BUSINESS
*Ty Lawson* 2018-05-18 14:33 GMT+
In addition to having its own equivalents for every Western social platform, China also has Internet stars that outshine their Western counterparts.
This fact has created a boom in marketing for these Chinese stars, known as KOLs (Key Opinion Leaders). According to AdMaster, 63 percent of brands invested more in KOL marketing this year than ever before.
KOLs are so popular now, they have even made their way to the prestigious Cannes Film Festival. Sohu (China’s equivalent of Yahoo) invited KOL star Zhou Tongtong to represent the search portal at this year’s festival. Meanwhile, a KOL fashion blogger hit the red carpet for a glimpse of the runway looks at the movie premieres.
Influencer marketing
In China, social media platforms such as Weibo (a Twitter/Instagram-like app and online site), and the WeChat app, among others, are ubiquitous and have helped ordinary people generate income if they can gain enough followers.
These Chinese social media stars can command huge audiences and can make the difference between a brand's success and failure.
Chinese KOLs are selling their own branded products on online marketplaces such as Taobao (China's equivalent of eBay). Last year, on Singles Day, a retail event promoted annually by Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba and held on Nov. 11, four influencer brands made over 100 million yuan (15.6 million US dollars).
Revenue from stores managed by the blogger incubator Chen Fan reached 200 million yuan (31.3 million US dollars) within two hours of Singles Day, and by the day's end, six influencer stores had made it onto the rankings of the top 30 female apparel stores.
The most ever paid to an Internet celebrity in the US was 16.5 million US dollars. It went to Daniel Middleton, otherwise known as TheDiamondMinecart. He is a popular YouTuber focused on the game Minecraft, posting daily reviews and gameplay videos.
Social media marketing
China, one of the world's largest economies, is seeing a much bigger effect of influencer marketing where online stars can have millions of loyal followers. Once upon a time, traditional celebrities like pop singers, film stars, and athletes were leveraged to help sell products or services for brands and corporations, but these days leading social media names and online celebrities are more influential in China.
They are developing their own brands and entertainment products while consumer brands are partnering with these influencers to take advantage of their enormous audiences.
The Chinese website topklout.com has created an index of the most influential KOLs with these five social media stars heading their “TOP100 Red List."
KOLs are a popular and powerful social media force in China's thriving Internet population of nearly a billion strong. They possess strong communications networks due to a large and dedicated online following and the charisma to engage. Followers often listen to and emulate their favorite KOLs.
Who are key opinion leaders?
Papi Jiang was named “the No. 1 Internet Celebrity” in China in 2016. She is an active KOL who uses Chinese social media like Sina Weibo or Youku (she is also present on YouTube). She is famous for her short video podcasts in which she makes fun of daily situations or news. In April, a bidding war ensued when a video ad auction was held in which bidders went as high as 22 million yuan (3.4 million US dollars) to get Papi Jiang to promote their brand.
Ma Jianguo is second in this ranking with his Weibo account that has attracted 24.3 million followers. Fans can monitor the everyday life of Ma’s dog (NiuNiu) and cat (DuanWu).
Aikeli Li is a famous blogger and photographer in China. He is present on Weibo (9.3 million fans) and on Meipai where he shares daily videos and photos of his life. He notably went viral with his “ugly makeup” videos.
Another notable KOL in China is UK Times. She is present on multiple social media platforms including Weibo. Her content about the United Kingdom and other international stories (pictures, videos, memes, etc.) has more than 13.2 million fans.
Bao Zou Big News Events is a Chinese weekly online satirical talk-show covering various subjects from news to politics and literature. The program can be seen on Youku (China’s equivalent to YouTube) and has reached a total of 1.5 billion views.
Most of the top KOLs in China are Chinese, but there are a few foreigners, like the Australian DavidHothot or the American jasonchenmusic who command a presence in the Middle Kingdom.
(With input from news agencies.)
(Cover photo: Key Opinion Leaders and China's various social media platforms along with currency symbols. / CGTN Digital
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