Connecting with Chinese consumers through emojis
If you want to understand how a large swathe of young Chinese urbanites are feeling, look no further than the cute, cartoon character emojis sweeping the Internet. There are characters from the Japanese manga series Chiikawa; Loopy, the little pink beaver from the Korean cartoon The Little Penguin Pororo; and a Korean illustrator’s puppy Maltese, all who have provided solace to a consumer segment weighed down by the pressures of life.
It wasn’t long ago that Chinese didn’t talk about their mental health challenges. But the pandemic pressures, Beijing’s Health Plans and accompanying propaganda, and subsequent brand initiatives have brought mental health out into the open in the last few years. To help transition from the taboo-to-talked about, Chinese found cute toons as an effective way to communicate their feelings.
The approachable, gentle and sensitive cartoons are simply drawn, and can be easily moulded to reflect the sentiment of a young Chinese professional. Whilst many of the cartoons started off their lives in an animated series, it is their emotionally-fuelled emoji versions that have elevated them to the mainstream and connected them to the national psyche of China’s youth.
Chinese love of cartoons have long over-indexed across all age groups. It wasn’t long ago, when it felt like Hello Kitty knits were the official attire for ladies in professional jobs in the city. Some of China’s most successful retailers have cute cartoony logos, such as Tmall’s cat or JD’s dog. Some of China’s most-loved consumer brands over the last decade have been built on the back of cartoony mascots, like Three Squirrels. And some of the most popular movies are Chinese legends told through animation.
The emoji-derived IP have taken cartoons in marketing to a new level. The already-established emojis can connect with consumers at an emotional level hard to replicate through other marketing initiatives. In a market suffering collab-fatigue, we only need to look at the 7-9 hours that people queued for to visit a Chiikawa x Miniso pop up in central Shanghai recently.
Through a Western-lens, brands may balk about aligning with pastel-coloured cutesy cartoons and how it could damage their positioning. However, China can be different. Even some of most exclusive luxury brands are collaborating with cartoon IP in China, such as Gucci’s Doraemon collab and a slew of other brands who have swapped glam for cute in collections. Cartoons aren’t just for diaper prints or toddler food in China, and can resonate with consumers into their 20s and beyond.
As some foreign brands are finding it more challenging to connect with Chinese consumers, a well-executed collab with popular cartoon/emoji IP can demonstrate to your target audience that your brand is in-tune with them. Done well, it can connect at a deeper level emotionally. Contact China Skinny to learn about how we can assist you to best do that.
For our UK and European based readers, China Skinny’s Andrew Atkinson will be in London the week of 22nd April running a session for China Britain Business Council’s ‘Consumer Masterclass’. If you can’t make the event but would like a chat about all things China, be sure to drop Andrew a line at andrew@chinaskinny.com.
