Shike (试客) means “testing customer,” and is now a registered trademark and a new business model launched just a few days ago in Beijing. It’s a website, a market research company, and a franchise with 4 shops in Beijing with a plan to expand the network city-wide.

For one yuan a day, you join the Shike club and receive 3 product samples a day. You might receive a drink, a box of tissues, and a sample of luxury skincare. Definitely a good deal. Once people receive the sample, they’re incentivized to give feedback on the product. The more they comment on products, the more points they receive, which translates into discount coupons and more prestigious samples.

The formula is smart and simple. The possibility of testing new products satisfies consumer curiosity while inflicting minimal damage to one’s bank account. Secondly, it gives brands meaningful feedback on their product, and may even create a buzz if the sample impresses Shike members.

Lets not forget the growing popularity of online shopping amongst China’s urban youths. Thanks to websites like Taobao.com, online shopping and product reviews have become a staple for much of China’s internet users. In 2009, 87million people purchased goods online, most of them students aged 18-30. This tendancy will grow exponentially as new youths turn to the internet for all their shopping needs.

Will Shike be the “future of shopping” as the website says? Of course the business is new and only time will tell, but tryvertising and massclusivity are very certainly useful cards to attract young Chinese “taobuyers” generation.

For more from Alessandro De Toni, check out his website.

Which models do you prefer in your heart, Chinese models or Western models? The answer is obvious.

It’s akin to a Western guy having a preference to Chinese women with the single-edged eyelid; Chinese fashion icons who look like their European and American counterparts will make Chinese youth glance twice.

Take a look at Renren and Kaixin. What are the most popular topics on these websites?

• “ European style , come on!”
• “Fashion fairy—Agyness Deyn”
• “The most feminine of the 100 male models”

There are too many examples to describe.

It’s also easy to see how crazy Chinese young people are trending towards the European and American styles, based on the types of models being used.

After UNIQLO employed Angess Deyn to model their unique style of Japanese clothing and saw great success, the old brand in China, Metersbonwe and its high-end brands, Me&City hired Agyness Deyn and Cole Mohr to promote its brand. What happened next? Many people started to pay attention and visit Me&City because of Agyness Deyn and Cole Mohr’s unique charm. Otherwise, Chinese youth only feel that Me&City is just a second brand of Metersbonwe. However, relying on Agyness Deyn and Cole Mohr ‘s popularity, Me&City currently compare with H&M and Zara.

Some people may say that China also has a lot of famous models. It’s a pity that such a large country like China cannot find a unique person to use as a clothes rack. Du Juan, Liu Wen, Pei Bei, these three models are the first choice for the most recent Paris and Milan Fashion Week Shows. However, submerged in the other hundreds of models from Europe and the United States , they are easily overlooked. They may be mentioned briefly in magazines, but they are not on the cover of a European Vogue or a United States Cosmo.

You will find that many Chinese young people study how to dress like Kate Moss, study how to smoke like Agyness Deyn and also discuss the freaky tattoos of Cole Mohr. But Du Juan, Liu Wen, and Pei Bei represent the spiritual nature of China rather than an attitude of life for all of its people.

Ah, maybe one day when there are more Chinese faces in the four major fashion weeks, then Chinese young people will begin to pay more attention to local models. But now, Chinese models have very little market attraction.

Well, I declare that the European and United States models win!

Online Ad’s are so E Su!

In regards to online advertising many of my friends told me their first thoughts were “E Su!”. E Su (恶俗) advertisements are ads which strongly urge you to look at it. E Su is another word for vulgar and has negative connotations. For example, the pop-up ads open automatically when the website is opened, and there are no buttons to close it, so the ad stays on the website for more than 10 seconds! It’s so annoying that no one even wants to log into these websites.

“E Su” ads have a bad impression on Internet users and also an antagonistic effect. Although the spread of ad is achieved, it makes the website’s reputation and the advertising product’s reputation decline. The ads that use this type of method are mostly unknown products and online games. But such kind of advertising is gradually improving, a number of large-scale websites have excluded it, instead posting some high-quality ads.

Which ads do Chinese youth prefer then?

Many young Chinese people express that they like ads featuring products they are interested in. For girls, they are more biased in favor of cosmetics , clothing, or furniture. For guys, they are more biased in favor of automobile advertising. But they also said if the ads are creative, they are willing to learn about the products in which they were not interested in before.

The Mengniu Sour Yogurt ads have made a deep impression on youth Chinese Internet users. We don’t classify it as general advertising because of series advertisements and activities like Super Girls, Happy Girls. A huge number of these ads appear on sites ,videos and games, but they don’t make people bored. These are the reasons why they like these ads:

• The advertising and product images are consistent and unified.
• The ads are not excessively posted.
• The advertising interactions are interesting, such as online mini games.
• Video advertising such as Super girls, Happy girls and 音乐风云榜 are effective and entertaining.

As one of the 20 foreign, government approved films allowed into China each year, 2012 has drawn huge numbers to local box-offices. Exact figures are not known at this moment, but it has made a considerable amount of money in China. Much has also been written on the Internet debating the pro-China, or anti-China stances portrayed in the movie, perhaps pandering to Chinese audiences. Whatever the take, it’s effect in such a short period of time has already elicited strong emotions from all generations of Chinese youth whom have seen it.

What’s beginning to take shape amongst Chinese youth after viewing this film is a range of emotions: strong sentiments towards environmental awareness, a growing sense of fatalism and a “we should live life to the fullest” attitude.

2012′‘s environmental message is being received by Chinese youth loud and clear. Chinese youth have indicated to use that messages such as,  “The world could end at any moment, so we must do something NOW” and “our polluting actions have clear consequences based on the disastrous events in this film” are felt after viewing 2012. Based on other environmental research projects we are conducting, this is a familiar theme. Chinese youth can actually see the poor environmental conditions in their country and they are willing to take action to combat this. The film 2012 may represent the tipping point for youth to take sincere action.

Many young Chinese have also mentioned to us that after seeing this movie they are scared that the world could come crashing down at any moment so NOW is the time live life. Thus more money should be spent, more risks should be taken; life is short, so we must take advantage now. From a recent blog post, one member of Beijing’s c4work consulting company states,

“The movie has also made us question the purpose of saving so much money like how our parents did. It’s like, what are we saving for?”

The power  of the message portrayed in this movie provides a telling statement about Chinese youth: popular media, celebrities, and Chinese pride are still the most effective ways to make them pay attention and get the message. Now we’ll see if their actions reflect their emotions.

While in Beijing last week, I had the chance to sit down with the guys from c4work. They are a creative bunch led by their creative director Wangyuwei. In addition to their own t-shirt brand iFaction, they also have an online youth magazine called HiLow and a consulting studio. They have worked with the likes of Nike, Google, Li Ning, Lotto, etc. They also have numerous projects they are incubating which includes a concept store, a travel portal and many other creative ideas.

Per usual our conversation shifted to their perceptions and the latest trends with Chinese youth. They obviously have the usual Beijing bias but as two of them are from Sichuan and one is from Anhui, they also have a somewhat larger view of their peers.

I sat down with them to discuss their creative inspiration and other interesting youth trends.

As a fashion designer, where do you get your inspiration from? Also, where are Chinese youth looking for fashion and trend inspiration?

I have been a designer for so long and worked in the industry for so long, I no longer need inspiration. But generally speaking, its a very simple formula for trend influences in China…

• Shanghai looks to Hong Kong
• Hong Kong looks to the USA and Europe
• Beijing looks to Taiwan
• Taiwan looks to Japan

Due to the popularity of Korean soap operas in last few years, Korea has an influence on woman’s fashion in China, especially within Beijing.

So therefore for Beijing fashion, we should be looking to Japan for the trend inspirations. What do you see as the main trend in Beijing?

We really like the more simple preppy British style. We love the style from the new movie The Boat that Rocked. This style is very clean and simple. The post-80s generation gets this style at Uniqlo and the crazier post-90s generation looks to American Apparel.

That is interesting since stylistically the two brands are both fairly simple and basic. Why the generational difference and how do you still express yourself with such simplicity?

It is all in the advertising. The post-90′s Generation is heavily influenced by advertising. The American Apparel ads are very sexy and risky compared with Uniqlo. This appeals to their desire to be more expressive and crazy compared with the post-80′s generation. The post-90′s generation are spoiled and impressionable, but do not have their own opinions. They are lonely and in need of care and guidance. They are waiting to be told what is cool and trendy.

We now have so many ways to express ourselves from our electronics, ring tones, SNS pages, and accessories, so a simple style is a form of self-expression as well. The simple British look allows us to express our desire to be more sophisticated.

Speaking of advertising, what do you view as some of the more successful advertising [in China] as of late?

I think brands that use an integrated approach to advertising and understand their target consumers have been the most interesting. Brands such as Converse and Pepsi have done a good job creating an integrated and creative campaign.

Back to the question of simplicity…we have started to see this as a trend, especially as you referenced with the more simple Japanese/British style of clothing. This backlash was also seen in Japan a few years ago as their designs got more basic. Why do you think this is happening with the youth in China?

In the past as China has opened up to the world, Chinese have liked the loud and flashy. Now we are learning to appreciate the more simple and clean designs, like for example MUJI. We really like the simplicity in their designs. We also like IKEA for the simple nature of their designs. This aligns with our magazine and simplistic design style.

The movie 2012 has really influenced us to live life to the fullest and be conscious towards protecting the environment.We think health is very important. We are conscious about what we eat and staying fit. The movie has also made us question the purpose of saving so much money like how our parents did. It’s like, what are we saving for?

Any final thoughts on China’s post-90′s Generation?

The post-90′s generation are a lonely bunch and that’s why they go online to find friends and build a community. The post-90′s generation also is a group with a lot of pressure to find ways to fund their more lavish lifestyles. They are living beyond their means.

Armed with this knowledge Taobao (China’s premiere online shopping site) has recently launced it’s own video channel. Upon selecting your video, you will find yourself redirected to upstart video site, Joy.cn and preempting the video will be some brief Taobao ads.

The collaboration of Taobao and Joy is a win-win situation. Taobao can help drive more traffic to Joy – which is competing against more well established sites such as Tudou & Youku. At the same time, Joy’s video hosting capabilities add to the Taobao portfolio, helping it establish itself as more than just an auction website.

Streaming video online is a popular choice amongst Chinese youth, in particular for younger netizens, whom spend much more time online watching long winded TV series’. This segment is already used to the fact that there are ads before videos but will accept this streamlined viewing over TV broadcasts.

However, much like previous web advertising (e.g. pop-up ads), brands must be aware that their customer doesn’t tune out to their attempts at advertising. Companies need to consider how to best seed on websites to reap the largest rewards.

• mini games on brand websites to draw interest;
• direct branding of games;
• product placement within games.

What we see in mobile advergaming is the forming of a unique segment. Mobile advergaming maintains the usual brand interaction of advergaming but puts less constraints on locale and taps into a burgeoning market of mobile gaming.

A great example of mobile advergaming in effect can be seen through Puma’s F-wan campaign. Due to Puma’s brand relationship with Ferrari and the then upcoming Shanghai F1 race, the chosen format wasa simple 2D racing game with the option for race times to be SMS’d to a leaderboard. The game was promoted at popular online portals and in order to drive more customers to Puma stores, coupons for phone accessories were offerved via MMS for all who downloaded the game.

Phonevalley were honored by the Mobile Marketing Association for the success and innovation of the campaign.

While the F-wan game was simplistic in nature the SMS and MMS connection between brand and customer was a good way to entice customers to surrounding Puma stores – the ultimate goal of any campaign. What’s important to note in the success of the Puma campaign, is the direct link to purchasing and/or increased store traffic. In doing this, advergaming can retain some sembalance of measurability.

While this campaign itself is slightly dated it has gamed all the more relevance with the rising interest in the iphone and in particular the iphone applications. With ever increasing innovation in the mobile technology and with deeping connections between web and mobile company, brands must be alert to the possibilities of new fields such as mobile advergaming.

The popularity of gaming amongst the Chinese youth, aswell as the amount time spent, mean the possibilities for advergaming in China are extremely enticing. Advergaming holds great possibilities but as technology evolves so must the form of advertising. Chinese gamers will easily see through transparent advergaming campaigns.

I feel a successful campaign, which offers brand interaction and reward, as well as a social element could be the best means to target a wide section of Chinese youth. For this to happen we could see the advent of mobile MMO advergaming but until then expect advergaming to stay short term, simple and fun.

After sitting in on the a youth panel discussion related to the topic of Chinese Youth Marketing in the Social Space, I have broken the talk down into three critical sections to discuss. These are:

1. Social information transfer is online and mobile
2. Youth advertising in China : MUST be creative and conceptual
3. Further segmentation of the Chinese youth market is needed.

1. Social information transfer is online and mobile

• Microblogging will not catch on amongst youth in China. Chinese youth would rather use established sites such as Renren.com and QQZone
• Traditional information services such as newspapers and television are being replaced by online BBS’, QQ News, and mobile phones as the main source of information transfer.
• Status updates are very important in a Chinese youth’s life. On the fly info and updates are utilized in classrooms and elsewhere. Exclusive paid services such as one’s being offered on QQ are effective because a young Chinese person can further define himself.
• Online games that incorporate both online chatting and real-world chatting are the most fun to play. Young Chinese people would also rather play online games with friends than strangers.

2. Youth advertising in China : MUST be creative and conceptual

• Creativity in Chinese youth advertising goes a long way. Creativity and uniqueness is necessary to attract bored Chinese youth.
• Forcing products or messages are not effective.
• Pop-up advertising is very annoying and Chinese youth will even go to certain lengths to tell people not to buy products that have annoying advertising.
• Advertising should be conceptually unique, inviting Chinese youth to dig more and find out more about the product.
• We prefer brands that have a strong brand culture embedded in the ad.

3. Further segmentation of the Chinese youth market is needed.

• Almost every Chinese Youth is heavily influenced by the Internet. Thus, marketers and advertisers cannot continue to generalize the 80′s and 90′s Generations. WE ARE DIFFERENT, SEGMENTATION IS NEEDED!
• Tailored advertising to niche, further segmentated markets would be more effective.
• Advertisers should make sure they are using the right avenues to advertise. For example, if you’re publicizing a game, do it on gaming websites, not on the real estate websites!

We hope these takeaways are helpful in gaining a further understanding of the mysterious youth Chinese market. Our eyes and ears are open and we hope to gather more insights from ad:tech Beijing.

enoVate is up in Beijing this week attending the digital marketing conference, ad:tech Beijing.  Thus our weekly theme research will focus on advertising and technology in Chinese youth sectors. We’ll also be providing content from ad:tech Beijing through the eyes of our own John Solomon.