Shanghai and Wechat for promoting your brand? not always!

1. Is Shanghai representative of China?

Yes, and no.  Shanghai is arguably representative of where much of urban China is going.  The sheer volume of capital that has flowed to the city has meant it has leapfrogged the rest of China in terms of development and consumption.  So Shanghai is in one sense China 2022.

On a cultural level, Shanghai is multi-cultural and international city.  But the core Shanghainese culture and language is still distinct from other parts of China.   Stereotypes abound, about “Shanghainese being obsessed with money”,  “Shanghainese husbands being hen-pecked by their dominant Shanghainese wives” – but the reality is that Shanghainese are as different to people in Beijing, Guangzhou and Chengdu, as New Yorkers are to Californians, at least.  So it is certainly a factor to consider if Shanghai is informing your view of China.

2. Do I just need WeChat now?

An increasing question that pops up is – am I ok with just WeChat?   At one level, the popularity of the phone app WeChat has exploded in the last two years, reaching a substantial proportion of China’s mobile population.

While it is possible to achieve consumer engagement and brand growth through WeChat, particularly with the integration with H5 and CRM systems, it is valuable to include our platforms in an overall digital ecosystem in China.

Compared to WeChat, the micro-blog Weibo is enjoying a comeback with Chinese netizens.  In terms of amplifying brand messaging, its “broadcast” logic still reaches a lot more people simultaneously, and can create a viral effect very quickly.  Weibo is still the key platform for celebrities and KOLs, who if strategically selected and leveraged, can create strong awareness, engagement and sharing of your brand online.

As part of this question, we always use the term “digital ecosystem”, emphasising that each brand requires a specific strategy, that includes WeChat, Weibo, and specific e-commerce and niche platform engagement, depending on the brand.