Chinese Market Updates

Chinese internet search giant Baidu plans to launch a ChatGPT-style bot in March

Despite having a heavily censored domestic internet that is largely cut off from the rest of the world, ChatGPT has captured the attention of Chinese internet users. On regional social media, many people posted screenshots of the AI bot having unexpected conversations.

The application from Baidu will at first be integrated into its web search services. The combination will enable users to obtain search results in the form of conversations, similar to the well-known platform from OpenAI.

https://www.scmp.com/business/article/3208420/chinese-internet-search-giant-baidu-plans-launch-chatgpt-style-bot-march-source-says

 

China B2B Marketing in the Year of the Rabbit

 

Since trade shows and in-person meetings had to be canceled due to lockdowns and other circumstances, businesses had to find new ways to reach their target audiences.

New trends emerged:

  • Using trade publications for KOL marketing
  • Experiments with video and accelerated their WeChat content creation efforts using the WeChat Channels video platform,
  • Businesses can connect remotely with their clients and business partners thanks to webinars.
  • Digital-only trade shows and hybrid trade shows.

With COVID-19 still a major concern and vaccination efforts ongoing, it is more than likely that digital channels – especially newer channels – will to play a significant role

https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/RG2S6bSwLJnQxwPz0Vvhdg 

 

Data report of LV, Chanel, Burberry, Prada and other official account in 2022

 

Service numbers include FENDI, Prada, HERMES, Chanel, Louis Vuitton, and Burberry. In 2022, Chanel has the most mass-produced items (totaling 72), while Louis Vuitton has the fewest (totaling 35), more than twice as many as the latter.

The opportunity is effectively not wasted because the service number can be pushed four times per month and all brands can send in groups three to four times per month.

Burberry, which has the second-highest number of mass-market articles, has the most likes and views, with totals that are 269.95% and 429.05% higher than the benchmark FENDI, respectively. Chanel, which has the most articles published in groups, won the challenge with 180.54% more reading than the benchmark, FENDI. 

However, Louis Vuitton, which has the fewest articles published in groups, has launched a counterattack, placing second overall among the six brands in terms of reading, liking, and viewing.

It can be seen on the mass distribution time distribution histogram that luxury brands tend to push more frequently in the second half of the week, occasionally on Saturday, and not as much on Sunday.

LINK: https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/0bWYZZhJePNMCMHSEWiuBA

 

Spring Festival shoppers shift to 3 new trends in post-covid China

 

This year, the burgeoning young generation of consumers has turned away from the traditional idea of New Year’s goods  such as red gift boxes filled with roasted nuts and candies and biscuits in favor of contemporary trends in the post-pandemic era.

First and foremost, healthcare products were in high demand among Chinese people of all ages as health became a priority for everyone for reasons that were unmistakably related to the pandemic. 

The “firework” bubble gun machine was another popular item during the Spring Festival because most cities continued to impose stringent regulations on all kinds of fireworks. Young customers took an immediate liking to the firework substitute that closely resembled the sound and sight of the genuine article.

Thirdly, young shoppers this year exhibited a strong desire for distinctive and fashionable Chinese New Year gift boxes.

https://daoinsights.com/news/spring-festival-shoppers-shift-to-3-new-trends-in-post-covid-china/ 

 

Tencent carves out niche with new Brand Discovery mini program

 

Tencent Huiju will be replaced by WeChat’s new mini-program “Brand Discovery,” which will be introduced soon. 

The new program will concentrate on information aggregation and act as a hub from which users can find other smaller programs and get suggestions. Users interested in further browsing or purchasing a particular brand’s products will be redirected to the relevant mini program of that brand or shopping site.

Ma Huateng, the CEO of Tencent, has hinted that the company plans to take advantage of the popularity of short-form video content in the future, perhaps by using it to increase brand awareness and traffic to suggested products on the Brand Discovery mini program. 

https://daoinsights.com/news/tencent-carves-out-niche-with-new-brand-discovery-mini-program/ 

 

The male beauty market in China is developing fast and should not be overlooked

 

From 2016 to 2019, retail sales in China’s male beauty market were significantly higher than the global average (13.5% versus 5.8%).

59.50% of the total are between the ages of 18 and 25, while 21.30% are between the ages of 26 and 30.

Male beauty consumers can also find information on websites like Xiaohongshu and Douyin.

The top online stores for male beauty are Taobao and Tmall.

In China’s male beauty market, daily moisturizing creams and facial cleansers are crucial.

https://daxueconsulting.com/male-beauty-market-china/

 

 

[UPDATE] Xiao’e Pinpin, a WeChat mini program

Xiao’e Pinpin joins Tencent’s eCommerce efforts letting WeChat users buy lifestyle products through WeChat

Tencent rolled out Xiao’e Pinpin, a new mini-program meant for social commerce on WeChat that Tencent has made available to all of its 1.1 billion users.

The mini-program went online on 29 April. It carries a giant catalogue of lifestyle products, including lipsticks and iPhones. This play marks Tencent’s most recent move in China’s e-commerce sector. Previously, Tencent had invested in tech companies like JD.com and Pinduoduo, as well as supermarket chain operator Yonghui.

Xiao’e Pinpin uses a “content feed” to showcase its merchandise. It shows one merchant’s product details which are followed by goods from a different vendor. Two slots are reserved at the top of the feed for special promotions. As of now, the mini-program hosts more than a 100 shops. Goods on sale are uncategorized, without any search functions. At the moment, it is unclear how the mini program’s algorithm determines the order in which products appear on feeds.

How the TOP 500 Official WeChat Accounts are performing ?

WeChat is fast growing as one of the biggest social platforms and is an essential part of the daily life in the Chinese market. Brands are increasingly using this platform as a way to leverage their goods and services in China. The market being highly competitive, for brands to make it to the top 500 WeChat accounts is a great feat!

Every month, top performing WeChat accounts are tracked and these are the findings. NewRanks tracked the performance of a pool of the most popular accounts between April 2016 and April 2017 and these are the top highlights for this analysis.

1. Average article views have reduced

In a short span of a year, WeChat added over 170 million monthly active users. However, the analysis found that there has been a decrease in the average articles viewed by the users. In fact the number saw a decrease of 5,257 views per article. An important influencer of this number may be the increase in the official accounts on WeChat. This means the users have more options to choose from and the official accounts are becoming increasingly competitive. On the other side, the number of likes to articles has increased by 138 per article.

2. Ranking of the Top 500 Accounts

An analysis of the top accounts from April of last year indicate that 75% of these top accounts have seen a decrease in their ranking compared to last year. Only 21% of these official WeChat accounts moved up in ranking in 2017. The decrease can be attributed to official accounts investing more in creating quality content over quantity of articles. Also, there is the viral paradox where you can’t predict the viral aspect of the platform.

3. Ranking Changed drastically for brands

Among the top 500 WeChat Accounts in April 2016, only 274 accounts managed to retain their position as being in the top 500. Even the most popular accounts have had to revamp their content considerably to keep up with the changing trends in social media.

A brand to note here is, Global Times (环球时报) that went up 428 ranks in a period of a year. Another brand to note is TripAdvisor that lost 15,584 points.

4. The shifting trend from traditional media to WeChat Accounts

Among the top 104 performing accounts 24% of the accounts are media related. This is a huge indicator that Chinese media is shifting the trends from traditional media to the new age media. Media accounts have the advantage to report live and get the information out faster with this platform.

5. Original Content Linked to Increasing Ranks

The percentage of original content increased from 8.7% to 11.2% in a year. The interesting thing to note is accounts that produce more original content have an increase in ranking as compared to accounts with decreasing ranking that produce 9% less original content. The publishing of audio content has also increased 4.8% as compared to 2.1% in 2016.

As the competition gets more intense, marketers have to increasingly develop unique content strategies to match the ever fast pace of the social platform.

Wechat: Kitchens specialist FRANKE chooses KRDS Shanghai as its agency on record

FRANKE, the world leader in comprehensive systems for domestic kitchens and for professional applications in food service that promises to bring confidence, convenience and comfort into people’s lives through innovation and quality service. Headquartered in Aarburg, Switzerland, the Group employs around 9’000 people at 68 subsidiaries on 4 continents, and exports to over 100 countries. Having made a decision to enter social media to reach out to their followers better, they had their official WeChat account launched in 2015.

 

WeChat being one of the frontrunner in China’s social media environment and a platform service where brands create a unique relationship with followers, content has to echo users’ daily concerns and bring value to them.

 

This is why FRANKE chose KRDS Shanghai as its social media agency on record for the year 2017-2018.

 

FRANKE appreciated the high quality of the proposal which reflected KRDS Shanghai’s deep knowledge of chinese netizen habits, its ability to react rapidly and make sure the brand stays on top of social media trends.

 

“We felt very confident when we met KRDS team, we trust their expertise and we value the fact that they listen to us. We feel we are a priority for them” – Pansy ZHANG, Marketing Director, Franke China

 

Aurélien FERRIE, General Manager Greater China at KRDS added “We are very proud of welcoming FRANKE as a new client. Being in charge of their social media and digital strategy and its execution, is great responsibility and one more opportunity for us to keep demonstrating our expertise and the value of our proposition“

 

Besides being a social agency, KRDS Shanghai is also capable of producing designs matching FRANKE’s Swiss premium brand standards thanks to its award-winning studio. These designs will include animations such as gifs, cinemagraphs aimed at increasing engagement among the brand’s followers.

 

Incorporated in 2013, KRDS Shanghai, the social and mobile agency has been ideating and producing digital content and social media campaigns, on Weibo and WeChat, for many local and international clients, to name few Club Med, Louis Vuitton, Air France, BNP Paribas, Biotherm and the French International Soccer Team.

Cannes Lions opens a WeChat account

Cannes Lions, the International Festival of Creativity has launched its official WeChat account recently, reaching out to the Chinese attendees of the festival as they can now be more involved in participation with the account communicating in their local language. This launch comes out just in time as China’s creative community renews China Day, dedicated to Chinese creativity and innovation following its success in 2013.

Having identified WeChat to be the appropriate and an engaging forum to reach China’s creative communications industry, an exclusive Chinese customer service team has been set up to assist people in buying the passes through the WeChat account.

“China is a vibrant and dynamic creative economy and a highly valued market for Cannes Lions. This felt like the right time to provide this new WeChat service dedicated to the country. We’re delighted to work with Tencent Social Ads to ensure we can engage and support our Chinese attendees like never before,” said Terry Savage, Chairman of Cannes Lions, who will also be available for interaction on their official WeChat account.

The Chinese award entries and the attendee numbers at the Cannes Lions have seen a rapid growth in recent years. With China being an crucial part of the creative communication at the festival, China Day 2017 look to seize the spotlight for the attention of the global industry for ideas and inspiration.