How China’s Online Opinion Leaders Created a Multibillion-dollar Industry中国网红经济缘何火爆

杨缘

The Kardashians1 may have been able to create a US entertainment phenomenon by revealing their luxurious lifestyle through a long running reality TV series， but Chinese key opinion leaders （KOLs）2 have been able to convert fans and generate sales on a level their western peers can only dream of.

While western influencers are mostly video bloggers on Instagram or YouTube， Chinese KOLs can be columnists， socialites， photobloggers， or short video creators—and they have multiple channels through which they can become famous， including social media platforms WeChat and Weibo， social networking service Douban and video platform Douyin—known as TikTok in the west.

Becky Li， with more than 7.5 million combined followers on WeChat and Weibo， is one of China’s top fashion bloggers in China， able to convert followers to sales through posts on her WeChat public account.

In 2014 Li quit her job as a reporter for a local Chinese newspaper to become a full time blogger on WeChat. Three years ago she partnered with American fashion brand Rebecca Minkoff for a limited edition purse with the label of “Miss Fantasy.”

A year later she collaborated with iconic British car brand Mini3 to promote a limited edition vehicle through WeChat， and her followers snapped up4 100 cars in five minutes. Last year， she was invited to attend the world’s biggest fashion events in Paris， Milan and New York.

For the Lunar New Year in February， WeChat Pay hired Li to be “chief experience officer” for its overseas payment service.

“Maybe they chose me because I shopped a lot overseas and my readers also buy a lot of things outside China，” said Li in her office， decorated in pink with atrovirens5， in the heart of Guangzhou.

Li’s influence in the consumer world did not happen overnight. In the early days， she was working alone and writing from her own home. Now she has a company with around 70 staff， and has incubated three other lifestyle-related WeChat public accounts.

“I often write about products based on my own preferences，” said Li， whose WeChat account， Becky’s Fantasy， was inspired by the novel The Secret Dreamworld of a Shopaholic， which tells the story of a shopping addict who is a financial journalist. “I related to the protagonist Rebecca Bloomwood，” said Li.

“When you have your own taste and it remains consistent， readers who share similar tastes will eventually find you，” she added.

Not content with just boosting sales for brands， for which she receives a commission， at the end of 2017 Li launched her own clothing brand.

The first new products rolled out in December 2017， including a cashmere sweater and black gauzy skirt， reached sales of 1 million yuan within seven minutes and were sold out in the first day.

Chinese blogger Zhang Dayi also created her own clothing and beauty brand which she sells on Alibaba Group’s Taobao e-commerce platform.

Her team gauges6 consumer sentiment towards certain products by analyzing data and follower comments collected from social platforms like Weibo， as well as by using sales data from her Taobao shop.

Zhang’s sales volume on Singles’ Day in 2017 alone hit 170 million yuan， according to Chinese news portal Sohu.

Behind Zhang’s amazing selling ability is Ruhnn7， China’s earliest and biggest influencer incubator. Ruhnn started out as an online clothing store in Hangzhou.

In 2016， e-commerce giant Alibaba， invested in Ruhnn， when China’s KOL economy was valued at about 58 billion yuan （US$8.6 billion）， according to CBN Data.

One reason why Chinese influencers are better than their western counterparts in generating direct sales is because in China the line between entertainment and commerce is more blurred because social media and e-commerce are integrated， said Elijah Whaley， chief marketing officer at PARKLU 8， a KOL marketing agency in China.

For example， Chinese social media platforms like WeChat and Douyin allow product links inside their apps. Users can open the links， select an item and pay for it while they are reading a post or watching a video. In contrast， an Instagram influencer cannot embed a URL in a post.

More than 70 per cent of Chinese Gen Z9 consumers， those born after 1995， prefer buying products directly via social media than through other channels， compared with the global average of 44 per cent， according to a recent study by the consulting firm Accenture.

In the US and Britain， online influencers who do not disclose a sponsored ad are in violation of advertising regulations， whereas in China KOLs are not legally obliged to disclose if the content is paid.

More than 60 per cent of Chinese consumers are receptive to online influencers compared with 49 per cent in the US and 38 per cent in Japan， according to consultancy A.T. Kearney.

“[Chinese consumers] don’t trust what a brand says about itself，” said Hamza Ouarit， marketing director at Shanghai-based Gentleman Marketing Agency10.

That is where a trusted KOL can help—but the job is not always easy.

Chinese KOLs are often under pressure to stay “pretty and slim” to appeal to their followers. Martial arts blogger Mi Ya， nicknamed MMA （Mixed Martial Arts） Sister， said she has not touched a burger or fries in two years in an attempt to keep under 55kg.

“I know my fans like me because of my sense of humour but they also like me because I look good，” Mi said.

Having worked closely with KOLs in China， ParkLu’s Whaley said that behind the glamour are some of the hardest working people in the world. “They are always on. There is no nine to five.”      ■

美国的卡戴珊家族或已凭借经年累月的展现她们奢华生活的真人秀节目创造了某种美式的娱乐现象，而中国的网红则能成功将粉丝转变为消费者，创造的销售额让西方同行们望尘莫及。

西方意见领袖主要是照片墙或优兔的视频博主。中国的网红可以是专栏作家、社会名流、照片博主或短视频创作者。他们成名的渠道有很多：社交平台微信和微博、社交网络豆瓣和视频平台抖音（在西方叫作TikTok）。

黎贝卡是中国顶尖时尚博主之一，其微信和微博的粉丝总数超过750万。她能用微信公众号上的推文把粉丝转变成买家。

2014年，黎贝卡从中国一家当地报社辞职，成为一名全职微信博主。三年前，黎贝卡与美国时尚品牌瑞贝卡·明可弗合作，推广一款限量版女包“梦幻小姐”。

一年后，她又同英国标志性汽车品牌Mini合作，在微信平台推广限量款。5分钟内其粉丝就抢购了100辆。去年，她受邀出席在巴黎、米兰和纽约举行的世界顶级时尚活动。

2月农历新年期间，黎贝卡受雇微信支付，成为其海外支付服务的“首席体验官”。

“微信支付选择我也许是因为我和我的读者在海外购物多的缘故。”黎贝卡在她装饰成粉色和墨绿色的办公室里说道，该办公室位于广州市中心。

黎贝卡对消费者的影响并非一蹴而就。早年，她一个人单枪匹马，在自己家里写作。现如今，她拥有一家约70名员工的公司，开发了其他三个与生活方式相关的微信公众号。

“我常常按照自己的喜好写软文推广产品。”黎贝卡说。受小说《购物狂的异想世界》启发，她的微信公众号取名“黎贝卡的异想世界”。该小说讲述了財经记者沉迷购物的故事。“我和主人公丽贝卡·布卢姆伍德相似。”黎说。

“你有了自己的品味并保持住的话，与你品味相似的读者终究会找到你。”她补充道。

黎贝卡并不仅仅满足于为品牌做促销得佣金。2017年年底，黎贝卡推出了自己的服装品牌。

2017年12月她推出第一批新产品，产品有羊绒衫和黑纱裙。开售7分钟，销售额达100万元，第一天就售罄。

中文博主张大奕也创办了自己的服装和美妆品牌，产品在阿里巴巴集团的淘宝电商平台销售。

她的团队通过分析微博等社交平台粉丝评论数据及淘宝店铺的销售数据来评估消费者对某些产品的想法。

搜狐新闻门户报道，仅在2017年“双十一”这一天，张大奕的销售额就达到1.7亿元。

中国最早和最大的网红孵化器“如涵”是张大奕那令人称奇的销售能力的幕后推手。该公司自杭州一家线上服装店起家。

2016年，电子商务巨头阿里巴巴投资如涵。据第一财经商业数据中心统计，当时中国的网红经济估量在580亿元（86亿美元）。

中国网红在促进直销上比西方同行强的原因之一是，中国的娱乐产业与商业之间的界限更模糊。中国的网红营销机构帕克街首席营销官伊莱贾·惠利说，中国的社交媒体与电商联系紧密。

比如，在中国，像微信和抖音这样的社交媒体平台允许商家在其应用软件中添加产品链接。用户可以在阅读文章或观看视频时打开产品链接，选择商品，完成支付。相较之下，照片墙网红博主就不能在推送里放URL链接。

埃森哲咨询公司最近一项研究显示，中国1995年至2010年出生的一代消费者中，超过70%的人相比其他购物渠道，更喜欢直接通过社交媒体购物，而全球这一比例平均为44%。

在美国和英国，如果网红不告知广告内容是受赞助的，就违反了广告法规，而中国则无法规强制网红博主告知内容是否付费。

A.T.科尔尼管理咨询公司数据显示，超过60%的中国消费者愿意接受网红的推广，美国只有49%的消费者愿意，日本仅有38%的消费者愿意。

“（中国消费者）不相信品牌的自我宣传。”上海胜仕营销策划有限公司市场部负责人哈姆扎·瓦里特说道。

这时一个可靠的网红就派上用场了——但这份工作也并非总那么容易。

中国的网红为了吸引粉丝，往往承受着要保持“又美又苗条”的压力。武术博主米娅（人称综合格斗姐）说她为了让体重保持在55公斤以下，已经两年没碰汉堡和薯条了。

“我知道粉丝喜欢我是因为我幽默，但他们也因为我好看而喜欢我。”米说。

帕克街的惠利与中国的网红密切合作过，他表示，光鲜的背后是一群世界上工作最努力的人。“他们时刻都在工作，没有什么朝九晚五。”              □

（译者为“《英语世界》杯”翻译大赛获奖选手;译者单位：四川大学匹兹堡学院）