The company recently hosted a livestreaming show in China without any celebrity host and discounts offered on products. Apple’s livestreaming video hosted by product experts demonstrating how to make movies with iPhones or use the Apple Watch as a workout aid garnered more than 1.3 million views and 300,000 likes in just an hour. Analysts are believing that Apple has cracked the code to join the latest trend of livestreaming without offering discounts and associating with a popular face.
Livestreaming: An Evolving Brand Promotion Trend in China
Speaking to Reuters, William Lau, chief executive of multi-brand beauty retailer Bonnie and Clyde said, “You have to move towards content instead of promotion. When you focus on building content instead of offering 40% off, you actually get more resonance with the consumer and you also get follow-up in terms of return sales.” Livestreaming has turned out to be an effective marketing strategy for several brands in China. Last year, companies generated a sum of $480 billion in sales in China by livestreaming. This year, the figure is expected to increase by around 30% as per research company eMarketer. This comes at a time when China is suffering through a bleak economical situation jolted by the Covid-19 pandemic. The trend of livestreaming caught pace during Covid-19 when the only feasible way for companies to market their products was television. According to researcher iResearch, around 1.23 million livestream hosts were employed by different companies in China in 2020. In fact, agencies training livestreaming hosts and proper product presentations also came up in the country as more companies joined the trend. Employing Li Jiaqi, one of the most popular livestream hosts in China who sells a variety of products from home appliances to toilet paper, costs 30 times more than roping in a professionally trained livestream host. However, more and more companies are moving away from celebrity faces and discounts and focusing on storytelling in livestreaming. Zephyr Liu, Asia-Pacific head of women’s apparel brand Ba&sh, added, “If the product fits the character of the host, the consumer will tend to believe, ‘Oh, this is the product you use. So they see someone recommending a product from the bottom of their heart instead of just selling.” However, China’s livestreaming industry is facing fragmentation lately as more and more companies want to be a part of this trend.
title: “Apple Joins Livestreaming With A Unique Approach In China To Boost Sales” ShowToc: true date: “2023-06-05” author: “Lee Cooper”
The company recently hosted a livestreaming show in China without any celebrity host and discounts offered on products. Apple’s livestreaming video hosted by product experts demonstrating how to make movies with iPhones or use the Apple Watch as a workout aid garnered more than 1.3 million views and 300,000 likes in just an hour. Analysts are believing that Apple has cracked the code to join the latest trend of livestreaming without offering discounts and associating with a popular face.
Livestreaming: An Evolving Brand Promotion Trend in China
Speaking to Reuters, William Lau, chief executive of multi-brand beauty retailer Bonnie and Clyde said, “You have to move towards content instead of promotion. When you focus on building content instead of offering 40% off, you actually get more resonance with the consumer and you also get follow-up in terms of return sales.” Livestreaming has turned out to be an effective marketing strategy for several brands in China. Last year, companies generated a sum of $480 billion in sales in China by livestreaming. This year, the figure is expected to increase by around 30% as per research company eMarketer. This comes at a time when China is suffering through a bleak economical situation jolted by the Covid-19 pandemic. The trend of livestreaming caught pace during Covid-19 when the only feasible way for companies to market their products was television. According to researcher iResearch, around 1.23 million livestream hosts were employed by different companies in China in 2020. In fact, agencies training livestreaming hosts and proper product presentations also came up in the country as more companies joined the trend. Employing Li Jiaqi, one of the most popular livestream hosts in China who sells a variety of products from home appliances to toilet paper, costs 30 times more than roping in a professionally trained livestream host. However, more and more companies are moving away from celebrity faces and discounts and focusing on storytelling in livestreaming. Zephyr Liu, Asia-Pacific head of women’s apparel brand Ba&sh, added, “If the product fits the character of the host, the consumer will tend to believe, ‘Oh, this is the product you use. So they see someone recommending a product from the bottom of their heart instead of just selling.” However, China’s livestreaming industry is facing fragmentation lately as more and more companies want to be a part of this trend.
