101 : Learnings about contemporary feminity in China

What Luxury Brands can retrieve from 101 Megahit Reality Show

#China #WomenChina #FeminityChina #101 #PopCulture #Idols #WangJu #YangChaoYue

This article was originally published on Jingdaily August, 16 2018. Extended version -more pics! - here. Enjoy the reading!

********************************************************************************IN SHORT As features in the show 101 a variety of different women are now being idolized by young consumers : empowered, agressive, self confident, pure flower, sweet princess, tomboy .. are only some of the attributes to qualify them.

Key take-outs for brands: 1. There is no one size-fits-all female brand ambassador 2. Stage a diverse set of women to win over the most consumers 3. Alternative path: stage men, only suggest women 4.Strike the right balance between empowerment and vulnerability 5. Monitor emerging trends and cultural attitudes

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In contemporary China, sassy idols like singer Wang Ju – also referred to as “the Chinese Beyonce” are garnering attention for embodying the rise of female empowerment. For luxury brands, this change in cultural attitudes poses a new marketing opportunity. By looking deeper into the case study of reality talent show “101”, brands can envision a wider than expected scope of modern influencers that China’s young females are drawn to, and consider strategic takeaways for effective brand endorsements.

“101” is a talent show that seeks to form China’s latest hit girl group. By narrowing 101 contestants down to 11 finalists, the band Rocket Girls 101 was born. The show generated massive viewing figures, with over 4.8 billion views across ten episodes. The final episode was watched live by 650,000 people, and has been played over 200 million times on the sole following day. 

Global luxury companies have been fast to leverage the show’s success. Chanel, Lanc?me and social e-commerce app Xiaohongshu (RED) were some of the brands to shoot dedicated videos and advertisements on the topic of the show. Maxime Scheyen, International Director for YSL fragrances, told Jing Daily, “We have been collaborating with Tao [the host of 101] and shot a capsule advertisement with him for YSL Mon Paris. The video suggests Tao inviting a girl on a trip to Paris - but we never see who the girl is.” This advertisement generated a tremendous amount of engagement online, and was featured in the finale episode of 101.

But because 101 is not only a talent contest but also a reality show, it especially highlights the beauty codes, set of values and personalities that the audience is willing to support through their votes.

Two of the show’s most popular contestants, Wang Ju and Yang Chao Yue, were most discussed on social media – and they are poles apart in personality and style.

Wang Ju, the baqi girl (upper picture) , Yang Chao Yue, the countryside flower 

26 year old Wang Ju embodies a feminist, independent figure. Appearing fierce and self-confident, Weibo fans commended Ju for “taking control of her life.” Yang Chao Yue, 19 year old, on the other hand embodies a more traditional female role in China, depending on others for help and guidance, a subordinate personality who is regularly seen crying.

Over the course of the show, Wang Ju’s spunky, modern attitude and confident persona received extensive media attention. According to The Guardian, Wang has developed a cult following of fans who find her relatable and an inspiration, despite being considered “too short” and “too heavy” by China’s exacting beauty standards. But at the end Yang Chao Yue ranked 3rd N°3 with 138,5 million votes, despite her obvious weaker skills while Wang Ju went from N°2 to N°15, with “only” 63 million votes.

How could this happen?

Ability, independence, compassion and elegance are the 4 key values that Wang Ju learnt to develop attending IACE, a highly-regarded school in Shanghai.

By each of these standards Yang Chao Yue falls short.

Ability? She lacks the basics. Her singing and dancing performances are weak.

Independance? She turns outwards for help: “The others can rely on their own strengths. For me I need your support [fans] to gather strength “

Compassion? She is not the one to care and provide but is the receiver. Her fanbase called for support claiming “Let’s save the child!”

Elegance? She is not sophisticated but more on the pure and virginal side. She incarnates the fresh, soft and innocent country-girl, the typical chulian 初恋- first love.

This may look as weaknesses but this is precisely why her fanbase supported her.

For men - who account for more than 30% of her fans (nearly double of the average) – she incarnates the virginal woman in needs for protection. Hence they rush in to save the pretty “countryside flower”. As Mila, 24 states “Men like these kind of girls because they are easy to control. With them they feel strong”.

For women, she does not deserve to be called names. She is indeed inexperienced but should be praised for her efforts. Supporters relate to her because they believe that even ordinary girls should be entitled to nurture big dreams.

Besides not all girls are able, nor willing to disrupt social expectations for fear to drive men away. As G., 24, student, reckons “Even if I want to be powerful, I don’t want to be that powerful. When I use cosmetics, a part of me wants to attract boys… and they tend to prefer cute and weak girl… So if Wang Ju or this kind of girl was to endorse a make-up brand, I may not want to buy it”

Takeaways for brands: From subdued femininity to contemporary feminism

1. There is no one size-fits-all female brand ambassador

Yamy by Chen Man, the rapper (upper pic) Wu Xuan Yi. Sweet but ambitious

As 101 has shown, in China’s evolving feminist culture, a variety of different women are now being idolized by young consumers. Yang Chao Yue mentioned on Weibo as the “beautiful countryside flower“, owes much of her final rank to her shy and sincere demeanors. Her weaker abilities have been compensated by the demonstration of sheer efforts. On the reverse hand Meng Mei Qi -who was voted N°1- was nicknamed “big brother” due to her leadership and direct delivery. Other contestants like Yamy - the rapper, Sunny – the tomboy or Wu Xuan Yue – the princess also feature how the line between feminity and masculinity is blurring. All of these types of influencers have their place in China’s booming world of celebrity endorsements, but choosing the right celebrity for each brand is more crucial than ever.

2. Stage a diverse set of women to win over the most consumers

For luxury brands, the more diverse their choice of female ambassadors, the bigger reach the label is likely to have among China’s young female consumers. Tencent recently formed an endorsement collaboration with Rocket Girls 101. The tech-giant released videos depicting stereotypical situations for young girls to relate to: parents not understanding their passion, eating instant noodles while trying to lose weight, bullying at school and first relationship breakups. Each short video featured quotes from classic movies and demonstrated the difference in the girls’ personalities.

Tencent posters featuring the 101 contestants

3. Alternative path: stage men, only suggest women

Tao 黄子韬, YSL Mon Paris

Brands can also go around and leverage men to pull in women。This is the path chosen by YSL who shot 2 videos with Tao and Song Wei Long, leading imaginary women into Paris...

4.Strike the right balance between empowerment and vulnerability

Yang Chao Yue’s popularity was in part due to her open vulnerability coupled with sheer ambition, which made her appear honest and human. Conversely, Wang Ju’s more self-assured persona can appear more polarizing for some. For brands striking the balance between vulnerability and confidence is essential, to ensure to remain relatable to a large audience. As Gaby, 24, testifies “When I use cosmetics a part of me wants to attract boys, and they tend to prefer weak and cute girls, so I don’t want to appear that powerful, even if I want to be powerful…” 

5. Monitor emerging trends and cultural attitudes

In Western cultures, some may take for granted that gender equality is only a matter of time. Through movements like #metoo and attempts to reduce the gender pay gap, many hope that new thought patterns will gradually replace the more traditional ones.

In China, these changing attitudes are now emerging. However by looking at how the young generations responded to both Wang Ju and Yang Chao Yue, even if there are groups of women now yearning for independence, the support of traditional gender norms still very much exists in the country.

For brands looking to enter China, it is of joint importance to monitor both emerging social attitudes and traditional cultural ideals to remain.