Celeb Marketing in China

Hello, and welcome back for Tuesday April 19th, for many of you perhaps Easter Monday a public holiday. We hope you enjoy your day of rest~ Business news in China at least, has been scant these past few weeks, overshadowed by the Ukraine war and of course, Covid in Shanghai. Both have created a sharp focus on China’s economy. Today we take a quick look at Economy China 2022 plus celeb marketing and the risks.

Understandably China’s economic growth has fascinated the world and been the focus of much comment and speculation. That well respected financial publication, “The Economist” for example, has (among others) been predicting a “hard landing” for China’s economy for over 20 years now. One has to give them credit for persistence and faith in their own PR. However we are reminded of a maxim from the theatre and stage business:

“Never believe one’s own publicist.”

Today, as we mentioned above, the focus has again returned to China’s economy and its sustainability. Aim2D is NOT an economic magazine, nor do we pretend to be experts or crystal ball gazers. We deal in the realities of business, marketing and consumers in China as we see them on a day to day basis of living and working here. However, in the absence of any other news and the currently strong interest in China’s economy post Covid and Ukraine war we hope this article my be useful:

CHINA’S 2022 ECONOMIC OUTLOOK

China is poised to achieve a milestone when it joins the ranks of high-income countries in 2022

Clearly the article is published in a China Media publication and the author takes a positive view on China’s economy, a view that Aim2D neither endorses or disputes. We are publishing it here today in line with our policy of providing businesses with an alternative view on China to that which is paraded by most mainstream media.

We believe that our readers have the wisdom and intelligence to sift the wheat from the chaff and arrive at their own conclusion.

In this article Marukawa Tomoo looks at China’s economic prospects form several perspectives:

The Evergrande financial default
The power outages that plagued South China
China’s slowing population growth
CPTPP and RCEP trade agreements

China’s gross domestic product (GDP) exceeded 114 trillion yuan (US$18.1 trillion) in 2021, according to data released by the National Bureau of Statistics on January 17, an increase of 8.1 percent over the previous year—a rate slightly lower than I expected. Previously, I predicted that China’s economic growth could reach as high as 9 percent in fiscal year 2021 given that Chinese economic recovery began showing vigorous momentum in late 2020

Marukawa Tomoo is a professor at the Institute of Social Science at the University of Tokyo and an expert on Chinese industrial economics.

The Rise and Fall of China Celeb Marketing

Finally today, we return to our main headline.
Recently we referenced a passage from JING DAILY regarding celebrity marketing in China. In case you missed it :>O here is a brief recap, again, quoting from Jing Daily:

According to a recent report by Shiqu Insight Engine, celebrity marketing events in March 2022 fell by 50.9% compared with the same period last year. Conversely, co-branded marketing and new product marketing surged 91.3 % and 57.6 %
Brands Shy Away From Celebrity Marketing in China

Today we will quickly follow up on this with a similar themed article from The China Skinny. They also base off the Shiqu report and same Jing Daily article as we referenced but take a slightly different tack in evaluating it.

Last month, there were less than half as many celebrity marketing events in China as a year ago according to a report from Shiqu.

However at the end of the day both The Skinny and Aim2D seem to be dancing to the same waltz: – that is ;

whilst Celeb marketing in China can bring fairly fast, high sales, it is not the only option and as always in marketing, there should not be only one arrow in your quiver of tools.

Of course as marketing businesses we are both ever so slightly biased. But bear in mind, at the end of the day, our existence depends on the success of our clients. Therefore we tend to look at it from the view point of what is best for the client, as ultimately, it will benefit us. Again we urge readers to exercise their own judgement when accessing links to mainstream publications

Ok, that’s all for this week, we will of course return Friday with our usual image gallery or video, conditional on suitable material being available. We leave you with the Skinny’s: Surprise, Surprise: Brands are Spending Less on Celebs in China

Introducing Everlyne YU

China Website Baidu Optimisation

In 2003 Everlyne Yu co-founded WPBeijing Marketing Studio with Englishman Peter Bic, now known as Bic Brands.

She began Uengager, as a SaaS MarTech company focused on customer engagement in 2017.

Hello, Nihao, I’m Everlyne

“I love to talk about and help people understand the amazing ways MarTech and SaaS can work to strengthen your business engagement with Chinese consumers.
I know you have questions or want to talk about your brand or business in China so please, drop me a line opposite. If you prefer live chat, call and talk to me live, in person direct.“

PRESS TO CALL ME NOW

Everlyne is also a key note speaker, lecturer and KOL on MarTech in China. She is CEO of Uengager, business development officer for Bicyu.

Everlyne hs been privileged to work with a variety of international organisations, from VW, Cushman Wakefield, Sodexo, Bristol Myers Squibb to local Chinese firms such as Midea, and OK Order.

If you’re looking for guidance, tips, advice on any aspect of starting or growing a business in China or training, coaching your existing China marketing team for excellence, be sure to check out Uengager. Home page and base for Everlyne Yu. Read her short bio – opposite left – or contact her direct – below – for a free, heart to heart chat.