We walked the floor at the 2024 China Beauty Expo and identified trends which are relevant for beauty brands and brands in other categories in China

New Chinese Style elements are being incorporated into products by local and foreign brands across categories such as beauty, food & beverage, fashion and furniture

Chinese beauty brands are spending more than 2/3s of revenue on marketing, whereas foreign brands are under half that, and holding strong

Although geopolitical challenges and nationalism are on the rise, the traditionally-foreign holiday of Christmas is as large as ever in China

Singles' Day grew again this year against all odds, with some interesting data indicating why

Success in China needs localisation, but not a general China-wide strategy, rather a targeted multi-variable approach

Magnum's brand has grown in China on the back of strong marketing campaigns every summer, yet "double standards" are likely to hit the brand this year

China's fan clubs have become obsessive, and with changing family dynamics are on track to become more so, but Beijing is seeking change

Chinese sportswear brand ERKE was on the brink of collapse, but a well timed and executed CSR initiative has turned its fortunes around

Besides Covid, the three terms that cemented themselves in the Chinese vernacular last year were PPE (个人防护), lockdowns (隔离) and livestreaming (直播). Over this time, there have been few articles talking about marketing in China that didn’t praise the wonders of livestreaming. The buzz around livestreaming has been infectious for both consumers and brands, with 30,000 new Taobao Live accounts opened by merchants in February 2020 alone.

Back in August 2018 we were happy to report that China’s seemingly impenetrable ecommerce duopoly had fallen. In less than three years, ecommerce platform Pinduoduo (PDD) had come from nowhere to surpass JD.com’s daily user count.

Skinny readers who’ve been with us for a while may remember when we hypothesised how retailers would be able to tap into China’s facial recognition with consumer scenarios in 2019 and beyond. The anticipated opportunities were the result of China’s leadership in facial recognition tech, coupled with its liberal policies and consumer attitudes towards the privacy. While cities such as San Francisco and Portland have banned the use of facial recognition, the technology has flourished in China with numerous marketing applications. Unfortunately many have been unscrupulous.

Female consumers account for three out of four purchases in China, but in many categories they are underserved by brands and marketing

Despite increasing geopolitical tensions, rising nationalism and Covid fears, imports of consumer goods grew 8.2% in China last year. Sales of domestic goods contracted 3.9%. Chinese consumers' historic pursuit for beauty helped see imported cosmetics as one of the biggest drivers of this growth, with their value rising over 30% according to China's Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) figures published last week.The strong growth in cosmetics imports further reinforces the attractiveness of foreign skincare brands, and is well timed to coincide with the launch of the China Skinny Skincare Tracker.

If you’re not living in China, you probably haven’t heard of the sugar-free beverage brand Genki Forest. It’s unlikely that you’ve come across women’s underwear brand Ubras, or had a cup of Saturnbird instant coffee as you munched through a bowl of Wangbaobao cereal. Like in many markets, they are part of an increasingly-common genre of new brands who have quickly eroded market share from the big, established brands in their category. These disrupters should provide both inspiration and lessons for small-medium enterprises already selling or planning to launch in China.

Excellent Singles' Day and Q3 results won't be enough to cancel out draft antitrust legislation for China's big tech firms.

Milk: that white gold that strengthens your bones and teeth, can improve your skin and even lower the risk of obesity. In China, renowned doctors and even the Government have advocated drinking milk to build the body’s immune system to help fend off the dreaded COVID-19.

“Sex sells”. For any marketer it’s an adage as old as time. Even through waves of body positivity movements and #MeToo campaigns the western marketing world has and will continue to fall back on the familiar staple of sexual allure.