COLOGNE \u2013 If you want to understand what future social commerce will be, go to China. That\u2019s the advice of Havas Global MD Dominique Delport.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think that we are on the verge of a massive transformation in the way brands are trading with people directly,\u201d Delport says during a break at the 2017 DMEXCO<\/a> advertising and trade show.<\/p>\n He cites as an example a consumer packaged-goods company doing business in China, where the social platform WeChat<\/a> was released by Internet services provider Tencent<\/a> in 2011 and has become a way of life for many young people.<\/p>\n \u201cThe first thing they tell me is, \u2018Oh by the way, we\u2019re doing fifty percent of our business through social networks.\u2019 WeChat is not only one of the most impressive social networks, it\u2019s also a massive social commerce platform,\u201d Delport says in this interview with Beet.TV.<\/p>\n \u201cSo if you want to understand what social commerce will be, go to China. They\u2019re already there.\u201d<\/p>\n Peer-to-peer recommendation \u201cis stronger than top-down advertising,\u201d Delport adds. The bottom line for brands: they need to understand influencer marketing, content marketing and social comments \u201cbecause all of these three components are working together.\u201d An \u201cinfluencer\u201d doesn\u2019t have to be at the awareness level of a Kardashian.<\/p>\n \u201cAn influencer is someone like me. I\u2019m talking about everyone who can publish a video and push advice or the test of a product or service. This the way people will buy,\u201d says Delport.<\/p>\n Recent surveys show that 50% of \u201cvery young consumers\u201d would love to buy things on social networks with just one click, according to Delport.<\/p>\n \u201cWe are in an organic world now that needs organic marketing. This is exactly what we preach. You need to invent the tools and the measurements for that world where owned assets, earned assets, shared assets and paid assets have to work altogether.\u201d<\/p>\n