Guide to KOL marketing in China

In 2020, out of a population of 1.41 billion, China had 989 million Internet users, which is 70.4 percent of the population, an increase of 9.2 percent of from 2019. Additionally, according to CNNIC, 31.3 percent of internet users live in rural areas, an increase of 5 percent from 2019. Although the number of urban […]
FILA asks Chinese who are today’s idols

On June 28th, FILA’s new campaign 《对话》 (Conversation) and its Weibo hashtag #一个时代的偶像# (#The Idols of Our Time) was released and soon became a hot topic. By 5th July, this topic was read 460+ million times and discussed 456,000+ times (including 155,000+ posts with the hashtag). With this ad, the brand celebrated its 110th-anniversary using […]
AYAYI: The first metahuman in China has already made an “offline appearance” at Guerlain’s event

The first metahuman AYAYI (super realistic digital human) was created by RM Inc. (燃麦科技) earlier this year. AYAYI made her first appearance on Red on May 20th, 2021, the Chinese version of Valentine’s Day. As of July 1st, AYAYI’s first笔记 (note) launched on Red has won 95,000+ likes, 13,000+ favorites, and 2+ million reads. All […]
Genki Forest: a Chinese soft drink brand planning to tackle Coca-Cola

Genki Forest, founded in 2016, is a Chinese soft drink brand that specializes in sparkling water and instant tea. Because of the increased popularity of “low calorie” and less sugary food among Chinese people, Genki Forest’s relatively healthier products have successfully catered to a substantial target market. According to Xinhua News Agency, the monthly sales […]
Perfect Diary case study: How this Chinese makeup brand got to the top

The c-beauty brand Perfect Diary is one of the first Chinese cosmetics brands to go global. The rise of this Chinese cosmetics brand started on its home soil of China, using the strategies of KOL marketing, co-branding, and private traffic. This Perfect Diary case study dissects how the brand became so popular so fast. Since […]
The many faces of virtual influencers in China: Vocaloids, KOLs, KOCs, idols and brand ambassadors

L’Oréal announced their branded virtual idol for the brand’s Chinese fans, Mr Ou. L’Oréal is not the only brand to invest in a virtual ambassador, virtual influencers in China are a growing phenomena. In fact, by 2023, China’s virtual KOL market is expected to be worth RMB 1.5 billion according to South China Morning Post. […]
Douyin marketing in China: enormous opportunities for all kinds of brands

In recent years, China’s biggest tech giants have entered the Chinese short video industry one by one. ByteDance, B Station, Tencent, Baidu, Ali, Sina, Meitu, NetEase and 360 series are competing for attention in the short video industry. Among them is one of the most popular video platforms, Douyin, owned by ByteDance, is the China […]
A guide to live streaming in China

While most of the western internet users still associated live streaming with gaming and entertainment, it has become a ubiquitous shopping channel among Chinese online shoppers. What makes live streaming in China unique, and should brands be investing more in this marketing method? Live streaming is a shopping mode where live streamers, often times KOLs, broadcast […]
What made Double 11 2020 break records: Sales stats and new trends

November 11th, also known as “Guang Gun Jie”, was invented at first to celebrate singles’ day, as opposed to Valentine’s Day. In order to boost sales, Alibaba turned it in to a shopping festival in 2009, in which year it earned a total revenue of 50 million RMB. From then on, each year brought more […]
KOC marketing in China often gets more bang for the buck than KOL marketing

KOC marketing in China is gaining popularity due to the rise of big data platforms and new demands from young consumers. Chinese KOCs (Key Opinion Consumers), are regular consumers who love to share their true product reviews on popular social media. Although most KOCs don’t have a large fan base, they are the key for […]