Could China’s ‘Micro Variety Show’ Trend Be Luxury’s Next Big Thing?

Zhihu’s new micro-series Wild Talks levarages the back-to-nature trend sweeping China. 

With China’s crackdown on badly behaved celebrities (and their devoted fans) showing no sign of stopping, and government regulators keeping close tabs on brands’ marketing and advertising efforts, luxury brands face a rapidly changing market where the old way of doing business simply won’t work any longer.

This isn’t just reflected in how brands need to spread their message in China — especially to reach the increasingly important Gen Z demographic — but also where. Over the past few years, some of the more adventurous global brands active in mainland China have turned to program sponsorships and integrations as an effective way to get in front of young audiences.

This was first evident on major streaming sites like iQiyi, Tencent Video, and Mango TV. Idol competition programs like The Rap of China and Sisters Who Make Waves attracted millions of viewers along with sponsors like Valentino and Absolut vodka — and gave brands like Burberry and Supreme valuable unpaid screen time. Yet over the past year, young audiences and sponsors alike have increasingly turned to short video platforms like Douyin and Bilibili to get their entertainment fix in bite-sized pieces, providing new opportunities for brands to get in on popular content trends both earlier and cheaper. Continue to read the full article here