Update #9 - Virtual Influencers, Jay Chou, and Early 618 Results
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China’s Virtual Influencers - A Growing Option for Marketers 🕴
The idea of a virtual influencer created through CGI isn’t exactly new. The very first virtual influencer Hatsune Miku was created in Japan in 2007 and went on to collaborate with Google, Toyota, LVMH, and several other brands.
Throughout Asia, and most specifically China and Japan, virtual influencers have been used more and more often. One popular collaboration is when a fashion label ‘dresses up’ a virtual influencer in their own branded digital skins. Other activities include virtual influencers being brought as guests onto livestreams, hosting their own private WeChat groups, or performing songs at major events.
Jay Chou Sends Social Media Shockwaves With His Debut on Kuaishou 🎩
Jay Chou is a Taiwanese pop star from the early 2000s and is still one of the biggest celebrities in Asia. Until this point, he has only been on Western social media, specifically Instagram, where he had 5.9 Million followers. But earlier this month, Jay Chou created his very first account on a social media platform in China. He launched on the video app Kuaishou, and got 9 million followers within two days.
What’s almost as important is where Jay Chou did not launch a profile. He’s currently not on Douyin, Kuaishou’s biggest rival. As we have seen in the West, having a marquee influencer can make a huge difference in growing the credibility of your platform.
Western influencers like Joe Rogan (Youtube to Spotify), Dave Dobrik (Youtube to TikTok), and Ninja (Twitch to Mixer) have all made major moves in their social media platform of choice, which has created significant financial effects. In the case of Joe Rogan, his announced move to Spotify caused the company’s share price to increase 10% , worth $4 Billion in market cap.
Early 618 Festival Results = Promising for E-Commerce! 📈
One day after the official date of the 618 Online Shopping Festival (China’s second biggest!) and what are the results, especially in this time of Covid? JD.com brought in $38 Billion dollars during the festival, a 33% increase from last year’s $29 Billion. Another statistic that was particularly fascinating for me — sales of luxury goods increased 500%! These are VERY healthy numbers for the state of Chinese E-Commerce.
Yesterday, JD also had their first day of trading on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. This also comes after JD’s Q1 2020 earnings saw a 20% increase in net revenue vs Q1 2019. With most (or all) consumers staying home, this should increase the percentage of consumption and commerce you do online, right? So far, that seems to be the case in China.
