The China Influencer Marketing Podcast

In his only podcast appearance of the year, Alex Duncan, co-founder and product lead at KAWO joins us in the China Influencer Marketing Podcast studio for an insightful discussion on the marketing scene in China, and how businesses adapt in this massive and rapidly evolving market.

Today's episode is truly a delight to listen to. Rather than just another interview, this episode is a thorough, two-way discussion of experiences gained from two different perspectives of the China market. There is discussion on building trust and brand value through content and by leveraging influencers.

Alex also presents his views and examples of how promising, sustainable business models are sometimes derailed or destroyed by venture capitalists, exuberance and trends. His reasoning is that as a result of an over-eagerness to seek a quick, immediate profit, long term strategies, opportunities and innovations are sometimes overlooked in favour of seizing a short-term gain. What are your views and experiences? What can businesses do to ensure that they not only remain profitable, but also remain competitive and, most importantly, innovative?

Get ready, get set, and tune in to this exclusive episode.

From Omaha to Shanghai, Elijah Whaley has experienced working in different industries, different cultures and different types of companies, with different types of people. Bundled with all of that experience comes a ton of knowledge and expertise about not just the business and economics sides of the world, but also plenty of insights on the social and behavioural sides of human nature.

Tonight for our second instalment in the Evenings with Eli series, Eli brings us a little further along his back story of how he got started from his first job at a startup, to launching his own venture and finally working at PARKLU. In this episode, we learn from a first-hand account of startup culture and operation dynamics in China, which has long been the fastest developing economy in the world.

Of course, competing in a fast-paced environment also means a faster path to decline for any enterprise unfortunate to find itself starting on that path - which is exactly what had happened in Eli's experience.

In addition to industry talk, Eli, a seasoned practitioner of mindfulness and meditation and dedicated scholar of the human soul, discusses some of his perspectives on social interactions and how one word uttered today can make massive changes tomorrow.

Join us for this particularly meaningful and knowledge-filled episode of the China Influencer Marketing Podcast.

How does a new company on its first legs grow and prosper in China? The answer is not as straightforward as one may expect, especially because the market, culture and society in China are more complex than those in the West.

Jenny Chen joins us today to share her experiences doing just that with WalkTheChat, a leading WeChat marketing agency and thought leadership resource in China that she co-founded in 2013.

In this episode, Jenny discusses workflow strategies, project inspirations, brand entry strategies and more. Specifically, she goes into detail on her expertise, sharing ways in which a foreign brand can leverage WeChat, WeChat Channels and other social media services to harness private traffic in order to develop a greater online presence as a foundation for increasing brand awareness in China.

The conversation also examines the future of WeChat and WeChat's role in the market, particularly as other, newer apps and ecosystems are cropping up rapidly, thanks to China's massive internet growth. As WeChat sharpens its focus on the largest accounts, how will this affect influencers? How will this affect brands? How will organic traffic be impacted?

Find the answers to these questions and more in Episode 76 of the China Influencer Marketing Podcast.

China is increasingly the place where business happens. In particular, business are seeking to expand in China in a post-Covid world. Not only was China the only country to record a positive year-on-year GDP growth in 2020, but also, with the announcement of a 6% growth target at the 2021 National People's Congress, China will continue to lead the world in recovering from the impact of the coronavirus pandemic.

So what does this mean for businesses that want to take part in this economic revival?

Lina Bartuseviciute stops by the studio today to teach us a lesson about what it takes to adapt a brand to the demands of the China market in order to survive. As she puts it, consumers in China have some of the highest standards when it comes to foreign-made products, and government regulators are particularly strict when it comes to evaluating foreign brands. Furthermore, business culture is completely different than what industry players may be familiar with in the West. In China, one mistake could be all it takes to turn an enterprise on its head and on its way out of the country.

With all the experience she has acquired through years of tactically helping brands survive and grow in the market of China, Lina brings us invaluable information and examples of what to do and what not to do as a brand that wants to succeed in China.

Don't miss out on this information-packed treasure trove.

Branding has been a significant part of marketing for ages. It is a field that continues to find new ways to attract public attention and influence consumer behaviour. This sector of the industry has seen some of its most rapid development in China, where influencers and key opinion customers have blossomed into fully-fledged branding agents that are fully integrated into many facets of marketing in the country. But what does the future have in store for branding?

Joining us in the studio today is Alpher Xian, creative consultant at Google, who coordinates YouTube advertising campaigns with businesses in China. With a rich background in branding, Alpher brings his insights into how the industry has been changing, and presents some of the questions he has about the future of branding.

Today's episode is a thought provoker indeed. What role might AI play in sharpening the accuracy of advertising? What is the extent of AI's potential in predicting consumer desires and facilitating purchases as soon as those desires hit? Can a brand build a solid brand image without executing branding campaigns?

Find the answers to these questions and more in today's episode of the China Influencer Marketing Podcast, brought to you by PARKLU.

If you're a veteran follower of the CIM podcast, or if you've just discovered this bi-weekly treasure trove of industry insights (hint, subscribe!), chances are that you're all too familiar with the term KOL. But what about the mysterious Key Opinion Customers who, if used correctly, may have just a significant an impact on a brand as KOLs?

Joining us in the studio today is Ray Veras, founder and CEO of PJdaren. PJdaren aims to help some of the world's largest brands engage key opinion customers, or KOCs, in China through proactive product seeding solutions. Over the years, PJdaren has constructed a massive KOC community with a proprietary platform that facilitates authentic content and conversations in the places that matter most and at scale.

In this episode, Ray talks about his journey building his KOC network from scratch. He provides a rarely-seen perspective of how customers can be "weaponised" into brand ambassadors, a phenomenon that is most present in China. With the proper tactics, brands can cultivate certain customers into KOCs. Let's find out how.

Key Opinion Leaders. KOLs. Influencers. If you're listening to the CIM Podcast (or even better, if you're a subscriber to this podcast, hint-hint), chances are you are all too familiar with what these terms define. But who are KOLs, and how did they become the KOLs that they are today?

Today, we bring you the first episode in our brand new series Evenings with Elijah featuring host Elijah Whaley as he goes solo to talk in depth about his experiences and insights in the world of influencers.

To start the Evenings with Elijah series, Elijah tells the story of his journey co-founding nationally recognised KOL Melilim Fu, who has become a top-tier cosmetics and fashion KOL since entering the industry in 2015. From the initial hardships to the ups and downs in between, Elijah tells it all, as well as his thoughts and lessons learned along the way.

As CMO of PARKLU, Elijah is at the frontlines of KOL marketing and brand collaboration in China. Combined with his experience building a KOL, this is an episode and series that you won't want to miss.

Saying that 2020 has turned much of the world on its head is a massive understatement, especially when we're talking about the world of e-commerce, digital marketing, live-streaming and influencers.

Today we'll be taking a look at some of the transformations and new trends that have emerged in 2020 and how these new developments have impacted consumer behaviour and the marketing industry in China, through the insightful lens of Michael Norris, strategy manager at AgencyChina.

We'll also get a glimpse through Michael's crystal ball at how these developments will continue to shape the consumer market in China, and how brands are attempting to restructure their outreach strategies to accommodate these transformations and ultimately capture their share of the market.

Having worked in China for more than three years, Michael has been conducting market research and product portfolio management for numerous high-profile multi-national clients, bringing with him an in-depth understanding of technological trends and consumer behaviour in China.

Today's episode features an in-depth conversation on China's revolutionary influencer industry with William August, founder and creative director of Outlandish Studios, a video production and marketing company that specialises in establishing a brand's presence on social media and video streaming platforms.

As creative director of Outlandish Studios, the #1 foreigner MCN on Weibo in 2019, August is a social media-and-Youtube influencer based in China and one of the top-rated foreigner KOLs on Bilibili for 4 consecutive months in 2018.

A seasoned industry veteran, August has been working as an influencer for years and has seen it all. This exclusive interview brings you a behind-the-scenes view of the realities of the KOL life from August's first-hand experiences.

The inaugural episode of the China Influencer Marketing Podcast by PARKLU is brought to you by host Elijah Whaley. This special episode features Kim Leitzes, founder and CEO of PARKLU, who joins us to provide some invaluable insights of the challenges and lessons learned through her years-long journey of building her company in China from its beginnings as what she called a "scrappy startup", to the premiere influencer marketing platform in China, and currently, to its acquisition by LaunchMetrics.