China’s Weekly Learnings

Xiaohongshu’s registers new trademark ‘Laohongshu’, eyeing Chinese elders

Xiaohongshu is now focusing on the elderly in China, a profitable customer segment that is mostly untapped.

More lately, elder generations have witnessed a surge in internet usage, becoming more tech-savvy as a result of the pandemic, to the point that a new wave of influencers over 55 has emerged. In the next few decades, China’s elderly population is expected to exceed 500 million. They are the generation that is catching up on social media and becoming more visible, particularly on short-form video platforms. 

Xiaohongshu justified the registration as a defensive measure after discovering that many other parties were attempting to register the Laohongshu trademark ahead of time. As a result, a defensive registration has been implemented to keep malevolent squatters at bay.

It all began when Youyou Video, a new app, was released in June, around the same time as the trademark application was filed. With features such as bigger fonts, voice remarks and feeds that include tips on age-reducing clothes and makeup, the app displays a focus to the middle-to-elite-class senior female users.

With the Chinese population rising and more people entering the digital world, Chinese elders are becoming a new market that Internet companies like Xiaohongshu are vying for.

Link: https://daoinsights.com/news/xiaohongshus-new-trademark-registration-approved-eyeing-chinese-elders/

Crackdowns in live streaming in China: how brands should approach it

Key takeaways:

  1. As the Chinese government promotes the ‘Common Prosperity’ concept, the government is cracking down on live streaming.
  2. Foreign brands should pay greater attention to the government’s live streaming laws and alter their tactics accordingly.
  3. Brands should ensure that their collaborating influencers follow the regulations of the government, or at the very least that the influencers’ personal behaviours do not have a substantial impact on them. Viya had to pay a record-high sum for tax evasion despite being the “live streaming queen.”
  4. Based on the restrictions issued by the government, e-commerce platforms are likely to tighten their regulations. Although the guidelines are still in the works, they are expected to limit live steamers the ability to use the platform in the way users are used to. They should, for example, speak Mandarin and dress more appropriately.

In China, crackdowns on live streaming do not always imply that the government is opposed to it. Rather, it means that businesses should ensure that their live streaming strategies are in line with, or at the very least do not contradict, government rules.

Link: https://daxueconsulting.com/chinese-livestreaming-crackdown/

How Do Brands Encourage User-generated Content On Bilibili?

Bilibili began as a video platform for anime, comics, and games. It is now one of the most widely used video platforms among Chinese Generation Z. It’s also known for having a very active community.

UGC is one of the most engaging mediums that companies can use (user-generated content). Because Bilibili users respect authenticity, high-quality user-generated content (UGC) can quickly go viral, allowing the business to reach thousands of new prospective customers, stimulate product development, and more.

Link: https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/phbEIoaoBg7Ipik8F5YF_g

Tapping into the explosive growth of personalized beauty in China

In traditional offline beauty stores, sales associates greet customers, try to understand their needs and make product recommendations.

That has changed now. People may now access massive amounts of information with a few easy clicks at home thanks to modern technologies. Algorithms aid in the limiting of the knowledge pool, while other users’ ratings and reviews on social media assist in determining whether a product is truly effective. COVID merely accelerated the process.

They are guided by a variety of diagnostic tools, artificial intelligence (AI), widgets, applications, online quizzes, and online experts. However, in many cases, none of the items is actually individualised. The technologies under discussion are more concerned with speeding up the decision-making process of consumers than with meeting their actual demands.

WeChat’s powerful ecosystem provides a full data collection, branding, marketing, selling, and brand refresh cycle.

Link: https://beautymatter.com/articles/tapping-into-the-explosive-growth-of-personalized-beauty-in-china

WeChat Red packet cover

New shape: from rectangle to different other shapes

New ways to get: the users can get them from their Moments. 

Users who receive Moments ads with the label “shake out surprises” can shake and receive the red packet cover. If the sponsors give you “one more” chance, you can share the cover with one of your friends and they will receive one as well.

Link: https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/3JzCpTEFbG7rQWPyvnVfow

Bilibili 2021 Top 100 uploaders

Bilibili selected 2021 Top 100 uploaders by their professionality, influence and creativity and will hold a ceremony this Friday at 19:00. It’s a good opportunity to know why they are outstanding from the uploaders.

Link: https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/5PooWe308n67FhdD9fmW9Q

Wecom 2022 new product launch conference summary

At the new product launch in 2022, Wecom mainly talked about three major points. 

  • The first point is to connect the consumer market and bring businesses closer to their customers, as evidenced by the channel and WeChat customer care. When watching the video, watching the live broadcast, or on the main page, users can add Wecom personnel to the video number. WeChat customer service means that it can be customised whether it is in the official account channel mini programme or outside of WeChat.
  • The second point is to establish a connection between upstream and downstream partners. Companies from upstream and downstream can join the corporate address book and contact each other at any time. People from various companies can collaborate to produce papers that can then be shared with a single click.
  • The third point is that enterprise Wechat has partnered with Tencent to establish a new office function called Tencent document Tencent conference. Working on, viewing, and commenting on online papers is convenient for a large group of individuals. WeChat allows users from outside the company to collaborate on documents. Internal and external colleagues, partners, and other meetings can be invited to online meetings. There are further features like meeting minutes that can be sorted into text records automatically.

Link: https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/5OKKBjZ5TMvg437xOQU0oA  

China’s Weekly Overview

Does Your Brand Need a Weibo Profile?

Many international companies begin their Chinese social media presence with a WeChat official account, but having a Weibo account can also help them gain awareness.

Weibo posts are visible to more users and non-followers than WeChat posts because of a distinct feed structure. However, as Weibo is one of China’s oldest social media sites, new platforms are appearing all the time. It’s best to assess target audience behaviour and then invest funds and effort into the most relevant combination of social media, depending on the target demographic.

Link: https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/VGp5wjodQJ_tDkHhgelQFQ 

 

Bilibili Marketing Guide: E-commerce, KOL Promotion & Ads

Bilibili, a famous youth-oriented video streaming and sharing network, is thought to be the most similar to Youtube. However, Bilibili’s distinguishing characteristics and distinct community culture set it apart from its western equivalents.

The bullet comments mechanism, which displays all incoming comments on the screen, is one of Bilbili’s most noticeable features. Chinese viewers prefer watching films with live comments because it gives them a greater sense of belonging and sharing. This sense of belonging contributes to the platform’s growth: Bilibili is used by one out of every two young people in China. Young individuals under the age of 35 make up 86% of the 202 million Monthly Active Users on the network.

Engagement rates also benefit from this feeling of community: users spend more than 80 min per day on the platform, generating 4.7 billion interactions per month. Bilbili now offers official KOL collaboration, e-commerce integration and ads solutions.

Link: https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/QFI34y5qjRJ7OiPK22rLgA 

 

Brands invest in Metaverse 

From Bloomberg, the scale of Metaverse will be 800 billion USD in 2023. In this double 11, there are not just real products, we also meet some new friends from Metaverse. Small holds an online exhibition called the Metaverse Art show, users can search in Tmall the keyword and then enter in the Show. 

For example, Burberry launched a digital elfin, which is unique and in limited edition, you can buy this and get a limited scarf. Tmall also collaborated with the other 9 brands and released Musical Instruments. One brand created just one instrument and the users can buy it.

All these NFT products were made by the Ant Chain, the Alibaba blockchain supplier. They design, produce digital products for the brands, and also provide the cochain and distribution. 

Link: https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/JMCsZPs61DmGYA6gD3pP-g 

 

Kuaishou brand advertising multi-form help live marketing

  • Eye-show: Excellent exposure drainage — Open screen Eyemax straight to the broadcast room. Eye-show is mainly suitable for strong brand promotion, new product launch and other scenarios. In the past, high-quality entry data was favoured by advertisers.
  • Feeds – show: Video streaming native scene – a single column of information flow straight to the broadcast room. The product form can meet the marketing demands of the brand-customer information flow directly to the live broadcast room. At the same time, based on the basic ability of the brand information flow, the material can be saved to the customer’s personal home page for a rich promotion, laying a foundation for the subsequent content marketing.
  • Simple broadcast room: Fully immersive live streaming experience –A single column of information flows straight to the studio and then escalates. Brand information flow new live fully immersive style — advertising style simple studio and through the show live broadcast real-time images in a single stream, achieve the purpose of life for heating, the real-time image lead to the recommended flow, further shorten the user to watch live path, native display optimization experience, and expand the clickable region into the air.

Link: https://wemp.app/posts/b7ea071a-ed55-457e-96fe-f9aa69b7d1a0 

 

 

 

 

This Week In China

TikTok limits younger users to 40 minutes a day in China

Following the stepped up efforts to protect minors from the internet’s risks by the Chinese Government, TikTok created a new app for its younger audience. The new app, called Xiao Qu Xing or “Little Fun Star,” offers a personalized feed of short videos in areas ranging from science to literature and art history.

Users are allowed to like clips but not upload or share them. This youth mode limits daily usage time to a maximum of 40 minutes for those aged under 14, while banning them from accessing the app from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. With this new set of restrictions, Chinese authorities want to tackle addiction to online devices.

Link: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-09-20/bytedance-s-new-tiktok-for-chinese-kids-sets-strict-user-limits

 

China passes sweeping data privacy law, to go into effect Nov. 1

The law, which is one of the most stringent in the world on personal data security, will make it more difficult and expensive for Chinese tech companies to acquire and utilise customer data. The complete wording of the final law has yet to be disclosed, but according to Xinhua, it will provide users the ability to turn off targeted advertising. It could lead to a ban on tailored advertisements.

Link: https://www.cnet.com/tech/services-and-software/china-passes-sweeping-data-privacy-law-that-goes-into-effect-nov-1/

 

You Can Now Use All Links on WeChat!

Tencent said on Friday that users can access external links in the one-to-one chat scene after upgrading to the WeChat latest version of ,  because Chinese industry authorities ordered internet leaders including Alibaba and ByteDance to open up their platforms to each other.

On the premise of ensuring information security, users can access external links in the one-to-one chat and it will also establish an external link complaint portal, which allows users to report illegal external links. Continue to develop group links and provide users with discretion but now Tiktok and Taobao can not jump directly in the service account article.

Tencent also stated that it will actively cooperate with other internet platforms to jointly implement the special guidance of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, explore the technical possibilities of smoothly using WeChat services on other platforms, and achieve further interconnectivity.

Link: https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/2BPntlnbCy-OLeyXzyUSHw 

 

Your China Digital Weekly Update

Why Bilibili Is the New Beauty Battlefield for Chinese Gen Zers

Bilibili is favoured by millennials and Gen Zers, who together account for 81% of the platform’s user base. The volume of beauty-related content increased by 120% in 2020, according to Bilibili’s annual performance report, while vlogger fanbases in that area expanded by 120%.

Bilibili.com, which features vloggers’ makeup instructions, cosmetics testing, unboxing videos, daily makeup advice, popular makeup copy, and more, has turned into one of the most prominent mainstream beauty marketing platforms in recent years. By June 2021, the number of beauty companies on the site had surpassed all other official account categories on Bilibili.com, with a year-over-year increase of 2,050%.

Brands like Estée Lauder, Chanel Beauty, and Shiseido are already using this platform to promote their campaigns. Shiseido boosted its profile by hosting a live streaming session with celebrities and routinely invites Gen-Z influencers and celebrities to generate product-related content to boost web traffic. Lancôme, a French cosmetics company, collaborated with Bilibili KOLs to create content to promote its renowned products through campaigns and online engagement.

Link: https://jingdaily.com/bilibili-beauty-battlefield-gen-z/?utm_source=Jing+Daily+Subscriber+List&utm_campaign=f3d8479f5b-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2020_03_12_06_39_COPY_01&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_8dec01cd8d-f3d8479f5b-408268421

 

5 Reasons ‘New Luxury’ Is the ‘New Normal’ in China

‘New Luxury’ = the refined democratization of luxury. Premium products usually have a high price tag. They can, however, reassure customers that New Luxury is frequently still affordable. 

Chinese consumers are attracted to brands that feel unique and special. This uniqueness is at the heart of New Luxury, and customers want stores like these to embody innovation.

Consumers seeking aspirational lifestyles are more inclined to reject New Luxury brands that appear to be designed for the public.

Link: https://jingdaily.com/new-luxury-china-starbucks-apple/?utm_source=Jing+Daily+Subscriber+List&utm_campaign=32135e7ef3-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2020_03_12_06_39_COPY_01&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_8dec01cd8d-32135e7ef3-408272405

 

China Bans Effeminate Men and Abnormal Esthetics From TV


What Happened?
It’s the final curtain for China’s “Little Fresh Meat.”  On September 2, Chinese officials announced that “sissy men and other abnormal esthetics” would no longer be broadcast on television, encouraging broadcasters to “promote excellent Chinese traditional culture” instead.

Why should global brands care?
For a long time, luxury brands entering China have relied on these effeminate faces and their massive fan bases for publicity and sales. With no clear definition of what falls under the Party’s definition of “sissy” (Is it clothes and makeup? Is it certain types of behaviour?), ambassadorial appointments will become more tricky.

Link: https://jingdaily.com/little-fresh-meat-sissy-men-china/?utm_source=Jing+Daily+Subscriber+List&utm_campaign=32135e7ef3-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2020_03_12_06_39_COPY_01&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_8dec01cd8d-32135e7ef3-408272405

 

WeChat new feature for iPad

When iPad users upgrade to WeChat 8.0.13, they will gain a new feature: the ability to split the screen in half. When iPad users upgrade to WeChat 8.0.13, they will gain a new feature: the ability to split the screen in half.  With this update, they can also browse files, web pages and other content while chatting.

To easily “split-screen” and turn one into two while exploring files, web pages, video numbers, and other information on the iPad, simply touch the split screen icon in the upper right corner of the page.

Link: https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/RUU3r00BIX-pWGoB2i-aYQ

 

Nespresso interactive layout

It’s very impressive when opening the article and slide to discover more hidden interesting messages.

The article introduces their various coffee drinks; viewers can view the entire message by clicking on the centre.

Link: https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/ncjOR17GAZhvNiqSs_8GHw

 

Chocapic Nutri-Game

Nestle developed the H5 to market its Chocapic product. The H5’s general design is reminiscent of an old game console and is quite similar to the pixel look of Super Mario Bros., and playing the H5 brings back many memories. The game screen’s protagonist is Chocapic’s product mascot, and there are numerous wheat ears in the scene.

Link: https://www.chocapic-nutri-game.fr/

 

Layout for recruitment

To guide the recruitment of many enterprises, a lifelike simulation of personal moments of friends page was created, where the picture can be clicked to enlarge, the music can be clicked to play, and the link can be clicked to enter without a pop-up window.

Link: https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/EPHvdAiuu0gLyK4Rwkqe_Q