Following the China Consumer Conference Day and CBBC’s Summer Reception – which took place on 4 July at Mayfair’s No.4 Hamilton Place and attracted over 200 delegates – the second day of activities under CBBC’s flagship consumer event generated a lot of buzz, with the exchange of fresh ideas and insights, as well as the generation of tangible next steps for participating UK brands in the China market, high on the agenda.

The event also included an exclusive afternoon private view of ARgENTUM Apothecary and a reception at their London venue

Meet the China Partner

The day kicked off with Meet the China Partner, which was held online as well as at CBBC’s London office, with select China buyers attending in person for the first time since before the pandemic.

Zhu Dan, Business Operations Director, Douyin International, presents at the Meet the China Partner session at CBBC’s London Office

UK Consumer brands interested in meeting some of China’s most successful retailers and distributors of UK consumer products took part in the session, which gave them the opportunity to meet and build relationships with four pre-warmed buyers, with dedicated follow-up support from CBBC included post-event.

Participating importers and distributors included:

Participating digital marketing and e-commerce agencies included:

Participating e-commerce platforms included:

View the full list of Chinese Partners who took part here.

Chinese Influencer Programme

Following the Meet the China Partner session, the Chinese Influencer Programme took place in the afternoon at CBBC’s London office in Westminster.

Held in partnership with Influencer Hub International, in this interactive session, UK Consumer brands in attendance received valuable live feedback on their brand from dynamic London-based Chinese influencers.

Kiltane takes part in The Meet the Influencer session at CBBC’s London Office

The participating Chinese influencers were:

• UKZone: Leading UK-Chinese influencer covering lifestyle, culture and news (total followers on Xiaohongshu & Weibo: 610,000)
• Ms Xiaoji in London: UK news/lifestyle blogger with a significant UK-based Chinese international student audience (total followers on Xiaohongshu, Douyin, Bilibili & WeChat: 400,000)
• Liujie: Multi-industry female entrepreneur, leading lifestyle influencer and high-end lifestyle expert. She is also a pet lover (total followers on Xiaohongshu & Weibo: 74,000)
• Mary: Fashion and cultural influencer with a focus on street interviews (total followers on Xiaohongshu: 15,000)
• Kayla | 29士多店(每日必更！: Shares insights on her lifestyle in the UK and China, as well as tips and information on food and beauty (total followers on Xiaohongshu: 5,700)
• Taoci: High-end lifestyle influencer in the UK, shares work experience insights in the UK. Her followers are mostly interested in UK culture (total followers Xiaohonghsu: 5,600)
• Vickiyu: Shares experiences of her lifestyle in the UK and China, as well as family and home renovation insights (total followers on Xiaohongshu: 3,300)

Each of the participating influencers brought their own unique perspective to the event, with expertise in areas ranging from fashion and lifestyle to food and drink to beauty. Each of the influencers has an impressive follower count and presence across key Chinese social media and social commerce channels, including Xiaohongshu, Bilibili, Douyin (the Chinese version of TikTok), Weibo, Instagram, and WeChat.

UK Consumer brands took advantage of this chance to engage in a live Q&A session with influencers to discuss any queries they have in relation to consumer perceptions, including but not limited to new product launches, packaging, trends, shopping behaviour and market strategies.

The session provided unique and meaningful insights that will help participating brands to make strategic decisions, innovate and grow in the Chinese market going forward.

Following the conclusion of the Influencers Session, guests had the chance to attend an exclusive afternoon private viewing of skincare brand ARgENTUM Apothecary at the brand’s London venue.

Guests mingle at ARgENTUM Apothecary

Guests sampled the brand’s luxury products and enjoyed the chance to hear from Founder & CEO Joy Isaacs on her vision for the brand, as well as her experiences in the Chinese market.

For further enquiries about China Consumer 2023, please email Antoaneta.Becker@cbbc.org or Celine.Tang@cbbc.org

To enquire about membership at CBBC, please email membership@cbbc.org or visit cbbc.org/membership

Click here to learn more about China Consumer 2023

The post China Consumer 2023: UK Consumer Brands Meet Leading China Partners & Influencers appeared first on Focus - China Britain Business Council.

Online influencers, normally consisting of well-known celebrities and popular live streamers, have long been a dominating force in China’s digital marketing landscape. But these real-world celebrities are facing increasing competition from an unlikely source: virtual influencers.

The virtual influencer market is projected to expand to RMB 333.47 billion (£39.5 billion) by 2023, showing five-fold growth within a two year period. The increased influence of virtual celebrities is due in part to the Chinese government seeking to rein in the entertainment industry and what has been described as “chaotic celebrity fan culture” amid multiple tax evasion and sexual harassment scandals involving celebrities.

As the government steps up efforts to contain this “unhealthy” culture, brands have rushed to cut ties with both popular actors and famous live streamers who have been caught up in scandal. Enter flawless AI-created virtual influencers, which have become the ideal alternative for brands hoping to stay away from celebrity controversies while continuing to create engaging social media campaigns. This lack of associated risk is a big draw for companies, as celebrity reputation can deeply affect a brand’s stock in the eyes of consumers. Nevertheless, there are still questions as to how well the population takes to AI brand ambassadors.

Virtual influencer Ling appearing in a campaign for Bulgari (Photo: 翎__Ling/Weibo)

Chinese tech giants have, not surprisingly, been at the forefront of developments in the virtual influencer industry, since they not only have the technology to create them but also have a huge user base that can promote their popularity.

One of China’s best-known existing virtual influencers is so-called ‘meta-human’ Ayayi, created by Ranmai Technology in May 2021. Hoping to capitalise on the virtual idol, whose debut on Xiaohongshu, attracted more than two million views and garnered over 95, 000 likes, Alibaba ‘hired’ Ayayi as a digital manager for Tmall Super Brand, where she curates campaigns and even creates NFTs.

With virtual influencers continuing to gain steam in China, other brands have been quick to jump on the bandwagon. Tesla, Vogue and the Chinese tea-based drink brand Nayuki have all collaborated with the AI-powered Chinese virtual influencer, Ling. This e-celebrity has been followed by more than 420,000 people on the Chinese micro-blogging site Weibo alone since her birth in May 2020, giving her partner brands a new avenue of outreach to potential customers.

The surprisingly large fan base of these virtual influencers demonstrates their considerable commercial value. However, the cost of hiring them is equally eyebrow-raising. Speaking to Chinese media outlet Beijing News, Chen Yan, a Beijing-based virtual being intellectual property developer, revealed that the cost of developing a virtual character is “far over a million [RMB]” and that “more than 90% of domestic virtual idol developers are struggling to profit.”

Virtual influencer Ayayi has attracted a large fan base with her flawless skin and cool style (Photo: ayayi.iiiii/Instagram)

The cost for brands to recruit an established virtual influencer through an “agency” stretches to several hundred thousand RMB. On the other hand, that sum could reach over RMB 3 million (£356,000) if a brand were to develop its own virtual influencer, without even calculating the time and human resources needed for production.

The cost of creating a virtual influencer is just the beginning of a long-term investment, since producing media content such as short videos also requires significant resources. According to Chen, a short video that features a virtual idol could cost between RMB 8,000-15,000 per second. Such a financially draining approach naturally casts doubts over the business sustainability of the virtual influencer trend — at least based on current levels of technology — with the market currently characterised by “high-risk high-reward” campaigns.

With most brands only just starting to explore the potential of China’s virtual influencer industry, we can expect more opportunities to develop in the future. Those who have already opted in should stay alert to the potential financial drains that might come with hiring a digital influencer. It is also recommended that brands develop a clear strategy for how to capitalise on the new avenue of digital marketing in a cost-effective way.

This article was provided by Focus content partner, Dao Insights.

The post Should you hire a virtual influencer to promote your brand in China? appeared first on Focus - China Britain Business Council.

Once confined to amateur-level content, influencers are increasingly able to make a living creating paid promotional content, with over 20,000 influencers now having amassed more than 1 million followers on Weibo. The huge potential of influencer-led marketing is evident from success stories of key opinion leaders (KOLs) such as Austin Li – China’s ‘Lipstick King’ – who is well-known for having sold 15,000 lipsticks in 15 minutes.

It is crucial for KOLs to maintain their reputation for good taste, especially among their loyal followers. It is therefore important that brands are open and transparent when reaching out to influencers and provide key information such as a product’s unique selling point, the company’s aims, and its ethical standpoint.

Brands looking to engage KOLs should first familiarise themselves with individual influencers’ work so that realistic expectations can be set regarding KPIs and the type of content being produced.

RachelRach, is a full-time influencer who has worked in China, the United Kingdom, and the United States. She says that having a passion for the brand and a personal connection to the product they’re promoting is key. Her work with William & Son, she says as an example, allowed her to explore her personal connection to London.

Rachel explains that she is happy for her content to be checked against a brand’s guidelines, but that she also needs the freedom to produce work that is in line with her own creative style and that fits with the overall messaging of her platforms.

Gloria another influencer who has experience worked with British brands in China, described being particularly proud of her early work with ASOS, as she was an enthusiastic consumer of its products prior to their collaboration. She explains that she expects any brand approaching her for collaboration to be on board with her style of content before reaching out.

Yue has also worked for UK brands during her time as a student in the UK. She says she is often happy to work with smaller brands once she has had the opportunity to verify the quality of their products. “For less well-known brands, quality speaks for itself,” she says.

It is crucial for KOLs to maintain their reputation for good taste, especially among their loyal followers

Once a brand and influencer have decided to collaborate, the next step is to discuss deliverables. For most brands, this is down to performance tracking, which usually takes the form of engagement targets. Metrics used to track performance can vary depending on the aims of the campaign and can include views counts, tracking overall engagement, and analysing comments from each influencer’s network of followers.

“Brands should set realistic expectations based on what they already know about an influencer’s online presence,” says Gloria. “Although there are strategies that can be used to boost views for individual posts, total engagement is unlikely to significantly exceed an influencer’s average engagement.”

“A brand I was working with attempted to boost engagement using fake accounts,” says Yue. An action which had the potential to jeopardise her reputation. Fake engagement is an issue which gives rise to particular caution among influencers.

Metrics used to track influencer performance can include views counts, tracking engagement, and analysing comments

So how much will an influencer-led marketing campaign set you back? It depends entirely on the type of campaign you’re looking to run. Pricing is based on a combination of factors – including the expectations communicated by the brand, its budget for the campaign, and the time and monetary costs involved in producing the desired content. Depending on the resources made available, the content produced can range from a brief product recommendation shot using a smartphone, to a full production with a hired film crew and different locations. Individual campaigns are usually priced individually, depending on the brief, even if the influencer has a long-term relationship with a brand.

However, Rachel says that she has worked on a retainer basis for a brand whose products she really believes in and with which she has developed a good relationship. Sometimes influencers work on a commission model, but this kind of revenue-driven campaign is likely to impact the nature and quality of content.

The cost of an influencer-led maketing campaign will depend on the type of campaign that is needed

Many influencers are more reluctance to work with multi-channel networks (MCNs) – so-called ‘influencer houses,’ which sign contracts with multiple influencers and house them under one roof. This is because of the potential for such relationships to restrict the creative freedom and flexible working patterns which work in the favour of many KOLs.

However, Gloria says that for some influencers, the MCNs do bring benefits, including a structured workflow and access to industry connections.  Rachel says she has signed on with one MCN in order to comply with platform requirements for RED, noting that no restrictions had been placed on her creative freedom.

On the plus side, Rachel says that agencies often have more time to communicate directly with influencers and can help connect brands with the influencers who can most authentically promote their products.

“With the Covid-19 pandemic having increased the importance of leveraging social media marketing strategies, and as companies jostle for space in what has become a crowded market, competitiveness within this industry looks set to increase,” says Gloria. “Future trends are likely to include more extensive regulation within China,” which she says is a good thing, provided regulations are flexible and place minimal limitations on their creative processes. Further development of livestreaming as a more revenue-driven digital strategy is also expected. With the industry set to grow, we are likely to see more influencers undergoing what Adam Knight refers to as the transition from “handheld names to household names.”

Click here to watch the influencers talk about their market

Written by Alexandra Kimmons, with contributions from Hannah Williams

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