#9 China 2020: Trends for the new decade

China was an innovation and tech powerhouse in 2019, with many trends emerging ready for the new decade.
This episode is all about what marketers looking to China should watch out for in 2020.

Host Arnold Ma chats to Thomas Nixon (Qumin Co-Founder) and Louisa Loehrig (Qumin’s Marketing Manager) about 3 pillars in particular: people, technology and how these affect marketing.

The keywords are: Lower-tier cities, 996, health&fitness, sustainability, traditional values vs modern expectations, short video, live streaming, facial recognition, 5G, from influencers to creators

Timestamps are:

01:04 The rise of consumer spending power in lower-tier cities (xiachen) and what makes the people in smaller cities different to those in Beijing and Shanghai 

05:08 996 working culture, the power of having spare time and the emergence of the night-time economy 

09:15 The new availability of products and saturation of top tier cities

11:50 Why the Chinese people have made health, entertainment and fitness the biggest growth sectors in China 

14:00 Sustainability - why people are starting to care, but why it must be 'top-down', but then people are starting to care 

16:52 “Your health is the most valuable thing in the battle for success” - Why in 2020 the Chinese are returning back to cultural values

19:08 Traditional values vs modern expectations and the rise of uber-confident, self-expressive young Chines people 

19:35 Tech
19:48 Short form video really took off in 2019 - why it is so popular?

22:56 Creativity and the willingness to experiment is the key to a whole new array of content coming from China 

24:36 Live streaming – not just for e-commerce (e.g. on Taobao) but also reviews (e.g. Xiaohongshu) and knowledge-based platforms (e.g. Zhihu)

25:58 Facial recognition in East and West and the ethical dilemma – should you scan your face to get the tube?

29:24 5G and why it is not just about the increased download speed, and more about what kind of tech it opens up

31:35 Marketing - from influencers to creators and why ‘followers’ are no longer a metric 
32:52 Why influencers are creating and selling their own products and co-branded content is more important than ever

35:59 Why you should view China as a continent and not a country and how hyperlocal campaigns can help brands reach consumers in lower-tier cities


If you like this episode, follow us/subscribe for more. You can also watch the full video on YouTube: https://youtu.be/jL6qcDsC6BQ
Feel free to contact us on China.WTF@qumin.co.uk with comments, thoughts and suggestions.  

Happy 2020 from all of us at Qumin!