China’s top leader, Xi Jinping, has declared a war on the “shocking and distressing” squandering of food, and the nation is racing to respond, with some going to greater extremes than others. Chinese regulators are calling out livestreamers who binge-eat for promoting excessive consumption. A school said it would bar students from applying for scholarships if their daily leftovers exceeded a set amount. A restaurant placed electronic scales at its entrance for customers to weigh themselves to avoid ordering too much. If you’re a food company doing livestream or advertising in China, be mindful of this new policy imperative. Making sure to refine the images and advertising copy you use accordingly.

Chinese consumers are still looking for good deals. As a result, the number of Vipshop active customers during Q2 2020 increased by 17% year over year to 38.8 million. During the quarter, repeat customers as a percentage of total active customers increased to 90% from 87%. Do you have a suitable discount policy for your brand in China?

US Sunscreen brand sells out within weeks! Leveraging Tmall Global and Alibaba Group consumer insights and marketing tools, sunscreen brand Supergoop has been able to engage with Chinese consumers who are looking for better daily suncare solutions. In just a few weeks, Supergoop sold out of the stock it had prepared for Chinese consumers and had to quickly adjust its supply chain to keep pace with booming demand. Per a March report issued by Kantar Worldpanel and Tmall Global, sales of suncare products on the e-commerce platform in 2019 increased by 90% year over year. Tmall Global also pointed to a rise in the number of suncare brands on the platform, with more than 20 international brands added to the category since the beginning of this year. Have a look at the case study for more fascinating insights.

Nostalgia Marketing aims to capture or recapture the customer’s attention through appealing to cherished memories. Some brands have taken full advantage of nostalgia marketing in China and have resulted in high sales and brand awareness. One example is McDonald’s using two main characters from old traditional English textbooks in a mini comic where they taught students how to order food in English. Overall tips for nostalgia marketing in China: 1) Appeal to the senses; 2) Discover what was popular among the target during their children and teenage years; 3) Co-brand with brands from the past. For more examples read the full article!

You may have heard of CLO as “Chief Learning Officer” in some forward-thinking organisations. However, at JD, China’s second-largest e-commerce platform, CLO takes on a different meaning: Chief Livestream Officer. Wang Feng, a rockstar, has been appointed as JD’s Chief Livestream Officer. He’s responsible for turning up the entertainment factor on JD’s livestreams. During this year’s 618 Grand Promotion, JD invited over 300 celebrities into its livestreaming room and brought rock concerts and musical festivals online through JD Live, its livestreaming platform. JD is committed to merging entertainment, high-quality products and celebrities into its livestream features. Has your brand tried livestream in China yet?

Last year, we told tourism operators and destinations to get ready for a wave of Chinese tourists who wanted ‘soft adventure tourism’ experiences. Soft adventure tourism refers to experiences that are exotic but come with little risk and a relatively high degree of comfort. ‘Soft adventure tourism includes horseback riding through the Mountains of Turkey, floating in the Dead Sea, or going for a camel ride in Morocco. Although international tourism is heavily restricted this year, the desire for soft adventure tourism hasn’t abated. New hotel concepts, like this desert hotel in Ningxia, are opening up. You may have already seen a steady stream of domestic tourists heading to Hainan Island to learn surfing.

China’s ‘SHE ERA’ (ta shidai 她时代) dramas are all the rage. The latest TV drama hit in this genre is “Nothing But Thirty”. It is flooding Weibo discussions, with over 20 billion views on its hashtag page. In a society where women are often expected to be married by their late twenties, a show like this, which tackles women’s present-day struggles, both in their personal and professional lives, has resonated with many. Why should you as a brands pay attention to this trend? You can use hot topics related to the episodes in their posts, relate products to instances on the show, or show that the brand is a big fan of such a show to ride the wave of its popularity.

More and more Chinese companies are jumping on this trend of Auto-Tuned remix videos, meaning foreign brands that want to keep up should pay attention and learn. One example is Mi Tech (from Xiaomi). The company has been actively working with remix video creators to create strong buzz for the brand. Most recently, Jun Lei, founder and chairman of Mi Tech, created a Bilibili account and posted his first remixed video. It resulted in around 4 million views and 627k followers. Similarly, Alibaba created Auto-Tuned remix videos during the outbreak, based on Jack Ma’s singing performance, receiving 2.5 million views. Brands should keep in mind that communication is often quite humorous and down-to earth on Bilibili, which is why this platform lends itself well for such content.