Future Focused Growth – Unlocking the power of the next wave

Dentsu Aegis Network has announced a new partnership to help Chinese brands unlock the power of the next wave across bilibili, Red, Zhihu and Kuaishou.

The partnership is the first of its kind and brings together the platforms with Dentsu’s media line of business brands; Carat, dentsu X, Vizeum and iProspect. Under the new partnership, Dentsu Aegis clients will benefit from the media planning and buying, data analysis and strategy expertise of Carat, dentsu X, Vizeum and iProspect, combined with the chance to be part of beta testing and product development initiatives from across the four growing platforms. At the heart of the partnership is establishing closer connection with the platform’s ecommerce, data analysis and creative expertise.

Tony Chen, CEO of Media LoB, Dentsu Aegis Network China said:  “In an age of constant transformation, we’re focusing on helping our clients to achieve business growth and stay ahead of their competitors through new media solutions.” He added, “Chinese consumers are consistently seeking new ways to interact and this is fundamentally changing the path to purchase. Understanding where and how to invest, and integrating that spend into your media strategy is critical to build brand loyalty and drive sales. We want to take the First-Mover advantage in unlocking the value of bilibili, Red, Zhihu and Kuaishou on behalf of our clients.”

Yang Yue, Head of National Channel Sales of bilibili, said：" bilibili is

increasingly going mainstream.  While our cooperation with Dentsu Aegis has made exciting improvement so far, in the future we will continue to ride the winds and waves together towards a brilliant NEXT!"

“I am very excited to drive close collaboration with forward-looking agency partners like Dentsu. Red is a fast-evolving media platform, and I look forward to driving some of the amazing initiatives that we are now ready to pioneer together with our most valued agency partners”said Jian Chao, Head of National Brand Channel Sales, Red.

Commenting further, Yin Jun, Head of Monetization, Zhihu East China said: “I really value our partnership with Dentsu Aegis. This represents a thrilling opportunity to build innovative media solutions for our shared clients, and help brands to win in the new digital world." 

Lv Xiaodong, General Manager of Monetization, Kuaishou East China also commented to express his commitment to this partnership: “ With more partners, we are now on a bigger stage. At Kuaishou, everything is possible!”

Sara Si, Amplifi China President provided further depth on the partnerships and the value for Dentsu Aegis clients: “Primarily our focus in developing this partnership with bilibili, Red, Zhihu and Kuaishou has been to ensure our clients are able to unlock relevant and valuable offerings, for example new ad formats, content and IP collaborations as well as innovation firsts and unique data access.  We want to ensure our clients have First-in-market or First-in-category opportunities. That could come from the opportunity to co-develop new products or integrate data to deliver a better customer experience.  We see bilibili, Red, Zhihu and Kuaishou as key partners to help our clients unlock the next wave of growth in China.

Launching the “Next Wave” strategy is just the beginning. In the future, DAN will announce more innovation-led media platforms to join, retain and grow the new opportunities and energy of Chinese market growth. It aims to create new advantages and momentum for more clients at those platforms to win in the next wave of growth in China.

The Next Wave – what you need to know…

Bilibili, Red, Zhihu and Kuaishou have surged ahead in the past 12 months, taking an increasing share of GenZ time with their sticky content and smart services.  Here’s a snapshot view of why they’re hot and what you need to know:

• Bilibili has become a magnetic for China's Gen Z, with 172 Million Monthly Active Users and average daily user time hitting 80+ minutes.  One in every four Chinese youth visits Bilibili. The platform is no longer known for Japanese animations only, however, it’s growing to be a mainstream video community to host diverse youth tribes, be it music, legal matters, or electronics products.  For brands looking to target young consumers in the post 1990’s band, we highly recommend Bilibili for authentic content and a growing strength in eCommerce solutions.
• Red is a high affinity engagement platform for sharing premium lifestyles among social aspirers. With 100 Million Monthly Active Users, the platform has produced more than 400,000 diaries about new consumer products and over 2 Million user reports.  It has become a signature platform for consumers to search for the latest consumer product news. What defines Red’s users is not age or geography or gender, it’s the YOLO attitude, i.e. because you live only once you’d better live it up. Red has been known for conversations about beauty and luxury products, however, it’s fast expanding to wider lifestyle categories that attract China’s upwardly-mobile middle class.  Red is an important platform to build credible glamour and sexiness for brands.
• Zhihu is also a high affinity engagement platform that particularly appeals to the brain. Daily Active Users are 45Million and average daily time spent on the platform has hit 70 minutes. Over the last nine years, 45 Million questions and 210 Million answers have accumulated on the platform. It has become a destination for the curious-minded users to get insights into hot topics, acquire more knowledge and collect different POVs.  Zhihu does not stop there. It has recently launched short-video strategy beyond text and pictures. The latest evolution is live-streaming eCommerce to drive business results for clients.
• Kuaishou is truly a massive media platform which is yet to be capitalized upon. Daily Active Users have surpassed 300 Million with almost 20 Billion short videos stored in the APP. In 2019 alone, 250 Million people shared their work, attracting 359 Million "likes". Kuaishou has crafted a nice point of differentiation in being REAL, real people telling real stories.  Armed with high penetration and usage in lower-tiers, Kuaishou is a valuable channel for brands that must go lower and go deeper to acquire new customers. Product wise, Kuaishou has recently cut through the market by hosting extremely successful live-streaming e-sales.  The latest addition to its eCommerce  strategy is partnership with JD.com, allowing Kuaishou users direct linkage to JD.com’s self-managed product pages.