Marketing in China is heavily dependent on Key Opinion Leaders, or KOLs. These are online personalities who manage to form a bond with their viewers. This bond may be due to the KOL’s knowledge as a subject matter expert, or it may simply be based on personal appeal. Regardless, their online followers are influenced by the products and brands they promote. In the US, this type of marketing spokesperson is typically referred to as an influencer.
In today’s online society, Influencer Marketing can be a powerful component in marketing your product. For instance, they can incorporate promotions in their social media postings and in podcast and YouTube content.
Of Course, in China the social media arsenal for a KOL has its own variants of these tools that include Sina Weibo, QQ, Youku and Douban.In addition, in-person appearances by a KOL can be a huge audience draw for product roll out events, broadcast media spots and other opportunities—but really, the possibilities are endless.
Influencer advertising in the US is governed under the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and regulated as if it was a paid endorsement. In China, it is pretty much the wide-open West, like so many other things in that country.
Based on this, one might think using a social media influencer is a more stable proposition in the US… that somehow associating your brand or product with a personality in America is safer and perhaps doesn’t need to be closely monitored.
Not really.
Truth is, controversy can take a form you would never anticipate and come out of left field at any time, especially when you least expect it.
Take, for example, the case of Olivia Jade, a 19 year old woman and a makeup and beauty v-blogger with her own YouTube channel and some 2 million subscribers. Her activities as a college student were part of her brand appeal.
She had an online following of 1.3 million on Instagram and was part of an ad campaign forAmazon’s Prime Student program for college students and she even had her name on a line of makeup.
Everything seemed to be going perfectly for this sharp, University of Southern California student… until her television actor mother Lori Loughlin and fashion designer father Mossimo Giannulli were arrested in connection with a highly publicized bribery scandal involving their daughters’ admission to USC.
Olivia Jade Giannulli saw her brand damaged as she was dropped from her brand deals with Sephora, TRESemme and Lulu—yet it is uncertain if she was even aware of any of her parents‘ actions regarding her college admission.
While Avela Consulting conducts due diligence in managing risk for our clients collaborating with KOLs and Influencers, probably no one besides maybe the Federal Prosecutors could have seen this one coming.
With KOLs playing such a key role in China marketing, it is essential to have someone like Avela Consulting and its partners in China maintaining a finger on the pulse of Chinese social media , ready to do spin control for our clients should the unexpected occur.
Contact Avela Consulting to discuss how we provide risk management services for our clients’ brands and products as they enter the vast Chinese market.
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