NICE…the chinese Instagram!

Popular Chinese photo sharing app Nice takes cues from Tinder and Instagram

With zero attention from brands, Nice has already organically delivered millions of followers and hundreds of thousands of product tags for brands such as Starbucks, Ray-Ban, Nike, New Balance, Michael Kors, H&M, Christian Louboutin, Chanel, Cartier, Burberry, BMW, Apple and others.

Nice App in China

With access to Instagram restricted on the mainland since late 2014, Nice has emerged as one of the most compelling mobile apps for brands to engage with China’s photo-sharing consumers with over 15 million users and 1.2 million photos uploaded daily.

Launched in 2013, the Nice mobile app originally began as KK Shopping and was a streetwear-focused mobile commerce platform that was inspired by Swaag in the West. But founder Zhou Shou soon realized that he wanted to build a community among China sneaker collectors first, and began emphasizing photo-tagging as a way of connecting users with shared interests.

Nice combines the overall photo-sharing experience of Instagram with in-image tagging functionality that allows users to tag brands, locations, people, and sentiments. This functionality has struck a chord with China social media users as it enhances the ability to “shai” or show off by adding brand identification to photos, emphasizing individual knowledge and style. By cultivating communities around user-generated tags, Nice has created a unique paradigm for social discovery that allows users to connect around brand and product ownership – which creates a compelling tool for marketers.

Brands are taking notice.

Many leading brands including Adidas and UNIQLO have been using ‘nice’ as a vehicle for their own campaign promotion. The app allows for interactive communication between followers and the brand. In this way, they are able to interact with their audiences by using KOLs to spread contents about brands, activities and related topics. Brands are also able to set up a campaign page, create stickers or hashtags, and attract audience with incentives to increase engagement. Nike used the platform for their Roshe Run campaign during Shanghai Fashion Week.

Nice will concentrate on the following strategies:

1. Strengthening its social features, by enabling users to find, share and comment on new photos within their private networks and among the public.

2. Improving its data mining abilities, which will provide better content for users.

3. Promoting the overseas market, because 10% of the company’s users are located overseas.