A Cloud-y Outlook for Brands in China, While Stars (and Yogis) Work From Home
Coronavirus forces content and commerce innovations that could become the new normal.
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On to this week’s main story: All Cloud Everything
As the rest of the world faces the prospect of a coronavirus pandemic, China is now entering the second month of widespread business closures and severely restricted activity for its citizens, many of whom continue to wait out the virus at home. Under these circumstances, the “cloud” has emerged as a critical keyword to denote the new way of engaging with the world, from work and school to entertainment and commerce.
Cloud content can offer an important route for brands to reach housebound consumers who are hungry for new types of entertainment, yet to date, we’ve seen relatively little sponsorship activity in this area. This may be partly the result of rapid turnaround and impromptu content creation, and partly due to hesitation by brands to engage in overt promotional activities and spending cuts in the face of looming uncertainties.
Nevertheless, the following key areas may offer valuable opportunities to build brand equity while supporting consumers through the ongoing crisis.
Cloud variety shows: Facing the cancellation of new reality series as a result of restrictions on filming and live audience gatherings, Hunan Television has taken the initiative in this area. It brought together the stars of celebrity talk show “Day Day Up” (天天向上) to conduct the program as a livestream from the comfort of their own homes, incorporating coronavirus-related content as part of the discussions. Next, it improvised a spin-off concept tied to its canceled talent show “Happy Camp” (快乐大本营), with hosts and guests participating via video conference, and started airing the latest season of “Singer” (歌手) last week in a similar manner.
The major video streaming services have followed suit, with shows that feature celebrities performing audience song requests, cooking at home and sharing other aspects of their lives under lockdown. Zheng Wei, general manager of reality programming for Youku, said that the actual quality of the content is less important than showing empathy during these tough times, and that innovations borne of necessity — such as formats that incorporate viewer interaction and multiple screens — could become the norm in the post-coronavirus future.
We’ve only seen a handful of brands on these shows, but one that made a prominent appearance was home appliance brand Shark — its sterilizing steam mop was among several products demonstrated by top livestreamer Viya during a segment of the “cloud” version of “Day Day Up” that focused on cleaning products.
Cloud music festivals and clubbing: While large mass gatherings such as concerts are an obvious no-go during the virus outbreak, one of the hottest trends in entertainment revolves around online musical performances and DJ sets. Indie label Modern Sky set things in motion with its “Stay at Home Strawberry” music festival on video platform Bilibili in early February. Activity heated up across various other platforms over the following weeks, with the Valentine’s Day weekend an especially vibrant period. Relatively few of these have featured brand sponsors, though the February 14 show by Merrie Records streamed on Bilibili was supported by Kind Bars, Wanen Coffee and audio brand Sonos.
Cloud museum tours: While museums around the country remain shuttered, more and more are going online to bring their collections and special exhibitions to art aficionados. Short-video platform Douyin has launched a series of livestreamed “cloud tours” with nine museums, each led by a professional guide and offering an interactive Q&A session, while livestreaming platform Taobao Live is offering a “Cloud Spring Tour” with eight institutions participating in a 12-hour event. The National Cultural Heritage Administration is promoting dozens of online exhibitions from institutions ranging from the Palace Museum in Beijing to the Mao Zedong Memorial Museum in the late leader’s birthplace of Shaoshan in Hunan. Given the huge upsurge of brand collaborations with cultural institutions (wenchuang) that we’ve seen in recent years, digital museum spaces could offer a new platform for brand integration.
Sports Brands Bring it Home
Among foreign brands doing business in China, major sportswear labels have been some of the most active in adapting to and creating new content streams to reach consumers who can no longer get outside to stay active.
Adidas went online for the release of the limited-edition 50th-anniversary Superstar sneaker during its Tmall Super Brand Day last week. In addition to a special ad with brand ambassador Jackson Yee and an online card game starring the rest of its Chinese celebrity spokespersons, the launch event was livestreamed with a “see now, buy now” feature that allowed consumers to make purchases from their smartphones as they saw items appear, drawing 2.23 million viewers and more than RMB200 million in sales within 10 hours.
Nike launched a special series of videos and livestreams featuring local coaches and trainers sharing at-home workout tips and exercise plans. The content is available not only on Nike’s app but also via Tencent livestreaming, Douyin, and a WeChat mini-program.
Lululemon offered dozens of live yoga classes and created a list of trainers offering online classes, with profiles that included links to their livestreaming platforms or Douyin accounts, while promoting products such as yoga mats and athleisure wear for use at home.
Puma is collaborating with the self-service container-gym chain Super Monkey Fitness on a seven-day “Tiger Cub Sweat Plan,” with daily livestreamed classes intended to motivate users to discover new ways of working out at home.
Livestreamer Li Jiaqi’s Shift from Commerce to Content
China’s “lipstick king” and e-commerce livestreaming powerhouse Li Jiaqi lent his talents to a fitness brand as well, collaborating with the domestic Keep app to promote exercise at home through livestreaming, a charity event and lending his voice to motivate users in their workouts.
Beyond fitness, Li’s rising popularity means that his livestreams are becoming less overtly commercial and more entertainment-focused, showing how the trend of merging content and sales can go in both directions. Celebrities are reportedly lining up to appear on Li’s broadcasts to connect with fans and promote new films and shows, while his own on-screen antics (from a nonstick frying pan fail to the playful fighting of his bichon frises) are regarded by some as more entertaining than what’s seen on China’s stereotype-filled reality shows — and are capable of drawing larger audiences (for example, his February 10 broadcast drew 16 million viewers).
Brands Work the Workplace Drama
China’s workplace dramas depict aspirational lifestyles — urban, professional and filled with romantic possibilities — and offer a prime setting for brands to establish a strong presence. The past week has seen the debut of three highly anticipated series with central characters that are either extremely wealthy or upwardly mobile, with correspondingly deep brand involvement.
Hunan TV’s "Perfect Partner" (完美关系) is set in the high-powered world of crisis public relations and is appropriately saturated with luxury names, which count Sofitel, Audi, and Moët-Hennessy among the global brands. Designer fashion is a big part of the draw, with more than 50 labels noted in the show’s credits, ranging from top-of-the line (Hermès) to mass-market sportswear (Nike).
The online real estate platform Anjuke takes a central role on the property agent drama “I Will Find You a Better Home” (安家), airing on Dragon TV, Beijing Satellite TV, and Tencent Video. The series is set in a brick-and-mortar brokerage office whose brand name and logo mirror Anjuke’s, and the brand is featured prominently throughout with the main characters wearing a green and white logo pin in most scenes.
Although more focused on romance than the other new releases, the lead characters of Zhejiang TV’s “Wait in Beijing” (我在北京等你) are engaged in the desirable professions of a lawyer and a fashion designer. Filmed in 2017, the drama has seen a long delay in hitting the airwaves. It is partly set in New York City and was originally titled “In New York” (在纽约), which apparently incited concerns among authorities about the glorification of foreign lifestyles— leaving top brand sponsors such as Platinum Guild International and Lancôme in a lengthy lurch.
Brand Film Pick: Alibaba’s DingTalk Takes on the Haters
Alibaba’s productivity platform DingTalk has seen a major surge in usage during the coronavirus outbreak. With offices and schools closed, cloud applications that enable remote work have been in high demand — by early February DingTalk was the most-downloaded free iOS app.
However, some Chinese students were extremely dismayed over having their “official lazy time” cut short by instructions from teachers to start using DingTalk for online classes and coursework, and they began flooding the app store with one-star reviews of the product based solely on those circumstances.
Alibaba responded swiftly and creatively with a meme-filled music video to “apologize and beg for mercy and five-star reviews” which quickly went viral. The video turns the DingTalk bird icon into an animated character, a hardworking little swallow who is only five years old (a reference to DingTalk’s 2014 founding) and calls users its “daddy.” The video’s amateurish production values and childish singing voice aim to endear viewers with pathos, while the use of internet slang, emojis and meme images appeals to young viewers.
Within days of appearing on DingTalk’s account on the youth-oriented platform Bilibili, the video reached the top of the charts, with more than 12 million views and 163,000 “bullet chat” comments, which have been overwhelmingly positive or humorous. Other brands interacted with DingTalk through their comments, with Tmall’s cat mascot expressing “envy” over DingTalk’s Bilibili follower count — 347,000 compared to Tmall’s 45,000, a significant difference given the relative sizes of the two Alibaba-owned entities.
The video effort has also been helped reverse the tide of poor reviews somewhat, with its average rating for DingTalk now up to two stars, though it appears that some users are responding to the uptick in five-star reviews with more single stars, simply for the sake of youthful rebellion.
Watch the video on Bilibili here: https://www.bilibili.com/video/av89441613
News in English
Though less favored by brands than Douyin, the short-video app Kuaishou boasts three to five times the e-commerce conversion rate of its bigger rival, and is more focused on creating community and fostering social engagement among its 300 million daily active users. WalktheChat
Amid all the coronavirus-related closures, in early February livestreaming broadcasts on Taobao Live were up 110% year-on-year. Alizila
Following the circulation of draft regulations last year, the National Radio and Television Administration issued new rules imposing a 40-episode maximum on new TV series (while encouraging producers to stay under 30) and requiring production costs to be submitted for review. Technode
Fans of Chinese celebrities are known to help support their favorite stars by purchasing the products they endorse, and now they are mobilizing to raise money for the fight against coronavirus in the name of top idols. Pandaily
China marketing and advertising insiders share their insights on the short- and long-term impacts of the coronavirus on the industry. Campaign Asia
A Q&A on Shanghai-based production house Final Frontier’s collaboration with Taiko Studios on Airbnb’s touching animation for the Lunar New Year. SHPPLUS
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