To celebrate China Youth Day (May 4), Bilibili, a social media platform, launched a video, which became the Top trending topic in China. Immediately, almost all social media in China were flooded with both negative and positive comments about this video and Bilibili. The huge popularity of the video proves that this platform has broken from its subculture following and can now be considered a mainstream social media platform in China.
What’s Bilibili ( https://www.Bilibili.com/ )?
Founded in 2009, Bilibili was an early ACG (Anime, Comics, Games) content creation and video-sharing site. After more than ten years of development, it has built an ecosystem and amassed an army of content creators that continuously churn out high-quality content. Bilibili now has more than 7,000 multi-cultural communities of interest. According to its official data, the number of monthly active users of Bilibili in the fourth quarter of 2019 reached 130 million, with a YoY growth rate of 40%. It is a fantastic growth rate for an 11-year-old platform [1].
Bilibili is also an online community where young people gather. 82% of Bilibili’s users were born from 1990 to 2009. According to Bilibili’s 2019 fiscal financial report, the average user age is 21, and the average age of its newly registered users is 20 [1].
Bilibili has two membership systems. One kind of member is called a Big Member. Users can get this membership by paying a small amount of money every month. As a Big Member (Netflix style subscription), users can watch VIP cartoons and movies on the website. The other member is called an Official Member. If users want to be an Official Member, they need to take a two-hour online test. The questions cover topics such as community regulations to common knowledge about anime, comics, games, history, and even technology. Only users who get a 60 or above grade pass the test and can become an Official Member.
On Bilibili, only Official Members can upload videos, make comments about videos, and leave pop-up comments (Comments floating across the screen while watching movies) on videos. These three rights enable users to communicate with other members. This membership system’s advantage is to filter members and create a friendly community environment that discourages troll accounts. This system also helps create a unique community culture. People who use Bilibili have formed their own culture and even their language & memes, making users more loyal to the community.
Pop-up comments on a video
Beauty brands on Bilibili
Attracted by Bilibili’s enormous number of loyal and young users, many MCNs and brands use Bilibili as their core marketing platform. Here is a table to show beauty brands’ marketing activities on Bilibili [2]:
There are two main ways beauty brands market on Bilibili.
1) Use of Bilibili KOLs (Upers)
Brands cooperate with popular Upers. Lancome used this strategy to promote its new product, Clarifique Dual Essence Valueset (极光水). At the end of February, Lancome started to cooperate with several popular Upers who focus on cosmetics to launch vlogs about this new product. Lancome also uses promotional giveaways, reward themed activities, and encourage Upers to upload their new product reviews.
Video about Lancome on Bilibili
2) Open official accounts
Brands open an official account on Bilibili and launch products on their own. On April 27, Shiseido held its new product on Bilibili through a live stream. In this 105-minute live stream, Shiseido offered a lot of content on caring for the skin, new product information, and celebrity interaction. After only 18 minutes, the number of viewers had exceeded one million, ultimately making Shiseido’s live stream the most popular at the time.
Advice for Brands Considering Using Bilibili:
- First, brands should always respect Upers. On Bilibili, there is more loyalty between Upers and their fans. Fans appreciate Upers and Upers see their fans as friends. And almost every Uper on Bilibili has his/her distinct content style and personal characteristics. The vast majority of Bilibili Upers do not like hyperbolic marketing styles, exaggerated marketing content, and demand a high level of creative control over the content they put out.
- Second, a complete marketing cycle on Bilibili usually takes three months. Unlike other social media providing fast-food-like information, Bilibili is a community based on quality content and interest. Therefore, marketing campaigns on Bilibili take more time.
- Third, brands need to learn Bilibili style language, the memes, and humor. Although Bilibili has broken from the anime circle, anime related content is still the most popular on Bilibili. Brands using anime to spread brand information are more likely to get a warm welcome.
- Fourth, brands should lower their posture and don’t expect Bilibili users to worship the iconic image of the brand. Brands that are more willing to make fun of themselves are more likely to be appreciated by Bilibili young users. For example, because DingTalk (A work-communication app from Alibaba) provided free online courses for students during the epidemic, many students, especially pupils, gave it one star in the app store (They heard low scores could result in the removal of this app). DingTalk released an entertainment video on Bilibili and called its users "daddy." This movement successfully reversed Chinese students' attitude to it and helped itself win a massive number of fans, over one million, overnight.
Dingtalk’s video on Bilibili: https://www.Bilibili.com/video/BV1K7411E7Zm
Bilibili is an excellent place to study the young generation in China and to talk to them. Brands looking to sell to young Chinese consumers shouldn’t ignore this platform.
