Message from Charles Gillespie

[charlesg]

Hello folks,

This is my first and may be my only post in the venerable GPWA forums. I will include a few points of information on various things:

1. For those of you who don't know me, I am the founder/CEO of World Sports Network (WSN.com), a chinese sports betting information and fantasy betting games provider. We offer content fundamentally similar to Covers.com except for the Greater China market. I live and work in downtown Shanghai.

2. IGN is planning on publishing a followup article to my presentation, Effective Interactive Marketing Solutions to Mainland China, from this year's AiG Conference. I have submitted this article to IGN and expect it to be published this week. I have requested that they publish the article as one of their freely available articles but it remains to be seen if they will do this. If not, I will a link to the article on my company's blog: http://blog.wsn.com/.

3. For those of you who missed my presentation at AiG, please feel free to grab the PPT slides from here:
http://blog.wsn.com/wp-content/uploa...lespie_wsn.pdf

4. I have long abandoned what was my first gaming affiliate site and would like to sell the site to someone who has the time to effectively monetize it. See www.startgamblingonline.com. I have not run any numbers on the property but contact me if you have any interest in making an offer and we can take it from there. You can contact me via this online form: http://www.wsn.com/contact.php (Select "Public Relations / Media" and the message will come to me), or by voice: +1 919.636.5753 in Shanghai - GMT+8.

Very Best,

Charles

[CityGuard]

Hi Charles, I am glad you posted this information and hope this is not your last.

Michael was at AiG but I unfortunately was not able to attend. I am looking forward to the article.

[matthewt]

Hi!

What's Shanghai like as an English speaker? Do you speak Chinese?

I am an online casino webmaster, living in California. My bet is that I only make of fraction of what you're making. What do people think about your form of business? What kinds of criticism do you get from the people who work under you? Could you be open and honest?

[charlesg]

Marketing to the Mainland
by Charles H. Gillespie

A smart way to approach the world’s largest Internet market, mainland China, is to realize that it is a totally distinct and separate beast from your mother’s Internet.

A network map showing the international Internet and the Chinese Internet would look like a Venn diagram with two circles that barely touch. In reality, only a handful of low-capacity data lines controlled by the state-owned telecoms connect the Chinese and the international Internets. This concept of multiple, distinct Internets flies in the face of the common perception of a single World Wide Web, and is a rare example of globalization being stopped cold in its tracks.

While these technical barriers present our industry with some of its greatest challenges, the cultural differences between the Chinese Internet and its international counterpart are just as significant.

For starters, the Chinese consume the Internet in different ways than Europeans and Americans. Internationally, the Internet originated as an information resource where people could get answers easier than driving down to the courthouse. This theme has perpetuated and Westerners’ use of the Internet remains squarely focused on information-related tasks.

The latest survey from the Pew Internet & American Life Project shows that only 35 percent of American adults play games online. By contrast, according to the China Internet Network Information Center (CNNIC), the official source of information on the Chinese Internet, almost 60 percent of Chinese Internet users play casual games online. Additionally, Chinese Internet users are much younger than their Western counterparts with over half under the age of 25.

While the Chinese use the Internet for many of the same reasons as the rest of the world, the reality is that they use the Internet primarily as an entertainment medium. Low cost of Internet access, heavy youth Internet penetration and a lack of entertainment alternatives have overwhelmingly driven online content toward entertainment.

In the Western world, people chiefly use real-world situations to expand their networks and meet new people. While the Internet has started to change this a bit, Westerners still engage social network service (SNS) providers by bringing their offline network of relationships online -- into the SNS -- rather than vice versa.

Within China, policy and customs have driven people to adopt the Internet as their primary social playground. The Chinese create online relationships much more often than Westerners; furthermore, they tend to bring these online relationships into the real world more frequently. These trends have spurred massive engagement in many social media channels.

QQ, China’s dominant Internet player in everything from casual games to SNS and instant messaging, has 150,000 more registered users than the estimated Internet population. The average Chinese Internet user has more than one QQ account. These extra accounts are usually alternative online personalities that people adopt depending on their moods.

Additionally, the Chinese have taken to online forums to voice their opinions on just about everything. In a country where it is not easy to get your message out, the Internet, particularly online bulletin board systems and blogs, have given people the opportunity to make themselves heard.

What does all of this mean for interactive marketers? The differences between the Chinese and Western Internets are significant. Marketers need bodies on the ground in mainland China that are on their team. While always challenging, none of China’s barriers to entry are insurmountable. Success does require a few essential ingredients, not least of which is solid understanding of how the Chinese consume interactive media.

FROM THE EDITOR: Tell us what you want to read about in IGN.

About the Author
Charles H. Gillespie is the chief executive officer of World Sports Network, the Shanghai-based interactive media company that manages WSN.com, a China-facing sports destination. In 2005, Mr. Gillespie assembled top executives in Chinese interactive media and sports technology to found WSN. With over five years experience in I-gaming, Mr. Gillespie has strategically positioned WSN to take advantage of China’s large internet population and surging interest in all things related to sport.

[matted]

Off topic... But a 919 area code is my neck of the woods!

[charlesg]

@ matted

My business partner and I are both from NC and UNC grads. Phone is vonage

[matted]

Ahhhh - nice to see some local (formally local) gambling affiliates. I hardly hear of any gambling affiliates near me! I went to school up North and moved here after graduation. Much better weather than Syracuse! If you ever come back to town, give me a ring!