Chandler is a recent university graduate, with dreams of traveling the world and eventually settling down in Japan. His room is littered with tokens past travelers have gifted him: a Canadian flag on his bed, maps in his closet, posters, t-shirts, and framed photos on his desk. During the week I spent at his place, we attended live shows, hung out with China’s old school punks, ate xiao kao with college students, and even went for a late night swim in the Yangtze.

During the day, we would escape Wuhan’s ferocious heat in a local coffee-shop, and talk for hours about everything and nothing. Since CouchSurfing (CS) is a crucial part of my trip, and an indicator of the changing mentality of many Chinese youth, I thought I’d share Chandler’s thoughts on the CS project.

How did you get introduced to couchsurfing?
My friend Linda — a former teacher from Canada living in Wuhan — told me about the concept. I’ve always loved travel and meeting new people, so I immediately joined the community!

Have you met many people since joining CS?
I haven’t yet had the chance to stay with other people, but I’ve hosted quite a few — people I never would have met otherwise. So far I’ve hosted 2 Polish guys, 2 Canadian guys, and you. I’ve also met up with local Wuhan people or travelers for drinks or a CS-organized party. Good times!

So were they all positive experiences?
In different ways, yes. Communicating with the Polish CSers was tough since their Chinese was non-existant, and their English wasn’t very good. But, we got along very well. Body language, spicy food, and beer goes a long way!

On the other hand, there was one surfer who had a hard time coping with the lack of AC in my living room, but when I offered my room with AC, he complained my bed was too hard and that there were too many mosquitos. I guess it’s harder for some people to adjust to more local living standards.

Any crazy stories?
[laughs] Not until you came to stay, but I suppose those stories are for another time!

Do you think CouchSurfing is too foreign of an idea to really catch on in China?
Not necessarily. When I first learned about it, I brought it up to my parents before hosting travelers. They didn’t love the idea, but they accepted it. When I speak to my friends about it, most of them are intrigued by the idea. Many people see it as a way to practice english, and learn about other cultures.

So it can catch on?
Yes, absolutely. Just look how many Chinese join CS every year… [The numbers are indeed growing rapidly. Check out figures here]

Besides foreigners, what kind of people use CS in China?
The travel community in China is growing very quickly. You have leisure travelers as well as more adventurous travelers. Adventurous travelers, like backpackers, seem especially keen on the idea. Many university students are also accepting the idea, since it’s a great way to save some money while making new friends in new places.

There are also people who don’t travel, but use CS to meet people to chat over a drink. In Wuhan and Changsha, you’ll find loads of local students who may not be able to offer a couch, but are very willing to meet new friends.

It seems most local CSers share one trait: curiosity. They’re curious to go to a new place; curious to meet people from different cities or countries.

Future of CS in China?
I think it’s bound to grow in popularity. On the one hand, CS provides a great way to meet foreigners — something many Chinese youth want to do. As we become more confident in ourselves, and our ability to communicate with the internatinonal community, CS provides a great platform for cultural exchange.

On the other hand, all forms of domestic travel are booming. Chinese are exploring their country like never before. Most of us youth dread the idea of traveling in groups — you know, the kind where we all wear the same hat, and follow the person holding a megaphone. We want to escape our studies or  jobs for a couple days, or even take advantage of a vacation to go somewhere new. CS makes it at once more affordable and more interesting.

I’ll be regularly posting articles to enovate while on the road. Check here for more stories, photos, and videos. I’ll also be posting content to my blog thesinoists.com/baronburns, and actively tweeting (@MrBaronBurns)

LA denim brand ’7 For All Mankind’ recently launched a new Beijing boutique and with plans for another 3 stores to open within the year, Seven is set to make waves amongst China’s socialites and fashion-forward alike.

7FAM, part of the VF brand family, recently held a party to preview their Spring/Summer 2010 collection which attracted the attention of over 300 pop stars, models, business elite and socialites. The event was capped with famous Taiwanese actress Lin Zhiling (the face of China Airlines) posing a pair of custom designed jeans, which were not only handmade but emblazoned with over 8000 Swarovski crystals!

As the brand is famed for its limited edition jeans, the one off creation of the ‘Zhiling special edition’ not only still caters to the brand image but gives it a localized prestige. Chinese consumers in Tier One cities are ridiculously brand savvy. A wide knowledge of Western and Japanese brands, plus a rising desire to set oneself apart from the (fake) LV/Gucci set means that new prestige brands have an opportunity to do well in this fashion focused market. However, these brands should be wary not to carry any sense of entitlement into the Chinese market.

In America and Europe the 7FAM has often relied heavily on its official and unofficial celebrity endorsements. Our boy Jermaine explains why he thinks 7FAM will do well in China, “7 for all mankind gives people an impression of luxury. This is quite different from the image of other jeans brands, which are causal and popular. Thus, the product distinctiveness can be a competitive power. Furthermore, Chinese youth are quite keen on pursuing western celebrities as their idols.”

However, 7 FAM have done well not to simply rely on their endorsement from US celebrities and their partnership with Lin Zhiling certainly seems the perfect fit. Her looks and figure emphasis the fitting nature of the jeans but also her star power is strong enough to be judged on the level of the American celebrities.

Levi’s have long since pushed their ‘Traditional American’ denim but offset it with endorsements from a whole host of Asian superstars, from HK bad boy Edison Chen to Korean J-pop sensation BOA.

A quick poll of popular denim brands on Kaixin conducted by enovate busy bee, Yuki, shows that the traditional American brands Levi’s & Lee remain pervasive and popular with young Chinese for “not only being as a classic denim brand, but also stand[ing] for American spirit, that of independence, freedom, adventure and sexiness”.

However, dissimilar to Levi’s and similar to American Apparel 7FAM has forgone cheaper production costs in using Chinese factories to uphold a luxury brand image of being a true American (see LA) export.

Furthermore while we may expect Levi’s to be the staple for younger groups who frequent fashion sites such as 1626 or MCC, one can expect 7FAM to be snapped on the profiles for those who use more exclusive fashion networking sites like P1.cn or Moko.cc.

7FAM will have to work hard to keep their name on people’s lips and not fall victim to the fickle fashionistas changing tastes but as of right now they are red hot.

On Friday, January 29^th, 360quan.com hosted their 90后潮流先锋榜 (post-90’s generation pioneering trends list) awards ceremony in Beijing. Actor Li Chen emceed the event featuring stars such as Jade Liu Li Yang and Yico Zeng, who came to receive their award and perform for the cheering crowd of Chinese teenage fans from all over China.

These same cheering teenagers and their peers voted on actresses, actors, artists, bands, brands, musicians, and works of art of various types for their influence and pioneering abilities in their respective industries. In collaboration with Mogo, 1626.com and YOHO!, 360quan.com invited their post-90’s generation members to vote within two categories, one for most ‘pioneering spirit’ and the other for ‘must have’ product or brand.

eno won the award for ‘must have independent brand.’ Among the list of ‘must have’ were: HP (notebook), Samsung (mobile phone), ONLY (women’s apparel), Adidas (sports apparel), New Fei Fei 新飞飞 (Netease’s 3-D online game), YOHO! (e-commerce site), Twice (jewelry accessories) and Mito Xiu Xi 美图秀秀 (image processing software).

Here’s who they voted for pioneering spirit: Jade Liu Li Yang 刘力扬 (singer), Xiao Song Jia 小宋佳 (actress), Lucky Monkey 跳猴乐队(fusion punk band), Shi Yan Fei 施艳飞 (up & coming actress), Chang Si Si 常思思 (up & coming folk singer), Zhang Xiao He 张小盒 (online character), Chen Chen 陈晨 (written work). And here’s who they voted for the pioneering spirits of the post-90’s generation (meaning they were actually born in the 1990’s): Yico Zeng 曾轶可 (singer), Li Chen 李晨(TV host), 杨紫 Yang Zi (pop star), BY2 (Singaporean music duo), Caffiene (band), Ai Shui Shui 艾水水 (TV & Film work).

360quan.com is China’s fastest growing social media network for post-90’s generation youth. With close to 25 million registered users, 360quan.com is devoted to providing an online home for people with similar interests, online clans, and super-connectors. The platform provides all the basics of an SNS, including personal space, blogs, music, videos, photo albums, games and other multimedia services and content. Their users have a distinct urban youth culture; they are the hip-hop artists, the make-up stylists, the snowboarders and the parkour clubs that  are leading China’s youth revolution.

Once again thank you 360quan.com and special thanks to our post-90’s generation fans!

]]> http://enovatechina.com/blog/post-90%e2%80%99s-chinese-youth-vote-eno-as-a-%e2%80%98must-have%e2%80%99-brand/feed/ 1 http://enovatechina.com/blog/subcultural-clash/ http://enovatechina.com/blog/subcultural-clash/#comments Mon, 04 Jan 2010 11:14:34 +0000 Simon http://enovatechina.com/blog/?p=1654 Although receiving disproportionate amounts of attention in the western media, most of China’s growing youth subcultures are still largely marginalized. Yet, as a new generation emerges, not only aware of foreign subcultures but also with access to local variations, Chinese subcultures will continue to grow more unique and will represent more fully formed alternative youth lifestyle choices.

Mainstream consciousness

With a government backed push on creativity and a generation of young Chinese now raised on the offerings of local bands and designers or artists, we have already seen the emergence of alternative lifestyle choices.

LOHAS(乐活) or “Lifestyle of Health and Stability” emerged globally in the last ten years and in China, only in the past few years yet it has became a household term in larger cities, reffering to those wanting to live more ‘green’ lives. Whilst not a youth (sub)cultural movement specifically, it shows the rate in which certain lifestyles can be reapropriated and introduced into the Chinese mainstream consciousness.

A vanguard of artists/musicians from the past decade such as PK14 or have helped show that more traditional youth subcultural pursuits aren’t solely the domain of the foreigner. With shows like Pepsi: Battle of the Bands – alternatives in music are already seeping into mainstream culture. As these ‘alternatives’ seep into mainstream then it secures further participation of future generations who can then build on or adapt these subcultural lifestyles and ideas.

Fragmenting Subcultures

As new scenes appear with more and more participants Chinese youth will no doubt strive to one up each other and further set themselves apart in their commitment to their lifestyle choice. Groups such as Fei Zhu Liu have already begun to fragment as certain elements of the “counter cultural” style are adopted by mainstream Chinese youths. Soon it won’t be a case of mainstream or subcultural but shades of grey, ranging from those committing all aspects of their lifestyle choices to those completely unaware or uninterested.

I believe that much like their Asian peers in Japan, Chinese youth are a ‘digging’ society. Those young who are captivated by a sport, a game, a music, an art form lust to know it in it’s entirety. As the initial introduction to these interests may now come easier to the forthcoming generations of young Chinese new, interesting youth lifestyles outside of the Taiwan/HK pop culture mould are set for massive growth.

(source: JLMepoch)

This list comes from Xunlei, a Chinese download software provider, based on downloads through their client site gougou.com.

The list provides a good overview of the types of online games popular with Chinese youth.  MMORPGs (Massive-Multiplayer-Online- Role-Playing-Games) are all well placed in the list but casual online games such as Audition (online muliplayer casual rhythm game) are increasing in popularity.

China’s Tencent is doing a good job in representing home grown online games with it’s QQ branded casual games: QQ Speed, QQ Dancer and QQ Tang. However, the bulk of popular titles have their origins in Korea – the pace maker for the global online gaming market. Globally popular World of Warcraft has lost ground to Korean RPG imports Dungeon Fighter and Legend of Mir 2.

Yet, this Korean gaming wave could be subject to change.

China’s online game revenue for 2008 accounted for approximately 27% global share, trumping South Korea’s 21% but still behind the U.S. at 29%. Furthermore, Chinese titles such as ‘Perfect World’ (No.8 on the list) are now starting to reverse the trend and seeing growing popularity in the Korean market.

Coupled with this growth will be additional market innovation and one will begin to see greater synergy over different medias. Shanda’s deal to colloborate with Hunan TV could see the convergence of online gaming and broadcasting, an interesting development but a tricky marketing prospect for those hoping to better segment their audiences.

What is certain is that an innovative and nuanced apporach must be taken if one wants to tackle this market’s rapidly evolving nature and the relationship it has with the Chinese youth.

Keep it locked to the blog for more insights on gaming in China.

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.

“Flash play” (闪玩, quick fun/play) is described by our friends over at CIC research as “a new term for offline events organized by netizens online.”

Activities can range from KTV meet ups to a simple shopping trip, but the roots of flash play seem to lie in travel. In previous travel research we have noticed this phenemenon of seeking travel partners online but it is through social networking sites such as douban where the concept of flash play has begun.

One event of the Douban “flash play group” has received interest from over3000 people, with 1700 “flash friends” planning to take part. The group’s ethos being: “perhaps all we need is to switch cities and sip coffee..”.

In analysing the reasoning behind the burgeoning popularity of flash play and flash friends, CCTV have found that of their research sample:

43 percent said that they wanted to flee a familiar environment to seek something new with strangers in strange cities and 45.0 percent said it is easier for them to feel at ease in front of strangers than in front of acquaintances.

This concept of feeling solace in the company of strangers isn’t a revolutionary idea but now it seems that the active pursuit of this feeling could be cause for concern, even for those whom take part in ‘flash’ actvities.

“‘Flash play’ is a bit like drinking. It’s comfortable when you are drinking, but it’s still painful when you recover from the drunkenness”

What’s apparent is that although these “flash” are activities increasing in their frequency, young people still accept their limitations. While some may revel in the transient nature of a weekend trip with ‘flash friends’, this trend remains only an alternative means for people to interact.

“Flash friends” are yet to replace “real friends” but if and when they do, enoVate will let you know…

But also because of this, when the 80′s Generation find true love, they enjoy the true love. But growing up in a single child household also means that independence is perpetual; love is hard to maintain and it often makes it difficult to live with others.

So what would happen if China’s first generation of single children live together? This is the premise of the popular TV show that goes by the name of i-Partment. i-Partment is an 80′s generation comedy about love that puts 7 single 80′s Generation guys into one apartment. In the show many humorous and heart-warming story-lines occur.

My friends like the show very much and often tell me to watch it. However, I feel the show is too idealized because we can’t find these situations in our real life. The show makes the 80′s generation look too exaggerated and free, when really their intrinsic characters are conservative and serious; not a realistic contradiction. They are looking for people with similar feelings who they can date, but they also want to find someone suitable to marry.

The 80′s Generation are longing for freedom, as well as owning a traditional mind. According to conversations with my friends as well as looking at many online conversations, It is understood that about 50% girls can’t accept premarital sex. About 30% of girls are dependent on the situation, and about 20% of girls are indifferent to premarital sex. But if you ask a member of the 80′s Generation if they care their friends are having sex, they probably don’t mind. This is partially due to the opening of Chinese society, as well as the internationalization of China. Thus, their minds are not locally limited and they understand today’s issues, like sex. However their core essence is of a traditional mind.

There have been many messages about 80′s marriage put online. Chinese media focuses on the fact that an 80′s Generation marriage only lasts for 2 months. This causes people to feel that the life of an 80′s Generation person is a debauchery. Of course the 80′s Generation doesn’t want to divorce so quickly, but if they’re not fit for each other, then what can they do? This means a divorce is inevitable. In fact, this also represents that they are really serious about their lives and their responsibilities for each other.

In conclusion, it’s my opinion that the 80′s Generation mindset is a combination of a 60′s Generation family background education with 21st Century surroundings; a dangerous mix. And Chinese society needn’t worry about their love and their marriage life. The 80′s Generation have thoughts and basic principles that do not deviate from traditional society. The only thing that Chinese society should do is give us  more space to breathe and let us make our own decisions.

(This opinionated article was written by our own 80′s Generation love guru, Sunnie Qin)

Long term success requires localized taste innovation

Foreign brands such as Starbucks have played to their international strengths and found huge initial success riding on a welcome wave of ‘xiao zi’ sentiment. But how long can this last? The longer a product stays in a market the less foreign it becomes, the novelty is soon lost.

This is not to say Starbucks is only a flash in the pan foreign success. One only need look at the success of Nike, themselves first quantified a foreign luxury, yet through grassroots campaigns and clever well adjusted marketing they gave themselves an image of ‘Chinese cool’. For foreign coffee brands to achieve this they will require a good understanding of local tastes, which combined with innovation will lead to secured long term growth.

In observing or predicting the changing tastes and palates of the Chinese consumer, by and large, products are introduced from the east – not the west. Whereas foreign brands will tend to have a historical legacy appealing to stirring capitalist sentiment, it’s the product innovation of Taiwanese and Japanese coffee (& food) brands that will more deftly appeal to the taste requirements of the Chinese consumer.

Source Majiscup

Watch out for pan asian innovation

Chinese tastes are varied and Taiwan’s Café 85’s ‘salt coffee’ is a good example of this. The addition of sea salt provides the medicinal value so sorely missed in coffee and found in tea, whilst its unique taste provides an interesting talk point. This sort of product innovation coupled with the continued cravings of all things from Taiwanese pop culture, has seen a strong market entry from Café 85.

One shouldn’t be left aghast at this notion, the Taiwanese have set the trend for tea innovation across China and HK. Their famous bubble tea has gone on to spawn countless new taste inventions. Whilst these drinks may trend in and out of fashion in places like Hong Kong, in China these drinks and the chains that retail them, such as Happy Lemon, remain hugely popular. Yet, what of the more traditional Chinese teas?

Tea Dilemma

Tea is huge part of Chinese life and culture, to quote enoVate staff member Sunnie Qin, “tea is a crystallization of Chinese civilization”. If this is the case then why is it that British brand Lipton is the market leader in China? The answer certainly doesn’t lie in quality or foreignness, the simple answer is marketing and distribution.

In fact one might say it is the very cultural weight of tea in China which has held back it’s growth. The numerous strains, varying medicinal properties and regionalised differences mean that while many Chinese people have a deep understanding of tea – there are very few local brands to recall.

Lipton, as well as Twinnings, marketed themselves as plain FMCG’s – emphasising convenience and packaging. This matured and calculated business model, proves quite convincingly that branding and convenience can triumph over quality and history, if marketed correctly.

Source P.J.S.

Predictions

The coffee industry will continue to grow and as more young people start drinking it for different reasons or in its varying forms, we have already seen a move from a simple beverage choice to becoming a fan of coffee.

As we have already started to see in the garment industry, manufacturers are moving out of their supply chain shadow and looking to brand themselves. What will be interesting to see is the medium by which Chinese companies manage this branding. We already know the importance of the Starbucks social space over the qualities of it’s coffee in China, so how and to whom companies such as Dehong Hougu Coffee Co. market themselves will be of key importance. It is only in this way that they can avoid the foreign brand dominance, as in tea industry.

Although it won’t have the growth factor of coffee, tea can still be repackaged.  Once again the social space is of great importance and whilst coffee shops grow in number, a preference for tea houses still remains, particularly outside of tier one cities.

What we will see is a divergence in two social environments of the tea house and the coffee shop, perhaps reflecting wider changes in Chinese society. Places retailing coffee reflect the growing ‘xiao zi’ (upper-middle class) sentiments in tier one cities but more modern tea houses, like Wu Fu,  appeal to those of a ‘xiao kang‘ (middle class) lifestyle, which permeates much more thoroughly through the different tiers of the country.

For further enquiries or information about the tea or coffee market in China, please contact info@enovatechina.com.