June 2022 - The WeChat Agency

Selling On WeChat: How Brands Can Do and Is it Better Than Other E-commerce Platforms?

June 28, 2022

When you’re entering the Chinese market you might wonder if selling on WeChat is a good strategy. With over 1.26 billion monthly active users and 78% of Chinese people aged 16 to 64 using WeChat, the Chinese application is definitely a key player in Chinese social networks and e-commerce.

Before Tencent announced the new birth of “WeChat shop” in July of 2014, the phrase “WeChat e-commerce” didn’t even exist. Now, after several years, it’s the sweatiest pie in town, and every company wants a piece. Can it be that WeChat e-commerce is even more attractive for foreign brands than well-established players like Tmall? Or even new solutions of cross-border e-commerce available on RED?

🇨🇳 What is Cross-border e-commerce?

What makes WeChat particularly attractive for foreign brands looking to connect and sell in China apart from its huge size, it’s the uniquely smooth user journey. Paraphrasing Ariana Grande it’s literally an ‘I see it, I like it, I want it, I got it’ approach and let us tell you why. In the second part of this article, you will see why it might be even more beneficial for you to start with a WeChat e-commerce instead of other shopping platforms.

WeChat Journey

A quick note, brands still cannot share links to their Taobao or Tmall stores on their official WeChat account. We might see it coming soon as relations between Alibaba and Tencent are slowly warming up.

Selling on WeChat – Owned E-commerce

The e-commerce landscape has changed a lot over the years: from the Yellow Pages-style online catalogs to one-click, same-day delivery.

The transition away from the classic search-based model of selling on WeChat is continuing at a rapid pace in China. China has the world’s most advanced e-commerce business. New interactive experiences replace the old ones that more closely resemble how people buy in the real world while still being entertaining.

WeChat offers a variety of strategic services to assist businesses to compete in the Chinese e-commerce sector.

First Things First

The first stage is to create a store with a user-friendly localized design and extensive selling capabilities including campaign marketing, coupons, flash deals, group purchasing, and a membership loyalty program.

WeChat’s mini-program, which is backed by a marketing automation platform, allows advertisers to automatically uncover sales opportunities among WeChat followers based on behavioral and purchase data analysis, as customers want increasingly personalized experiences. Brands can better nurture high-potential clients at all phases of the customer journey, from WeChat Official Account to WeChat Mini-Program, as well as automate promotional activities, reducing conversion time and increasing conversion rates.

Step 1: Register an official account

Brand posts on WeChat, unlike Facebook or Instagram, do not appear on the main social feed. Instead, they appear in the chat interface of WeChat. WeChat Official Accounts can be used for marketing in one of two ways:

Service accounts on WeChat: For WeChat users, these accounts show alongside “friends.” They are highly prominent, however, you can only receive four push alerts per month.
Accounts for WeChat subscriptions: These accounts have the ability to publish items on a daily basis (one push notification per day), but they are less prominent than service accounts. They show up in a “subscription” folder that readers must open to see the most recent articles.

Step 2: Start a WeChat mini-program store

WeChat mini-program stores are e-commerce experiences that are integrated into the WeChat app. By launching a WeChat store, a company can make its products available on the platform through a myriad of touchpoints. These include articles, WeChat search, live-streaming, and QR codes, which are constantly developing.

WeChat stores have various distinct advantages:

Within WeChat, you may search for stores.
Customers can pay with WeChat during the checkout process.
Customers can authenticate themselves using WeChat’s one-click log-in feature.
Your store can use WeChat to pre-fill the user’s shipping addresses.
Improved WeChat influencer campaigns integration
Influencers can link directly to a WeChat store from a WeChat article.
You may provide your customers with a native in-app shopping experience
Clients can save on special deals, coupons and more.

Additionally, the WeChat mini-program, which can be integrated with a cross-border payment function, allows Chinese users to pay in RMB using WeChat Pay. After that, the funds will be sent to the brands in their respective currencies. The mini-program also offers cross-border logistical services to help with international shipping and legal customs clearance.

Accessible through over 60 alternative entry points…

Since every stage of the user route is optimized for WeChat, conversion rates are also substantially higher. Because of the intimate closed-loop luxury purchases are increasingly growing on WeChat. Brands like Gucci or Dior are regularly leveraging Moments ads.

How to set up a WeChat store

WeChat stores are not directly provided by WeChat. They’re not the same as Facebook Shops or Google Listings in that regard. WeChat, on the other hand, provides a toolset (SDK and API) that allows merchants to construct WeChat stores using a proprietary programming language. The WeChat store was built using a framework based on the widely popular JavaScript programming language.

You have two alternatives as a merchant when it comes to setting up a WeChat mini-program store:

Develop a fully customized mini-program
Use of a software-as-a-service WeChat store provider like Youzan or Weidian

Step 3: Promote your WeChat shop

As WeChat posts are not visible to people who don’t follow you on WeChat, a thorough marketing plan is equally necessary to make your mini-program accessible and approachable.

Marketers may use KOLs’ live-streaming and advertising, especially Moment Ad, in the Tencent ecosystem to drive high-quality traffic and sales conversions.

WeChat offers three different forms of ads: WeChat Moment ads, WeChat Mini-program ads, and WeChat article ads.

WeChat is a great SEO tool as well. Its social search engines can have a significant impact on word-of-mouth marketing for firms as they attempt to be relevant. WeChat keeps expanding the reach of its ecosystem, which already connects one billion active monthly users, using its own search feature.

WeChat Channels are becoming the next big thing when it comes to social commerce. We covered live streaming selling and how to prepare the best strategies to attract customers and increase sales. Check it here >>> Live Streaming on WeChat Channels 🔥

What Sets WeChat Apart From Other e-commerce Platforms?

WeChat is superior to other Chinese e-commerce platforms because it combines the reach of a giant with the convenience of a smaller platform. When you use WeChat, it’s much easier to reach out to buyers, especially if you’re selling shoes or apparel.

WeChat’s social features are also greatly beneficial to your business. With just one click, you may send personalized messages to customers, such as “I’m attempting to figure out what size shoe I need.”

Another benefit is that you can tell which things are selling well by looking at the demographics of the people who are buying them—for example, if the majority of your customers are women over 30, there may be something about that age group that works for your business.

Plus, on WeChat, there’s always something fresh to see! While browsing merchandise, you may keep up with the latest news stories or watch hilarious videos.

However, the most important thing for any business entering China or trying to expand its sales would be entry barriers. Requirements and fees for Tmall and its solutions for cross-border e-commerce are notoriously steep. They start from a 4,500 USD security deposit, high sales commissions (up to 12%), and often require dedicated warehouses. Major platforms also highly restrict data ownership and advertising options.

On the contrary, creating your own mini-program means you own your data and you have full flexibility in terms of your store operations and promotions. You don’t need to pay any upfront fees to the platform or pay commissions on sales. The drawback is that you will need to secure your own traffic to the store which is normally much easier to achieve when you go with the e-commerce players like JD or Tmall.

Conclusion

Customers on a number of e-commerce platforms, including WeChat, Weibo, Xiaohongshu, etc., enjoy the rapidly evolving Chinese market. Chinese consumers spend a lot of time reading about other people’s shopping experiences and avoid purchasing unfamiliar things. To keep the brand’s reputation positive, customer word-of-mouth is crucial.

However, the Western market and the marketing techniques that support it are significantly dissimilar from the Chinese market. Thus, in order to successfully join the Chinese market, it is crucial to adjust your marketing methods in addition to localizing your products. To keep up a healthy relationship with users, brands need to establish a strong online presence and engage with them frequently.

Additionally, now WeChat allows for Shopify integration so you can keep all information within one place. Get in touch with us for more details.

When it comes to e-commerce platforms, WeChat appears to be the ideal choice in China. WeChat is a strong ecosystem for brand launches in China. Companies can expand swiftly in the Chinese market by utilizing influencers and cross-border payments, positioning themselves for future growth through collaborations with offline distributors or other platforms like Tmall.

If you wish to know more about marketing in China, please contact our team. We use our knowledge and expertise to help businesses build meaningful partnerships and develop their network among Chinese customers. For additional information, please contact at contact@thewechatagency.com.

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Weekly News Roundup From China

June 28, 2022

Tencent’s WeChat Debuts in 618 Shopping Festival with Big Bet on Live-Streaming Ecommerce Despite Slowing Economy

WeChat, a product of Tencent, has for the first time introduced its own 618 online shopping festival using its in-app video feature Channels. Over 50% of the sales generated by live broadcasting on WeChat in 2021 were from private domains, such as a brand’s current WeChat fans.

The average transaction value for customers watching live streams on Channels is 200 (US$29.9), and 60% of viewers make additional purchases. The Tencent app appeals to businesses who wish to communicate with consumers in a semi-private network in order to gain and keep a loyal customer base.

Link: https://www.scmp.com/tech/big-tech/article/3182083/tencents-wechat-debuts-618-shopping-festival-big-bet-live-streaming-e

Backstreet Boys Join Westlife for Online Concert on super-app WeChat

Thanks to the Backstreet Boys’ first-ever live-streamed concert on the popular app WeChat, Chinese fans of the ’90s and ’00s pop music may experience the enchantment of the 2022 DNA World Tour.

It’s anticipated that around 40 million people will watch the show. In addition to receiving approximately 37 million views on Weibo, a linked hashtag, the event’s preview on WeChat received 82,000 likes in just 24 hours.

Most Chinese Millennials and Zoomers who were exposed to the Backstreet Boys and Westlife by their professors have grown up with both bands by their sides.

Link: https://radiichina.com/backstreet-boys-concert/

Unpacking Sephora’s Global C-beauty Push

The “In China for China” business incubator programme, which will seek to develop five premium Chinese beauty names into global megabrands, was unveiled by Sephora on June 6.

The strategy capitalises on both the propensity of Chinese customers to purchase domestic brands as well as the expanding interest within foreign beauty communities in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) and eastern wellness ideas.

Link: https://jingdaily.com/sephora-c-beauty-global-expansion-tcm/

China Plans to Review Every Single Social Media Comment

China may soon evaluate each and every social media comment before it is posted, raising concerns about increased censorship in a nation with one of the strictest media environments in the world.

Internet users in China have expressed concern that if planned legislation requiring internet platforms to evaluate all social media comments is passed, the country’s already restricted space for free speech will be further reduced.

The new limits would disrupt the fun since real-time remarks give viewers the impression that they are in a chat room with other people. This makes the experience more engaging.

“If the rules are passed, it means that everything we see online would be what’s been hand-picked by moderators, and it would be harder for individuals to make their voices heard,”

Link: https://finance.yahoo.com/news/china-plans-review-every-single-093000701.html

Tencent News Aggregator App Kuai Bao to Cease Operations Next Month

Tencent Holdings will stop operating Kuai Bao, its news aggregator app, at the end of the month, showing that even China’s most powerful and wealthy Big Tech corporations must slash non-core businesses in the face of persistent regulatory pressure and the slowing economic growth of the nation.

Kuai Bao offers users algorithm-generated recommendations based on their profile, hobbies, and browsing history, much to the well-known news aggregator app Jinri Toutiao, which is owned by ByteDance.

Since its 2015 launch, Kuai Bao hasn’t gotten big enough to compete with its rivals. According to a survey released in February 2021 by the research firm Questmobile, ByteDance’s Jinri Toutiao leads the Chinese online news information sector in terms of daily active users, followed by Tencent News, Sina News, and NetEase News.

ByteDance last week shut down a game development studio that it acquired three years ago, slashing more than a hundred jobs in a major setback for its quest to challenge Tencent in that market.

Link: https://finance.yahoo.com/news/tencent-news-aggregator-app-kuai-093000641.html

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What’s New in China?

June 20, 2022

Consumers in China Shift Focus from Instant Gratification to Longer-term Value

Consumers in China have entered a new era characterised by increased sophistication and prudence, a commitment to sustainability, and a desire for work-life balance. Despite the fact that family remains the most important factor, the “me” economy has grown in popularity.

Also, convenience is becoming increasingly important. Consumers like the convenience of smart gadgets, with 70% prepared to contribute personal information for improved services, but they are concerned about excessive push messaging. The content given via push messaging is unsatisfactory for 75% of consumers because it is irrelevant or not tailored to their requirements.

Link: https://newsroom.accenture.com/news/consumers-in-china-shift-focus-from-instant-gratification-to-longer-term-value-accenture-research-finds.htm

Are Chinese Middle-Aged Men Luxury’s Next Big Spenders?

China’s menswear market was worth $104 billion in 2021, according to a survey by data analysis firm iiMedia Research, and is predicted to increase at a CAGR of 8.47% over the next five years. In a country with a population of over 1.4 billion people, it’s no surprise that male clients want to have a voice in their wardrobe – hence the term ta jingji, or “He economy.”

An account called @云爸爸品牌男装, also known as Yunbaba, that sells middle-aged men’s clothing has gained ground recently on Douyin. It attracted a lot of attention from the audience including younger people.

Canudilo, a local menswear brand famed for its traditionally fitted suits and separates, is hosting a series of themed fashion roundtables for male customers. It also works with renowned local designers and artists, such as Liu Pingyun (who designed the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympic mascot), to develop eye-catching pieces for the middle-aged market.

As the menswear market accelerates, options for older male shoppers are limited. “Men are too shy to discuss how to dress if their bodies are out of shape. Money is not the problem but the market still has a lot to do to educate this group.”

Link: https://jingdaily.com/chinese-middle-aged-men-shoppers-ralph-lauren/

WeChat Unveils New Feature for Managing Group Chats

Admins and group chat owners can now highlight a message by long-pressing it and selecting “Sticky on Top.” Members of the group can click on the message, which will take them back to the original post, making the material more evident to the reader.

The hashtag #WeChat released a group chat message pinning feature# garnered over 460 billion views on Weibo this week, referring to a new feature that allows users to pin group chats to the top of WeChat for easier access. Netizens, on the other hand, are dissatisfied since they identify WeChat as nothing more than a working app. Users, on the other side, are proposing additional features like as the removal of like notifications and higher resolution photographs, among others. Despite the less than enthusiastic response from users to the new feature, WeChat remains the most popular social media platform among Chinese users, with over 78% of its 1.24 billion users residing in the country.

However, brands that build private traffic groups on WeChat may benefit from this capability. Brands might, for example, provide loyal consumers with exclusive discounts and bonuses, or improve the customer experience by providing more tailored aftersales services. Meanwhile, during recent lockdowns in locations such as Shanghai, group chats on WeChat were heavily used for collective shopping. As a result, as group buying has transitioned from rural to mainstream following the 2022 lockdowns, the group-buying community can benefit from this new function by allowing consumers to locate their orders more efficiently.

Link: https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/qUotevoBpFQXcebxXR4DBQ

Elon Musk Tells Employees He Wants Twitter to Be More Like WeChat and TikTok

Elon Musk told Twitter staff on Thursday that if the company wants to reach 1 billion users, it needs to become more like WeChat and TikTok. Musk stated that the app should be more useful and that “people should be really entertained and informed.”

“There’s no WeChat equivalent outside of China,” Musk said, “You basically live on WeChat in China. If we can recreate that with Twitter, we’ll be a great success.”

Musk emphasised his desire for Twitter to rely more heavily on subscriptions and fees on the call, suggesting that people should pay to be verified.

Link: https://www.theverge.com/2022/6/16/23171054/elon-musk-twitter-deal-1-billion-users-wechat-tiktok

Is Tech Accessories Luxury’s Next Big Opportunity?

Because so much of daily life in China is impossible without mobile technology, the industry is particularly lucrative. According to NPD Group, a market research firm based in the United States, 75% of smartphone users use cases.

The phone case industry is predicted to increase by $11.74 billion (about 78.1 billion yuan) in value between 2020 and 2025, according to a report by market research firm Technavio. Headphone cases, computer cases, and other smart device accessories, on the other hand, are on the rise.

Bottega Veneta created a case for Apple’s iPad in 2010 that featured the brand’s characteristic Intreccio woven design. In recent years, premium companies have embraced headphone cases, with Dior, Gucci, and Prada all promoting high-end designs.

Years later, in June 2021, Chanel released two pearlized leather AirPods cases, causing a stir. These were made of sheepskin and featured a rhinestone-studded version of the traditional Chanel double C emblem. Many people were put off by its expensive price of about $2,970 (20,000 yuan). “The headphone case is more expensive than the headphones, so what’s protecting what?” joked one netizen.

In the end, demand for tech accessories will always be tied to the gadgets they’re meant to complement and protect. To today’s Chinese consumers, luxury is defined by goods that represent their personal taste and style, rather than by a price tag. Like apparel, phone cases (and headphone cases) have become a popular method for young customers to express themselves. It’s only a matter of time before luxury brands and niche players increase their investment in the segment and allow for greater personalisation.

Link: https://jingdaily.com/luxury-phone-tech-accessories-chanel-airpods/

Xiaohongshu Launches Official Cooperation Platform

In April, Xiaohongshu announced management regulations for illegal brand point deductions, which will deduct points for brands that engage in illicit marketing practices. The guidelines’ objective is to severely restrict the brand’s “Private transaction” (i.e., the brand’s private collaboration with bloggers to release posts), requiring the brand’s and bloggers’ cooperative promotion to be performed through the marketing platform “Dandelion” under Xiaohongshu.

Why are brands worried about this promotion platform?

For brand ：

The brand will worry that the articles published through the cooperation platform will display the brand’s logo, indicating that this is an advertisement, and users will feel uncomfortable
the brand needs to pay 10% of the service fee to the platform, which means that the launch cost is higher.
the brand needs to go through a series of processes through platform cooperation, and the procedures are very cumbersome
the brand should also consider the business content scheduling of the blogger.

Although brands will face such troubles, it is undeniable that the introduction of the rules is necessary. In the past few years, many brands have relied on the little red book to privately seek cooperation with bloggers and even issued false advertisements.

Therefore, for brands, if they want to open the market by relying on red books in the future, it may be the “optimal solution” to follow the rules of the platform.

Link: https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/M1sFpVo-IdzNjpvYsc1iEg

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China Marketing Strategy: One Size Doesn’t Fit All

June 16, 2022

China’s marketing strategy is a minefield. If you want to build a brand in the Chinese market, you need to know how to navigate it.

Entering the Chinese market is not only intimidating for the newcomers but also for existing businesses. Rapidly changing tastes, the market’s vastness, and nuanced preferences of more than 1.4 billion consumers living in very differentiated geographic and socio-cultural environments can be daunting for well-established players as well.

This is especially true for FMCG that are hyper-sensitive to consumers’ evolving tastes. That’s why often there is no such thing as a one-size-fits-all marketing strategy in China. Actually having one monolith strategy for China can be more harmful than having no strategy at all.

Brands must develop strategies for localized branding, communication, e-commerce, and traditional distribution in order to build a good business in China. These will necessitate a thorough awareness of consumer patterns and profiles, as well as familiarity with local marketing and operations. Otherwise, they will be unable to respond effectively to consumer desires and needs, increasing the danger of failing.

Why Is It Necessary to Localize?

The main point is that it’s easy for brands to assume that Chinese consumers are one homogeneous group of people with identical tastes and preferences. Also, most brands tend to focus on consumers based in China’s 1st tier cities like Shanghai or Beijing.

The Chinese city tier system is an unofficial hierarchical classification of Chinese cities. Media often use it as a point of reference to illustrate their financial, commercial, and overall business attractiveness. Usually, there are 5 levels of so-called tiers with some outlets adding an additional classification for the most rapidly developing cities. These are called New Tier 1 cities with Chengdu, Chongqing, Hangzhou, Wuhan, Nanjing, and Tianjin among them. Only imagine that there are almost 150 cities in China that are bigger than Berlin (3.5 million).

Every target audience has diverse needs and aspirations, and firms that don’t have a defined marketing plan will waste company resources chasing the incorrect demographics.

It’s a big misconception that consumers in those 2nd or 3rd-tier cities are the same as consumers in Shanghai or Beijing. A lot of reports on Chinese consumers often focus on the population samples from the biggest cities leaving the intricacies and local differences out of sight. People living in different Chinese provinces and locations will show different consumer behaviors and have varied income levels. Very often even the climate or weather patterns can play a big factor in their consumption habits.

Examples of global fast-food chains adapting to local tastes: Mcdonalds’ pickle sandwich, KFC’s egg tarts, and durian pizza from Pizza Hut

Local Nuances

Just to give you an example, and of course, these are just exaggerations. E.g. Chengdu youth scene is famous for being among the most flourishing in China while people from Wuxi, an over 6 million people city near Shanghai, are renowned for their entrepreneurship spirit. Based on deeper research and local knowledge you can find a lot of nuances and specific interests that you can leverage in your brand communication, packaging, and pricing that will ultimately make a difference.

So when you’re trying to figure out how to make your retail experience more Chinese-friendly, the first step is figuring out who exactly you’re trying to attract—and then how best to reach them. Some brands might find success by hiring local employees who speak the dialects of their target market(s) fluently. They can often offer their own personal recommendations; others might do better by partnering with influencers who already have strong followings among those groups of people. Surveys and local focus groups can also be of great help.

Competitors in the biggest Chinese cities are fierce and the market is well saturated with all kinds of goods readily available. Therefore brands now want to expand their reach and deepen their penetration of the Chinese market. Because of a lack of understanding and applying the same strategies that worked in the biggest Chinese coastal cities, foreign brands often fail and are reluctant to continue their expansion which doesn’t need to be the case.

How to Localize – Things to Consider

Because of the local differences, you might rethink:

Brand message – is there some other unique selling point that could be more appealing to the local target audience?
Packaging – is the design and size suitable for local needs? Maybe the locals prefer smaller packages to have a try of the product?
Ingredients – can you add some local ingredients to make your product more appealing to the local palates?
Necessity – is your product adapted or even needed in the targeted location? Promoting stylish rain boots makes sense during the Shanghai rain season. However not so in Beijing where summers are usually hot and dry.
Pricing – is the price too low or too high?
And more to consider.

Strategy for China – Conclusions

Each country, market, demography, and way of life are distinct; it is the marketer’s responsibility to customize messaging and techniques to these diverse local trends. By recognizing these patterns and the economic, social, and technical influences that influence the Chinese customers, brands in China can better prepare for the future and succeed in the present.

➡️Find out more about China’s core target consumer groups – Generation Z and Silver Generation.

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Case Study: AkzoNobel (B2B Management)

June 14, 2022

WHAT IS AKZONOBEL?

International Marine Coating is the flagship trademark of AkzoNobel’s Marine & Protective Coatings division, which employs over 5,500 people in over 60 countries.

THE SCOPE OF WORK

Major shipping firms such as Maersk, COSCO, and CMA CGM are among International Marine’s target customers.

Its main goal in China is to raise brand awareness and equity so that it may be regarded as a major player in the industry.

AkzoNobel – Content Creation

As part of our retainer contract, we deployed a combination of strategic activities, including engaging with industry expert magazines to publish material from the brand on their WeChat account in order to acquire access to relevant audiences and the validation of well-established media in the market.

THE RESULTS

The 2 Magazine articles surpassed by 80% and 125% the brand’s best-performing owned article of the whole year among the relevant target audience.

AkzoNobel – Hot Accounts Collaboration

IMPORTANT TO NOTE

These PR-like collaborations also serve as SEO backlinks, boosting the brand’s ranking in the SERP.

These collaborations have a short-term benefit of raising brand recognition among magazine readers who may not be familiar with the company, and a long-term benefit of improving SERP ranking.

If you wish to know more about WeChat and its various features, please contact our team. We use our knowledge and expertise to help businesses build meaningful partnerships and develop their network among Chinese customers. For additional information, please contact at contact@thewechatagency.com.

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Case Study: Grand Hyatt (APAC Wedding Planning Campaign)

June 14, 2022

ABOUT GRAND HYATT

Hyatt, an international hospitality firm that maintains and franchises luxury and business hotels, resorts, and vacation homes, has a 5-star premium line of hotels called Grand Hyatt. It operates over 1,100 hotels and all-inclusive resorts across 69 countries on six continents.

Grand Hyatt – Baidu Ads

THE SCOPE OF WORK

Grand Hyatt wanted to raise awareness for its new wedding offering and get the target audience to visualize how their special day can be spectacular in order to generate leads.

We created an APAC campaign across 12 markets, 5 languages, 6 social media platforms,+200 Creative posts and 2 dedicated websites with a mobile-first approach and a SalesForce integration:
• One for China (H5 – WeChat Compatible)
• One for the rest of APAC

Grand Hyatt – Wedding Planning Dedicated Website

Grand Hyatt – Static Content Brought to Life With Romantic Animations

Our approach was to give the audience an immersive digital experience by building visibility on social & digital platforms and drive users to a visual-led-content website where they could curate content to design their wedding dream and even apply dedicated filters to their photos.

THE RESULTS & TESTIMONIAL

Dear KRDS Team,
I want to thank all of you for your hard work and dedication to this project and the campaign. It was a long and fruitful process and completely worth it. It was definitely a successful campaign, and the learnings will only help us improve and optimize as we evolve the wedding and events digital campaigns at Hyatt.

AQUIN MATHEW
Social Media – Hyatt Asia Pacific

If you wish to know more about APAC campaigns and various options, please contact our team. We use our knowledge and expertise to help businesses build meaningful partnerships and develop their network among Chinese customers. For additional information, please contact at contact@thewechatagency.com.

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The Latest News From China

June 14, 2022

The Development Trends of the WeChat Mini-Program in 2022

Current situation:

450 million DAU
4 million mini-programs created (x2 more than the number of native apps on iOS)
95% of e-commerce brands have mini-programs

Context:

The rise of China’s mobile internet market has slowed, and the growth in individual device online time has practically halted. Customer acquisition became increasingly difficult for emerging applications. Users want apps that would not require installation or uninstallation, were constantly available for use at their fingertips and could be exited after usage.

These facilitated the emergence of mini-programs

Development trends:

Mini-programs have grown in popularity not just in first- and second-tier cities, but also in third- and fourth-tier cities, and even counties. The most popular industries will continue to be e-commerce, live streaming, retail, community group purchasing, and tools.

Since WeChat is expected to introduce public domain traffic for e-commerce mini-program streaming, live streaming commerce, which is currently popular, will become even more appealing to businesses.

Operation and service trend —— Refined operation, brand cultivation:

Start transition from “traffic” thinking to “retention” thinking by creating their own private domain traffic pool

Brands need to build a “private domain matrix” comprising WeChat features with mini-program, WeChat enterprise, video channels, mini-program live streaming and Official Accounts to guide the transformation

Link: https://qpsoftware.net/blog/development-trends-wechat-mini-program-2022

TikTok Shop’s Troubled UK Expansion: Staff Exodus and Culture Clash

TikTok is attempting to imitate Douyin’s phenomenally successful live-streaming approach (the Chinese version of TikTok). Since October 2021, the UK has become the first market outside of China to debut TikTok Shop.

More than 50% of the e-commerce team apparently quit in the past months and more is ready to exit the company. Extremely long work hours (the 996 culture comes to mind) and high KPI targets are the key reasons for this. Employees also said that management is pushing solutions that work in China but aren’t tailored to the needs of the UK.

Link: https://www.ft.com/content/dc1aba86-2055-4521-8f0c-1f026c7f6864

Asia-Pacific Consumers Willing to Pay Premium For Sustainable Products: Report

According to a recent survey released ahead of World Environment Day, nearly 90% of customers in Asia-Pacific are willing to pay extra for sustainable products, but a lack of information and availability is holding them back.

Alibaba Group, based in China, has vowed to be carbon neutral by 2030 as it reduces emissions across its operations and collaborates with millions of merchants to provide more sustainable items to the platform’s over 1 billion users.

Alibaba also promises to expand its sustainable product line and advertise it properly. There are more than 460 certified ecolabels globally which increases consumer confusion.

Link: https://www.alizila.com/asia-pacific-consumers-willing-to-pay-premium-for-sustainable-products-report/

TikTok’s Toxic ‘996’ Culture Is Forcing UK Employees out the Door

At least 20 staff have left TikTok since the company launched TikTok Shop in the UK in October, a live-streaming e-commerce platform. Employees complain that they are required to adhere to China’s working hours, which frequently result in them working more than 12 hours per day. Employees who took time off were penalised by the corporation, which rewarded overworking. Other former TikTok employees have also spoken out against the company’s hostile work atmosphere.

“The culture is really toxic. Relationships there are built on fear, not cooperation,” a former London-based team leader said. “They don’t care about burnout because it is such a big company, they can just replace you.

Joshua Ma, the head of eCommerce at TikTok Europe and a senior executive at China’s ByteDance — the owner of the viral video app — upset London-based employees at a dinner this year when he declared that as a “capitalist,” he “didn’t believe” companies should offer maternity leave. TikTok informed employees on Wednesday that Ma had “stepped back” from his role while the company conducted a formal investigation into the comment.

TikTok Shop’s Troubled UK Expansion

Last year, Bytedance opened a Tiktok shop in the United Kingdom, but the results were unsatisfactory. According to the report, the main reason for Tiktok’s failure is that users are not accustomed to shopping on the platform; many live streams even make no purchases.

TikTok Shop’s goal is to buy low-cost things directly from low-cost producers in both the UK and China.

Bytedance introduced an e-commerce platform named Fanno in Europe in 2021, which is similar to Pinduoduo, as well as a separate e-commerce platform called Dmonstudio, which is a B2C website that sells women’s clothing. However, the plan failed as well, and Dmonstudio was shut down in February 2022.

The experts explained that the vertical e-commence market has never been developing in China because of the existence of Taobao. However, in Europe, the market is quite mature, which could be the main reason that Bytedance failed in this area.

As a result, Tiktok will need to adjust its strategy both internally and technically in order to thrive. They must adapt to local culture and market characteristics while leveraging their algorithms and content distribution to create a fresh approach to stand out.

Link: https://www.ft.com/content/dc1aba86-2055-4521-8f0c-1f026c7f6864

Slow Live Streaming Is a New Trend

In May, Bilibili conducted a late-night accompanying live broadcast. The live broadcast called “Midnight Song platform” began at 10:30 p.m. only some songs were played. There were no anchors or products. In the evening, the number of viewers on WeChat video accounts reached 100000.

The slow live broadcast without editing and special effects, slow pace and simple pictures has gradually become a place for people to cure their emotions.

The cctv24-hour continuous live broadcast of hospital construction lasted 117 days at the start of 2020, with approximately 200 million views and more than 6000 hours of the online live broadcast.

There’s also the ipanda panda channel, which broadcasts a 24-hour live feed of enormous pandas, a national treasure, to people all over the world.

The slow video has become popular not only at home but also abroad

The Discovery Channel also produces a variety of slow-motion televisions with superb picture quality and stunning photography. On the longest day of the year, Icelandic rock band Sigur Rós took a 24-hour trip around the island. Their music was blended with the fog of northern Europe to provide sensory satisfaction to the audience; the public has a particular taste for sluggish live broadcasting, which is the time preference. People “trapped in home life” are highly eager to travel and get close to nature, and thus view the outside world, thanks to the epidemic’s travel limitations.

Link: https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/Ee-Md4O0V5JOh_ZUrzZRQw

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Case Study: Montagut (Digital Content & China Social Media Management)

June 14, 2022

WHAT IS MONTAGUT?

Montagut was the first French fashion design company to enter China in 1979, at a time when there were few international brands (Louis Vuitton and Chanel established themselves only 15 years later). It has spread to over 4,000 shops around the country, establishing a dedicated client base and a household name. It is seen as a symbol of respect and achievement, particularly among dignitaries and notables.

THE SCOPE OF WORK

KRDS has been appointed to manage Montagut’s digital channels in China for four consecutive years. Scope of work includes WeChat, Channels & Weibo management, Content creation (Chinese copywriting, graphic design, motion design), Media planning (banner design, A/B testing, budget allocation), KOL & artist collaborations, Dev scope & H5 minigames.

Montagut – Content Creation

Brand’s social media strategy in China is always evolving to keep up with the latest trends and technology solutions that help to increase online sales and foot traffic in real stores.

THE RESULTS

According to Candice Meyer, Montagut’s Head of Brand Image & Communications Asia, “KRDS has been a valuable partner of Montagut over the past 4 years. We chose them because of their deep knowledge of the China social media landscape combined with great strategic and creative capabilities. On a day to day basis, it’s both very efficient and super pleasant to work with a trustworthy team such as KRDS. They are expert, flexible, diligent and always looking to achieve the best results. A perfect recipe for success!”

She also mentioned that one of the campaigns Montagut’s Winter Wonderland “was very fun and engaging. Beyond generating buzz and page views, KRDS was smart to find the right mechanism to attract a very high number of new fans”.

Montagut – Father’s Day Campaign

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Digital Strategy Case Study : GIC Singapore Sovereign Fund

June 14, 2022

WHAT IS GIC?

Singapore’s foreign reserves are managed by GIC, a sovereign wealth fund with assets of $744 billion dollars. GIC invests internationally in developed market shares, emerging market equities, nominal bonds and cash, inflation-linked bonds, private equity, and real estate. It was founded by the Singapore government in 1981 and has a network of 10 offices in significant financial capitals around the world.

SCOPE OF WORK FOR THE CHINESE MARKET

The WeChat Agency has been hired by GIC to advise and manage its digital operations in China. The biggest problem we faced for the brand was how to create brand recognition without using paid advertising, given China’s tight laws on the finance industry. This was accomplished through a combination of strategic initiatives, such as playbooks and workshops, focusing on WeChat and covering topics such as the platform’s overall evolution, audience characteristics, user journey, content strategy, and comprehensive execution plans.

GIC – Content Creation

RESULTS

The GIC team got full training on WeChat marketing with a detailed plan covering content pillars, campaign themes, and distribution of the content. A detailed playbook serves as an ongoing consulting tool for GIC but can be also readily used for any in-house developed activities.

At the same time, the WeChat Agency has been regularly creating and localizing content for the local market.

After the first year, GIC reappointed The WeChat Agency for management for the second consecutive year.

GIC – Holiday Greetings

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What’s New in China This Week?

June 9, 2022

What a Buzzword Reveals About Chinese Tech’s Urban Bias

By increasing the frequency of notifications and advertising lurid or scandalous content outside of large cities, internet providers appear to be playing into prejudices about rural or less educated customers.

The ‘xiachen’ practises of internet corporations frequently reflect a skewed perspective of rural and small-town internet consumers. They’re portrayed as exploitable locales, with citizens who are readily satisfied. China’s economic development, however, differs not only between metropolitan cities and rural areas but even inside so-called xiachen markets.

Link: https://www.sixthtone.com/news/1010263/what-a-buzzword-reveals-about-chinese-techs-urban-bias

WeChat Channels: The Key to Your WeChat Ecosystem

Despite the fact that the material on WeChat Channels is not sales-oriented, the platform is nonetheless beneficial to enterprises, particularly those who have already set up e-commerce operations on the network.

Brands can connect visitors to a WeChat article featuring mini-program store embeds by including a link in the post description. WeChat Channels released an update in March 2022 that allows certified users to list mini-programs on the homepage, increasing conversion rates.

Link: https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/yax22WrsGERrmtN-2FjMnA

Nike CEO John Donahoe Says He’s Chasing Generation Alpha

Although Gen Z is presently Nike’s main source of revenue, the sportswear company has already set its sights on Generation Alpha – children under the age of 12.

Nike faces intense competition in China from disruptor and challenger brands, as well as continuing headwinds in China as a result of local anger over Xinjiang linkages and now Covid lockdowns. Nike released a Roblox game with LeBron James to use Web3 to increase physical sport participation while activating in the metaverse. You received a virtual reward for performing physical activity.

Link: https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/sPMKsitKWHNQ6CzEBFlNYQ

With Concerts and Pop Stars, Tencent’s Channels Emerge As Big Challengers to Short Video Giants Douyin, Kuaishou

Online concerts featuring big stars from the 1990s and 2000s, such as Lo Ta-yu, Jay Chou, and Westlife, have been organised by Tencent. WeChat’s Channels are gaining popularity, which might shake up the Chinese short video market, which is now headed by ByteDance’s Douyin.

Tencent claimed in its latest quarterly report that thanks to additional entertainment programming and improved algorithms, the volume of videos and total viewing time on Channels, its WeChat-based short-video platform, saw “substantial growth.” The growing popularity of Channels has the potential to shake up China’s short video business, which is now dominated by Douyin.

Tencent’s decision to invite bands that were popular in the 1990s and 2000s corresponds to WeChat’s short-video section’s user base, which is older than Douyin and Kuaishou. Channels also take advantage of WeChat’s large social media network, which allows users to view what their WeChat contacts have enjoyed in terms of posts and videos.

Link: https://www.scmp.com/tech/big-tech/article/3179857/concerts-and-pop-stars-tencents-channels-emerges-big-challenger-short?module=perpetual_scroll_0&pgtype=article&campaign=3179857

China Digital Currency: Leading Mobile Payment Apps Alipay, and WeChat Pay Install New Features to Help Widen E-Cny Roll-Out

On Thursday, Alipay said that its app now includes a button that allows users to search for and download the official e-CNY wallet. Users can make purchases with e-CNY on the app by creating an account with the same phone number as Alipay. On Alipay’s platform, approximately 6 million digital yuan wallets have been “pushed” to merchants, a process that allows a new e-CNY user to commence that payment option. Last year, Alipay, which has around 900 million users, enabled the payment option.

WeChat Pay, which accepted digital yuan as a payment option three months ago, added a similar e-CNY wallet capability to its app in April. At the end of December, the mobile payments platform, which is part of the multipurpose super app WeChat, had almost 900 million users.

Meanwhile, Hong Kong aims to launch a trial programme to utilise the e-CNY in the city soon, making it the first offshore city to use the digital currency outside of mainland China.

Link: https://finance.yahoo.com/news/china-digital-currency-leading-mobile-093000549.html?guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZ29vZ2xlLmNvbS8&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAADsmwpThaIz1VCSUKtkfFxHs8-2J7tneZmfm2YAnImpD5J3BErW0uvdA4ob6OWCz2GLMb_HSkAHalgS82PWinLZ0zM_FAmnTXHt8znZFwhpJpdA93eYjSHAb2SS0ya2YFYTWsaXgE9E8F16WPnT8HqAfNPm6l_72SOnF8cYey1x3

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