EP1 - Influencer Marketing and Live Streaming, WTF?! with Lauren Hallanan

Welcome to the only podcast to ask: China, WTF?! What’s The Future?
Arnold Ma, founder of Chinese creative agency Qumin, gets to the bottom of what tomorrow may look like, globally, by dissecting China's today. The podcast focuses on Chinese tech disrupters, people and cultures.

In this first episode, we chat with Lauren Hallanan about Influencer Marketing and Live Streaming in China.

Lauren is the VP of Live Streaming at The Meet Group and a Chinese social media marketing expert focusing on influencer marketing, live streaming, and social commerce. She’s the co-author of the Amazon bestselling book Digital China: Working with Bloggers, Influencers, and KOLs, a contributing writer at Forbes, Jing Daily, and PARKLU, and host of the China Influencer Marketing and Stream Wars podcasts.


Part one - Influencer Marketing in China - covers:
The cultural reasons why influencer marketing in China works so well
Why your brand heritage story might not resonate with Chinese consumers
The difference between Western and Chinese consumers and their use of influencers
The difference between working with Western vs Chinese influencers from a brand’s perspective
The different types of influencers in China and which type Western brands should work with
The cost of working with Chinese influencers
The best Chinese platforms for brands to work with influencers on in 2019
2019's biggest trend in Chinese Influencer Marketing

Part two - Live Streaming in China - looks into:
An overview of live streaming in China compared to the West
Debunking the QVC / teleshopping image people have of live streaming
Challenges and tips for brands doing live streaming and working with live streamers / live streaming influencers in China
Good examples of how brands used live streaming to promote their brand, products, and services
Whether live social commerce is just a fad
Why live streaming is especially important when targeting lower-tier cities in China 

Finally, Lauren answered the all-important question: WTF? And shared what she thinks China might look like in 2020.