advertising in china Archives

Chinese Advertising Regulations and Those Who Can’t Advertise on WeChat

October 17, 2022

China, like the majority of nations, has enacted laws governing advertisements to safeguard the health and safety of consumers. The Republic of China’s Advertisement Law stipulates general rules that all advertisers must abide by.

There are also more stringent regulations for certain sectors, such as the tobacco, alcohol, and healthcare industries. However, as non-traditional media platforms like WeChat have grown in popularity, the nation has tightened its regulations on advertising.

Get started with WeChat advertising

WeChat is one of the most used social media platforms in China. That’s why is very attractive to brands looking to market their products in China. Marketing using WeChat can reach a huge number of target audiences.

And here comes the WeChat advertising. WeChat advertising enables companies to display promotional messages through:

WeChat Moments
Official Account articles
Mini-programs

Additionally, WeChat advertising is a great tool for brands to enhance and maximize the number of WeChat Official Account followers, it helps companies to drive their traffic and generate conversions into sales.

Industries banned or restricted in WeChat

The Chinese government in general has many laws and bans that overlook advertisements, including ads on social media platforms like WeChat. Here are some of the industries banned by the Chinese government for advertising.

Pharmaceutical/drugs;
Obscenity;
Pornography;
Gambling;
Superstitions;
Terror;
Violence.

In addition, regulated industries for advertisements in China are:

Alcohol
Tobacco
Health and Medical
Investments
Real estate
Education
Legal Services
Airlines
Financial Services

However the list is very dynamic, and WeChat always has the final say on whether your company is eligible or not to run ads on the platform.

On the other hand, note that for overseas entities WeChat requires a separate application for a WeChat advertising account and the scope of ads is strictly related to your company’s registered business. It can get quite tricky, right?

However, if your company falls within any of the above categories not all is lost. You still have plenty of indirect and legal solutions to promote your content on WeChat. For instance, you can focus on WeChat SEO and optimizing your keywords to whitelisting. Subscribe to our newsletter for more news on this topic.

Advertising regulations on WeChat

The key elements of the advertising law as they apply to WeChat are outlined below. Firstly, qhen attempting to create effective advertisements, WeChat also has its own terms that are frequently updated:

Avoid superlative adjectives like best, highest, greatest, etc when talking about any product or service
Do not place a brand, product, or service on a scale like 5-star rating or international/national ratings
Kindly avoid using words such as top quality, excellent, cutting edge, or premium when advertising a product/service in WeChat
Do not use words with “one” like “one of the top”, “one of the best” or “one of a kind” etc to describe anything in WeChat advertisements
Please avoid any mentions of scarcity in an ad like very rare, unique, one few left, etc.
Do not mention anything claiming to be “national leader” or of “international quality” or words similar to this
Do not use any national flag, emblem, or anthem of any country in WeChat ads
You can only use RMB for settlements and foreign currencies are not allowed
The content of the advertisements must be practical and should not be exaggerated
Should not talk about transportation, educational, commercial, or cultural facilities under planning or under construction
All the images used in the advertisement should be realistic
For the ads related to bank loans and other bank services, complete details of the bank must be provided
WeChat ads should not have language that sounds discriminatory

Secondly, there are more requirements for advertising:

When publishing ads about limited sales, the exact dates and duration must be provided in the advertisement
Do not provide statistical information in WeChat ads until a proper evidence source link is given
Avoid ads with unlicensed tie-ups with major events happening in the country like Winter Olympics, Olympic Games, etc.
Should not use language that can possibly manipulate the consumers
Do not use Click-for-gift tactics in WeChat ads. Any gifts offered must include all the details like name, value, quantity, and any timeline for the event
Never use words referring to a special title like superstar, leader, or synonyms

In addition, WeChat accounts registered with overseas business licenses must apply separately for WeChat advertising accounts.

In conclusion, advertisement regulations are a great way to protect consumers. Similarly, China, like any other country, wants to protect consumer safety and health. But the restrictions are stricter than in most countries, and it’s common for all social media platforms, including WeChat.

On the other hand, WeChat has its own restrictions too, which makes it even harder to advertise using WeChat ads. In addition, specific wording requirements might make your ad not pass the verification by Tencent.

If you are a business that’s looking to advertise on WeChat, it is very important to understand the rules and regulations on the government and platform levels and above all abide to the requirements to not have your WeChat official account suspended or deleted.

At The WeChat Agency, we use our knowledge and expertise to help businesses build content in accordance with the advertising regulations in China and WeChat. We help create meaningful partnerships and networks among Chinese customers. For additional information, please contact us at contact@thewechatagency.com. Feel free to subscribe to our monthly newsletter too.

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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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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.

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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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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Latest China News

May 31, 2022

Chinese Consumers are Comfortable Sharing their Data Compared to Consumers in Other Markets

Between 2017 and 2021, China’s loyalty programme market grew at a 13.7% annual rate to $15.7 billion. Over the following four years, it is predicted to increase at a rate of 13.0% each year.

Quick-service restaurants are establishing green rewards programmes to incentivize consumer behaviour in order to promote a more sustainable lifestyle and attract consumers who are driven by eco-friendly companies.

Link: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220512005913/en/China-Loyalty-Programs-Market-Intelligence-Report-2022-Chinese-Consumers-are-Comfortable-Sharing-their-Data-Compared-to-Consumers-in-Other-Markets—ResearchAndMarkets.com

WeChat Channels Live Streaming Rewards “Traffic Coupon” to Drive Traffic and Sales

Option 1: Mini program live streaming: Brands and businesses can add a Live Streaming module or component to WeChat mini program. For example, brands such as Perfect Diary, Forest Cabin (in Chinese: 林清轩), and Prada have held live streamings through WeChat mini program for sales or events.

Option 2: WeChat Channels Live Streaming: Up to early 2022, WeChat Channels have reached 450 million Daily Active Users, a 50% increase compared to early 2021. WeChat Channels Live Streamings are more visible to the public audience compared to mini-programs. For example, people browsing content on WeChat Channels may enter live streaming of a brand they didn’t know before.

Traffic coupon: In 2022 April 12th to December 31st, any live streaming for shopping purposes with the shopping cart function activated will be automatically participating in Merchant Incentive Plan.

Brands or merchants have to introduce 50 new viewers that didn’t come from WeChat Channels to gain official traffic coupons. You can drive followers from your WeChat Official Account, spread the news through WeChat Moment, WeCom, personal chats, or groups, to Channels Livestreaming.

Link: https://walkthechat.com/wechat-channel-livestreaming-rewards-traffic-coupon-to-drive-traffic-and-sales/

How to Inspire Word of Mouth Marketing from a Chinese Audience

Any marketing strategy’s success is determined by two factors: reach and impact. Unlike mass media advertising, which has a broad reach but a limited impact, word-of-mouth marketing has a narrower reach but a far greater impact.

The value of word-of-mouth marketing is represented in statistics: according to Semrush, word-of-mouth marketing accounts for $6 trillion USD in global expenditure each year and accounts for 13% of all sales.

Currently, the top social media platforms in China for word-of-mouth marketing include WeChat, Weibo, Xiaohongshu (RED), and Douyin (Tik Tok’s Chinese counterpart), all of which also have their own e-commerce functions built in.

KOC
DTC
Group Purchase

Link: https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/IRwuZJ_-B26ACLLWt5osEw

Three Chinese Digital Marketing trends in 2022

Regular product updates: More than 200 million new products will be launched on Tmall in 2021, accounting for 35% of the market. It signifies that new products have emerged as one of the most critical components of brand growth.

New goods, on the other hand, do not have to replace prior ones; rather, the new ones might be based on the previous ones and emphasise essential components to highlight the brand’s individuality. For example, OPPO debuted a new series Reno 6 with a light blue cover in September 2021, then 6 months later, they released a new colour Purple Star with the same feature.

Second, more and more brands are collaborating with other brands, particularly those that focus on completely different areas, in order to introduce a brand-new concept and capture the audience’s interest. For example, LV and Nike Air Force collaborated on a new shoe design. Holland, in collaboration with Pokeman, has released a new line of cakes.

Introducing virtual space and unleashing marketing imagination: Because of the Facebook revolution, metaverse has grown in popularity since 2021. More and more firms are creating advertising based on this notion, and NFT makes it even more appealing. With the advancement of new technology and the increasing risk of celebrity (scandals), more corporations are creating their own virtual idol for marketing objectives.

On the one hand, developing virtual idols assists firms in lowering marketing costs. Brands, on the other hand, can create a virtual image to suit the company’s position.

Brand responsibility has been enhanced: In recent years, a few corporations have developed a CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) department with the goal of increasing both social and financial value. Sustainable development will be one of the most essential aspects of a brand that encompasses three major themes: environment, climate, and biodiversity.

– Kangshifu and Pepsi both launched a drink without labels, to reduce carbon and build an environmental concept.
– Kuaishou created an advertisement, revealing the reality of the polar bear, and started a public campaign calling upon the whole society and corporations to actively respond to global warming with low-carbon actions.
– Clarins, together with WWF, created a foundation, starting with protecting the habitat of Siberian tigers and appealing to people to pay more attention to the living status of those tigers and hoping to help them come back home sooner.

Link: https://socialbeta.com/t/10-digital-marketing-trend-in-2022

WeChat Channel Admin Can Be Migrated

Previously, if we wanted to display the channel on the official account’s page, we needed to have the same administrator for both the WeChat official account and the channel. However, if the administrator of the official account is removed for personal reasons, but the administrator of the channel remains the same because the channel administrator does not support change, the channel will not be featured on the front page.

Now the administrator of the channel can be changed, and the function is still under test.

Key points:
It can be replaced 5 times a year
Only certified video numbers are supported
Private messages cannot be migrated

Link: https://developers.weixin.qq.com/community/develop/article/doc/000882fe1d01a003afed3e00e5b013

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