#6 Deepdive into Douyin, TikTok's hyperdeveloped Chinese twin

10/03/19 • 36 min

Welcome back to the only podcast to ask: China, WTF?! What’s The Future?

In this episode, we chat about Douyin, China’s hyper-developed TikTok twin. It is no secret that short-form video is taking over the world and that brands need to jump on the social train, so now is the right time to be looking at Douyin when you’re thinking about China marketing.

Although Douyin and TikTok are owned by the same Chinese giant Bytedance, they are rather different in many ways. We touch on the different features and focus, as usual, on the people that use Douyin, their user behaviour and how that influences the content on the platform. Of course, brand strategies and monetisation models are also introduced.

Here are some time stamps for reference:

02:00 Differences between TikTok and Douyin
03:10 The figures on short form video in China
04:28 Douyin’s AI and interest-driven content feed
07:24 China’s other popular short video platforms (Kuaishou, Xigua, Huoshan, etc.)
08:19 Kuaishou and the competition between Tencent (WeChat) and Bytedance
10:49 Difference in content and users on Douyin and TikTok
14:13 User motivations (‘Uses Gratification Theory’) and clever ‘undercover’ adverts
16:34 Seamless E-commerce on Douyin: ‘see now buy now’
19:02 The future of social media: combining the best part of social media and the best part of e-commerce
19:46 Influencers / ’content creators’ on Douyin and how to work with them
21:49 Meritocracy and the global influencer movement from lifestyle and commentators to talent and creators (led by Douyin)
25:26 The importance of Douyin search, trends and rankings
27:37 Paid media and monetization of platforms in the West vs China
29:11 Brand accounts and stores on Douyin (low barrier to entry)
31:02 Myths and huge missed opportunities: You needn’t focus on WeChat and Weibo and pay to play - Douyin is a good platform to gain organic traction
34:09 What’s the future?! Influencer fraud and click farms, platform competition and innovation
If you like this episode, follow us/subscribe for more. You can also watch the full video on YouTube: https://youtu.be/QNcRZIJvFTc
Feel free to contact us on [email protected] with comments, thoughts and suggestions.
The next episode will be on wealthy Chinese consumers!

Welcome back to the only podcast to ask: China, WTF?! What’s The Future?

Here are some time stamps for reference:

Previous Episode

#5 The Value of Targeting Overseas Chinese with Vera Wang

Welcome back to the only podcast to ask: China, WTF?! What’s The Future?

Arnold Ma, founder of Chinese creative agency Qumin https://qumin.co.uk/, gets to the bottom of what tomorrow may look like, globally, by dissecting China's today. The podcast focuses on Chinese tech disrupters, people and cultures.

In this episode, we shine a light on the millions of Chinese people living overseas and highlight their value to Western brands. We invited Vera Wang to share her own experience of living abroad and working with Western brands.

With a million followers across social media, Vera Wang aka WG Empire is a famous Chinese Influencer living in NYC. Aside from being nominated the first Chinese blogger in the US, she created her own public relations company ‘WG Empire’ and recently launched ‘Verified’, a brand that showcases Chinese designers to the world. Her goal is in line with Qumin’s: Connect China and the West.

Topics include:

00:36 Vera’s move from China to New York and her journey as the first Chinese blogger in America

02:28 Being a Chinese blogger in 2012 (Qumin was founded at the same time)

04:10 Bloggers are ‘free’ brand consultants

06:15 Chinese people in China value the authentic stories provided by Chinese bloggers abroad

10:00 How brands can ‘dip their toes first’ before they go into China

11:33 Three key myths about (overseas) Chinese consumers: they care about lanterns, dragons and red envelopes, they don’t use Instagram or YouTube, they only notice marketing that’s in Chinese

15:50 The need for different marketing strategies for Chinese people in and overseas Chinese

17:07 Why on the ground teams are essential when marketing to Chinese people in China

23:55 The creative industry in the West vs technology innovation and service design in China

26:48 Brands can be more experimental with overseas Chinese, as they are more open to different beauty standards

27:26 Although Chinese people are still very traditional culturally, China isn’t behind – it’s just different, and changing rapidly

28:13 Brands should tap into existing cultural tensions

29:57 More people are going back home to China and becoming advocates

31:27 Being Chinese is a USP for Chinese bloggers overseas

If you like this episode, hit subscribe for more and follow 'Qumin' on LinkedIn for the latest updates.

You can also watch the show on YouTube:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qSCZyPj532E&feature=youtu.be

Next Episode

#7 China's super-rich and what you need to know with Sara Jane Ho

There are Chinese shoppers... and there are RICH Chinese shoppers. China now has more millionaires than the US and they are fast becoming an important target for Western brands.

But how do these wealthy consumers tick? What do they care about, which marketing messages do they respond to and where?

Qumin invited the one person who knows China’s high-end industry and people better than anyone: Sara Jane Ho. Sara has made it her business to educate the Chinese super-rich on Western etiquette through her finishing schools and her book, as well as her own TV-show which introduces Western lifestyles and celebrities to Chinese audiences.

Do you know how to pronounce ‘Versace’ or how a game of Tennis is scored? Of course you do – tune in to hear why it matters and what this has to do with your new understanding of rich Chinese consumers.
Arnold Ma, founder and CEO of Qumin, chats to Sara about:

00:58 Sara’s story and her affiliation with Marc Zuckerberg

03:00 2012, the year Chinese people began upgrading their lives to become citizens of the world

04:19 How Sara, in line with the Chinese government’s vision, re-defined the meaning of ‘etiquette’ in China

08:54 Can social disposition change fast enough to catch up with economic growth?

11:20 What drives the purchasing decisions of high net- individuals (Brand heritage or quality)

12:08 Demographics of Chinese millionaires and why they are different to those in the rest of the world

15:00 What rich Chinese people spend their money on (Home design, brands, cosmetics or self-care)

16:28 Will Chinese people stop buying flashy luxury brands and pay more attention to quality and craftsmanship? From peer approval to self-gratification

18:00 Why short video platform Douyin (TikTok) and review/lifestyle app Little Red Book (Xiaohongshu) have become essential marketing tools to capture the attention of high net individuals

22:00 The best foreign brands in China and why they are successful

24:31 Where Sustainability stands on Chinese consumer’s priority lists

26:10 The rise of affordable luxury

28:24 Why Chinese people are starting to look domestically for luxury products (Bosideng example)

30:21 What Chinese brands can learn from Western brands

32:44 What’s The Future?! Is the Chinese growth is slowing down and do brands need to stop relying on Chinese consumers?

If you like this episode, follow us/subscribe for more. You can also watch the full video on YouTube: https://youtu.be/L0JUTDTSx0M
Feel free to contact us on [email protected] with comments, thoughts and suggestions.
Our next episode will be on Football and Sports Marketing!