A concise summary of last month's key marketing developments in China, highlighting valuable insights and their implications for brands.

China's coffee revolution is brewing. From Cotti Coffee's rapid rise to shifting cultural trends, discover why coffee could become China's next daily staple.

Although summer has come to an end in China, the enthusiasm for ice cups remains strong. Coffee ice cubes and fruit-flavoured ice ball cups have further encouraged people to explore DIY mixers and enhance their beverage experiences.

Corn-based coffee and drinks are trending in China, attracting wellness-focused consumers with their creative versatility, health appeal, and nostalgic flavours. Stable supply chains and regional pride further enhance their popularity, turning traditional corn into a modern beverage hit.

Founded in 2017, M Stand has continually evolved with its unique aesthetic and comprehensive innovations, positioning itself as more of a lifestyle brand than a coffee chain.

During the Paris Olympics, China's enthusiasm for sports was reignited, leading to a rise in popularity of cafés themed around sports like table tennis, tennis and basketball.

Extreme-sport specific cosmetics, tents for pets, outdoor coffee gear and urban sports are just some of the outdoor industry trends China Skinny identified at the ISPO 2024

By blending different elements, coffee shops are providing consumers with surprising and exciting experiences. It's not just about the coffee itself; it's about the emotions and connections it brings.

Brands are hawking a similar marketing theme to sell their coffee and lottery tickets: “good luck” and “fortune”

China’s wacky coffee brews such as beef ball or preserved egg coffee no longer seem enough, with coffee shops taking things one step further…

Back in 2017, China's ¥30 billion ($4.3 billion) premium coffee scene was unique among major categories in China. Whereas most categories were fragmented with dozens of domestic and foreign brands vying for a share of wallets, one company accounted for 80% premium coffee sales. That company was Starbucks.

There has been a slew of recent coverage about Chinese FMCG brands outsmarting foreign players with faster growth rates.  Local brands often better understand customer needs and meet them with nimble product development and marketing.  They also have strong distribution networks in Tier-3 and lower cities, which boasted 8% growth last year, versus 2% in Tier 1 and 2 cities.

China’s smog gets a lot of airtime around the world, with footage like masked runners navigating the soupy air in the Beijing marathon, hordes of Zhengzhou residents lining up for bags of ‘fresh mountain air’, and kids playing at school under multi-million dollar domes. Given 99% of urban Chinese breathe air considered unsafe by EU standards, there’s plenty of opportunities for coverage.

It’s upon us. No sooner have the Christmas decorations come down, and the red lanterns, woolly sculptures and giant inflatable sheep have popped up in every corner of China with even more gusto. The excitement is further fuelled by infinite fireworks explosions, gushy television commercials, and the biggest consumer spend-up of the year.

Full credit to Tim Cook and the team at Apple who sold more smartphones in China than any other brand in the last three months of 2014. It’s the first time Apple achieved this, and especially impressive with the new iPhone 6 only launching halfway through the quarter.

WeChat’s global ambassador, Lionel Messi, was in Beijing last week for the all star football clash between Argentina and Brazil. What should have been a celebration of the beautiful game, turned out to be a demonstration of China’s abominable pollution.

Although eCommerce is going gangbusters in China – Tmall sales grew 90% last year – one of its key challenges is logistics. According to GLP, it costs twice as much to deliver a parcel in China as in the USA, even with China’s lower wages.

If China’s polluted air and water supply wasn’t doing enough to bring on heart disease and other illnesses, there’s a another scourge that’s stepping in – the bulge.