China Learnings This Week

Short Video Platforms to Deal with Stricter Rating Measures

Problems with fan circles, such as irrational fan support among young fans, have become a cause of concern for Chinese politicians. Setting up a classification system for short video platforms is one of the options that has recently been offered.

‘First, we should tighten content management and allow the media to fulfil its social role,’ Chinese officials stated. Second, market restraints should be increased to aid the return to the rationality of the star-making frenzy.’

Netizens praised the move, pointing out that short videos have a significant influence on young people today, and that many videos on platforms like Kuaishou focus on attracting attention but neglect quality.

Last year, China saw certain limits come into effect when a notice was published in September 2021 forbidding TV and streaming platforms from running idol training shows – competitive reality shows that pit future stars against one other, with the victors going on to become China’s newest idols.

Link: https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/8t7aaiOj0j1OhHSIwffFqA 

 

How to Make Your Brand Go Viral: Branded Mini-Movies in China

Mini movies are short cinematic pieces created for a particular product or brand. The duration is generally shorter than 30 minutes. With the advancement of new media technologies, the branded mini-movie was formed, and it has become a popular marketing tool in recent years.

The purpose of a branded mini-movie is to disseminate information in order to demonstrate the brand’s values and messaging for commercial purposes. Touch and Go, a 90-second Cadillac commercial mini-movie starring Daniel Wu and released in 2010, is credited with being China’s first branded mini-movie.

Many brands have turned to mini-movie marketing as a regular activity in recent years, and some have even developed their own mini-movies. Alibaba Pictures, for example, was launched by Alibaba in 2014.

One of the most popular mini-movies was  What is Peppa? (啥是佩奇?) video with several hundred million views across streaming media platforms and the Chinese hashtag for #WhatIsPeppa was viewed nearly 1.5 billion times on Sina Weibo soon after its release.

Link: https://daxueconsulting.com/branded-mini-movies-in-china/ 

 

Video Account Has Added Useful New Features

  1. The service menu can be added to the WeChat Channels

Recently, brands that have received certification have been able to add a “service menu” capability to their home page, allowing for a straight jump to a mini-program.

At present, several WeChat Channels have added new service menus, and different types of accounts can customize the service setup. For example, the Channel 丁香医生 has two service sections and Huawei Customer Service features six service sections for contacting customer service, store inquiries. etc.  It can more effectively reach users and improve their convenience.

  1. Paid live-streaming rooms on WeChat Channels

Previously, Tencent NBA WeChat Channel hosted first paid live broadcast room, which carried NBA regular season content. The brand can create a paid live streaming room where users can choose what they want to view.

  1. The relationship between WeCom and WeChat Channels getting closer

WeCom added an option to send, receive, and watch the WeChat Channels live broadcasts, as well as send and receive live broadcasts from customers and publish them to customers’ friends’ Moments. The current version of WeCom now supports the direct push of the channel’s business card, which helps to gain exposure of the brand and increase the number of WeChat Channels followers.

Link: https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/VcPwp9lo_67PL1DG5Ck9kg

China’s Latest Updates 

China’s first virtual magazine: a read in the Metaverse

Huasheng Media and Alimama have joined the newest Metaverse campaign in China. On February 9th, the two partners released MO Magazine, a virtual magazine that replaces traditional reading experiences with an immersive virtual reality environment.

This new medium is led by Ayayi, one of China’s most popular virtual KOLs, and Jing Boran, a Chinese actress, giving both hit figures even more clout in China while tapping into the need for Metaverse.

The digital area offers a futuristic sci-fi atmosphere in which spectators can learn about human civilisation in a digital museum that also includes an audio narrative about the earth’s evolution. This makes reading more engaging because viewers are not only players but also builders of the digital world, with the ability to contribute to the virtual “human evolution.”

Meanwhile, 88% of readers who completed the virtual reading were given a Metaverse Spaceship ticket, according to reports. In just two days, the virtual magazine has received over 400,000 views, with interest building when hashtags related to the launch of the magazine began trending on Weibo, attracting millions of views on the microblogging site.

Link: https://daoinsights.com/news/chinas-first-virtual-magazine-a-read-in-the-metaverse/ 

Shanghai Bans Effeminate Men, Money Worship in Commercial Ads

Shanghai’s market regulator released a new advertising rule on Wednesday, barring the representation of male characters in romantic relationships, effeminate men, and philosophies like money worship in commercials, among other things.

Advertisements are also barred from promoting ideologies such as “money worship, hedonism, extravagance, and soft pornography.” Also, to ensure that their communication is up to date, brands must be informed of new national and city-level legislation.

Link: https://www.sixthtone.com/news/1009633/shanghai-bans-effeminate-men%2C-money-worship-in-commercial-ads 

Alibaba: Consumption Trends for the Lunar Year of the Tiger

According to the short report, the event boosted ice and snow consumption when it coincided with the Olympic Games: over 1 million people visited the Olympic Games’ Tmall shop, and the mascot Bingdundun was sold out in one night.

In addition, there was a large increase in the sale of ski and ice sports equipment.

The festival became digital, ushering in a slew of new trends: Tiger-themed goods, such as backpacks, t-shirts, and caps, are quite popular. The search rate has climbed to 874%, while the number of people purchasing pre-cooked meals has increased by 345% via the Hema app.

Link: https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/ZDzU2v1WeV7I42LkDeFSUg

WeChat: Keywords About the Lunar New Year of the Tiger

  • Over 5 billion WeChat hongbao with designed covers have been sent during the CNY, the total number of WeChat hongbao covers was 380 million.
  • The take out food order increased 13.8% compared to last year on New Year’s Eve and over 120 million people watched the Spring Festival Gala on WeChat Channels
  • The top 5 video themes on Moments were: fireworks, family reunion dinner, new year wishes, festival mood and count down
  • The Tiger welcome a new year was the top 1 WeChat status sticker 
  • Over 16 million coupons (over 800 million RMB) have been sent via WeChat pay and low carbon travel with Paperless boarding increased to about 82.3%

Link: https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/FmxWAT-R8no-Gy-PxoL-9w

100 Keywords Forecast 2022

On January 27, 2022, Wunderman Thompson, a brand of WPP, released the future 100:2022 – trends and changes to watch in 2022.

This analysis projects 100 developing trends in ten categories in 2022, using 100 keywords: “culture,” “technology and innovation,” “tourism and vacation,” “brand and marketing,” “food and beverage,” “beauty,” “retail and business,” “new luxury life,” “health,” and “work.”

Brand and marketing 10 keywords:

Brandalism: In recent years, the advertising business has made significant attempts to achieve carbon net zero in its own operations. Activists argue that this isn’t enough and that the efforts pale in comparison to the carbon footprints of some of the advertising industry’s biggest clients.

“No matter how good the idea is, as long as it is to promote high-carbon products, provide misleading green packaging for oil companies, or use high-energy advertising screens, it is a kind of pollution and bad advertising.”

Co-creative platforms: The next generation of digital platforms puts the user in charge of their own creativity.

The new digital platform gives users more creative control, allowing them to take more initiative. They are a new set of creative people who meticulously develop virtual imagery, human designs, and self-expression.

Superfollowers: New in-app subscriptions on social platforms are allowing digital creators to monetize their work.

In terms of media content, social platforms are expanding to provide more than just amusement. Enhanced features and incentives to attract, gain, and keep a large following are fueling innovation and enriching social media dialogues for both producers and consumers.

Twitter, for example, allows authors to earn $2 to $10 per month by tweeting to their super fans; Twitter is also exploring business accounts to provide companies with special settings to display relevant information.

Branded virtual worlds: Gaming is increasingly displacing traditional advertising mediums, particularly among younger people.

As firms and marketers enter into this burgeoning field, expect to see more branded virtual worlds.

Allow users to compete in the virtual arena while wearing Nike apparel and equipment. P&G invites visitors to a virtual world where they may learn about the company’s product line, play games, and learn; BMW has established a virtual world that includes the IAA mobile 2021 International Auto Show and an exclusive Coldplay concert.

Users may learn about products, shop, and even watch movies in the virtual world thanks to SK-virtual II’s metropolis.

Euphoric ads: In brand advertising and engagement, happy moments are keeping spirits up.

Consumers value themes of optimism and unity, and businesses that emphasise these communal characteristics generate favourable responses from customers and increase involvement inside their branded communities.

Headless brands: A new wave of consumption creation is changing from the company’s control of the brand to the collective decision of brand, products and services

Regenerative brands: Across industries, more brands are stepping up to commit to regenerative practices, supercharging their sustainability goals.

Brands are acknowledging that doing less harm to the planet is no longer enough. Regenerating the world’s resources and repairing the damage is now the ultimate sustainability stretch goal.

New company manifestos: To stay culturally relevant and engage with today’s employees, companies are altering their internal brand messaging.

Companies are undergoing a rebranding process that aims to modernise internal rules to match today’s needs and prioritise employees. The move implies a new degree of regard for employee happiness and well-being, which necessitates a new level of understanding and empathy on the part of employers.

Dreamvertising: Brands and advertisers are looking to guide our dreams. 

77% of US marketers say they plan to use dream tech for advertising purposes in the next three years.

Augmented ads: With augmented reality, brands are taking their digital advertising to the next level.

AR ads are ushering in a new era of digital marketing and advertising—ads that people want to interact with.

To entice digital consumers, major brands are embracing augmented reality technologies to boost their digital advertising.

Link: https://www.oceanskycruises.com/sites/default/files/2022-01/The-Future-100-2022.pdf

[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.

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.

How brands can leverage WeChat Index to measure their popularity on WeChat ?

Apart from brands having their own official WeChat accounts (which provides them with direct feedback from their consumers), the application has recently released a new feature called “WeChat Index” (微信指数) – to access this tool, simply type the previous Chinese keywords in the WeChat search bar.

 

WeChat Index is a trend projector showing the popularity of a brand upon searching the relevant keywords on the tool. The tool enables the brand to identify and understand their performance, once entering the keyword on to the tool the number of times the keyword mentioned in any of the articles within the app for the last 7, 30 or 90 days hits the screen in a trend graph.

 

The service is based out to be on big data analysis and mobile indexing, where it understands user behaviour patterns and other data aspects and characteristics to project the brand’s popularity and performance among the 898 million WeChat users in turn helping the brand to build and evolve with real time feedback from its consumers.

 

With WeChat Index as a listening tool, the app also had various ways of marketing for brand such as content promotion through articles on product reviews and information, advertising via moments and account ads. Linking the brand’s online website portal to their official account along with strategic partnership emphasizing the use of WeChat wallet are other ways of marketing on WeChat.

 

WeChat is much more just another instant messaging app, it has replaced the wallet for users in China. With the recent report by Tencent projecting 93% adoption rate to using WeChat Pay (in cities) majority of them reasoning it as to not carrying cash at the time of purchase. Addressing the change in consumer behaviour, WeChat enables their users to book hotels and restaurants, buy movie tickets and handle all viable transactions through the app. A clear shift or transition towards a cashless society is being welcomed by the country.