Tencent's openness to sharing the innovation practices in WeChat with students around the world, coupled with the research insights provide by LBS, will contribute to the advancement of global. Source: London Business School This case analyses the evolution of Tencent, now (in early 2019) one of the top 10 listed companies in the world. The case focuses on WeChat, the social networking. The number of monthly active users (MAU) of WeChat grew by 5.2% YoY to 1,225 million in the fourth quarter of 2020, according to Tencent's quarterly results. Smart device MAU of QQ decreased by 8.1% to 594.9 million. Tencent's fee-based VAS registered subscription grew 21.9% to 219.5 million in Q4 2020. Social Media Users are increasingly uploading personal videos and sharing them with friends.
Apple and Google could have to stop offering TikTok and WeChat on their app stores, and other parts of Tencent's massive tech and media empire could suffer too. Existing app users wouldn't. Tencent launched WeChat in 2011 with the goal of allowing users to send messages over the internet, much like WhatsApp. Since then, Tencent has added features like video calling, gaming, shopping.
I'm out in China at the moment and wanted to give you an update on what Tencent and their WeChat social media app say they are doing about counterfeits.
Wechat For Pc Windows 10
On the 29th October 2019, the Internet Social Platform Intellectual Property Protection Conference was held by Tencent in Beijing. Having signed an agreement with Beijing's Anti-Piracy Alliance, the company has produced its 2019 WeChat Intellectual Property Protection Report.
According to their report on WeChat's activities, since 2011 the platform has amassed 1.1 billion users. Unfortunately, it has also become rife with networks of counterfeiters offering goods to one another in a way that is more hidden than the e-commerce platforms which are commonly open to public scrutiny. In addition to private chat networks of counterfeiters offering fake products person-to-person, there are also widely reported fake accounts for official brands.
To work towards eliminating these problems, Tencent says it has put in place a 'three in one' IPR enforcement system which covers copyright protection, brand rights, and an infringement reporting system.
Tencent Wechat Work
How effective is WeChat's enforcement program?
We've been told that more than 280 brands have signed up to WeChat's program, and that since 2018 it's tackled 110,000 IP infringing listings and accounts. In addition, it's reported blocking 11,000 IP infringing listings being added per day!
On copyright, they claim to have tackled 150,000 enforcements since 2018.
Tencent claim that they've also worked successfully with brands to target counterfeit networks using the platform to offer fake goods. They report collaborations with brands and enforcement agencies on prosecutions against sellers of luxury fashion and alcohol.
What does the future look like?
Tencent report that their future commitment to protecting brands from IP infringement is going to extend to publishers and news organizations. According to a memorandum of agreement they have signed, they will institute a quick grievance mechanism for publishers to report copyright infringements.
While it's good news that Tencent are conscious of the need to work with brands to tackle WeChat's problems with counterfeits, this still feels like a small start. The numbers need to be much higher to really stamp out fakes on a network with more than a billion users. We'll be watching and keeping you further informed.
Main case
By Julian Birkinshaw, Enrique de Diego, Dickie Liang-Hong Ke
This case analyses the evolution of Tencent, now (in early 2019) one of the top 10 listed companies in the world. The case focuses on WeChat, the social networking and lifestyle app created in 2010 and now (in 2019) with more than one billion users. It describes the emergence and growth of WeChat and how it came to dominate large parts of daily life in China; it also provides insight into how WeChat operates and the current strategic challenges facing WeChat.
Unlike some case studies on Tencent and WeChat, this case is based on in-depth interviews with executives in the company and in particular Allen Zhang, the founder of WeChat. It therefore provides an in-depth understanding of how WeChat works internally, and it allows the instructor to draw out some general points about innovation in today's mobile-first digital economy.
On the 29th October 2019, the Internet Social Platform Intellectual Property Protection Conference was held by Tencent in Beijing. Having signed an agreement with Beijing's Anti-Piracy Alliance, the company has produced its 2019 WeChat Intellectual Property Protection Report.
According to their report on WeChat's activities, since 2011 the platform has amassed 1.1 billion users. Unfortunately, it has also become rife with networks of counterfeiters offering goods to one another in a way that is more hidden than the e-commerce platforms which are commonly open to public scrutiny. In addition to private chat networks of counterfeiters offering fake products person-to-person, there are also widely reported fake accounts for official brands.
To work towards eliminating these problems, Tencent says it has put in place a 'three in one' IPR enforcement system which covers copyright protection, brand rights, and an infringement reporting system.
Tencent Wechat Work
How effective is WeChat's enforcement program?
We've been told that more than 280 brands have signed up to WeChat's program, and that since 2018 it's tackled 110,000 IP infringing listings and accounts. In addition, it's reported blocking 11,000 IP infringing listings being added per day!
On copyright, they claim to have tackled 150,000 enforcements since 2018.
Tencent claim that they've also worked successfully with brands to target counterfeit networks using the platform to offer fake goods. They report collaborations with brands and enforcement agencies on prosecutions against sellers of luxury fashion and alcohol.
What does the future look like?
Tencent report that their future commitment to protecting brands from IP infringement is going to extend to publishers and news organizations. According to a memorandum of agreement they have signed, they will institute a quick grievance mechanism for publishers to report copyright infringements.
While it's good news that Tencent are conscious of the need to work with brands to tackle WeChat's problems with counterfeits, this still feels like a small start. The numbers need to be much higher to really stamp out fakes on a network with more than a billion users. We'll be watching and keeping you further informed.
Main case
By Julian Birkinshaw, Enrique de Diego, Dickie Liang-Hong Ke
This case analyses the evolution of Tencent, now (in early 2019) one of the top 10 listed companies in the world. The case focuses on WeChat, the social networking and lifestyle app created in 2010 and now (in 2019) with more than one billion users. It describes the emergence and growth of WeChat and how it came to dominate large parts of daily life in China; it also provides insight into how WeChat operates and the current strategic challenges facing WeChat.
Unlike some case studies on Tencent and WeChat, this case is based on in-depth interviews with executives in the company and in particular Allen Zhang, the founder of WeChat. It therefore provides an in-depth understanding of how WeChat works internally, and it allows the instructor to draw out some general points about innovation in today's mobile-first digital economy.
Learning objectives
- Tencent provides a good example of how a company swiftly changed its product mix to embrace disruptions in its core market; i.e. by moving from QQ as a PC-based product to WeChat as a mobile-phone based product.
- One of the reasons WeChat was so successful is that it was created by a separate team, operating at a distance and with enormous degrees of freedom away from its parent company.
- WeChat is a good example of a multi-sided platform, where users value having access to multiple services and advertisers, and vice versa. The case provides useful insights into how that platform was created.
- WeChat's internal process for innovation shows how to get the balance between bottom-up idea generation and top-down control right. It underlines the value of a visionary leader who has an eye for how all the parts of the product fit together in a coherent way.
Details
Publication Date: | August 2019 |
LBS Case Code: | CS-19-013 |
Topic: | Innovation and Entrepreneurship, Strategy |
Subjects: | Adaptive Innovation, Enterprise Agility, Social Networks |
Industry: | Media and telecommunications |
Geography: | China |
Pages: | 26 |
Format: |