  Many foreign companies see social media as a low cost marketing space for
entering the vast Chinese market. This is fraught with complexity, requiring an
understanding of social media behaviour, social media marketing, and the
Chinese context. In this exploratory pilot study, we develop the notion of
franding (online freinding of brands) as a unifying metaphor, and suggest that
effective social media brand strategies resemble effective online friend
behaviours. Based on this we develop some propositions and evaluate them
qualitatively in interviews with young Chinese consumers. Our study suggests
that conceptualizing brand social media relationships as a type of online
friendship can assist in harmonizing disparate literature and provide useful
insights for organizations operating in this complex area.
