Aptly named “Hey Buddha” (佛喜), the hot-or-cold beverage also marks Hey Tea’s first-ever tea latte. One of the three cups printed with different sculptures comes randomly with each tea purchase. If you buy a set of tea and merch, it will include one magnet of your choice, out of the three exclusive Hey Tea logo artworks.

The “speechless Buddha” is originally one of a series of ceramic sculptures exhibited at the China Ceramics Museum, depicting the Eighteen Arhats, or Luohans in Chinese, from Chinese Buddhism. The sculptures were created by Zeng Longsheng (1900-1964), one of the masters at Jingdezhen. The Thinking Luohan gained internet notoriety earlier this year after memes of its photo with the added text “speechless” (无语) went viral. Taming Tiger Luohan and Happy Luohan from the series also went viral with him, becoming the other two designs from the collaboration.

The Luohans usually come with texts in their memes. Thinking Luohan, with its stoic facial expression, is usually accompanied by “speechless”, while Tiger Taming Luohan, more assertive looking with fingers pointing out, normally says “I’ll unalive you” (“鸡哔你”, a play on “击毙你”). The Happy Luohan, a new addition to the meme family, does not have an accepted usual text with it. The first two memes, depicting speechlessness and righteous indignation, are popular among office workers for expressing their moods. During the early October National Day holiday, the sculptures attracted an unusual amount of tourist attention after going viral as memes.

The topic “Hey Tea Buddha have a cuppa” (#喜茶 我佛持杯#, a play on “Buddha have mercy”) shot to number 1 on the Hot Search list on Weibo, China’s Twitter equivalent. It garnered 84.71 million views on the platform within a day after launching on the 28th. With the younger generation increasingly interested in temples and Buddhist culture, the collaboration hit the right note at the right time.

The post Lost for words: Hey Tea drops crossover with “Speechless Buddha” appeared first on Dao Insights.

In this vein, this article will look at four major trends of the more cautious generation of Chinese consumers and explain how they can be converted into opportunities for brands.

Prioritising personal happiness

In the wake of the pandemic, Chinese consumers have been more active in self-exploration, seeking to understand themselves better, therefore, finding joy from within. This has resulted in “self satisfaction” becoming one of the top consumer keywords in 2023, as found in the 2023 Chinese Consumer Insights White Paper released by iResearch in May.

Stronger self-awareness means purchasing decisions are made based on more specific and personal criteria and the degree to which a product matches those demands. In other words, products are expected to be more personalised, maximising their consumption value.

A wide range of consumer interests go hand in hand with this as the demographics indulge in self-fulfilment. While more attention has been paid to consumers’ inner health, physically and mentally, they are also keen to find a sense of social belonging through communities. As a result, health preservation and interest-based community socials are key to drawing in consumer interest.

Two-way interactions

Gone are the days when consumers were passive listeners in the marketing scene. With Chinese people, in particular, the young cohorts, they are more involved in brands’ activities and engaged in the co-creation process thanks to the medium of social media. In fact, creating a sense of participation has become just as essential as ensuring high product quality for brands to gain consumer confidence and enrich the consumer experience.

A survey conducted in April by Morketing, a Chinese marketing research institute, found over 80% of 1,266 respondents agreed that entertaining interactions with brands would enhance their brand loyalty. Brands that can identify topics – be it an issue facing society, or a subculture that has sparked heated discussion – incorporating these into their activation and turning them into a personal conversation rather than purely a slogan, are more likely to build up a cemented relationship with their target audience, and ultimately benefit their conversion rates.

Emotional resonance

Chinese consumers now appear to be more empathetic and tend to associate their consumption decisions with social concerns, pushing social responsibility into playing a greater role in fostering brands’ relationships with them.

Environmental impacts of their consumption behaviours are at the forefront, as highlighted in Deloitte’s 2023 Chinese Consumer Insights Report where sustainability is one of the most considered factors in their decision making, ranked 3^rd just behind options addressing how to achieve self-happiness.

While philanthropic endeavours, such as brand donations amid the hit of typhoon Doksuri, which affected hundreds of thousands in the surrounding area of the capital city of Beijing in July, has become common practice in winning over consumers. However, brands are also advised to be more sensitive when it comes to political subjects, considering the growing cultural confidence, and therefore, national identity amongst the Chinese population.

Endorsement of local identity

The past few years saw the rise of homegrown brands largely due to the Guochao phenomenon that emerged in 2018, and local market players have enjoyed the advantages of this national sentiment, while their shrewd observations and cultural understanding coupled with the upgrade in product quality also allowed them to gain an extra edge over the competition.

However, the endorsement of local identity is not necessarily automatically in favour of domestic brands and the term now sees a broader connotation, which means global players have a better chance of impressing Chinese consumers with a fitting localisation strategy. In fact, the momentum of Chinese brands has been found to be slowing down as observed in the past six months, according to a McKinsey report published in early July.

Foreign brands are regaining Chinese consumers, particularly in the sportswear and beauty sectors. The results came after global brands such as Adidas and Nike were seen beefing up collaborations with local talents, leveraging not only their local influence but also their cultural knowledge, as well as L’Oréal who is deepening the group’s investment in building local research and development facilities, including cashing in on the Chinese fragrance dark horse DOCUMENTS.

Speaking to Dao Insights, Daniel Ziper, Senior Partner at McKinsey & Company’s Shenzhen office who leads Asia Consumer & Retail Practice and authored the July report, said, “As China reopened, global executives flocked to China, resetting their China strategies…we’ve seen some positive gaining of market share by foreign companies in the first half of this year. But I wouldn’t say the momentum of domestic brands has been reverted. Instead the trend is flattening”.

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Tourism attractions born from temples and monasteries across the nation saw a more than three-fold increase in bookings since the beginning of this year, with visitors of the post-90s and post-00s accounting for nearly half of the total footfall since February as per the Chinese online travel agency Ctrip.

The most sought-after amid the temple fever

Among them, Yonghe Temple, is a special place for these young pilgrims. There is “nothing more efficacious” than the lamasery that once stood as the official residence for Yongzheng (one of the most diligent emperors in Chinese history) before he ascended the throne. The emperor’s dedicated spirit is believed to be a lucky charm for young people who are seeking to progress into the next chapter of their professional lives.

With good tidings from former adorers who received job opportunities after their visits to Yonghe Temple circulating on social media, it has become even more sacred amongst young Chinese and soon emerged as a popular attraction on the internet, propelling the hashtag “Yonghe Temple” to garner more than 150 million views on China’s lifestyle-sharing platform Xiaohongshu, where 72% of its over 200 million monthly active users are post-90s.

Emerging businesses brought out by templegoers

While posts that show queues outside the lamasery in the early hours continue to be commonplace in March, others are sharing their experience including tips on the best pray practices and details of “rules” on burning incense for temple goers who are praying for different reasons, such as passing exams or getting university or job offers. Also trending in the searches are accessories, including Buddha hand chains and necklaces. Normally made of coloured glaze, jade, or wood, these ritualistic items, known amongst worshippers as 法(fǎ)物(wù), are a must-buy after a visit, or in their words 请(qǐng)回(huí) , which means bringing [wishes] back with them, which is deemed a crucial process to make them come true.

This religious enthusiasm not only boosted sales of these “magic items” both offline at the temple and on e-commerce platforms, but also the business of substitute ritual item buyers, or “代(dài)请(qǐng)法(fǎ)物(wù)”. The Daigou behaviour, where individuals purchase products for those who cannot visit in person while making a profit, has pushed the price of accessories from around one hundred Yuan to more than a thousand, further fuelling the already heated debate around the new obsession of young people.   

Online debate over young devotees

The temple fad soon turned into a social media sensation with several relevant hashtags, including “Why has temple tourism become a hit?” and “Media commentary on why young people don’t go to class, don’t have a ‘go-get’ attitude but go pray in a temple”, drawing in over 100 million and 130 million views within 24 hours on 21 March.

Media reporting with a patronising tone, such as the one by The Beijing News, sparked anger amongst the young generations. The publisher indicates that “young people should clearly distinguish between the imaginary and real worlds. If one banks on Gods to realise their hopes, they are going astray.” Some criticism they are being met with is that they are “departing from the general public and have no understanding of the hardships facing the ordinary”, with a reference to a fiercer job market alongside other social challenges involving family pressure, marriage, and parenting.

Empathetic media analysis soon arrived, prompting confessions from young netizens, such as one commenting, “To some extent, this is a tragedy of this generation. Uncertain about their future, not looking at science and turning to supernatural beings. Do we like it? No. Because the dark night is too long and there is no light in sight.”

While societal problems such as work pressure, low pay, low marriage rates, and an ever-declining birth rate have become the status quo amongst the young demographics, the sudden temple fever mirrors the deteriorating dilemma in China’s employment market post-pandemic. The country’s urban youth unemployment rate hit a record high of 19.9% in July 2022. While an estimated influx of 11.58 million fresh graduates in 2023 is expected to escalate the battle even more, the economy which was traumatised by the pandemic is yet to provide a solution for these eager job hunters.

“Young people need somewhere to let go of their feelings,” one comment reads, “[the Zen ambiance] it provides a space for us to escape and feel relief,” followed another. “I know it’s not real, but we need some spiritual aspects as reassurance and motivation before we go back to fight reality.” 

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Tangyuan is made of sticky rice with a filling inside which can either be sweet or savoury, and its ball like shape symbolises the family bond and good fortune for Chinese citizens. While “Tangyuan” refers to the Southern style, it is better known as “Yuanxiao” in the North. The preference over the taste of the fillings is different all across the country, which ignited a yearly nationwide battle over the flavour varieties and created a buzz on social media.

This year, sweet Tangyuan gained more popularity with its sales equating to 40 times as many compared to its savoury counterpart. Traditional fillings like black sesame seeds remained the protagonist of the battlefield, representing 60% of the overall sales.

A rather lively discussion was triggered over the results with the related hashtag drawing in over 47.42 million views on China’s largest microblogging site Weibo. The topic of whether it should be called “Yuanxiao” or “Tangyuan” accumulated up to 94.45 million views, indicating the country’s enthusiasm towards this tradition and is something brands should capitalise on.

According to a report by domestic online retailer JD.com, male consumers favour savoury flavourings over sweet ones, while female consumers are the opposite. Not to mention, the 26 to 45 year old age group has become the main purchasing force for Tangyuan.

Apart from the classic black sesame seeds, red bean and peanut butter flavours, newly invented fillings such as durian, strawberry, savoury duck egg and Oreo chocolate have also gained upward popularity. Tapping into the ongoing healthy lifestyle sensation, sugar-free Tangyuan rose to prominence with its sales up by 340%.

From the initial core fillings of black sesame seeds evolving to new flavours, Chinese consumers’ tastes are becoming more diversified and health driven. Food brands should pay close attention to this trend and focus on flavour innovation if they are to stay on course with savvy consumers whilst tapping into the rising healthy lifestyle sensation in China.

The post Lantern Festival battle: Sweet or savoury Tangyuan? appeared first on Dao Insights.

Travel-related bookings saw a 6-fold surge in the lead-up to the celebration. Of which, cross-provincial orders made up nearly 80%, while overseas trips saw record high bookings in three years according to a report by Alibaba-owned online travel agency Fliggy on 11 January.

With eager travellers re-exploring inside and outside the country during the largest annual celebration and one of the longest national holidays, Dao Insights outlines some of the top destinations that drew in the highest footfall during the festive season.

Winter-sun destinations

Places with warm weather have been the backbone driving the recovery of long-distance trips as tourists seek to escape the winter cold. Searches for domestic long-distance travel products are reported to have increased 20 times as of 8 January, with “islands” topping the trending list.

The top three most visited regions are those famous for its tropical climate, including Xishuangbanna (an autonomous prefecture in Southwestern Yunnan province also known for its Dai ethnic culture), Sanya, a renowned tourism hotpot situated in the Southern end of Hainan province, and Dali, a city also in Yunnan province which has mild winters.

Meanwhile, niche islands have also been the go-to for young travellers and those travelling with families who want to avoid the crowds at mainstream resorts, while not missing out on the sunshine. As a result, Weizhou Island (the largest island of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region in Beihai city), Nan’ao Island (a county of the prefecture-level city of Shantou in Guangdong province), and Qiandao Lake (or Xin’anjiang Reservoir, a human-made, freshwater lake in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province) were the most popular destinations.

While others such as Aranya, Boundary Island, and Dongshan Island are also among the top 10 attractions for those island goers, as per Mafengwo the dubbed “travel bible” by younger Chinese netizens.

Winter wonderland with ice and snow

In sharp contrast to those swarming to warmer climes, others have decided to embrace the wintry chill, propelling ice and snow tourism to become a trending travel theme too. Changbai Mountains, a major mountain range in Northeast Asia spanning the Northeast Chinese provinces of Heilongjiang, Jilin, and Liaoning has been one of the sites drawing in the most interest from long-distance trip-goers.

The active stratovolcano on the Chinese-North Korean border saw overall searches up by 100% on the eve of the festive weekend starting on 21 January. Of which, 90.3% of queries were from tourists outside the region, with dwellers in the coastal province of Guangdong making up the highest percentage at 13%, as per state media People’s Daily.

While other traditional, natural ice wonderlands such as Harbin, capital of China’s Northernmost province Heilongjiang retains its appeal, humanmade ice and snow resorts in major cities have emerged as tourism hotspots too. Beijing Shichahai Ice Stadium recorded a 76% increase in online searches during the festival week while indoor ski fields in Guangzhou and Changsha were also gaining steam, up 50% in related queries, according to Tongcheng Travel.

Hidden gems for cultural tourism

Small counties and towns demonstrating traditional folk culture and historical heritage have also been sought after during the latest travel boom. Searches for “New Year-themed ancient town” increased by 50%.

Wuzhen, a historic scenic town in the North of Zhejiang province, Gubei Water Town, located in Simatai Village at the foot of Simatai Great Wall in Beijing, Furong Ancient Town, in Northwest Hunan province, Zhouzhuang, a town in Jiangsu province famous for its canals, and Nanxun, a historic town in Zhejiang province are places seeing the most nostalgic visitors.

Also under the spotlight are cities with rich history, such as Xi’an, home to the Zhou, Qin, Han and Tang dynasties’ ruling houses and also marks the end of the Silk Road’s Eastern end, and Luo Yang in the West of Henan province and is one of the cradles of Chinese civilisation, along with others including Jinan in Shandong province, Chengdu, capital of the Sichuan province and Zhangjiajie, in Northwest Hunan province famed for its jagged quartzite, sandstone columns.

Travel packages incorporated with intangible culture and national history have also drawn in great interest among China’s young tourists, according to Fliggy. Meanwhile, registration for activities with cultural experiences including dressing up in Han costumes and traditional handicraft making has also doubled compared to last year.

Neighbouring regions for outbound travel  

Tens of thousands of people crossed borders in both directions between Hong Kong and Mainland on the same day that cross-border quarantine requirements were removed. This was coupled with the resumption of the processing of endorsements for Chinese mainland residents to visit the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region for tourism and business purposes.

Fast channels at ports adjacent to Hong Kong and Macau are also set to return to normal with passenger clearance at water ports and entry and exit of international cruise passengers at selected ports are also set to resume in a timely manner.

It was reported that nearly a million Mainland Chinese residents applied for entry permits to Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan – up 147.6% since before the implementation of the policy change, according to Liu Haitao, director general of the National Immigration Administration’s department of frontier inspection and management.

Following the easing of travel restrictions, Hong Kong and Macau have taken the top spots on the list of popular outbound travel destinations among Mainland tourists. While surrounding countries in Asia such as Thailand, Singapore, and Malaysia are also desired by those who are looking for an exotic experience.

Bookings of flights to Hong Kong made by yearning Mainland tourists clocked a 31-fold year-on-year increase, and reservations for hotel and tourism attractions also recorded more than double growth, as per Ctrip. Meanwhile, Macau saw inbound travellers from Mainland up by 97% and hotel bookings up by 57%, while ticket purchases for scenic visits rose by more than 133% compared to last year’s Spring Festival.

The post Where are China’s eager New Year travellers going and why? appeared first on Dao Insights.

Formerly known as Arcadia Hall, the site was first built in 1878 as a fairground for foreigners. Zhang Garden came to life later when the area was acquired by Zhang Shuhe in 1882, a businessman from the neighbouring city of Wuxi and was opened up to the public afterwards. Therefore, it carries on the local heritage of Shikumen (or Stone Warehouse Gate), a classic Shanghainese architectural style that combines Western and traditional Chinese architecture designs, which has been classified as type one “lilong” (lane houses) residences.

“The Shikumen architecture comprises of new style lilong, and fine mansions and villas,” said Shen Xiaoming, Zhang Garden restoration project designer in an interview with Chinese media, The Paper, “Zhang Garden bears artistic personality, integrity and diversity.”

With a well-integrated neighbourhood layout, and a range of historical architectures symbolising different cultures, Zhang Garden is the largest, most exhaustive and diversified building complexes of its kind in Shanghai. The cultural background has set the compound apart from traditional commercial complexes, as commented by Hu Danting, consultant for the East China region of the American commercial real estate services and investment firm (CBRE), who is also responsible for Zhang Garden’s merchants.

“The historic uniqueness carried by Zhang Garden’s century-old buildings have provided a bedding ground for big brands, facilitating the integration of brands’ value and local history…This has also been a new experiment in experiential retail,” added Hu.

Leveraging the compound’s cultural uniqueness and its residential characteristics, home-style showcase spaces have coincidently been the go-to amongst those luxury brands in a bid to resonate with the city’s shrewd Gen Z and Millennials through a retro-modern lifestyle.

While Louis Vuitton opened its first global home store with the house’s signature homeware collection Objet Nomades, Dior also debut its iconic Medallion chair, Miss Dior, created by the French industrial designer Philippe Starck to enhance the home ambience.

The mansion’s other offerings range from womenswear and menswear to handbags and shoes which are displayed in a cloakroom-like space. And the artistic installation designed by Italian contemporary artist Pietro Ruffo and a lounge room, CAFÉ DIOR has further strengthened the sense of home.

Another home store was curated by the Swiss timepiece maker, Vacheron Constantin. Occupying a four-story building, the exhibition titled Maison 1755 The Art of Time [HOME] presents four chapters including Inspiration Space, Premium Watchmaking, Imaginary Space and Art Room, showcasing the legendary collections, its delicate craftsmanship as well as artworks created in collaboration with artists from the Central Academy of Fine Arts, where the local’s interpretation of modern life in the Chinese city has been recreated.

These brands’ moves have exemplified the cultural and societal values that Zhang Garden embodies, which would also be an invaluable agency for luxury marketers to capitalise on considering the neighbourhood’s overall mood is compatible with their deluxe positioning. Such an environment is also in line with their tendency to create more immersive and experiential activities in exchange for better consumer engagement with China’s lucrative demographics. Therefore, the reopening of Zhang Garden could be a boost for players in the world’s second-largest luxury market. 

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• Vivo’s X90 series campaign harnesses the power of nostalgia marketing by tapping into Chinese youth’s childhood favourite cartoon: “Nezha Conquers the Dragon King”.
• With rapidly rising competition in the mobile industry, being fashionable in the market has become a fundamental criterion for Chinese shoppers.
• Brands seeking to capitalise on IP marketing can do research to find an IP that hit a peak in popularity when its consumer base was around 12 to 22 years old for music or 6 to 15 years old for cartoons. 

In recent years, nostalgia IP marketing has proved to be a remarkably successful marketing strategy in terms of reeling in a younger Chinese demographic. Smartphone maker Vivo has capitalised on such sentiment by fusing its modern technology with the nostalgia of classic Chinese cartoons.

In honour of its latest launch of the X90 series, the Chinese smartphone Vivo partnered with Shanghai Animation Film studio to create a short film in which a classic Chinese cartoon “Nezha Conquers the Dragon King” would be played out as a traditional shadow puppet show.

“You probably watched Nezha Conquers the Dragon King when you were young,” said the narrator in the campaign video. “But you have not seen it taken by Vivo X90 Pro+ camera under extremely dark conditions.”

During the shooting process – which was shot entirely with the Vivo X90 – there was only one candle to light the whole scene. Despite such dark conditions, however, the phone managed to capture colours and details showcasing the advanced technology of the device’s night lenses.

Apart from standard Mandarin Chinese, the shadow puppet show was also filmed in five different dialects including Sichuanese and Cantonese, thereby increasing accessibility across the nation.

Cultural marketing through shadow puppetry

Shadow puppetry, also known as “Shadow Play” (皮影戏 pí yǐng xì), has been an integral part of Chinese culture and is said to have originated in China over two thousand years ago during the Han Dynasty. In fact, shadow play was very popular during the Tang (613 – 907 AD) and Song (960 – 1279 AS) dynasties in several parts of China. 

As such, not only did the dark-lit performance of the art form make it a perfect opportunity for Vivo to step in and showcase its latest smartphone’s best features, but it also leveraged the Chinese youth’s nostalgia for their favourite childhood shows.

Moreover, by blending both traditional with technological elements, the campaign ended up resonating relatively well with domestic patriotic audiences. According to Jingdaily, Launchmetrics found that it earned 2 million RMB ($277,000) MIV as of December 2022.

The power of co-branding with nostalgic IP

The main character Nezha, who at times appears alongside the better-known folk deity the Monkey King, is well known to local viewers, thanks to an array of films, TV shows, and pop culture appropriations that have popped up over the past few decades.

The 1979 animated film “Nezha Conquers the Dragon King” (哪吒闹海) which screened out of competition at Cannes, first popularized the character. Later, when it become an animated movie in 2019, raked in more than $700 million at the local box office, overtaking Disney animations Zootopia and Coco (two of the biggest animated hits in China) by a colossal margin.

In addition, another highlight of the film is the commentary. Considering that this story is already familiar to the public, in order to increase the freshness and interest, Vivo added some Internet stalks such as “walking alone in a dark alley” and “you are not fighting alone” in the commentary to make the overall story more interesting.

According to Daxue Consulting, some of the young Chinese adults’ favourite cartoons include the Chinese classic Journey to the West, the American cartoon Tom and Jerry, and the Japanese anime Crayon Shin-Chan.

In terms of sales performance, according to research conducted by Strategy Analytics, Vivo topped China’s smartphone market with a 21% market share in the third fiscal quarter of 2022 with 14.3 million units of smartphone shipments.

Undoubtedly, IPs carry nostalgic value for Chinese millennials and Gen Z. However, each consumer group has unique backgrounds and equally unique nostalgia triggers. Therefore, it is worth conducting in-depth consumer research to identify what IP is memorable for your consumer base based on age, gender, tier-city level and region. Find an IP that hit a peak in popularity when your consumer base was around 12 to 22 years old for music, or 6 to 15 years old for cartoons.

All in all, both the IPs of “Nezha” and the national art form “Shadow Puppetry” serves as a creative way to hook viewers and showcase the latest features found on Vivo’s latest mobile device.

The post How did Vivo’s cartoon campaign win over China’s younger audiences? appeared first on Dao Insights.

• French high-end sportswear brand Lacoste has tapped into the growing appetite for street dancing amongst China’s Gen Z by becoming an official sponsor for season 5 of the hit TV show Street Dance of China.
• The vernacular dance style has grown into a craved subculture in China, drawing in an average of 5 million to cut their teeth into the activity every year, with teens being the main consumers.
• The shrewd move allows Lacoste to rejuvenise its brand image and win over the lucrative young generation of consumers.

Having boasted expertise in crafting “relaxed elegance” in active apparel with its “chic and formal” style polo shirts earning worldwide fame, Lacoste, an accessible French luxury sportswear brand aroused public curiosity in China following its announcement to become an official sponsor for the season 5 of the Street Dance of China.

The latest season was aired on 13 August, drawing in an impressive 2.3 billion accumulated views on China’s biggest microblogging site Weibo with the grand finale hashtag hitting 130 million views on 29 October.

Born in 2018, the show was first broadcast on Youku, China’s YouTube-like streaming platform and soon gained popularity amongst China’s post-95s and post-00s with its mentor line-up consisting of some of the country’s top hip hop figures such as Han Geng, a Chinese Mandopop singer and former lead dancer of the South Korean boy group Super Junior, as well as emerging dance personalities including the beloved actor and rapper Wang Yibo and Liu Yuxin, a post-95 dancer who rose to fame after finishing 1^st place on the Chinese survival reality program ‘Youth with You 2’.

Regardless of the celebrity endorsement, street dance has grown into a craved subculture amongst China’s Gen Z crowds. Its varied, stylish, and high-energy routines such as break dancing, popping and locking, and waacking are being used as a way of empowering young people in their pursuit of personal uniqueness and individuality.

Such dynamics have also given the sport wider recognition, leading it to become mainstream. It has been driving the transformation of modern youth sports, with this vernacular dance to be included in traditional sporting events both at home and worldwide, including the National Games in China, the Asia Games, and the Olympics.

Meanwhile, China’s Double Reduction policy, which aims to take away students’ academic burden and, therefore, place more emphasis on physical health by encouraging “fun fitness” activities, has further fuelled the development of this once niche sport.

According to China’s Hip-Hop Union Committee, the country recorded over 300,000 street dance professionals as of 2020 and approximately 5 million are newly trained every year. Young people aged between 10 and 15 years old are believed to be the most enthusiastic with those dwelling in major cities such as Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzhen riding the wave. 

Therefore, by tapping into the street dance show, Lacoste is able to rejuvenise the brand’s image in China and more importantly plug itself into the youthful community and paving the way for further engagement with the target demographic. Arriving in the Chinese market in 1984, the brand established its premium identity with its enthusiasm for gearing up players of mainly upper-class sports like tennis and golf.

While those sports remain a luxury consumed predominantly by the rich, urban sports like street dance draws in a wider following and are engaged by their target audience who are also the market backbone. The move helps Lacoste’s revival in the Chinese market as its once-prided “smart chic” design is losing appeal amongst the rising consumer cohort of Gen Z with the country’s fashion evolving into a more individualised and expressive style.

The luxury brand was even labelled as “old-fashioned” by Chinese consumers due to its limited style and perceived as being for middle-aged men, as Eric Tosello, CEO of Greater China and APAC at Lacoste confessed in an interview with WWD in 2021. It was also when the brand started stepping up its refashion, infusing its emblematic elegance with an open and wild twist, drawing inspiration from contemporary subcultures.

Although the street style seemingly goes against Lacoste’s sartorial heritage, the retro-modern sub-fashion style that creates a sense of both nostalgia and contrast has been pursued by the savvy generations of consumers, paving the way for Lacoste to capitalise on the rise of street dance.   

The stylish nature of the subculture provides an opportunity for the brand to bring out the synergy of fashion and sports to resonate with China’s young consumers. With “Street Dance Style Outfit” drawing in more than 812,000 views on the fashion vanguard Xiaohongshu (China’s largest lifestyle-sharing platform), the partnership with the hit dance competition show is a shrewd move to refreshing Lacoste’s brand image while diversifying its product lines, therefore, staying relevant to the lucrative generations. 

The post Lacoste unlocks China’s Gen Z, leveraging the rising fad of street dancing appeared first on Dao Insights.

Her first experience as a bridesmaid brought her an income of nearly 2,600 RMB ($359.81), including a 1,600 RMB ($221.42) service fee and the rest were red envelopes (a monetary gift enfolded in a red packet symbolising good wishes, which is also a Chinese tradition) from the couple’s families and friends, which was more than enough to cover her travel expenses back to her hometown in Hangzhou, Sichuan.

Now she is the CEO of a professional bridesmaid and groomsmaid sourcing platform and is one of many such businesses in China. The initial part-time job unsurprisingly saw peak demands during national holidays, with orders of “bridesmaid rental” surging 20-fold during the May 1 Holiday (or China’s Labours’ Day) in 2021, according to Alibaba’s resale platform Xianyu. The service was also in demand during this year’s most recent seven-day National Day Holiday with hundreds of requests being received by Xie. 

Although having maids of honour is not a custom exclusive to Chinese society, bridesmaids are generally indispensable in China’s modern weddings and are assigned with responsibilities ranging from assisting with dressing the bride and wedding room decorating to photography, greeting guests and keeping things moving when preparing and participating in wedding games. Specific tasks might vary between a traditional Chinese wedding and a Western-style celebration.

Traditionally, maids of honour are chosen from a couple’s best friends who are unmarried. But this is getting trickier and the overall tendency of delaying marriage amongst China’s millennials is to blame. The nation saw 7.64 million newlyweds registered last year, down 6.1% yearly, the lowest record in 36 years. Newly married couples aged between 30 and 40 years old were the largest contributor, indicating a further increase in the marrying age of women which was 26.3 years old in 2016.   

The status quo consequently poses challenges for those late married couples who normally expect to find a perfect companion that is not only accommodating and can satisfy their needs of physical intimacy. Additionally, in a rather superstitious way, having a compatible Chinese zodiac sign, is believed by some to bring good luck to the couple. In light of these requirements, bridesmaid rental is fast becoming a profession.

So far, the new practice seems to be more appealing to women than men. A maid of honour rental app developer surnamed Hu observed that 90% of his 110,000+ users are women since the app’s creation in 2019. The 29-year-old bachelor believes there is not much difference in market demand for a bridesmaid and a groomsmaid but the acceptance of this practice as a career is relatively lower amongst men which results in a gap. However, market demand data indicates otherwise, as the average service delivery rate of best man candidates was just 25% of that taken by bridesmaid candidates in 2021, according to Xianyu.

Nevertheless, a new industry is on the horizon to formalise the practice in a more professional capacity, from recruitment to training and execution. Typical requirements of a bridesmaid include being a single woman between the age of 20 and 27 years old who has “a decent appearance”, which means “good looking but cannot be too pretty, otherwise, they would steal the bride’s thunder”, but they can’t be too plain looking either, or “the host would feel like they are losing face”, according to several experienced maids of honour.

On top of that, a friendly and sociable personality is generally welcomed as they would inject more energy into the ceremony, and potentially, although less likely to be anticipated, to resolve any embarrassing drama on the wedding day. In addition, knowledge of the local dialect would work in the applicant’s favour, and when it comes to more demanding clients, holding a minimum of a bachelor’s degree would be advantageous too.

Once an order is confirmed, a bridesmaid will be briefed on the schedule, some dos’ and don’ts and tips on how to handle incidents. Some even run a rehearsal the day before while also allowing bridesmaids to get familiar with the family. For those applying with Xie’s platform, they will spend the night before the wedding with the bride in case she gets too anxious prior to the big day.

With her bridesmaid rental service platform now home to over 80,000 users since it came to life this February, Xie has witnessed a total of 300 couples tying the knot with a profit rate hovering between 30% and 40%. While she is determined to make professional bridesmaids a more widely recognised profession, when asked about her own plan for marriage, the Gen Z CEO simply smiled saying “I haven’t thought about it.”

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According to a survey on home ownership before marriage carried out by Hunjia (a Chinese database) as of 2019, over 70% of single respondents born after 1995 stated that they wanted to buy a property before marriage. Likewise, over 80% of female respondents perceived that owning a property is a crucial prerequisite for marriage.

This societal ‘norm’ stems back to generations. Traditionally, to secure a good marriage, grooms would pay the in-laws with either land, gold, or a horse to show off their high economic and societal status.

This practice typically known as bridewealth is still in many ways practiced today, as instead of land, owning a flat prior to marriage is considered very important for one’s prospects for a stable relationship. Buying a home is a huge achievement and in China, it has become the modern enactment of bridewealth for grooms to show off one’s financial ability to their potential wife’s parents.

Aside from the practice of ‘bridewealth’, according to a survey on home purchasing behaviour carried out by Beike Research Institute in July of 2021, around 75% of respondents both men and women aged 21 to 40 thought that buying a home before getting married would increase their sense of belonging and security. Similarly, many Chinese feel that buying a home can improve their quality of life and gain a foothold in property rights. For example, education, under the Hukou System (China’s registered resident system), children’s admission rights are strongly connected to this. And so, both women and men aim to buy property in a good catchment area for their future children.

Is this practice realistic?

The reality of achieving this cultural prerequisite in today’s property climate is becoming more and more difficult. Despite the slight increase in residential home sales and a dip of 0.2% in average new home prices, there is a growing number of unfinished homes which has caused many Chinese homeowners to consequently postpone their marriage and other future arrangements.

In China, future homeowners acquire houses through a pre-pay model, in which buyers purchase apartments that are unfinished. In return, property developers promise to deliver the completed homes within a specified timeframe, but with soaring debt, and a tightening regulatory environment aimed at winding down the industry, many developers have failed to meet their targets. As a consequence, this has left some people making mortgage payments years before being able to move into their home. Although it is common in other countries to pay a deposit on a housing unit before it’s built, unlike China, a mortgage payment is not required until the purchaser takes possession.

Moreover, property developers have stalled construction across China and many young Chinese are being saddled with mortgage payments on a house they might never see. A good example is Li, a technology firm worker who was interviewed by Bloomberg. Li uses a third of his salary to make monthly ‘4,000 RMB ($494.65) mortgage payments on a stalled Evergrande development’ in Wuhan. Without a completed apartment, Li now fears his prospects for a relationship. Unfortunately, he is one of the thousands with this daunting worry as many continue to seek financial help from their elders to pay off these payments.

Despite policymakers’ actions, Chinese buyers have started to boycott their mortgages and are pushing for local governments and developers to restart construction on their awaited homes. The exact timeframe in which these homes are expected to be complete remains uncertain, but the government has already boosted lending to builders to help them complete their projects and solve this impending problem within the upcoming months.

The outlook for this custom

The success rate to buy a home before marriage remains bleak as consumer confidence remains low. Although many Chinese single women still long for their future husband to own a house before marriage, for many young Chinese middle-class this is becoming increasingly difficult. Together with job losses and pay cuts due to COVID-19 and expensive house prices such as in Beijing and Shanghai this might cause people to further delay marriage.

The average house price across the country remains high for Tier-1 and Tier-2 areas in cities such as Shenzhen, Beijing, Xiamen, and Hangzhou. According to the National Bureau of Statistics, the average sale price of residential real estate in 2020 for example in Xiamen was 33,779 RMB ($4,177.23) per square metre. Considering China’s annual per capita of urban disposable income as of 2021 was 47,412 RMB ($5,863.13), it is no wonder that it often takes years of saving to afford an apartment.

Across China, there are countless millennials continuing to work towards purchasing a flat to please their prospective wives and in-laws. However it remains uncertain whether coupled with the decline in marriage rates, this custom can continue to remain as prevalent in the changing society.   

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