The Social Edition is our weekly series which deep dives into luxury initiatives in China’s social media landscape. Every week, we highlight brand campaigns distributed on Chinese digital platforms — WeChat, Weibo, Tmall, Douyin, and beyond.
Our coverage spotlights global luxury brands, global beauty brands, and local Chinese brands. The latter gives insight into some of China’s most successful campaigns, which often come from local players, and are outside of the beauty and fashion space.
In this week’s roundup, we look at two campaigns, including C-beauty brand Girlcult’s Euphoria-themed party, L’Oréal’s International Women’s Day campaign, and Estée Lauder’s collaboration with a comedy couple.
C-beauty Brand Girlcult Taps the Euphoria Hype
BRAND Girlcult
CATEGORY Beauty
PLATFORMS Weibo, WeChat, Xiaohongshu
MEDIUM Image, Offline Event
OVERVIEW
NETIZEN REACTION
Girlcult’s social followers showed a strong interest in the offline event, which is rare for a DTC brand that normally focuses on online channels. Below the official post, netizens shared party snapshots and commented that “these makeup looks were so cool,” “such amazing vibes,” and expressed that they look forward to more offline gatherings initiated by the brand.
VERDICT
As a niche C-beauty brand, Girlcult has been dedicated to exploring various visual representations and the cultural context shaping these aesthetics. Distinct from your typical brand campaign leveraging celebrity power, it has developed an innovative content marketing approach to increase its customer base. By joining hands with a local club, which set the tone perfectly for an Euphoria-themed party, Girlcult organically engaged its brand community in a fun and inviting way. Besides, who doesn’t love a party?
L’Oréal’s International Women’s Day Campaign Scores with Chinese Netizens
BRAND L’Oréal
CATEGORY Cosmetics
PLATFORMS Weibo, WeChat, Xiaohongshu
MEDIUM Image, Short-video, Podcast
FEATURED TALENTS Ouyang Nana (21M Weibo Followers) | Ju Xiao Wen (3.2M) | Xin Zhilei (12.1M) | Daniel Wu (9.5M) | Gong Li (No Weibo account)
OVERVIEW
For International Women’s Day, L’Oréal collaborated with a host of Chinese celebrities — Ouyang Nana, Gong Li, Ju Xiao Wen, Xin Zhilei, and Daniel Wu — for its campaign, “I Say I’m Worth It.” Through a series of short films, the stars share their personal journeys and thoughts on female empowerment, encouraging women to face life’s challenges and to discover their own personal values. Meanwhile, L’Oréal also collaborated with Ximalaya, China’s largest online audio platform, to facilitate conversations between celebrities and local popular podcasts.
NETIZEN REACTION
The campaign hashtag #I say I’m worth it# racked up 15 million views on Weibo in one day. Among the campaign videos, the one featuring brand ambassador Ouyang Nana garnered the highest viewership, reaching more than 5.9 million views, as many netizens feel that the popular Gen-Z singer is a good role model for the younger generation of Chinese females.
VERDICT
L’Oréal’s campaign showcased a thorough understanding of femininity in China, casting role models in different life stages and celebrities with various social identities, all of which resonated with the brand’s broader female customers. As importantly, with communication channels from social platforms to audio programs, the campaign reached and engaged distinct communities interested in female-related topics of discussion.
Estée Lauder’s Comedy Couple Collab Wins Over Chinese Fans
BRAND Estée Lauder
CATEGORY Cosmetics
PLATFORMS Weibo, WeChat, Xiaohongshu, Tmall
MEDIUM Image, Short-video, Livestream
FEATURED TALENTS Shi Ce (476.6K Weibo Followers) | Wang Hao (223.2K) | Zoey Zhou (4.2M) | Rose Zhu (44.1K)
OVERVIEW
Estée Lauder teamed up with popular comedians Shi Ce and Wang Hao of the “Super Sketch Show” to launch a short film called “Secret Space,” which celebrates International Women’s Day while introducing special offers for the occasion. Shi — along with Zoey Zhou and Rose Zhu — was also featured on the brand’s livestream channel on Tmall from February 24 to 25 to share their takes on love and beauty.
NETIZEN REACTION
The campaign’s short film starring the comedian duo garnered 3.6 million views in one day. Shi Ce and Wang Hao enjoy wide recognition in China thanks to their roles as a couple on an iQiyi-produced TV program, and the campaign resonated well with many young audiences that follow the show.
VERDICT
Though the two celebrities are not a couple in real life, the chemistry between the two lured local audiences into following the duo’s work. Consumers and fans have shown an undeniable interest in staying up to date with celebrity relationships. In Estée Lauder’s case, the brand was agile in leveraging consumer sentiment and consolidating a relevance between products and consumers.
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