International companies promoting their business in China will design advertising campaigns made for TV, newspapers, websites or social media platforms like WeChat. However, some advertisers may be unaware of the differences between advertising regulations in their home countries, and the regulations in China.

According to Chinese laws, any “advertising activity” by sellers to promote their goods or services directly or indirectly through a certain medium or format is considered advertising, including objective copy on a company’s website.

Foreign entities should therefore be careful when using their own website or public WeChat account to introduce their business, since even promotion on these kinds of platforms counts as advertising activity and is governed by advertising laws.

Unsurprisingly, most foreign companies will not consider the description of goods and services posted inside their premises, such as stores, offices or factories, as advertising. However, although these announcements are not directed at the public nor available on the internet, supervising authorities can investigate improper advertisements and show up unannounced to do a random check on the premises. They may also do online searches and use reports from consumers.

Cultural differences can lead to other misunderstandings regarding advertising too, especially when using ambiguous or suggestive descriptions. Some advertisers use provocative language to get consumers’ attention and promote a product. However, Chinese law does not permit the use of suggestive wording (such as alluding to sex or sexual services). Even if the suggestive information itself does not violate laws or core values, ambiguous or misleading content may violate false advertising rules.

Another situation that may represent a level of risk for the company is when customers post their pictures, profiles or personal information on the business app. This can be problematic since it is an area governed not only by advertising laws but also by the Civil Code and the Personal Information Protection Law (PIPL).

If there is no contract between the entity and the customer agreeing on the licensing period, usage scope, and purpose of use of their image or profile, and their personal information continues to be used in advertising materials, the company could be reported by the customer, and they have the right to demand compensation or the immediate removal of their details.

If the advertising is related to medical services, the business may also be liable for an administrative fine by the advertising and medical regulatory authorities.

The Advertising Law was amended in 2018, and since then, fines for improper advertising have been reduced. This may be due to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, as authorities were more concerned about economic recovery. However, the “costs” of violating advertising laws go far beyond administrative fines, and can negatively impact a company’s image or destroy its reputation.

For the last decade or so, the Administrative Penalty Decision Database of the State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR) has been publishing information about administrative penalties imposed on entities. This has made the process more transparent and allows the public to have access to information about violations of the law. The Administrative Penalty Decision Database of SAMR also posts real-life cases on its website, which is open to the public and can be accessed by anyone.

The fast growth of the internet has created concerns about the monopoly of big internet companies, and the Chinese government has started to regulate the digital market by increasing scrutiny and penalties. Last year, SAMR revised its online advertising guidelines to regulate advertising online and promote its healthy development, as well as protect the rights of consumers.

The internet is currently the most influential mass media and so internet platforms are assumed to bear higher responsibilities when it comes to internet advertising compliance. Due to the characteristics of online information – quantity, rapid change, and wide influence – identification is more important for internet advertising than traditional forms of advertising. In practice, it is common to see that relevant parties’ internet activities fail to mark their advertising information as “advertisements” or even deliberately mislead consumers by publishing content in formats like advertorials, appraisals or recommendations.

According to SAMR, “advertisements” should be clearly marked in the promotion of goods and services through a company’s internet activities, such as bidding ranking, news reports, experience sharing, review sharing, and additional shopping links. The Chinese authorities can find out about improper advertisements through a variety different channels, such as routine inspections, reports by consumers or search tools.

In general, investigators will evaluate several channels of advertisement, including indoor light box advertisements, official company websites, promotional boards and posts inside the office, WeChat public accounts, official apps and e-commerce B2C stores.

Over the past few years, China has been focused on developing a healthy and trustworthy social environment and creating a better legislative framework to protect public interests. Experts believe that local authorities will continue strengthening and implementing existing laws on advertising activities, particularly in the technology sector.

In the near future, compliance with advertising laws will become even more relevant. Companies and advertisers should make an effort to closely monitor their advertising campaigns and keep up to date with regulations and compliance requirement changes.

The post Could your advertising in China be illegal? appeared first on Focus - China Britain Business Council.

We now live in a highly digital world where having an e-commerce channel is no longer just an option, but a necessity. This is especially true in China’s sophisticated marketing landscape, where most companies must establish an e-commerce presence and leverage innovative technologies just to stay competitive.

The Covid-19 pandemic has convinced many businesses to finally embrace e-commerce as many realised that the presence of an online platform could mitigate the impact of physical shop closures. The recent lockdowns in many parts of China have caused even more companies to do the same.

The e-commerce sector is now saturated. Consumers are spoilt for choice. It has become incredibly difficult to stand out from the crowd.

In the past, advertising was one of the primary means of helping a company stand out. But research has shown that unless performed properly, the effectiveness and ROI of advertising is often largely sacrificed. In a widely cited study of 143 television ads by the Ehrenberg Bass Institute, only a dismal 16% of advertising was recalled and correctly attributed to a brand. In other words, without brand distinctiveness, 84% of ad spend went down the drain. The WARC Marketer’s Toolkit 2021 also found that two-thirds of survey respondents said that advertising suffered from a lack of distinctiveness during lockdowns.

But what is brand distinctiveness and how should brands in China leverage it to set themselves apart from the competition?

Don’t just be different. Be distinctive

Brand differentiation and brand distinctiveness might seem like the same thing, but they are most certainly not.

In a nutshell, brand differentiation is about setting a brand apart from the competition based on a difference. For example, an organic egg can be said to be different from the regular eggs on the shelf because it is organic. But place this organic egg brand among other organic egg brands, and this differentiating factor disappears.

The crux of brand distinctiveness lies in being true to an identity. Just as no two people are the same, no two brands should be either.

There are two pillars of brand distinctiveness:

1. Authentic brand purpose and values
2. Consistent, impactful brand experiences that reflect this purpose and values.

Authentic brand purpose and values

Having an authentic purpose and a set of values has become vital to business success, as consumers are increasingly buying products not just to satiate material needs but also because a brand resonates with their own purpose and aspirations.

According to the Accenture Chinese Consumer Insights 2022 report, 57% of respondents said the pandemic has caused them to rethink their life purpose and priorities.

Furthermore, research has shown that lonely consumers have a tendency to forge connections with brands that have values they resonate with. As loneliness levels have spiked due to the recent spate of Covid lockdowns in Shanghai and beyond, more and more consumers could now be in search of a brand they can connect meaningfully with.

But this doesn’t mean that brands should alter their purpose and values according to what consumers want. When brands are “true to themselves,” consumers with the same shared values will naturally flock to them and become loyal supporters, with prime examples of this including Patagonia and Ben & Jerry’s.

Harbin Beer

Brand distinctiveness can also be seen in the rebranding campaign for China’s Harbin Beer.

Established in 1900, Harbin Beer is China’s oldest brewery, hailing from a city in northeast China with a culture that is renowned for its fusion of East and West. New ideas are always welcomed in Harbin, which boasts a lively street scene complete with colourful graffiti.

Before the brand revamp, the beer was becoming increasingly distant from its audience and risked becoming irrelevant to consumers. Taking the lead on the rebranding, creative agency Jones Knowles Ritchie’s goal was to allow Harbin to unleash its energetic, optimistic spirit and celebrate its legacy as China’s first beer.

These notions were captured in the first character of Harbin’s Chinese brand name, “哈ha”, which represents laughter. To reflect the brand’s progressive and bold attitude, Harbin’s iconic “Ice Mountain” was transformed into a modern “ice mountain lightning bolt”. The result was a bold visual language that broke through the conventions of the commercial beer category.

This new brand identity enabled Harbin to quickly re-connect with young consumers and show that it shared the same progressive attitude, unapologetic point of view and pride in their culture and identity.

Just a month after the launch of Harbin’s rebranding campaign, Harbin sold 8.5 million bottles of beer, a five-fold increase compared with the same period in the previous year.

Impactful and consistent brand experience

A brand’s purpose and values are nothing more than a few lines in a brand guideline if they cannot be expressed clearly and coherently.

To sustain brand loyalty and maximise brand recognition, brands must manifest their purpose and values, and forge an impactful brand journey that unifies all touchpoints and mediums. The end goal is to offer a consistent experience for consumers no matter where or when the brand is seen.

From a product’s packaging to the elements featured in trade displays and digital apps to experiential activities, all brand assets must project the same brand identity.

One recent rebranding that leverages impactful visuals and presents a consistent experience is Nescafé Rich Blend.

Nescafé Rich Blend

For this campaign, Jones Knowles Ritchie set out to create powerful brand assets that would enable Nescafé to promote its new brand image in an efficient and memorable manner.

With a focus on communicating that the brand’s products are “real and authentic,” coarse details such as paper tears, rough edges and uneven textures were used to achieve the same raw, unadulterated feel that comes with a good cup of black coffee – no sugar, no additives, just purely roasted and utterly delicious. The shape of Nescafé Rich Blend’s new bottle was also reimagined as a creative device that carries the brand message in many forms including text, illustrations and motion graphics.

These assets were rolled out in China across different touch points, from out-of-home advertising to trade displays to pop-up events, creating a seamless and consistent brand experience that made the brand instantly recognisable and memorable.

This brand identity, brought to life on social media and in online stores, contributed to a 75% increase in e-commerce gross merchandising value (GMV) after only four weeks.

Becoming a top-of-mind brand

Brand distinctiveness has always been integral to a brand’s success, but its importance in the digital, post-pandemic era has been significantly amplified.

With consumers becoming cagier about their spending thanks to growing economic uncertainty caused by the pandemic and the war in Ukraine, being able to stand out is ever more critical. This is even more so for foreign brands in China today.

With nationalist consumption on the rise and more high-quality domestic brands making their way onto the market, foreign brands no longer have as much sway as before in China.

Therefore, it stands to reason that every brand must make brand distinctiveness a part of their brand strategy if they want to stand out in the massive Chinese market and win the hearts and minds of consumers.

Call +44 (0)20 7802 2000 or email enquiries@cbbc.org now to find out how CBBC can help you find the perfect partner or supplier to support the growth of your business in China.

The post How to create branding that resonates with Chinese consumers appeared first on Focus - China Britain Business Council.

The fast growth of China’s so-called ‘She Economy’ has drawn the attention of many brands, with International Women’s Day becoming the most important event of the year in the competition to win over China’s female consumers. In the lead up to International Women’s Day (8 March) this year, women of different age groups drove up consumption in sectors ranging from household products to strength training equipment to smart home devices. However, rushing to join the race to capture the attention of China’s highly coveted female consumer doesn’t guarantee a win. It’s therefore worth looking at some successful examples of see how others have managed it.

Proya: Gender is never a boundary, prejudice is

Following the success of its campaign last year, the Chinese cosmetics brand Proya revived its hit campaign titled “Gender is never a boundary, prejudice is.” The brand continued to challenge the assumptions made about women based on long-standing gender roles. Other brands from a wide range of industries also participated in the themed event, including women’s sportswear brand Maia Active, baby product maker Babycare and toy maker Kidsland, as well as short video platform Kuaishou and Chinese food delivery giant Meituan. 

In addition to the campaign, Proya produced a short film called Lion Dancing Girls and a special mini-documentary discussing the urgent need for better sex education. The short film features a women’s lion dancing team from Guangzhou, and was narrated by Wang Shuang, a Chinese female footballer. Through this campaign, Proya played on the country’s sports pride, especially the recent rise in support for women’s football following their victory at the AFC Women’s Asian Cup earlier this year.

These campaigns have also set Proya apart by highlighting that gender issues should not be exclusive to women, but are equally important for men too. While women can be as strong as a lion, men shouldn’t be judged for being soft or delicate, or for displaying any of the traits that are traditionally associated with women. This helped the campaign resonate with more sections of society. 

Songmont: Grandmas are never old, just be yourself

While young and middle-aged women are normally the focus of women’s ad campaigns, premium Chinese handbag brand Songmont decided to target the older demographic, declaring that women shouldn’t be defined by their age.

Titled “Grandmas are never old, just be yourself,” the campaign introduced a group of older women with an average age of 65, who were part of the brand’s design team. Scouted by the mother of the brand’s founder, Fu Song, these grandmas were also the founding members of the brand, bringing their knowledge of traditional Chinese handicrafts to modern handbag design. 

The brand staged a photoshoot for the women in Beijing to celebrate International Women’s Day. Older women are rarely the focal point for brand campaigns in China, so the campaign attracted a lot of attention for showcasing the idea of beauty at any age, while also tapping into women’s anxieties about ageing.   

Genki Forest: Unlimited potential

Meanwhile, Chinese direct-to-consumer beverage brand Genki Forest sent a message to young women that they are more than what they think they can be. Called “Unlimited Potential,” Genki’s campaign featured China’s latest teen sensation, Eileen Gu, alongside a group of young girls aged between 3 and 9 years old sharing their future dreams. 

The young interviewees are asked questions like “Does your family support you?” and “Do you think your dream will come true?”. Nearing the end of the video, Eileen Gu talks about her own childhood dreams. With the inclusion of the wildly popular gold medal freestyle skier, Genki Forest has successfully leveraged the hype around the sports idol in China, especially among young Chinese people. More importantly, by engaging both ordinary young girls and capitalising on this rising role model, the brand was able to effectively communicate the message that girls are full of potential and can achieve whatever they want to in life.

As Chinese women become an increasingly crucial consumer segment, we’re seeing female-focused campaigns becoming more inclusive and diverse too. Brands appear more open and more proactive at engaging with different age groups than they have been in previous years, in a bid to foster a more intimate relationship with the female audience. It appears to be working.

The post How to create a campaign that resonates with female consumers in China appeared first on Focus - China Britain Business Council.

Apple’s short film inspires young dream chasers in China 

Apple took the CNY marketing battle to the next level this year. The US iPhone maker released a 23-minute short film entitled The Comeback, shot using its latest iPhone model (the 13), which had yet again sparked a buying frenzy in China upon its launch in September 2021. While the film and the huge amount of effort put into its production attracted widespread attention, what really wowed Chinese consumers was the story, which explored the conflict between progress and staying true to one’s routes. 

The film tells the story of a son who failed to achieve his dream of being a film director in a big city and returned to his hometown. After overcoming the frustration of his failure, and with the support of his father and local villagers, the son finally produced his first film, which also turned the forgotten village into an Internet sensation. 

The video resonated with Chinese viewers because of its portrayal of hyper-local issues such as urbanisation, which has been one of the biggest social trends in China in recent years. It also put the value of being together with family — one of the main parts of Lunar New Year celebrations — at the forefront. By creating marketing based around hope and chasing dreams, combined with those of familial bonding, Apple tapped into the desires of its largest consumer demographic and regained its position as the largest phone provider in China.

L’Oréal revives Spring Festival traditions with a Temple Fair in Shanghai

Having grown up alongside Gen-Z since its first store opened in China 25 years ago, L’Oréal (the world’s largest cosmetics brand) has repeatedly refreshed its Lunar New Year campaigns over the years to resonate with its core market. This time around, the company revived traditions from Gen-Z’s childhoods including New Year shopping trips and temple fairs. By showing respect for China’s culture and history, while bringing back the festive spirit, L’Oréal was able to engage strongly with consumers. 

Unlike other global labels, L’Oréal’s campaign was also decidedly more down-to-earth, choosing Shanghai No.1 Food Store as its event venue. The first food retailer in Shanghai started its life in 1954 and has since become a time-honoured brand, a go-to for residents in the city, especially during festive seasons. As such, the campaign also leveraged the footfall at a popular local store, showcasing the brand’s understanding of the local market layout.

Another appeal of this campaign for the young generation was L’Oréal’s cooperation with a hanfu costume expert, throwback to the Han & Tang dynasties, and several online influencers in the traditional Chinese culture niche. These collaborations not only tap into the guochao (literally ‘national trend,’ or Chinese fashion trend) movement, but also the growing interest among Gen-Z in dressing up in traditional clothing.

With the presence of hanfu influencers specialising in the guochao style, the offline event easily caught the attention of young shoppers. With many people trying out the costume for photo opportunities, it also helped to create user-generated content, which increased the campaign’s online exposure.

As a result of such a multi-layered campaign, L’Oréal set itself apart from other players in the cosmetics market and won over young customers with its thorough knowledge of both new consumer demands and the culture of its target market.

McDonald’s ink painting anime gives hamburgers a Chinese flavour

McDonald’s took an unusual approach this Lunar New Year, combining Chinese ink painting with modern fast food. Chinese consumers were blown away by its aesthetic charm, blending two disparate ideas into one seamless campaign.

The one-minute campaign video was produced in collaboration with Shanghai Animation Studio, which also created hit mid-20th century Chinese cartoons such as Havoc in Heaven (the most popular episode of one of China’s Four great classic novels, The Monkey King), Black Cat Detective, and Calabash Brothers. Incorporating a classic Chinese painting style, the video smartly leveraged the aforementioned guochao, as well as the nostalgia of the target audience. 

Depicting a pink plum blossom petal floating through a pastoral landscape rendered like a traditional Chinese painting, the video skilfully hints at the approach of Spring. The accompanying poster for the campaign featured festive symbols like plum blossoms, auspicious clouds and magpies, which won over Chinese consumers with its unexpected understanding of Chinese culture.

Many global brands crave success and notoriety in the Chinese market, with this desire only getting stronger as Gen-Z become the backbone of the country’s consumer economy. The fast-changing and ever-diversified demands of these savvy buyers mean that international brands will have to continue to improve their knowledge about this new generation, as well as the society they live in. In order to succeed, foreign companies need to step up their efforts to adapt their offers to align with societal and cultural trends. Only by doing so will they be able to create more influential campaigns that not only make them stand out, but more importantly, impress a lucrative and discerning generation of new consumers.

Images captured from social media

This article was provided by our content partner, Dao Insights

The post Why Apple, McDonald’s and L’Oréal nailed their Lunar New Year campaigns appeared first on Focus - China Britain Business Council.

Both the summer and winter Olympics are a unique chance for a country to show off its infrastructure, culture and sporting ability on a world stage with millions of international viewers. For global consumer giants and even some smaller companies, it also offers substantial marketing opportunities.

The Games are a showcase for its key sponsors including Intel, Procter & Gamble, Coca-Cola and Toyota. Since China is the world’s second-largest economy, the lucrative market presents immense opportunities for domestic and international brands to go beyond their usual reach.

Key campaigns from the 2022 Winter Olympics

One of the longest-standing partners of the games is Coca-Cola. For this year’s Winter Games, Coca-Cola launched a light-hearted campaign focusing on environmental sustainability. In the commercial, ordinary people are shown as if they were participating in Winter Olympic sports such as curling and ice hockey as they throw their used bottles into recycling bins. Set-in real-life scenarios with a sports voiceover, the campaign calls on people to recycle more. Coca-Cola’s ‘bottle throwing’ campaign received a lot of positive feedback, and by fusing the Olympic Games together with actions people can take to help protect the environment, the company has managed to hit two of the government’s favourite topics in one campaign.

Coca-Cola’s Winter Olympics campaign imaged real-life scenarios as winter sports, aiming to encourage recycling

Procter & Gamble (P&G) also took a slightly comedic approach. To mark its Super Brand Day on Tmall, P&G launched a short film of a primary school student dreaming of competing in the Winter Olympics. Living on the island of Hainan where it never snows, the boy discovers inventive ways to ski but becomes discouraged. His teacher notices his disappointment and helps to assemble the first-ever Winter Olympics event on the beach. There are subtle product placements throughout the ad, with the characters using P&G products such as Crest toothpaste and Tide laundry detergent.

P&G’s campaign took the Winter Olympics to Hainan

Other big brands, such as Nike, have managed to embed ice and snow sports into their adverts for Lunar New Year in anticipation of the Winter Olympics. Domestic brands are also jumping on the bandwagon. One notable example is dumpling brand Wufangzhai, which released an advert showing a family competing for the last glutinous rice ball in a bowl as if they were playing ice hockey.

A boom in endorsements

Brand endorsements featuring Winter Olympic athletes have also become much more frequent. One of the biggest hits of the past two years has been freestyle skier Eileen Gu, a Chinese-American who decided in 2019 to represent Team China at the Winter Games rather than her birth country (the US).

Brands like Mengniu have been clamouring to work with Chinese-American freestyle skier Eileen Gu

A wide range of Chinese companies – from online retail giant JD.com to dairy producer Mengniu and sportswear brand Anta – have all turned to the sought-after 18-year-old for their latest domestic campaigns. In particular, the campaign launched by Anta sought to encourage more women to participate in sports, and market research suggests the brand has significantly profited from the Olympic ‘fever’ so far. For residents of Beijing, it’s been hard to avoid Gu’s face on adverts at bus stops and subway stations all over Beijing in the run-up to the event.

Treading lightly

However despite the clear opportunities for brands going all in on their Olympic-themed advertising, there is still some tension in the air given the persistence of the Covid-19 pandemic, which threatens to impact the success of the Games – and any potential financial returns. What’s more, amid simmering international political tensions, many global brands have chosen to tread lightly with their marketing efforts around the event. 

Nevertheless, companies are betting that the upcoming Games will prove a worthwhile opportunity. With enthusiasm for the Olympics still alive and well from last year’s Tokyo 2020 games, the Winter Olympics will hopefully arouse and engage spectators from all over the world regardless of the issues playing out in the background.

The post The best 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics advertising campaigns appeared first on Focus - China Britain Business Council.

Yes, another one. Whether China just loves love or likes participating in festivals, there are at least three special occasions that relate to matters of the heart: international Valentine’s Day on 14 February, ‘520’ on 20 March (the numbers sound like ‘I love you’ in Chinese) and the ancient Qixi, which takes place on the seventh day of the seventh month of the Chinese lunar calendar. As with so many traditional festivals, Qixi has also become one of the most lucrative shopping occasions in China.

Balenciaga earned the title of the tackiest Qixi campaign

Whether Balenciaga is your cup of tea or not, the luxury fashion brand has gathered an immensely loyal following in China. When you’re THAT popular, surely you can experiment/be bold in your campaigns?

In a bid to click with a younger, more free-spirited and creative audience, Balenciaga went all out. The result was quite an eyesore: variants of ‘I love you’ and ‘you love me’ were scrawled on the 139,000 RMB handbags, and the model campaign included gaudy scenes of butterflies, red flowers, hearts and waterfalls with mountains that looked like they’d been put together on Microsoft paint. By a 12-year-old.

Users on social media platform Weibo went wild over the “tacky and tasteless” design. So much so, that the hashtag “Balenciaga’s Qixi campaign is too tacky” had collected over 200 million views at the time of going to print and counting. The campaign is incomparable to the one aired in France for international Valentine’s Day, a fact that sparked a discussion about whether Balenciaga thinks “ugly” design is more appealing to Chinese consumers. A popular fashion KOL (Key Opinion Leader) nailed it: “It’s a common marketing strategy – the brand wanted to create a huge sensation online while not paying a huge amount of money for marketing.”

Valentino reminisces about young love via multiple social channels

Balenciaga at least demonstrates that to gain great exposure, you need to get people talking about you. So, all digital marketing campaigns should be designed to elicit consumer engagement across a range of channels.

Luxury brand Valentino played the clever nostalgia card. Remember the fun of having a crush? The campaign video features two young people playing a very flirty game of hide and seek. This cheeky representation of young love resonated across social media, sending the hashtag #VLoveTN Qixi limited series into the stratosphere with over 62 million views on Weibo alone.

Aside from the video, Valentino also released limited-edition Qixi handbags, shoes and clothes, which were promoted on the brand’s WeChat Moments feed. To increase awareness even further on WeChat, a (non-love related) puzzle in the form of a special Rubik’s cube game was released.

Jo Malone combined forces with Zara to box some out-of-the-box gifts

Just as with Valentine’s Day, Qixi has become extremely commercialised, so if you have a partner but no gift on the day, you risk disappointing them greatly. Not to worry, you can always run into the nearest shop for some chocolates and a bunch of flowers. Maybe some jewellery if you really want to impress him/her? Well, luxury brand Jo Malone, best known for its scents, felt a little left out. Candles and perfumes were simply not on lovers’ Qixi shopping lists.

So what better way to gain a greater audience share than by collaborating with an accessible brand beloved across multiple target audiences? Along with Spanish clothing brand Zara, Jo Malone released eight limited edition perfumes for Qixi. The ‘romantic’ names included Waterlily Tea Dress, Amalfi Sunray, Tubereuse Noir, and Bohemian Bluebells – who knows what those smell like.

The perfumes were made widely available through Zara’s official website, their WeChat Mini Program, the brand’s app, as well as in store, along with a personal customisation service. But to really establish the scents as a viable gift, the two brands needed a little more help. Enter the secret weapon: China’s most famous live streamer, Li Jiaqi. Whatever Li recommends to his followers flies off the shelves within seconds. And it worked: a mammoth three-hour livestream on Weibo gained 69,000 viewers!

Gucci got lucky with its apple-centred campaign

Gucci played a similar card, enlisting ten famous fashion KOLs (Key Opinion Leaders) to introduce their ‘apple’ collection via livestream. Apples? Why apples?

Well, here is where Gucci got lucky. The theme of their Qixi campaign was ‘apple of my eye’, a phrase commonly used to express love to your partner in English. However, the meaning may have been lost in translation for some Chinese consumers as to them, apples represent peace rather than love. An easy way for netizens to stir up a sugar storm online for failing to localise properly. Luckily though, the campaign went down a treat.

Gucci’s promotional video shows two teenagers developing their friendship into a relationship when the boy uses a paper bag painted with red apples and the ‘apple of my eye’ to confess his love. The limited-edition apple print collection includes handbags, backpacks, accessories, shoes, and small leather goods like cardholders. All products were available on Gucci’s official website, their WeChat Mini Program and selected physical stores.

To target young, fashion-forward Chinese consumers, Gucci promoted its campaign on popular social review platform Little Red Book (aka RED, aka Xiaohongshu), launching the hashtag #GUCCI Qixi Valentine’s Day, which obtained 3.87 million views.

What not to do, a guide, by D&G

While Gucci got lucky, and Balenciaga’s flop earned a lot of views, D&G completely missed the mark this Qixi – again.

To be fair, the Italian luxury brand would have surprised itself if it had earned the title for the best Qixi campaign given its previous faux pas in China. D&G are notorious for angering Chinese consumers with bold and satirical campaigns that might work in the West but have often ended up being outright racist and stereotypical in China. Posing on the Great Wall and eating pizza with chopsticks eventually got the luxury colossus booted out of China in 2018.

Instead of doing their homework and playing it safe, worming their way back into the hearts of Chinese consumers, they went with yet another bold approach. Netizens claim it is because celebrities refused to work with D&G, that their campaign featured strange-looking digitally animated models. The female-only duo was hanging out at the beach, apparently showing that Qixi could be spent relaxing with friends and not just partners – a message that does not fit the festival at all. To make matters worse, the campaign looked like it was not made specifically for China, but was rather an international campaign simply copy-pasted to China.

Campaigns for China must be carefully curated

They must understand Chinese people and Chinese culture. China can be a Garden of Eden to Western luxury brands, paradise if you get it right and short-lived if you break the rules. While Valentino, Jo Malone x Zara, and Gucci earned some brownie points this Qixi, Balenciaga and D&G missed the mark. Who knew that capitalising on love could backfire? At the end of the day, understanding Chinese people and China’s culture is key to launching successful campaigns and building brand love with that target audience that will make 50% of global luxury purchases by 2025.

Dao Insights publish the newest news, case studies and opinion articles on all things China. Take a look on their website and sign up to their bite-sized weekly newsletter.

The post Five campaigns for China’s Valentine’s Day appeared first on Focus - China Britain Business Council.

COVID-19 may have sent China’s GDP plunging, but Chinese brands didn’t stick their heads in the sand. Whether it was to advertise new products, celebrate a ‘special day’, big up a shopping festival or show solidarity during COVID-19-  in China, 2020 campaigns kept on flowing.

McDonald’s – 5G Chicken

McDonald’s 5G campaign used a clever play on words to attract a techie audience

When you think of McDonald’s, burgers, fries and nuggets are more likely to come to mind than new-tech, so Chinese consumers were quite rightly puzzled when McDonald’s released a teaser online for its new ‘5G product.’ A smart idea, seeing as 5G is such a huge topic in China at the moment. Telecoms providers are setting up hundreds of thousands of 5G base stations across the country, making tech junkies and online businesses rub their hands together in anticipation.

McDonald’s’ campaign set fire to comment buttons on social media, resulting in more than a million people tuning in to the livestream launch. Turns out, McDonald’s 5G product was not linked to 5G at all (surprise, surprise); it was a play on words: Chicken in Chinese is pronounced ‘ji’ like both the ‘G’ of 5G, and the ‘ji’ meaning technology. The campaign highlighted the five ‘technologies’ of its new McCrispy Chicken – large, crispy, juicy, fresh and tasty.

Prada – Mathematics of Love

Prada’s Mathematics of Love campaign launched around China’s Valentines season

Mathematics and love don’t exactly go hand in hand, but it’s exactly what Prada chose for its 520 (one of China’s numerous Valentine’s Days) campaign. To really get the girls to encourage their boyfriends to order them the latest Prada bag, the brand featured one of China’s most popular male celebrities, Cai Xukun. Posters and videos released to celebrate the romantic day featured a series of numbers linked to romance and love. In the end (who would have guessed?) all these numbers add up to 520, which when pronounced sounds a bit like ‘I love you’ in Chinese. Yes, another play on words.

Prada’s multidimensional campaign also featured a customised poster and the option to select gifts for loved ones through its WeChat Mini Program – a nice one-stop-shop for anyone on the app. In the end, apart from selling truckloads of bags, #Prada520 gained 600 million views and 3.24 million comments on Weibo.

W+K – You can’t mask a smile

Ad agency W+K created a buzz for printing smiling faces on masks

Located opposite a major hospital, advertising agency W+K’s Shanghai office witnessed its fair share of Covid-19 related scenes over Spring Festival. Sirens, PPE and masks had replaced firecrackers, dumplings and family gatherings. Instead of seeing happy faces and wide smiles during the important family celebration, faces were hidden behind masks. So, to cheer people up, W+K launched their very own ‘You can’t mask a smile’ campaign, which essentially photoshopped funky expressions on to pictures of people wearing a mask.

As the campaign spread on social media, more and more people participated – even big hitters from Alibaba Group and GAP joined the initiative

The original campaign featured photos of the W+K team and people in their neighbourhood, such as the owner of a local flower store, a barista and a chef. As the campaign spread on social media, more and more people participated – even big hitters from Alibaba Group and GAP joined the initiative. What was originally intended as a small gesture provided an excellent way for brands to show that they cared about their consumers during challenging times.

Alibaba X Tmall – Health QR code fashion

Mark Fairwhale selling on Alibaba used the colour green and QR motifs in relation to China’s Health Code system

Since the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic, China has introduced a system in which everyone has a QR code on their phone, indicating their health profile. When scanned, the QR shows a traffic light system of red (likely infected) amber (in contact with an infected person) or green (all clear). China’s health QR code system is a trace and track system that prohibits those with a red or amber code from travelling. Only those with a green code can move about freely.

For Mark Cheung (aka fashion brand Fairwhale’s designer), the green code provided inspiration for his summer collection. Why not make it fashionable to be healthy? Although the QR code printed on his T-shirts was obviously not personalised and could not be scanned to show an individual’s health data, it impressed Chinese netizens: the hashtag ‘Green health code T-shirt’ was viewed 14.9 million times on Weibo.

Along with Fairwhale, Alibaba helped three other young designers launch their 2020 summer collections on Tmall. The colour green featured prominently in their collections and tied in with the growing environmental, health and fitness trend among Chinese consumers.

Perfect Diary – International Nurse’s Day

Perfect Diary Nurse campaign tapped into the appreciation of front line workers

Makeup brand Perfect Diary decided to use its products to give nine front line nurses a makeover on 12 May –International Nurses Day, as China was recovering from the worst of the outbreak. Perfect Diary wanted to express its gratitude for the huge sacrifices they had made. The campaign juxtaposed images of the nurses when they had just finished a shift, with a photo of them after their makeover alongside their personal stories.

The campaign juxtaposed images of the nurses when they had just finished a shift, with a photo of them after their makeover

Since launching only four years ago, Perfect Diary has become China’s leading domestic cosmetics brand thanks to developing customer loyalty and a strong brand image. Rather than using professional models, they work with real-life role-models, giving the campaigns a more personal and relatable edge. This one went down an absolute treat with consumers, earning the brand an overwhelmingly positive response on social media.

Creative campaigns that understand consumers

In their Covid-19-related campaigns, Perfect Diary and W+K highlighted their social consciousness and perfectly judged the public mood, in turn boosting their relationship with audiences. All of these featured brands have also shown that it pays off to be aware of popular trends among consumers, as shown by the designers on Tmall who looked to ‘health’ for inspiration for their collections, and McDonald’s who used ‘tech’ buzzwords to build up excitement about their campaign. As such, all five campaigns have achieved great success across social media.

Dao Insights publish the newest news, case studies and opinion articles on all things China. Take a look on their website and sign up to their bite-sized weekly newsletter.

The post Top five ad campaigns in China for the first half of 2020 appeared first on Focus - China Britain Business Council.