Influencers

The space left by the lack of hyper-targeting has been taken up by influencers or Key Opinion Leaders (KOLs) as they are known in China. But don’t be fooled, these are nothing like the influencers you may have experienced outside of China. Global influencers are ranked on the number of followers and engagement metrics, meaning ‘exposure’ is king and it is advertising which therefore drives revenue. The KOLs in China, however, are ranked on sale conversions since it is ecommerce which is the revenue driver.

You’d think Chinese consumers would be put off by KOLs directly and openly making money out of their infamy but you’d be wrong. KOLs are well regarded and widely seen as entrepreneurs.

Furthermore, it is just as important to balance your KOL activity with KOC activity, or Key Opinion Consumers. These are everyday consumers whose value is calculated on their ability to be relatable, personable and trustworthy so that their friend-like status helps to deliver the KOL’s message at a more realistic level that you have direct empathy with.

The trick here is aligning the collaboration between KOLs and KOCs and having an integrated customer journey built around laser-focused brand content including digital advertising, livestream content and brand experiences.

“In China more than anywhere else, consumption has been rebranded into a content-driven experience”, says CircleSquare Asia Managing Partner Stéphane Zermatten.

Branded Content

According to the informed folk at Smart Insights, “72% of consumers will now only engage with personalised marketing messages”. It looks like all our well-meaning efforts to create unique, personalised messaging have come back to bite us in the backside. However, all is not what it seems. Consumers have sped up the rate at which they scroll through their social feeds and are no longer responding to personalised messages like they used to, because it has all become wallpaper to them.

The brands who are trail-blazing here are the ones being creative with content, using video content, infographics and creative imagery to construct beautifully crafted stories which are proven to grab our attention, no more so than in China.

There are no smoke and mirrors here. Data-driven narratives which use a variety of content formats to deliver their immersive storytelling, such as those created by luxury brands like Gucci and Burberry, have cut through the white noise and won the hearts of their target consumers. A memorable and engaging story beats personalisation every time.

If you need someone to pull a rabbit out of a hat when it comes to targeting the Chinese traveller, Circlesquare, with five offices in Greater China alone, is uniquely placed to create a bespoke strategy for your brand to reach Chinese travellers and also to implement your content creation in both the digital and physical worlds.