It could be a little bit strange but this is one of the ways to market in China. Society is based a lot on idols’, stars, celebrities’ influence, who are particularly followed by the Chinese millennial generation. Each celebrity is a super « IP », and the traffic and number of leads they can bring are sometimes beyond your imagination. Therefore, in order to increase the sales of their products, many companies don’t hesitate to spend huge sums of money to engage celebrities in their campaign.
How and why is it useful to collaborate with stars?
Let’s see the definition of branding: “The process involved in creating a unique name and image for a product in the consumers’ mind, mainly through advertising campaigns with a consistent theme. Branding aims to establish a significant and differentiated presence in the market that attracts and retains loyal customers.
Branding with celebrity attracts consumer’s eyeball
“To attract customers” is proved. Branding with a celebrity is far more efficient than without. Whether it is outdoor advertising, on the television, online, or on any media, stars can attract people’s attention anywhere and this is the key to bring traffic. Thus, the product will naturally receive a lot of exposure.
To invite celebrities enhances the brand image
We have to be realistic, not everyone can promote their product with a celebrity. You need to have the contact, and above all, the funds. Actually, it’s very expensive, about a hundred or even thousands of millions, so companies who can invite a celebrity will establish a significant image in consumers’ minds. This is proof of the company’s power and leadership. On another side, the star himself can create a high-end image for the brand.
The « fan effect »
Behind every celebrity, there is a large number of fans. These fans are up-to-date with everything related to their idol’s life. Because they put great attention on them, because there is a kind of “celebrity worship”, so these persons will choose to use the same products as their followed star. “Same product as XXX” is commonly used on e-commerce platforms or Baidu’s search engine as a title to attract the consumer’s attention or to make his/her research easier. For example, when you search on Taobao for “Same product as Wu Yifan”, the e-commerce website provides more than 52,000 results.
Wu Yi fan or Kris wu is a very hot star, actor, singer in China. He also became a fashion icon and a luxury ambassador. He has endorsed a lot of products from more than 20 brands including Rayban, Huawei, Givenchy, Lays, Adidas, Lancome, …).
Advertising with a star produce longer results
Once a celebrity-endorsed a product, when people hear the name of the celebrity even after the campaign, they will naturally think of the brand he has represented and celebrities appear in the media at a high frequency. In addition, this allows increasing the brand’s awareness.
“I can’t contact Kris WU … should I forget my business in China ?”
Do not lose hope if you can’t leverage now a celebrity for your brand’s promotion. There are still a lot of ways to enter and succeed in China. Next, we will not introduce here how to find a star in China, but the other solution to the market in China.
Key Opinion Leaders in China
Kols are becoming a big industry in China. They may not have the same fame as a star but their exposure and influence online are still very huge. They are web celebrities, very active on Chinese social channels, and have also a lot of followers. They can be bloggers, content writers, fashionistas, online singers, or others. They often have talent but they can also just be good-looking. Their followers are often the millennial generation’s people, who are very connected online.
They make the same effect as celebrities. Collaborate with KOLs can help your product promotion, by reaching a wide audience. KOLs are daily in touch with their followers, so they have built a kind of trust and relation with them.
Our mission is to help you choose the right KOL. With our address book, we can contact the appropriate person for your campaign in China. You can check for more information here.
Social media management
When you created your product’s exposure online, you have to manage its online reputation. It is important to remain present on social media platforms once the campaign is over. Chinese people make a lot of research online, to provide them a place to refer is important.
It can be on Weibo, the most used microblogging website in China, or in Wechat, through creating a WeChat official account for your brand. They rely also a lot on Q&A forums.
SEO ON BAIDU
SEO is search engine optimization and Baidu is the number one search engine in China. If you were accustomed to Google referencing before, I am afraid to tell you that it is not useful in China… Baidu works in a way different from Google.
GMA is the top and most visible digital marketing agency in China. We have helped a lot of brands to develop their business in China, by leveraging the latest and most efficient digital tools.
Do not hesitate to contact us for more information.
