China Daily Global Edition (USA)
Online influencers boost overseas products
Internet celebrities wield tremendous impact over consumer decisions through engagement with followers
Selling 300,000 yuan ($42,300) worth of durian products in 10 minutes was once beyond the wildest dreams of Leron Yee Poh Soon, co-founder of Malaysian durian producer DKing. But the dream became reality in September thanks to Chinese internet celebrities.
As marketing via livestreams becomes the new normal in China’s e-commerce playing field, influencers, also known as key opinion leaders, are extending their reach to promoting overseas merchandise through heartfelt engagement with social media followers.
“They (KOLs) are professional and … have such trustworthy appearances that you are willing to allow them to promote products on your behalf,” said Yee, who exports A-level Musang King durians to China. “Such staggering speed is only possible in China.”
Data from Alibaba Group Holding Ltd, owner of the nation’s top online shopping sites, echoed Yee’s sentiment. During a weeklong campaign promoting Malaysian local produce in September, eight top-tier influencers, who regularly host livestreaming shows via Alibaba’s Taobao platform, facilitated the sales of merchandise worth 1 million yuan in just three seconds and helped one merchant sell 80,000 bottles of bird’s nest in five minutes, among other incredible feats.
As consumers continue to gravitate toward social media platforms to consume news and personal updates, it’s no wonder it has also become an ideal place for product recommendations and a new kind of word-of-mouth marketing, said Lambert Bu, a partner of global consultancy McKinsey.
“The mature digital ecosystem has made online shopping essentially a social affair, boosted by the fact that you can seamlessly ask for advice, get people on board for group purchase discounts and pay for your desired items all on a mobile device,” Bu said.
Boosted by online word-of-mouth, Chinese shoppers bought 30 times as many Malaysian cookies, white coffee, durian fruits and snacks, and tehtarik, a local beverage, during the week compared with usual levels, Alibaba said. Meanwhile, procurement from Chinese businesses in the week jumped by 11 times compared to conventional periods, though no details were disclosed.
Darell Leiking, minister of international trade and industry of Malaysia, said the Malaysia Week had ridden on the global marketing wave of influencers and e-commerce, SMEs and the tourism industry have reaped the benefits of this novel promotional approach, which yielded amazing results.
“I would like to extend my particular gratitude to the team at … Taobao Livestream,” Leiking said. “These KOLs are able to inform our consumers about the products sold during Malaysia Week 2019 … This approach proves to be beneficial to the consumers.”
The campaign is the result of an initiative proposed by Alibaba called Electronic World Trade Platform. It sank its first roots in Malaysia, where a string of commercial facilities, from e-commerce infrastructure, logistics, financial technology to cloud computing, are being upgraded and even revolutionized.
“Livestreaming is a medium that puts fans and products directly in touch, making for more genuine experiences,” said an online Taobao hostess under the avatar Viya, who has garnered an astonishing 6 million followers and is among the topnotch internet influencers in the lifestyle cycle.
“I myself and my team normally spend at least one month carefully sorting and doing research on the products to promote to my followers,” she said.
Viya attributed her success to a combination of factors, including the authenticity of the experience, the trust she has built up through her dedicated and professional work, and the urge for instant gratification among younger consumers.
Top-tier influencers like Viya host regular promotions that sell a torrent of products, and promise their fans attractive price tags that are normally more competitive than market average.
With the combined power of e-commerce and livestreaming, an individual can set a higher daily sales record than a major retailer, such as a department store or a multinational supermarket chain outlet, said Li Chengdong, an angel investor and e-commerce industry strategy analyst.
Taobao is taking it one step further by bridging Malaysian online influencers with their Chinese peers and seeing how that mix plays out.
Malaysian online influencer Jia Ling, who is known by the avatar “Southeast Asian Darling” on Taobao, debuted in a 100-minute broadcast recently with her Chinese counterpart, “Pink Grandpa”, promoting nine Malaysian local products.
“I think it plays out quite well — the Chinese host is so eloquent and knows how to pamper the audience,” said the 23-year-old host, who works full-time as an event manager in Malaysia. “As audiences search for more intimacy from brands, live content has an authenticity that can’t be duplicated.”
“It’s not just about selling the products together,” said Pink Grandpa, who together with Jia Ling sold thousands of Malaysian wet napkins in a few minutes. “By sharing our respective life stories and experience, we actually learn from each other and improve mutual understanding in a candid way.”
She admitted that a great marketing engagement is creating a tutorial, a how-to livestream can be fun and interactive outreach. “Hopefully this will exert a positive influence on the broader relationship between China and Malaysia.”
The so-called MCN model, or multi-channel networks, referring to an agency aggregating and grooming KOLs and connecting them with brands, is gaining traction overseas. Jia Ling was recommended to make the Tao bao debut by Yuh Wen Foong, founder of one such influencer marketing firm, who is a participant of Alibaba sponsored eFounders Fellower ship, an initiative to empower local entrepreneurs who can leverage e-commerce experience in China.
“We need someone who can speak fluent Chinese to promote the products on Taobao,” Foong said. “Jia Ling is the most fitting choice — she’s smart, extrovert, and very, very hardworking.”
She said while livestreaming is still a novelty in Malaysia, a lot of the experiences can be drawn from China, where digital marketing via wordof-mouth has shifted from something that is nice to have to something that you cannot afford to miss.
It also works the other way around: online streaming has become a vital gateway to promote local produce from rural China to urban areas and even a wider international audience.
Taobao Live, Alibaba’s dedicated livestreaming channel, has said it will help cultivate 1,000 livestream hosts across poverty-stricken areas in 100 counties, helping them each generate more than 10,000 yuan in monthly income.
Starting in April, the channel has reserved a fixed section for two hours every day to feature agriculture livestreams to uphold the target of selling 3 billion-yuan worth of goods this year.
Taobao has even promoted kumquats from Youxi county, Fujian province, by inviting a Michelinstarred Italian chef and a Chinese internet celebrity to put on a cooking demonstration, which was streamed live online to attract freespenders who like to tantalize their taste buds.
“People are normally concerned about food safety when they purchase food online. We want to show them the source of the produce,” said Wang Xiuli, who oversaw the project for the county’s Rural Taobao service center.
Currently KOLs wield tremendous influence over consumer decisions and an endorsement by a celebrity or a community leader can move product off the shelves and out of warehouses — and quickly.
In the face of aspirational figures, KOLs may have the power to quickly generate massive brand awareness, but their interaction with consumers is generally one way.
“With the rising sophistication of Chinese consumers, brands need to take a far more nuanced approach to managing KOLs if they want to engage more effectively with consumers and maximize the impact from their marketing budgets,” Bu from McKinsey said.
Livestreaming is a medium that puts fans and products directly in touch, making for more genuine experience. I myself and my team normally spend at least one month carefully sorting and doing research on the products to promote to my followers.” Viya, a Taobao online hostess