Battenhall — Sina Weibo prepares for IPO

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February 25, 2014 — Published by: Anton Perreau

Sina Weibo prepares for IPO

Last week's news of WhatsApp's purchase for $19bn it seems other social networks are preparing to raise funding for their future. Next up is Sina Weibo - the Chinese social network which is planning to go IPO on the New York Stock exchange later this year with a valuation of up to $7bn - $8bn according to The Financial Times.

For some time the Battenhall team have been working on campaigns which focus on key Chinese social networks like Weibo and WeChat. The experience of Weibo is much like a mix between Facebook and Twitter, with insight into how much a post is liked, or even read by it's 'concerns' (followers). The social network, 71% owned by the Sina corporation is hoping to raise around $500m in the second quarter of 2014.

Image from Quartz

However, as The FT explains, this listing doesn't come at the best time for Weibo - active users of microblogs in China fell by a tenth between 2012 and 2013, according to a recent report by a government-affiliated research group, thanks to increased competition from WeChat, and government censorship. Censorship is rife in China, with the government omitting anything alluding to slightly liberal language, as well as enforcing strong rules that all members must sign up with their actual names - hidden behind branding of 'The Real Name Social Network'.

Sina Weibo's future has become the battle ground for a war between Alibaba and Tencent. The fate of Weibo rests on how that battle plays out and essentially how some of Weibo's key competitors are funded. We'll be keeping a close eye on the final valuation of Weibo, which no doubt has been increased by the recent acquisition of WhatsApp. To read more about this news head to The Wall Street Journal.

October 2, 2013 — Published by: Anton Perreau

Speak social media? Speak Mandarin? Battenhall is hiring

Whilst predominantly English-speaking social networks like Facebook and Twitter boom across the western hemisphere, one huge market has set in stone a precedent for their own humongous social networks - China. As you'll have seen on our Battenhall Social Media Monthly Report, Chinese social networks are really important to us. We are looking to expand our team, with Mandarin and Cantonese speaking social media communications consultants on both a permanent and freelance basis. Here's the job spec:

在Battenhall我们致力為眾多國際和本土的客戶提供不既有的公關和社會網絡服務。本公司正尋找數名自由或全職的成員加入。申請人必需能以流利的中文和英文溝通，俱有豐富的社會網絡知識，包括了解Hashtag, Trend, Page 和 Group的分別。工作經驗不是主要，重點是對公關行業感熱情。

Prospective candidates need to know their way around the Internet and and the social web as it looks to us here in the UK, they must have a working knowledge of Mandarin and / or Cantonese – being both written chinese and verbally proficient. And they'll need to know their way around the websites and social networks used by other Mandarin and Cantonese speakers.

Ideal candidates are always social media savvy, alongside this a background in social media or PR is a plus. Most importantly we want people who are passionate about working with Battenhall to apply. You can read a bit more about us here. To outline some of the key factors, we've added a job spec on our 'join us' page - head over there to read more and when you're ready get in touch.