywall), but some key points raised:

A Facebook group with 84,298 members formed to oppose the pro-establishment DAB was deleted
Kelvin Sit Tak-O, who runs a discussion group that opposes the pro-establishment party, the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong (DAB), said his group’s Facebook page was shut down without notice on Thursday. The group had 84,298 members and was aiming for 100,000.

How were they deleted?
The closures could have been triggered by opponents flagging the group as “abusive” with Facebook administrators, Mr. Sit speculated. A spokesperson for Facebook was not immediately available for comment.

This is not the first time it has happened to Hong Kong opposition groups
Controversial Facebook groups were closed in 2008 in the run-up to the Olympic torch relay passing through Hong Kong, as Beijing grew especially sensitive to issues such as Tibetan self-determination. Christina Chan Hau-man, a student protester who waved a Tibetan flag during the torch relay and used Facebook to rally support, had her account closed days before the event. At the time, she said she was told her page had been closed because of “persistent misuse of the site”.

Ironically, this comes as Hong Kong government is pushing to engage citizens online, with a 3-hour online forum taking place today.

The deck was put together by my colleague Brian Giesen for our training session done in partnership with The Wall Street Journal Asia and GoToWebinar on Facebook for Business. It was a fun training with a very lively Q&A session that took questions off the Webinar and Twitter. Thanks for all who joined!

Below and from this link is a video of the full event (including the Q&A)

Oct 7th Facebook for Business from 360 Digital Influence on Vimeo.

First in a series of free online Webinars on Social Media presented in partnership by The Wall Street Journal Asia, GoToWebinar and Ogilvy Public Relations Worldwide. Join our next event! Next session announced on our blog: www.asiadigitalmap.com or email thomas.crampton@ogilvy.com

For those unfamiliar, digital items sold can be anything from a gift for a friend to a pimped-up avatar. Benjamin Joffe has done some interesting studies of the topic.

Will Asia export this business model to Facebook?