How China’s Online Opinion Leaders Created a Multibillion-dollar Industry中國網紅經濟緣何火爆

楊緣

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.”? ? ? ■

美國的卡戴珊家族或已憑借經年累月的展現她們奢華生活的真人秀節目創造了某種美式的娛樂現象，而中國的網紅則能成功將粉絲轉變為消費者，創造的銷售額讓西方同行們望塵莫及。

西方意見領袖主要是照片墻或優兔的視頻博主。中國的網紅可以是專欄作家、社會名流、照片博主或短視頻創作者。他們成名的渠道有很多：社交平臺微信和微博、社交網絡豆瓣和視頻平臺抖音（在西方叫作TikTok）。

黎貝卡是中國頂尖時尚博主之一，其微信和微博的粉絲總數超過750萬。她能用微信公眾號上的推文把粉絲轉變成買家。

2014年，黎貝卡從中國一家當地報社辭職，成為一名全職微信博主。三年前，黎貝卡與美國時尚品牌瑞貝卡·明可弗合作，推廣一款限量版女包“夢幻小姐”。

一年后，她又同英國標志性汽車品牌Mini合作，在微信平臺推廣限量款。5分鐘內其粉絲就搶購了100輛。去年，她受邀出席在巴黎、米蘭和紐約舉行的世界頂級時尚活動。

2月農歷新年期間，黎貝卡受雇微信支付，成為其海外支付服務的“首席體驗官”。

“微信支付選擇我也許是因為我和我的讀者在海外購物多的緣故。”黎貝卡在她裝飾成粉色和墨綠色的辦公室里說道，該辦公室位于廣州市中心。

黎貝卡對消費者的影響并非一蹴而就。早年，她一個人單槍匹馬，在自己家里寫作。現如今，她擁有一家約70名員工的公司，開發了其他三個與生活方式相關的微信公眾號。

“我常常按照自己的喜好寫軟文推廣產品。”黎貝卡說。受小說《購物狂的異想世界》啟發，她的微信公眾號取名“黎貝卡的異想世界”。該小說講述了財經記者沉迷購物的故事。“我和主人公麗貝卡·布盧姆伍德相似。”黎說。

“你有了自己的品味并保持住的話，與你品味相似的讀者終究會找到你。”她補充道。

黎貝卡并不僅僅滿足于為品牌做促銷得傭金。2017年年底，黎貝卡推出了自己的服裝品牌。

2017年12月她推出第一批新產品，產品有羊絨衫和黑紗裙。開售7分鐘，銷售額達100萬元，第一天就售罄。

中文博主張大奕也創辦了自己的服裝和美妝品牌，產品在阿里巴巴集團的淘寶電商平臺銷售。

她的團隊通過分析微博等社交平臺粉絲評論數據及淘寶店鋪的銷售數據來評估消費者對某些產品的想法。

搜狐新聞門戶報道，僅在2017年“雙十一”這一天，張大奕的銷售額就達到1.7億元。

中國最早和最大的網紅孵化器“如涵”是張大奕那令人稱奇的銷售能力的幕后推手。該公司自杭州一家線上服裝店起家。

2016年，電子商務巨頭阿里巴巴投資如涵。據第一財經商業數據中心統計，當時中國的網紅經濟估量在580億元（86億美元）。

中國網紅在促進直銷上比西方同行強的原因之一是，中國的娛樂產業與商業之間的界限更模糊。中國的網紅營銷機構帕克街首席營銷官伊萊賈·惠利說，中國的社交媒體與電商聯系緊密。

比如，在中國，像微信和抖音這樣的社交媒體平臺允許商家在其應用軟件中添加產品鏈接。用戶可以在閱讀文章或觀看視頻時打開產品鏈接，選擇商品，完成支付。相較之下，照片墻網紅博主就不能在推送里放URL鏈接。

埃森哲咨詢公司最近一項研究顯示，中國1995年至2010年出生的一代消費者中，超過70%的人相比其他購物渠道，更喜歡直接通過社交媒體購物，而全球這一比例平均為44%。

在美國和英國，如果網紅不告知廣告內容是受贊助的，就違反了廣告法規，而中國則無法規強制網紅博主告知內容是否付費。

A.T.科爾尼管理咨詢公司數據顯示，超過60%的中國消費者愿意接受網紅的推廣，美國只有49%的消費者愿意，日本僅有38%的消費者愿意。

“（中國消費者）不相信品牌的自我宣傳。”上海勝仕營銷策劃有限公司市場部負責人哈姆扎·瓦里特說道。

這時一個可靠的網紅就派上用場了——但這份工作也并非總那么容易。

中國的網紅為了吸引粉絲，往往承受著要保持“又美又苗條”的壓力。武術博主米婭（人稱綜合格斗姐）說她為了讓體重保持在55公斤以下，已經兩年沒碰漢堡和薯條了。

“我知道粉絲喜歡我是因為我幽默，但他們也因為我好看而喜歡我。”米說。

帕克街的惠利與中國的網紅密切合作過，他表示，光鮮的背后是一群世界上工作最努力的人。“他們時刻都在工作，沒有什么朝九晚五。”? ? ? ? ? ? ? □

（譯者為“《英語世界》杯”翻譯大賽獲獎選手;譯者單位：四川大學匹茲堡學院）