Their strengths lie in their deep understanding of Chinese consumers and cultural trends, their ability to execute campaigns and produce new product lines at an incredible speed, and their willingness to experiment with new content formats and platforms.

International brands still very much have a place in the market; however the growing strength of Chinese brands is forcing them to step up their game, stop being complacent, and put in increased effort to understand Chinese consumers and Chinese culture.

Here at China marketing Insights, we see this as a good thing!

This report is a collection of Chinese brands that we have been following and shares some of the key tactics each brand has used to become successful.

We are currently finishing up Part 2 of this report which will feature several industries including food & beverage, health & fitness, pets, toys, multibrand retailers, automobiles and more! 

The post Chinese Brand Report Part 1: Fashion & Beauty appeared first on China Marketing Insights.

COVID19 is going to have a very positive impact on Chinese domestic tourism. One destination that is super trendy on Chinese social media platform Xiaohongshu right now is Zhongwei in Ningxia province, which has been given the nickname China’s Route 66 and China’s Morocco.

The images are stunning and if I hadn’t read the titles and captions I would not have known they were in China. I predict this is going to be a hot spot for this year’s Autumn Festival and National Day holiday.

Check out the video to see why Zhongwei earned these nicknames!

The post Ningxia Zhongwei “China’s Route 66” and “China’s Morocco” Trending on Xiaohongshu appeared first on China Marketing Insights.

Today’s episode features Chloe Reuter, Founding Partner of Gusto Luxe, to share findings from Gusto’s new report on the state of China’s luxury market post COVID-19 along with some of her personal observations being heavily immersed in Shanghai’s luxury community.

Some of the ideas we discuss include:

• Is the revenge buying that we hear about in the news real? Or are luxury consumers actually being conservative with their spending?
• Is health the new wealth?
• Why COVID-19 has made sustainability a greater concern among HNWI
• What are the hottest domestic travel destinations among luxury consumers?
• Dior’s take on the e-commerce live streaming trend

Guest: Chloe Reuter

LinkedIn

Report: Love of Luxury Remains Strong Among Shanghainese Women – But Conscious Consumerism Here To Stay

Email: chloe.reuter@gusto-luxe.com

The post The State of China’s Luxury Market Post COVID-19 appeared first on China Marketing Insights.

Pinduoduo is one of China’s largest e-commerce platforms and an industry leader who helped popularize the concept of social commerce in China. Yet while it initially became famous for its wildly popular group-buying feature, Pinduoduo has since evolved into much more than just a group buying platform. 

In this episode Ada Yang, Head of Social Community at Pinduoduo gives us an overview of the platform, and then shares several other features and initiatives you many not have heard of such as:

• A virtual farming game where users can earn real fruit sent to their home for free
• Its relatively new live streaming feature and how PDD is iterating on the popular live streaming trend
• Its New Brand Initiative that leverages user data to help export factories who have been hard hit by COVID and the negative geopolitical situation to create entirely new brands aimed at the domestic market, guiding them through product development, branding, and marketing.

Guest: Ada Yang

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/pinduoduoinc/

Twitter: @pinduoduoinc

The China Ecommerce Podcast

Medium

Learn more about the topics we discussed:

• Pinduoduos effort to help farmers with technology and alleviate poverty in rural areas
• New Brand initiatives 
• Shanghai vintage brand Campaign 
• MIT Tech Review article on PDD C2M model
• An article about Duoduo Live

The post Understanding Pinduoduo’s Evolution, with Ada Yang appeared first on China Marketing Insights.

In this episode, Demi Ping, Sector Head for Retail and E-Commerce at the China-Britain Business Council, shares how the CBBC helps British brands of all sizes and industries succeed in China and some of the key marketing tactics they having been leveraging this year to help brands stay afloat through COVID-19.

Some of the topics we cover include:

• Which British product categories are most popular among Chinese consumers
• Why are brand stores such as K11, The Beast, and SKP an important stepping stone for many brands
• The CBBC’s annual offline event The Great British Brands Festival and how they brought it online during COVID-19 for the first ever UK Super Brand Day on Tmall
• Her experience working with brands on e-commerce live streaming and Chinese influencer campaigns and her tips for driving results

While Demi and the CBBC obviously focus on British brands, her insights are highly relevant for any foreign brands. I particularly liked the way that the CBBC organizes collaborative events and campaigns among multiple British brands. This is a great idea for brands that are newer to the market and have limited resources. 

Guest: Demi Ping

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/pingping618/

Email: demi.ping@cbbc.org.cn

The post Podcast: Marketing British Brands to China appeared first on China Marketing Insights.

Many brands work with celebrities in China hoping to leverage the fan economy. But just having an idol’s face appear in your advertisements isn’t always enough. Recently Colorkey, an up-and-coming Chinese cosmetics brand, ran an interesting campaign with its ambassador Wang Ziyi that did a great job of really engaging Wang’s fans.

Colorkey created a special gift set for his birthday on 713. There are only 713 sets and if they sell out by 713 then Colorkey will run big-screen ads in three major shopping centers. The set comes with several lip glosses which are Colorkey’s hero product, as well as a limited edition ring with little hearts on it that Wang Ziyi supposedly drew. Plus a poster and keychain.

It was sold at only ¥399 ($42) which is nothing to a diehard fan. Giving fans this opportunity to support their idol and give him a birthday gift many fans would spend the money anyway without expecting anything in return.

I wrote an article a while back for Jing Daily about this topic and how brands are leveraging fan groups so take a look if you’d like to learn more.

Check out the video to find out more details about how Colorkey leverages fan economy!

The post Colorkey Leverages Fan Economy With Limited Edition Set For Ambassador’s Birthday appeared first on China Marketing Insights.

Following a small food safety issue in June 2019, Nayuki Tea has begun publishing WeChat posts voluntarily showing issues that they have found at various stores (specifically naming the stores) and how they will handle or have handled the problem.

They thank customers for being tolerant and forgiving them for making these mistakes, as well as thank them for their support. I found this to be really brave, truly transparent, they showed some things customers could have noticed but other things were in the back of the store and customers would have never known.

They come across as very diligent and proactive. Its a smart move for brands in the food and beverage space, watch the video for more details!

Nayuki article.

Link to article about original food safety issue.

Learn more about Nayuki tea: A Visit to One of China’s Most Popular Tea Shops, Nayuki Tea

The post Trust & Transparency: Tea Brand Nayuki Publishes Food Safety Report Article appeared first on China Marketing Insights.

Lately everyone has been talking about the new TV show Sisters Who Make Waves 乘风破浪的姐姐. Numerous hot topics on Douyin and Xiaohongshu are dedicated to the show and in this video I share how fashion and beauty brands can join in the conversation!

After every episode people are posting about the outfits that the contestants are wearing, showing the outfits and where the item came from – even their shoes and jewelry! Fans also noticed that many of the contestants have similar style makeup so there is a trending topic on XHS teaching each other how to recreate that look.

Both of these are something that fashion and beauty brands can both easily leverage. Even if your brand’s clothing isn’t featured in the show, if you have items that are similar you can share your own version of the look.

The post How Brands Can Leverage Buzz Around Hot Reality Show “Sisters Who Make Waves” appeared first on China Marketing Insights.

Hi everyone and welcome back to another edition of The Pulse, where I share a collection of noteworthy China marketing campaigns and content trends.

I cover quite a few topics in this July episode including:

• Trending domestic travel destination in Ningxia nicknamed “China’s Route 66” and  “China’s Morocco”
• The massive growing demand for edible Bird’s Nest and the two brands that ranked 1 and 2 in Taobao’s Pharmaceuticals category during this year’s 618 shopping festival
• My tips for how brands can leverage the super popular reality show “Sisters Who Make Waves”
• Some examples of how brands besides Perfect Dairy are using private traffic
• Nayuki Tea’s very transparent food safety article
• A great example of how brands can be leveraging the fan economy done by C-beauty brand Colorkey
• How top live streamer Viya is expanding her presence to other social platforms such as Douyin and Xiaohongshu and capturing people’s hearts

I filmed videos to go along with this episode and provide more visuals. I have linked to the ones that are already published and as we edit the rest of them I will continue to link them up here!

The post The China Marketing Pulse: July Edition appeared first on China Marketing Insights.

Although Chinese consumers are known for their love of online shopping, offline events remain an important part of brands’ marketing mix, allowing consumers to immerse themselves in the brand and experience it with all of their senses. What’s more, attending the latest pop-ups and exhibitions and taking selfies to share on social media is a major form of social proof for China’s young consumers.

Despite the importance of offline events, it’s not something we have covered much on the podcast, which is a bit ironic given my background in event marketing. So today I invited on my former Edelman colleague Ryan Whelan, now founder of event marketing agency Pennyfields, to share his top tips for executing offline events in China.

We cover a wide range of topics, including:

• Costs
• Production quality
• Timelines
• Restrictions + regulations
• Common issues when dealing with VIP guests
• Working with Chinese press, WeMedia & KOLs

And more!

Guest: Ryan Whelan

Website: https://pennyfields.co/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rywhelan/

The post Top Tips for Executing Offline Events in China appeared first on China Marketing Insights.