Key opinion leader (KOL) trends in China | WARC | The Feed

Key opinion leader (KOL) trends in China

From mammoth live streaming events to virtual influencers and fake geography, there’s always something happening in the world of influencer marketing in China.

Why it matters

Influencer marketing in China can deliver the same reach as TV, allowing brands to access ‘hard to get’ demographics and increase the engagement levels of their campaigns. It’s always useful to have an awareness of what’s bubbling under there, whether a brand is selling into that market or getting ideas for other markets. 

A quick round-up 

• Lipstick king Li Jiaqi recently attracted 250 million viewers to a half-day livestream (he normally expects around 20 million) during which he sold over RMB 10bn-worth of products. 
• Li is increasingly pushing domestic brands, in line with a government campaign to promote ‘cultural confidence’ and the growing fashion for ‘national chic’.
• “Major Chinese tech companies are all jumping on the virtual KOL bandwagon”, according to Pablo Mauron, partner and managing director of Digital Luxury Group.
• Influencers unable to travel overseas because of COVID-19 are taking photos of themselves in front of the only Costco store in the country, in Shanghai, and pretending to be in Los Angeles.

Sourced from Quartz, Sixth Tone, Technode, Twitter
_{[Image: @giorgiomomurder via Twitter]}