Strategy, platform deep-dives, and lessons from real campaigns in China.
Foreign brands ask me all the time how to get into Chinese hospitals and pharmacies. Almost none of them ask who is actually going to move their product from the port to the shelf, get paid for it, and not disappear with the stock. That second question matters more. Distribution is where most pharma launches […]
Douyin has quietly become one of the most important sales channels for fashion brands operating in China, and it works nothing like a traditional social platform. What started as a short-video app for entertainment has evolved into a fully integrated commerce engine, where a user can watch a styling video, tap a product tag, and […]
Learn how Weibo advertising works, what it costs, and how global brands use Weibo ads to reach Chinese consumers and drive engagement.
China’s health food registration process has a reputation. It is slow, expensive, and opaque. Most foreign brands that go through it describe the same experience: one to three years of waiting, a pile of documentation, and a real chance of rejection on the first attempt. A pilot program running out of Yiwu is quietly changing […]
The WeChat marketing guide for foreign brands in 2026: Service Account, content and CRM, Mini Programs, Channels, paid ads, and KOL campaigns that convert.
If your China presence for a food or beverage brand starts and ends with a WeChat account and a Tmall storefront, you’re skipping the format that suits your product best. Food is one of the only categories that short video seems to have been invented for. A sizzle, a pour, a crunch, the sound of […]
Google and Facebook don't work in China. We show international brands how to win on WeChat, Baidu, Douyin, and beyond.
Cleaning products used to be one of the least glamorous categories in retail. You bought whatever bottle was cheapest, and that was that. Not anymore in China. Household cleaning has turned into a real consumer category, with premium lines, scent stories, eco claims, and smart devices. For a foreign brand, that shift is the opportunity. […]
In April 2026, WeChat drew a line that most foreign brand managers probably didn’t see coming. Tencent updated its Operating Standards for the Official Accounts Platform, adding Section 3.27: a direct ban on using AI, scripts, or automated programs to replace humans in content creation and publishing. The platform didn’t ease into it. Within days […]
Tmall has been declared “over” by industry commentators every year since roughly 2019, and every year beauty brands that ignore it leave revenue on the table. In 2026, the platform is no longer where most Chinese consumers first discover a skincare or makeup product. That job has largely moved to Xiaohongshu, Douyin, and KOL livestreams. […]
For a long time, jewelry houses believed the internet was not for them. Luxury lived in the boutique, behind glass, with a well-dressed sales assistant. Selling a diamond ring through a phone screen sounded almost rude. That idea is dead in China. Today the phone is the boutique, the showroom, and the cash register all […]
Xiaohongshu isn’t a social feed you scroll for entertainment, it’s a search engine dressed up as a lifestyle app, and that distinction is the whole reason fashion brands need a different playbook than the one they use on Instagram or TikTok. Roughly half of Xiaohongshu’s traffic comes through active search rather than the recommendation feed. […]
