Alibaba & Big Data Services: Alimama

After doing financial services, insurance, now Alibaba decided to invest in big data services: Alimama is an Alibaba marketing platform. The firm held a meeting to discuss big data’s influence on marketing transformation.

Alimama wants to build a technology-driven big data marketing ecosystem, making more people to use and share data therefore achieving media advertising value and brand marketing effect.

The marketing system centered on DMP (Data Management Platform) will improve enterprises’ data usability more effectively. Precision marketing brought by big data would optimize media advertising value continuously.

In 2014, Alimama will focus on developing video and wireless resources, wireless marketing will be integrated into game, weather, food and drink and photo apps without interfering consumers. Alimama becomes a crucial link in Alibaba’s O2O wireless marketing plan.

Sources:

http://www.alimama.com/

Facebook is Getting Users but also New Data

With the deal, Facebook enlarge its user base in countries in many countries and particularly in Brazil and India where Whatsapp is very strong. Owning the messaging service will give Facebook access to additional data.

Facebook Users & New Users from Emerging Markets

Facebook will get more information & data on users in emerging markets thanks to the acquisition: Whatsapp is more popular than Facebook in Brazil, India & Mexico.

With the acquisition, Facebook aims for better engagement with users, in particular in emerging markets. If Facebook succeeds in maintaining and building high user engagement with WhatsApp, it could drive those users to Facebook where they will see ads, potentially targeted with data enriched by WhatsApp use.

Whatsapp Privacy Protection & No Advertising Policy

In a June 2012 blog post, Jan Koum explained why the messaging service doesn’t sell ads. “Your data isn’t even in the picture. We are simply not interested in any of it,” & “Remember, when advertising is involved you the user are the product.”

The privacy policy says the app doesn’t gather names, addresses, emails or location data, and the only contact information obtained from users’ mobile contact lists are contact numbers. The service also purges message content. “The contents of messages that have been delivered by the WhatsApp Service are not copied, kept or archived by WhatsApp in the normal course of business,” states the policy.

For now, WhatsApp promises the service will remain free of advertising. In a February 2014 blog post, the firm reaffirmed its policy: “And you can still count on absolutely no ads interrupting your communication”.

However, WhatsApp’s terms of service in the Android ecosystem requires users to approve access to lots of other types of information including geographic location, contacts stored on the phone, personal profile data from contact information, and device ID. Apple iOS users are asked to approve collection of contacts and allow push notifications such as alerts.

Data in general was not really WhatsApp’s focus but this could change…

Sharing data with Facebook

Facebook’s revenue streams, in part, depends on the massive storehouse of data it harvests on its users around the globe. Therefore, Facebook could decide to alter Whatsapp privacy policy or establish data collection permissions to facilitate sharing of user data with Facebook.

The main piece of data WhatsApp needs to enable its service is a mobile phone number. Facebook can use this piece of data for its services like Facebook and Facebook Messenger. Facebook may be interested in determining degrees of closeness among people. Many people have submitted their mobile phone numbers to Facebook and the firm could connect that information to data from WhatsApp to learn more about which users interact more often with one another based on how frequently they are in contact on WhatsApp.

Conclusion

The price of acquisition of Whatsapp is justified by the will of Facebook to keep the lead in global social network. For sure, Whatsapp has to improve the service to make it more social because the competition is strong. WeChat & Line are successful in Asia. Telegram has been strongly downloaded even more since the purchase of Whatsapp by Facebook. Whatsapp could decide to do money transferring and electronic payment and the app would be competing succesfully with WeChat (微信 in Chinese)

The coming months should be very interesting.

WeChat Value and Money-Maker

In 2011, WeChat (微信 in Chinese) started off as a messaging service, similar to WhatsApp but with more functions, and has grown rapidly into much more. We already explained that year 2014 will be the year of monetization for WeChat.

Free CRM Tool for Brands

At the moment, the application allows companies to send occasional, targeted messages to some users without charge. In the future, VALUE2020 predicts it might ask for a fee.

 

Payment & e-Commerce

The application integrates money-making services like online-payment functions into it. Customers can do their banking through it and a wealth-management service has just been launched. It is also promoting e-commerce: during a recent sale held exclusively on WeChat, Xiaomi, China’s hottest smartphone-maker, is said to have sold 150,000 of its latest model in under ten minutes.

WeChat payments are accepted in locations all over China. For example, you can find vending machine using WeChat. Instead of using cash to pay, the buyer opens WeChat and points its smartphone camera at a QR code. The app then reads the QR code, and charges the WeChat user for the price of the product. Then the product comes out.

 

 Conclusion

We can say this Chinese application is the most advanced messaging application in the world.

2014: the Year of Monetization for WeChat

The VALUE2020 predicts that year 2014 will be the Year of Monetization for Chinese mobile application WeChat.

In addition to exclusive sales on WeChat like the operation for Xiaomi smartphones, WeChat added in 2013 a store to buy stickers, and above a payment system which open the door to mobile commerce as expected by VALUE2020 back in 2011.

Last year, we predicted the introduction of mobile payment and continuous growth. Almost all the predictions are reality today and next year will be fascinating as well.

What to expect in 2014:

• Development of micro-payments, Tencent great strength
• Additional applications within the WeChat app
• Partnerships with big names (We cannot talk today ;-))

Alliance of Chinese Tech Giant with an Insurance Company

There is another change coming from Chinese Internet giants: Alibaba along with Tencent, another Chinese tech giant, and Ping An, one of the country’s largest insurance companes, has established a new online insurance company. The new company, in which Alibaba is the largest shareholder, is reportedly going to offer insurance policies tailored to the online economy, including virtual property and e-commerce. It will feature the combination of Alibaba and Tencent’s tech experience and marketing platform with Ping An’s expertise in structuring insurance packages.

This partnership illustrates how profoundly the Internet is changing established business practices in China and how powerful the country’s tech giants have become.

Sources:

http://blogs.wsj.com/chinarealtime/2013/11/06/aging-gracefully-chinas-internet-heads-to-launch-insurance-venture/

http://www.alibabagroup.com/en/global/home

http://about.pingan.com/en/index.shtml

 

 

 

 

WeChat in French / WeChat en français

Since the last version 5.0.3.17, the French speaking community, lovers of Twitter, are now able to use WeChat in French. The potential is huge in France, the country of Minitel, bip bop, Concorde… Believe it or not French people love technology and innovation. The Chinese app has 500 million users of which half active. The chat app is ranked second after Line (this ranking does not includes Facebook).

Depuis la version 5.0.3.17 mise en ligne le 24 octobre 2013, la communauté française, adepte de Twitter, est maintenant capable d’utiliser l’application mobile WeChat qui connait un succès phénoménal en Asie. L’application de messagerie instantanée a une base de 500 millions d’utilisateurs dont la moitié active, elle se place juste derrière Whatsapp et devant Line.

 

Laiwang, New Chat Application by Alibaba

Laiwang is a new mobile application now launched and will compete with wechat, whatsapp, wemeet, line, twitter, sinaweibo, and facebook. It is very similar to WeChat.

 

China: Market Share of Search Engines by Revenue for Q3 2013

EXCLUSIF: Facebook et Twitter autorisés dans la zone spéciale de Shanghai?

Facebook et Twitter ont été interdits en Chine continentale depuis 2009. Les réseaux sociaux influencent la population et pourraient jouer un rôle important dans les mouvements politiques. Au cours des dernières années, le gouvernement de la Chine a été préoccupé par l’impact de ces nouveaux médias sur la stabilité sociale.

Les nouveaux médias comme Facebook et Twitter, mais aussi le site du journal américain New York Times sont considérés comme des sites politiquement sensibles par le gouvernement chinois.

Recemment, la responsable des opérations de Facebook Sheryl Sandberg a rencontré Cai Mingzhao, le responsable du State Council Information Office à Beijing.

Les hauts dirigeants chinois, y compris le premier ministre Li Keqiang sont désireux d’utiliser les zones de libre-échange comme un terrain d’essai en matière de réformes économiques et financières importantes.

Selon South China Morning Post, le gouvernement de la Chine aurait pris la décision historique de lever l’interdiction d’accès à Internet à des sites américains au sein de la nouvelle zone de libre-échange de Shanghai. Les motifs de la décision seraient expliqués par la volonté de laisser les étrangers vivre, travailler et se sentir comme chez eux mais aussi d’attirer davantage d’investissements étrangers. A confirmer tant cette nouvelle serait un changement important.

La zone de libre-échange s’ouvrirait aussi aux offres étrangères de sociétés de télécommunications pour fournir des services Internet au sein de la nouvelle zone économique spéciale.

Pour rappel, fin août, le Conseil d’Etat chinois, a approuvé le lancement d’une zone de libre-échange à Shanghai, qui s’étend sur 28,78 kilomètres carrés à Pudong New Area de la ville, y compris la zone franche de Waigaoqiao, Yangshan, et la zone de l’aéroport international.

EXCLUSIVE: Facebook & Twitter approved in China within Shanghai free-trade zone?

Facebook and Twitter have been banned in mainland China since 2009. Those American services influence people and could play important roles in political movements. In recent years, the government of China is concerned about the impact of new media on social stability.

New media like Facebook and Twitter but also US newspaper website of The New York Times are considered politically sensitive sites by the Chinese government.

Recently, Facebook chief operating officer Sheryl Sandberg met Cai Mingzhao, the head of the State Council Information Office in Beijing.

Top Chinese leaders including Premier Li Keqiang are keen to make the free-trade zones a key proving ground for significant financial and economic reforms.

According to South China Morning Post, the government of China would have made the landmark decision to lift a ban on Internet access to American websites within the Shanghai Free-trade Zone. The reasons of the move would be explained by the willingness to let foreigners live, work and feel like at home but also attract more foreign investments.

The free-trade zone would also welcome bids from foreign telecommunications companies for licenses to provide Internet services within the new special economic zone.

As a reminder, end of August, the Chinese State Council, approved the launch of the free-trade zone in Shanghai, which spans 28.78 square kilometers in the city’s Pudong New Area, including the Waigaoqiao duty-free zone, Yangshan deepwater port, and the international airport area.