You have completed Level 3. I hope you feel good about that.

Welcome to Level 4. Very impressive.

For Level 4, there are again 5 learning goals.

 

 

We are going into other ideas in this level. And shifting out of business models and more into how to engage with increasingly connected customers.

All concepts are in the Content Library, where you can see my overall digital strategy framework. There is also a Company Library, where you can search by company for articles and podcasts.

 

Learning Goal 11: CDCN, Social Media and Influencers / KOLs

• Digital tools are upending how businesses engage with consumers. And how consumers engage with each other. Businesses are increasingly trying to engage and sell not to demographics, but to customer networks. The China consumer digital network is the biggest example of this.
• The key learning goals are:
  • The China Digital Consumer Network
  • Social Media and Influencers / KOL
  • Taobao Live and Live Streaming
• Listen and read:
  1. Chinese Consumers Are the World’s First +1B Person Digital Network
     1. Write 3 paragraphs in your journal about how consumers in a network can influence each other about companies and products. What is the most powerful action?
  2. The Coronavirus Quarantine Economy Is Supercharging Taobao Live & the China Digital Consumer Network (Jeff’s Asia Tech Class – Podcast 19)
     1. Write 3 paragraphs in your journal about how the China’s Digital Consumer Network is utilized by influencers, livestreamers and social media. What is the most powerful technique for each of these in activating the network?
  3. My Alibaba “E-Commerce + Entertainment + KOL / Influencer + Social Media” Super Chart (Daily Lesson – Jeff’s Asia Tech Class)
     1. Write 3 paragraphs in your journal about how influencers, live streaming and social media can supercharge ecommerce platforms. Give an example in an industry such as luxury, groceries or fashion.
  4. Why the #1 Business Solution to Coronavirus in China Is Live Streaming, Especially Taobao Live (Pt 1 of 2)
     1. Write an answer to: How can a traditional retail business respond to quarantine? What digital strategies are likely to work?
  5. Covid-19 Drives Live Streaming. But Private Traffic Pools Are the Solution. (Daily Lesson – Jeff’s Asia Tech Class)
     1. Private traffic pools give merchants (and content creators) direct access to customers, outside of the platform. But what are the limitations of focusing on private traffic and not using a platform’s network?

 

 

Learning Goal 12: Basics of Tiktok / Douyin and Audience-Builder Platforms

• This section was part of the first steps. But it’s worth looking at them again, now that you have built up more expertise.
• Digital platforms come in several types (marketplaces, payment, innovation, etc.). This learning goal is about audience-builders, which are platforms that connect content creators with viewers. And which increasingly tie to marketplace platforms for selling products and services.
• The key learning goals are:
  • Basics of TikTok / Douyin
  • Digital Platforms: Audience Builders
  • Network Effects
• Listen and read:
  1. What Is the Secret of TikTok / Douyin’s Success? (Jeff’s Asia Tech Class – Podcast 20)
     1. Write an answer to: What are the two main reasons TikTok became so successful so fast?
  2. TikTok vs. Spotify vs. Tencent China Literature: Which is More Powerful? (Daily Lesson – Jeff’s Asia Tech Class)
     1. Write: Three paragraphs on how TikTok and Spotify and YouTube are different as audience-builders.
  3. WeChat and TikTok’s Starkly Different Visions for Digital Information Flows (pt 2 of 2)
     1. Write: Three paragraphs on different examples of how Facebook, WeChat and TikTok actively manage information flows to users.
  4. Alibaba’s Youku Tudou and an Intro to Audience Builder Platforms (Daily Lesson – Jeff’s Asia Tech Class)
     1. Write: Three paragraphs about how audience builder platforms can have greater engagement with connected consumers than marketplace plaforms
  5. Tencent’s China Literature Biz, UGC as IP, and a Really Clever Audience Builder (Daily Update – Jeff’s Asia Tech Class)
  6. Oracle Is Saving TikTok From Itself

 

Learning Goal 13: Virality and Word of Mouth

• These are specific tools to utilize the increasing connections between consumers. They can be particularly powerful in collaboration and communication services.
• The key learning goals are:
  • Virality and Users as Sales Agents
  • Word of Mouth, Sharing and Users as Marketing Agents
  • The China Digital Consumer Network
  • Social Proof and Social Pressure
• Listen and read:
  1. What Is the Secret of Zoom’s Success in Video Communications? (Jeff’s Asia Tech Class – Podcast 21)
     1. Write 3 paragraphs on the difference between virality and word of mouth. When do users act as marketing agents and when do they act as sales agents?
  2. Virality at Zoom vs. Pinduoduo; Selling by Word of Mouth and Social Pressure (Daily Lesson – Jeff’s Asia Tech Class)
     1. Find three examples of companies that use virality. And three that rely on Word of Mouth.
  3. Jeff’s 6 Digital Superpowers (Jeff’s Asia Tech Class – Daily Lesson / Update)
     1. Write 3 paragraphs about how virality compares to other digital superpowers. Which superpower would you most want to have in early growth phase vs later mature markets?
  4. The Next Big Trends in Chinese E-Commerce (Jeff’s Asia Tech Class – Daily Lesson / Update)
     1. Where do you think group buying could be applied and grow as a viral mechanism in ecommerce? Luxury? F&B? Food delivery?

 

Learning Goal 14: Collaboration, Coordination and Standardization Platforms

• Digital tools on the B2B have been slower to take-off in China / Asia. Although the coronavirus situation has accelerated this. On the B2B side, the big digital platforms are usually about communication, collaboration and standardization. This is one of the 5 types of platform business models I talk about.
• The key learning goals are:
  • Collaboration Platforms
  • Standardization Network Effects
  • B2B Customer View: Necessary vs. Critical vs. Strategic
• Listen and read:
  1. What Is the Secret of Zoom’s Success in Video Communications? (Jeff’s Asia Tech Class – Podcast 21)
     1. Answer the question in the podcast. What have been the 1-2 most powerful factors in Zoom’s rise? Virality? Network effects? Scalability?
  2. How Epic Games and Game Engines Are Disrupting Media / Entertainment. (Jeff’s Asia Tech Class – Daily Lesson / Update)
     1. Write 3 paragraphs on how Epic’s game engine enables collaboration and coordination. Which are the user groups? How are they different in gaming where players interact (i.e., Fortnite) vs. media (i.e., Mandalorian) where it is watched?
  3. How Should Huawei Have Responded to the US Tech Ban? Part 1 (Jeff’s Asia Tech Class – Podcast 14)
     1. Huawei wants to be the infastructure and technology standard for 5G. The layer that everyone builds their business upon. Listen to the podcast and answer the question.
  4. 3 Ways the Coronavirus is Supercharging Innovation in Digital China 
     1. Covid has accelerated the usage of video conferencing and work collaboration tools in China. Companies like DingTalk and WeChat Work saw big increases in users. What tool do you think is most important in terms of building a collaboration platform? Video conferencing? Project management? CRM?

 

Learning Goal 15: The Basics of Didi and Switching Costs

• This section was part of the first steps. But it’s worth looking at them again, now that you have built up more expertise.
• Marketplace platforms for services are different from those for products. And they can vary between differentiated services like hotels and restaurants (Ctrip and UberEats) and standardized services like transportation. Didi is a good example of the latter. They can also go from simple services (this learning goal) and more complicated ones (e.g., medical care).
• The key learning goals for you in this section are:
  • Basics of Didi
  • Switching Costs

• Listen and read:
  1. Why Didi Needs Driver Switching Costs. Uber Too (Jeff’s Asia Tech Class – Podcast 23)
     1. Just a review. Repetition helps. No assignment.
  2. A Day in the Life of a Didi Chuxing Driver (Pt 1 of 3)
     1. How is the gig economy different in China / Asia versus the West? Uber and Lyft lose tons of money. Will this be different in developing economies?
  3. Didi Is Rapidly Building Out Driver Services. This Is Really Important. (Pt 2 of 3)
     1. Driver services began as added value to drivers on the primary platform between drivers and riders. But it is increasingly becoming a separate marketplace platform between merchants and drivers. Would these two platforms be complementary? How could they help each other? Lower driver acquisition costs? Data sharing? Capital?
  4. How Didi And Ride-Sharing Are Different in Brazil: My Visit to 99 HQ. (Pt 1 of 3)
     1. Why did Didi finally go international, but only in Brazil and Mexico? As learned from Uber, ride-sharing is mostly a local business. Was it a defensive move? Or are there advantages to being a multinational ride-sharing company?
  5. WeChat Work and Why Enterprise Tools Will Be Very Different in Mobile-First China
  6. Economies of Scale and Switching Costs According to 7 Powers (Jeff’s Asia Tech Class – Podcast 64)

 

You should try to complete these in about 2-3 months. And you probably want to do some of the Learning Goals twice. Speed is not important here. What is important is to build up your understanding. So repetition can be really helpful.

When you are ready, go on to Level 5.