"Core Tips"
From "seeing the world" to "discovering good things in the world", the talent economy has not only become a must for many overseas enterprises, but also triggered a new opportunity to "go to China and chase the wind".
Author | Chen Fashan
Edit | Liu Yang
Due to the proximity of geographical, cultural and economic ties, Southeast Asia is one of the first choices for many Chinese companies to go overseas.
In recent years, the new e-commerce forces represented by short videos and live broadcasts have accelerated their overseas layout, and their vivid and lively forms of expression are naturally in line with the enthusiastic and unrestrained character of Southeast Asian people, coupled with the pan-entertainment social environment of Southeast Asian countries, local live streaming is even more eye-catching than domestic live broadcast rooms, not only singing and dancing, funny performances, but also bands and fan groups.
At the same time, Southeast Asian countries generally belong to an export-oriented economy and actively participate in the international division of labor, so that live streaming can not only take root locally, but also have a strong urge to "go global". In the process of going global, short videos and live broadcasts are given more expectations.
In Thailand, for example, exports are an important engine of the local economy, but in 2023, Thailand's exports will unexpectedly shrink, making Thailand seek innovation and change and pay more attention to the "talent economy". China, which has a huge market and a very mature e-commerce ecosystem, has naturally become Thailand's first choice.
As Thailand's Minister of Commerce Phumtham said, the world is changing, and new ways of selling need to be considered. For the local area, the "talent economy" is tantamount to an examination of economic transformation, with limited losses, but once successful, the benefits are huge. The opportunities are also attracting more and more countries to join in.
Recently, at the invitation of the Thai side, Kuaishou held a cross-border e-commerce Thailand investment conference in Bangkok, inviting a number of top influencers and nearly 100 Thai brands to gather together, and accompanied by the mayor of Bangkok, to start the journey of tracing the origin of good things.
How did Kuaishou, who turned "foreigners" into "old irons", expand his overseas circle of friends step by step?
1. The mayor is a tour guide and opens the traceability of good things in Thailand
"It's so easy to make people float!" said the expert "Wang Yi in Thailand" described the two-day trip to Thailand.
Reception by the mayor, accompanied by ministers, reception by CP Group and other enterprises, and interviews with Thai media...... Although Wang Yi has lived in Thailand for more than ten years and has accumulated a large number of fans in Kuaishou, she always believes that she is just an ordinary person and never thought that she would receive such VIP courtesy.
What made the experts call out the surprise, and the mayor of Bangkok asked them to go for a morning run. "It's 4 a.m. local time, and the mayor of Bangkok has asked us to go for a morning run at 5 a.m. "Brother Beard hasn't recovered from the long-haul flight, so he got up early to go to the appointment.
Kuaishou and the mayor of Bangkok (2nd from left) go for a morning jog
Bangkok Mayor Chadchart Sittipunt is Thailand's star politician, winning a landslide victory in the 2022 mayoral election with a record number of votes. In his election manifesto, Chachak pledged to build a liveable Bangkok for all, including providing a more travel-friendly environment, as well as promoting the "Made in Bangkok" brand and promoting it through e-commerce. This coincides with the goal of the Kuaishou Investment Promotion Group's trip.
Chacha has a sunny smile and a tall figure, giving people a strong impression of loving sports. In fact, Chacha's habit of running 10 kilometers every morning is more of a unique way of doing his job than exercise.
With the mayor leading the way, the Kuaishou Investment Promotion Group has become the "most beautiful boy" on the road, and citizens continue to join the jogging team to greet the Kuaishou Investment Promotion Group warmly. To immerse themselves in Thailand, Chacha invited Kuaishou influencers to change into traditional costumes and enjoy popsicles, lemon tea, traditional pastries and other specialties at Bangkok's beloved morning market and landmark Wat Arun. They also shared a boat ride on the Chao Phraya River to see the sights of Bangkok and had lunch together.
The morning jog of the day started from the park in the center of Bangkok, and the chacha took the experts to visit the morning market, in fact, to inspect the business conditions of the merchants, jogged along the river to test the water quality of the garden, and walked through the CBD and creative districts, to feel the collision of tradition and modernity in Bangkok, conveying the concept of low-carbon and healthy life. The mayor took half a day to be a "ground accompaniment", which was actually practicing his campaign philosophy.
"The mayor led the Chinese talent to visit Bangkok", which also attracted great attention from a number of Thai media and the central media in Thailand, China Central Radio and Television, Xinhua News Agency, etc., and the official public account of the Thai Embassy in China tweeted, so that the experts called "the row is full".
The mayor's accompaniment also reflects the changing attitude of Thailand towards China's online marketing. At that time, users watched short videos mainly for entertainment and passing the time, and they were still in the "1.0 stage" of watching fun and interesting content.
With the improvement of Kuaishou e-commerce, the supply of high-quality goods from all over the world is greatly rich, and the needs of the old iron are becoming more and more diversified, and they have come to the "2.0 stage" of "discovering good things from all over the world" without leaving home.
This is confirmed by the data on the development of cross-border e-commerce. In the past five years, China's cross-border e-commerce imports have increased nearly tenfold. Among them, in the second half of 2023, the average daily order volume of Kuaishou cross-border e-commerce increased by 160% year-on-year and 62% over the first half of the year. Health care products, beauty products, small household appliances, and fashion and luxury products are among the fastest-growing categories, which are Thailand's traditional advantageous industries.
Shiyi is time-shifting, and time-shifting is ready to change. At present, the global marketing focus has gradually shifted to short video platforms, and more and more countries and regions are thinking about how to build a "high-end bureau" of short video and live broadcast marketing. When an outlet is placed in front of you, it is difficult for people not to be tempted, and it has become a breakthrough to leverage cross-border cooperation, and platforms like Kuaishou have naturally become an indispensable option.
2. Go to China and chase the wind
The importance of the Chinese market to Thailand's border trade is beyond many people's imagination.
China is Thailand's largest entrepot trading partner, and statistics from the Ministry of Commerce of Thailand show that China-Thailand entrepot trade accounted for 52% of Thailand's total entrepot trade in 2023, with major export commodities including fresh durian, hard drives, processed timber, etc.
In January this year, JPMorgan Chase (Thailand) predicted that Thailand's GDP will grow by 3.7% in 2024, compared with the average growth rate of the Thai economy of about 1.8% over the past decade.
China's rich e-commerce ecology and mature talent economy have allowed Thailand to see a breakthrough. At the Kuaishou Cross-border Thailand Investment Conference on April 25, Phairush Burapachaisri, vice chairman of the Thai Chamber of Commerce, said that the Chinese e-commerce market offers new opportunities, and it is necessary for Thai companies to learn more about the use of new platforms and technologies to reach more Chinese consumers. Kuaishou is a very good tool for Thai companies to expand into the Chinese market, which will accelerate the success of Thai companies in China.
Pensom Lertsithichai, Deputy Director-General of the Department of East Asia of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Thailand, also believes that Kuaishou can help Thai companies quickly understand the mechanism of China's digital marketing, and quickly make Thai products effectively reach Chinese consumers through influencers, so as to share the dividends of China's economic growth
With the advent of the era of short videos and live broadcasts, talent has become a new force in the field of culture and business around the world. Although the national conditions of various countries are very different, human nature is the same, people are pursuing a better life, and hope that in different scenes, there can be experts to provide more diverse life inspiration for themselves.
According to Ipsos statistics, 75% of overseas companies are ready to cooperate with influencers in marketing in 2024. Therefore, whether you can interact with influencers has become a key variable to expand your business.
Different from the personal heroism of the previous influencers who went abroad to talk about business alone, when the scale of "going out" and "inviting in" became larger, a standardized and replicable model was crucial, which was equivalent to consolidating the foundation of cross-border e-commerce business.
Taking the Kuaishou Thailand Investment Conference as an example, from the moment the plane arrived in Thailand, the experts with the group felt the difference in this trip to the source: a grand welcome ceremony, flowers woven into garlands, and safely escorted to the hotel;
The root of the courtesy of influencers is that influencer marketing has become a necessary choice for enterprises to go overseas. However, with the rapid iteration of the Internet ecology and gameplay in various countries, how to use talents and quickly open up overseas markets is still plaguing many overseas companies that are ready to go overseas.
At the site of the investment promotion, nearly 100 Thai companies such as Lotus's Lotus Supermarket and CF fresh Fresh came to the scene to negotiate, which greatly shortened the chain of experts to find partners and establish trust in Thailand, and realized the rapid matching of "talents + good things".
And the talent showed up to say that it became a shortcut to pull in the relationship with each other. Brother Hu Zi took the lead in speaking, introducing his entrepreneurial experience and successful experience in Kuaishou to Thai enterprises, and said that "the trip to Thailand is to be proud, and the benefits must be prepared for the old iron".
Wang Yi has lived in Thailand for a long time and has been recording Thai life with the camera, in her opinion, Thailand is beautiful, the goods are good, the people are friendly, and there are natural advantages of bringing goods.
The expert "Wang Yi in Thailand" was interviewed by Xinhua News Agency
Dr. Worm, Sister Han Xizhenni's apprentice Xiaoxue and many other experts were also awarded the title of "Global Good Things Recommendation Officer" by Kuaishou on the spot because of Thailand's "endorsement". Dr. Worm has been engaged in cross-border trade since 2012, and entered Kuaishou in 2019, with more than 7 million fans. Xiaoxue also said that she hopes to work with Thailand to bring high-quality goods back to China and work together to develop overseas markets.
Liu Zhen, vice president of Kuaishou, said at the investment promotion conference that Kuaishou has always adhered to the concept of equality and inclusiveness, truth and goodness, and firmly believes that the dividends of the Internet shine on everyone like sunshine and benefit Thai enterprises. With the continuous advancement of friendly relations between China and Thailand, especially the implementation of the mutual visa exemption policy between the two countries, the economic and trade activities and cultural exchanges between the two countries will be more active, and Thailand will also become an important source of goods for Chinese consumers to "discover the world's good things".
3. From "seeing the world" to "discovering good things in the world"
Going abroad, Kuaishou's circle of friends is far bigger than people think.
During the two days, the Kuaishou investment delegation visited CP Group, Thailand's largest shopping mall ICON SIAMM Siam World, Lotus Supermarket, 7-Eleven, etc., and was warmly received. Before coming to Thailand, many people couldn't tell the difference between Musang King, Black Thorn, Golden Pillow, and Longla, but when they arrived there, they instantly realized the freedom of durian.
In fact, this trip is not the first intimate contact between Kuaishou and Thailand. Liu Zhen introduced that in the past three years, Kuaishou has held activities such as "Thai Style Plot" to showcase Thai food and good things, with a total of more than 500 million viewers, allowing the veterans of "Kuaishou to see the world" to know more real Thailand.
During the festival, the Thai ambassador to China, Attayut Xisamu, walked into the Kuaishou live broadcast room with his wife to introduce Thai snacks and traditional handicrafts to the Chinese Lao Tie, and also detonated the hot sales of Dingtai elephant rice, coffee coconut egg rolls, water mother yellow curry paste, carabao vitamin energy drink and other products.
Thai Ambassador to China Attayut Xi Sam and Liu Zhen presented awards to the talents
It can be seen that the process of "foreigners" becoming "old iron" is not achieved overnight, and a lot of basic work needs to be done. Especially before this, the world's mainstream social and content platforms have always been in the hands of Europe and the United States, and the outside world will inevitably have doubts about going overseas to China.
Because of this, Kuaishou focuses on long-termism and does a lot of "loss-making transactions" that may not see commercial returns in the short term, but are important in the long term. In the past few years, Kuaishou has invested a lot of resources in organizing more than 50 public diplomacy events with more than 30 foreign embassies and consulates in China, as well as with United Nations agencies in China and Kuaishou.
During the Spring Festival in 2024, more than 10 ambassadors to China from Japan, Singapore, Canada, Denmark, Colombia, Finland, Brazil, Malaysia, Indonesia, Pakistan, Sweden and other countries will pay "cloud greetings" to the veterans through Kuaishou and wish the New Year of the Dragon.
In the video, some of the ambassadors clasped their hands and made New Year's greeting gestures, some wrote the word "dragon" with a brush, and some experienced folk activities such as pasting Spring Festival couplets and making Chinese zodiac pendants for the Year of the Dragon. These have made Kuaishou's transnational circle of friends grow rapidly, including the embassies of the United Kingdom, Japan, Thailand, Chile and other countries in China, as well as hundreds of international organizations such as the World Health Organization, have settled in Kuaishou and opened official accounts, constantly attracting "foreigners" to become "old iron".
Trust is the foundation of doing business, especially for cross-border e-commerce, mutual understanding can break the invisible wall in the heart, and trade will come naturally. As far as Kuaishou is concerned, a series of cross-border exchanges that tell Chinese stories well and "see the world on Kuaishou" belong to building mutual trust, which will naturally evolve into cross-border e-commerce of "discovering the world's good things". Good things, in turn, enhance the reputation of the country of origin, and realize the positive cycle of "understanding-good things-word of mouth".
This is also why since the beginning of this year, Australia, New Zealand and other countries are embracing Kuaishou cross-border e-commerce circle of friends. As soon as the 2024 Spring Festival holiday ended, Kuaishou E-commerce quickly launched two overseas investment conferences in Australia and New Zealand, combining the advantages of local industries and inviting local governments and more than 50 health products, food, and beauty merchants to interact and communicate.
For businesses in Australia and New Zealand, doing business in China, which has a very different language and culture, is inevitably worried about not adapting to the water and soil. In 2024 alone, Kuaishou plans to give 40 billion traffic gifts to help enterprises and influencers who are new to content e-commerce to complete the cold start. Nowadays, ready-to-eat cereals, cod liver oil, woolen sweaters, cheese, red wine and other products continue to sell well in the Kuaishou live broadcast room.
The addition of "foreign old iron" has opened a window for China old iron to see the world, and also brought more high-quality goods to Chinese consumers, realizing the freedom of "overseas shopping".