How Brands Are Using It
Of course, the way brands must use Weibo is a little different from the way individuals use it, but the platform serves a similar purpose. As Wen put it so eloquently, “You can promote your brand while getting direct feedback from people about their thoughts on what you are doing, so it brings you much closer to the public, just like how it brought me closer to friends who are an ocean away.”

Marc Jacobs, a pretty fun brand to follow on Twitter, launched a Weibo page fairly recently. The brand’s Director of Digital, Daniel Plenge told us they’re working on thoughtfully building a relationship with their target market. “We were initially focused on getting a verified brand status via Sina Weibo, and on curating quality content that reflects and complements the current lifestyle and fashion buzz in China.” He’s confident the brand’s Weibo presence will “increase brand awareness” and “provide us with a medium to connect better with our Chinese fans.”

On how they’ve approached Weibo differently than other social channels, Plenge offered: “Language, social interaction, cultures and traditions are all things that differ significantly and are taken into account when we post.” Other that, their strategy is essentially the same as with any social channel. They update 2-3 times per day. “We typically post detail shots from runway shows, behind the scenes footage from fashion shoots, street style featuring our pieces, as well as any interesting news, words from Marc himself, updates regarding the brand and company, and editorial spreads we love.”

Bagsnob’s Tina Craig helped Bergdorf’s launch their Weibo presence. She explained that theirs is “very product oriented” because they ship overseas, but they also want to introduce their brand to Chinese consumers for when they do come to New York. So, they’ll also talk about New York and share interesting photos that aren’t just about Bergdorf’s.

There are a few ways for fashion brands to use Weibo and DVF’s more personal method is more of an exception than a rule. “Whether it is a brand broadcast or interactive depends on the brand,” Hung explained. “The former is easy to manage, but interactiveness is less controlled and gets tricky. Normally, brands do not comment and interact that much.” She offers the following tips to fashion brands who want to build a successful Weibo presence:

1. Numbers do count. Try to update at least 5 times per day.
2. If corporate policy allows, do reply and interact with some comments.
3. Feel free to delete the negative, hurtful and untruthful comments. Your weibo is your turf, don’t let them play there if they won’t play nice.
4. Combine some offline events with online ones to unhand your fan group

Overall, it sounds like Weibo users like the idea of seeing fashion as more than just clothing on a rack, but the actual people and places behind it. They want something more interesting than a press release or a product shot.

How effective Weibo is in terms of driving sales remains to be seen, but given how interactive and huge it is, there are at least a couple of ways in which it can definitely be beneficial: increasing brand awareness and consumer research. It’s a place for Chinese consumers to comment and share their thoughts on an item of clothing or a campaign strategy, as well as a way for brands to learn what their target market is talking about and interested in.