Short Essay1  LI Yuwei（1155228261）

TikTokfication of Social Media Platform

After launching in the U.S. in 2018, TikTok has steamed ahead, and announced in September 2021 that it had surpassed one billion monthly active users globally. This is in contrast to the loss of users and decline in activity on the nascent social media, represented by Facebook and twitter.

TikTok's business model:

① Digital goods business model: TikTok has TikTok coins. After consumers exchange real money for TikTok coins, they can give gifts to the creators. 99 cents equals 100 TikTok coins. ③ Ad-based business model: when users buy tokens and donate them to other creators onTikTok, the creators can withdraw all the tokens given to them and exchange them for real money. For every $1 a user withdraws from the APP, TikTok takes a 50% cut.

One of the key features of TikTok is the short, flat and fast nature of its content and its algorithmic recommendation system. It has not only pushed short videos to become an important form of social media information exchange, but also led to the “TikTokfication” of various types of social media around the world: Instagram, Snapchat, Youtube and some Chinese social media platforms are moving towards a similar content production and interaction mode in terms of function and product experience. 

In order to capture the windfall of short videos, other social media have also introduced TikTokficationfeatures.

On 5th August 2020, Instagram officially announced the launch of Reels. Reels is known as ‘TikTok on Instagram’, which allows users to shoot and upload videos of up to 15 seconds, and can also add background music, special effects and so on.

Youtube also lauched Youtube Shorts, a short video app, in Indian market in order to solidify its position in the foreign video content space, and launched it in the U.S.in 2021 and globally in July.

In addition to the basic features of “TikTokfication”, Youtube Shorts also works with Youtube accounts to help users build up followers, and offers a $100 million creation fund to encourage users to participate in the creation of short videos.

When describing “TikTokfication”, it looks like just a combination of words like vertical screen, short videos, up and down swipe interaction and recommendation algorithms. However, “TikTokfication” is more of a general term, which refers to a popular and constantly experimented information production, dissemination and presentation mechanism.

In China, the term ‘short-video trend’ is more commonly used, and many well-known social media apps have started this business early.

BILIBILI has been pushing vertical video since the second half of 2020, presenting a single column of video streams and guiding users to swipe up and down.

Xiaohongshu adopted a two-column recommendation model, and after clicking on the video, you can swipe up and down to watch other content.

Weibo and WeChat's video function have also adopted the up and down slide interaction mode, and the same goes for apps such as Zhihu and Taobao.

This type of mechanism was carried forward by short video platforms, and then gradually absorbed by various types of social media APPs, constantly adjusting, supplementing and iterating, and eventually as if it had become a kind of collective turn to satisfy users' habits.

When a product supports short videos, other products will also actively or passively think about and adapt to this change. The creation threshold of short video can be high or low, professional users can elaborate and polish, ordinary users can also shoot instantly. In the end, platforms and users together create a short video basedinformation dissemination trend, social media APPs follow the trend, which has resulted in today's TikTokfication situation.

Outside of algorithmic recommendations and interaction models, the success of TikTokfication has profoundly changed the production of new media content. Content became highly homogenized. Traditional media became more focused on traffic than quality, which has led to the public's distrust of media today. Therefore, beyond the commercial success, we must also be aware of the drawbacks of TikTokfication.

Short Essay 2_SONGGELA (1155222172)

Analysis of Adidas brand marketing strategy based on 4P model

1. Product strategy  

• Diversified product line

Adidas has built a rich and diverse product line for different consumer groups and sports scenes. It covers the sports performance series (Performance), sports tradition series (Originals), and sports fashion series (Neo).  

 

The sports performance series focuses on the research and development of high-performance sports equipment. The sports tradition series continues the classic design and integrates modern elements to meet consumers' demand for the combination of tradition and fashion. The sports fashion series keeps up with fashion trends and launches fashion items, such as the Blokecore style joint series, in cooperation with Balenciaga. 

 

Adidas X Balenciaga

 2. Pricing strategy 

• Differentiated pricing 

Adidas adopts a differentiated pricing strategy based on different product series, functions, materials, and target markets. High-end professional products in the sports performance series, such as running shoes and professional sports equipment with advanced technology, are relatively expensive to reflect their high quality and high performance. Some products in the sports tradition series and sports fashion series are relatively affordable, such as some basic sports shoes and casual clothing, which attract a wider range of consumer groups, including students and ordinary sports enthusiasts. This differentiated pricing strategy enables Adidas to cover markets at different consumer levels and maximize profits. 

3. Promotion strategy 

• Sports sponsorship and event marketing

Adidas has long sponsored various sports events, leagues, and national teams, such as the FIFA World Cup, the Olympic Games, the Beijing Marathon, etc. Through sports sponsorship, the brand is closely integrated with sports events, linking its own image with the spirit of sports and establishing a professional and reliable brand image in the minds of consumers. 

• Social Media and Digital Marketing

Adidas actively uses social media platforms for brand promotion and marketing interaction. In China, it has official accounts such as WeChat public accounts, Weibo, Xiaohongshu, and Douyin, which attract consumers' attention and interaction by publishing content. 

4. Place strategy  

• Global offline store layout

Adidas has established an extensive offline sales network around the world, including specialty stores, counters, and factory stores. Its store layout focuses on covering different cities and regions and is hierarchically arranged according to market demand and consumption levels. In major markets such as first- and second-tier cities, specialty stores are the main body, providing a full range of products and high-quality shopping experience to showcase the brand image; in third- and fourth-tier cities and below, the market is expanded through counters and dealer channels to expand brand coverage. 

• E-commerce platform and online channel expansion

With the development of the Internet, Adidas has actively expanded its online sales channels. It has opened official online stores on major e-commerce platforms, such as Taobao and JD.com. At the same time, it launched its own e-commerce platforms, such as the Adidas CONFIRMED App for high-end consumers and collectors. 

Short Essay 1_Ye Yijia(1155222164)

 Brand to Performance: Marketing Strategy Transformation Amid Budget Cuts

As we learned about the various digital advertising models and ad metrics, it reminded me of some marketing internships I've had with a few brands and Xiaohongshu and made me think about different kinds of ads in some new ways.

In the current marketing industry, "budget cuts" is frequently heard. After presenting marketing plans, we often receive client feedback questioning the effectiveness of the ads, such as "This TVC is creative, but will it drive sales?" or "What is the role of this outdoor advertising? We can't measure its effectiveness with CTR." or “The CTR of this feed advertisement on Douyin is significantly high, so it's necessary to consider increasing the spend or even allocating the entire budget to it." These responses reflect a reality: the traditional marketing industry is experiencing transformation, with brands increasingly inclined to measure advertising effects with data, neglecting the long-term value of brand building. This is a battle between brand advertising and performance advertising, and it appears that performance advertising is gaining the upper hand.

Marketing Decisions Driven by Data

The marketing industry, which was originally a competition of user insight capabilities, creative thinking, and product insights, is now being tied down by one-dimensional data metrics and making decisions with a linear way of thinking. CTR, CPC, CPA, ROI, etc., have become key metrics for measuring advertising effectiveness. Creative short films, outdoor advertising, TVC, and content marketing are the hardest hit. However, this purely data-driven marketing approach is vulnerable in the face of public opinion, as demonstrated by the negative public sentiment incident involving Florasis in Li Jiaqi's live broadcast. Even without public opinion incidents, the cost of traffic increases over time, and brands need to re-examine the importance of brand advertising in marketing.

Addicted to Performance Advertising

Performance advertising represents a form of expenditure for brands that lacks long-term value. The nature behind performance advertising is to precisely extract the most likely customers to purchase from among those who already have brand awareness. Many brands see decent results when they first implement performance advertising because they are capitalizing on the user base they have accumulated beforehand, which can be described as "living off one's old capital." However, this old capital will eventually be depleted. If brands continue to invest in performance advertising, they will find that the scale of deployment is limited, and traffic becomes more expensive. Moreover, users' sensitivity to prices will increase. An overemphasis on short-term gains, intensifying investment in performance advertising, and frequent discount promotions may boost sales in the short term, but they also cultivate consumer price sensitivity and weaken the brand's premium pricing power that was originally accumulated.

Looking at internationally renowned brands such as Apple, Nike, and Disney, their advertising strategies emphasize large format, high visibility, and exclusivity to capture user minds and establish brand high ground. These brands successfully establish a strong brand impression in consumers' minds through storytelling, user connection, and attention to detail. 

Brand Ads VS. Performance Ads: Not Exclusive

Brand advertising and performance advertising are not mutually exclusive but also can complement each other. Brand advertising establishes brand awareness and emotional connections, laying the foundation for performance advertising. Performance advertising, through precise targeting and direct response, achieves short-term sales goals.

Faced with the reality of shrinking budgets, some small brands can't afford to invest as much money in content and brand marketing as the big brands mentioned above, but ALL IN performance advertising is not a long-term solution, so what's the optimal solution for them? The collaboration between Nature's Answer and Xiaohongshu might offer us some insights.

Nature's Answer ✕ Xiaohongshu: A Showcase for the Balance Between Brand Ads and Performance Ads

Nature's Answer is a health brand from the U.S., primarily offering natural herbal supplements such as 'voice care spray.' When Nature's Answer first started to cooperate with Xiaohongshu, it faced not only challenges in terms of brand recognition but also a limited marketing budget.

One of the initial things for Nature's Answer was how to promote an overseas niche brand in the Chinese market. The brand chose Xiaohongshu as its entry point, focusing on the user's pain point of "razor throat"(刀片嗓) and aligning with community content trends (COVID-19).

Unlike emphasizing "trusted big brands," Nature's Answer focused on the product's natural herbal formula and the refreshing sensation after use, with users vividly comparing it to "masking throats" or having a "throat SPA," successfully attracting more user attention.

The brand produced a series of posts that fit user demand scenarios, utilizing the word-of-mouth content of popular products, significantly increasing brand awareness. It also used Xiaohongshu's smart feed ads to naturally connect "the right content" with "the right people," allowing the product to continuously break through and penetrate new demographics and scenarios. Data showed a 709% increase in platform search volume during the campaign.

Despite the limited budget and resources, Nature's Answer adopted a strategy of balancing "recommend"(种草) and "conversion," establishing a closed loop within Xiaohongshu to achieve a positive cycle of "reputation—sales—reputation." Ultimately, Nature's Answer achieved over 15 million in GMV on Xiaohongshu for the year, with over 5.5 million in mainstream e-commerce transactions attributed to Xiaohongshu in Q3 of 2023.

By implementing the above strategies, Nature's Answer successfully balanced brand advertising with performance advertising on the Xiaohongshu platform, creating a hit product even with a limited budget and achieving dual goals of brand awareness and performance.

Conclusion

In the reality of budget cuts, brands need to rethink the balance between brand advertising and performance advertising. Short-term sales growth should not come at the expense of long-term brand value. Brands should use digital tools and new statistical methods, such as A/B testing, to measure users' attitudinal responses to different ad content, thereby more accurately targeting the effects of brand advertising. In this way, brands can maintain short-term effectiveness while also laying a solid foundation for long-term brand building.

Short Essay 2_LIU Zixuan(1155227237)

Freemuim strategy--QQ Music

As a dedicated user of QQ Music, I spend approximately one to two hours on this app almost every day. It has turned into an indispensable app for me to relieve boredom when I'm alone, feeling listless, or on my way to and from school. Music has thoroughly become an integral part of my life. Currently, there are numerous music apps in the market. However, I have remained a loyal user of QQ Music for nearly a decade. Drawing on my in-depth understanding of it, in this essay, I will analyze this product from the perspective of the freemium strategy.

 

Freemium is a business model composed of “free” and “premium”, its core is to attract a large number of users by providing free basic services, and then achieve profitability by providing paid advanced services to some users.

 

The free offerings of QQ Music can be divided into two aspects. Firstly, a vast amount of music can be listened to for free, users can listen to a large number of music tracks online without having to pay, which enables QQ Music to attract many music lovers and meet their daily music appreciation needs. In free mode, users can freely search for and play their favorite music. Secondly, the basic functions are also free. Basic music playing functions like playing, pausing, and switching songs are all free of charge. Additionally, users can create their own playlists and classify and manage music. For instance, users can create playlists such as “Soft Music” and “Bedtime Music” according to different moods or scenes without any payment.

 

QQ Music also provides some advanced paid services. For instance, the Green Diamond Membership Service offers a high-quality music experience, such as lossless sound quality. For music enthusiasts, lossless sound quality can better restore the details and authenticity of music, which is a major attraction of paid services. Moreover, members of the Green Diamond Membership can have unrestricted access to paid music, including some exclusive copyrighted music or newly released popular albums. To be more specific, the new albums of certain well-known singers may be set as exclusive for Green Diamond members, prompting fans to purchase memberships to listen to their idols' new songs as soon as possible. Additionally, Green Diamond members are free from advertising interference when using QQ Music. In free mode, users may see various advertisements on the playback interface or software interface, while paid members can enjoy a pure music experience. Green Diamond members can also download their favorite music to their portable devices for convenient listening without an internet connection. This is very practical for users who are often in an environment with unstable network or hope to save traffic. For example, when users are on a plane or in a remote area, they can still enjoy music through locally downloaded music.

 

Why does QQ Music adopt the Freemium strategy? What advantages does it bring to QQ Music? To begin with, by providing free services, QQ Music has attracted a huge user base. These users may gradually convert to paid users over the long term. Take myself as an example. Initially, I listened to music for free, but as my requirements for music quality increased and I had a need for certain exclusive content, I eventually chose to purchase a Green Diamond membership. Moreover, paid membership services can bring a stable income stream. At the same time, QQ Music can further increase its profits by collaborating with record companies, singers, and others to promote music activities and sell concert tickets. In the highly competitive environment of the music streaming market, the Freemium strategy helps QQ Music maintain its competitiveness by continuously optimizing free services and expanding paid service content.

 

At the same time, the Freemium strategy also faces some potential challenges. Although there are a large number of free users, effectively converting these users to paid users is a challenge. If the conversion ratio is too low, it may affect the profit level. Some users may be satisfied with free services and be unwilling to pay for paid services. If there is some exclusive content, they may choose to wait for it to be made available for free or obtain it through other channels. As for copyright, in order to provide rich music content, whether it is in the free or paid part, QQ Music needs to pay high copyright fees. If the copyright costs cannot be effectively covered by paid services and other profit channels, it may face financial pressure.

 

Short Essay 1_SONGGELA (1155222172)

 Cobranding of Bananain and 999 Cold Medicine (蕉内x三九感冒灵)

Bananain: Founded in 2016, Bananain is a brand that focuses on the design, development, production, and sales of underwear, socks, and other apparel products. Bananain takes "redefining basic styles" as its brand concept and is committed to providing consumers with a comfortable, healthy, and environmentally friendly wearing experience.

999 Cold Medicine: A brand under China Resources Sanjiu, 999 Cold Medicine's products mainly target common colds and other diseases. As a well-known cold medicine brand in China, 999 Cold Medicine has a broad consumer base and market share.

Product: "I don't catch a cold" set

1. Sweat-wicking Bananain Thermal Skin (排汗蕉内热皮): A warm underwear suitable for winter wear, using Bananain's sweat-wicking technology to keep the body dry.

2. Double bursting bead mask (双爆珠口罩): A creative mask with two bursting beads built in, which can release a cool fragrance and relieve the discomfort when wearing a mask.

3. Themed stickers and handbags: Stickers and handbags printed with the theme of "I don't catch a cold" increase the fun and uniqueness of the product.

Consumers

The target consumers of this joint venture are mainly young people, especially those who pursue individuality and focus on a comfortable life. These consumers may have a certain aesthetic fatigue with traditional brands and hope to express their unique taste and attitude toward life by purchasing joint products.

Marketing

Theme: "I don't catch a cold"（我不感冒）

Aims to convey a positive and courageous attitude towards life. This theme aligns with young people's values today and easily resonates with them.

Marketing Actions

1. Short Film Marketing：

• Three "magic reversal" dramas satirize the bad phenomenon of "pretending" in society. The dramas show young people's "indifferent" attitude towards art, time, and love and their courage to challenge traditional concepts and pursue their lifestyles.
• Style: humorous satire, full of creativity
• Link：https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/eYFMSR6-uxoREfDhGHVPZw

2. Social media communication: 

• Use social media platforms such as Weibo and Douyin to release information about joint products and event content to attract fans to interact and forward.
• Promotion to stimulate user interest in participation (Earned media) - topic #不嘎冒精神#;
• Drive KOL secondary creation of topic content: #When did you realize that you should be yourself#

3. Offline pop-up store： 

• Design features of the pop-up store
• Robotic arm thermal skin demonstration area: The base is composed of a wrap-around long LED screen and a gridiron frame, with glass fences on all four sides, which is simple and transparent. Two robotic arms work together to support a half-body model wearing a giant thermal skin and complete the movement on the trajectory planned by the system.
• Interactive environment cabin: Three sets of interactive environment cabins form a semi-open space for experiencers to touch and feel the fabrics of Bananain thermal skin.
• Interactive experience in the pop-up store
• Fabric display area: Experiencers can touch and feel the fabrics of Bananain thermal skin and gain a deeper understanding of the texture and comfort of the product.
• Water-display design: "No cold." The thermal skin has a small design behind it. When it comes into contact with water, the words appear, presenting a string of "no cold" secret codes, which increases interactivity and fun.

Data Feedback

The collaboration performed well in terms of views, discussions, and interactions on Weibo and Douyin.

• Weibo

• Douyin

Short Essay 2_Suen Yuen Yi 1155224246 

Application of AI in the Traditional Media Industry: Developments and Limitations 

Artificial Intelligence (AI) are widely used in various industries, also for traditional media industry. AI has integrated into the media industry and transformed the content creating method, distribution and audiences’ consumption. AI technologies are reshaping the landscape of media by providing automated journalism to customized content recommendation. 

Development of AI Applications: 

1. AI generated Ultrashorts 

 In China, AI is dominating the ultrashorts markets by crafting more and more products. From the script and dialogue to storyboarding, background music and special effects are all crafted by advanced AI tools, instead of human efforts. The most popular AI ultrashorts “The Mirror of Mountains and Seas: Breaking Waves,” is a 3 minutes duration per episode short video. The director and producer claims that with the support of AI, their production time and costs is reduced by more than 75% and finished the full production progress within 2 months.

2. Automated Journalism 

The algorithmic journalism involves AI to produce news articles. Companies like the Associated Press and Reuters have implemented AI-driven systems to generate financial and sports news. For instance, the AP uses Wordsmith, a natural language generation (NLG) tool developed by Automated Insights, to produce thousands of earnings reports quickly and accurately. 

3. Content Personalisation

Besides content creation, AI algorithms helps to analyse user data and deliver personalized content recommendation, to enhance user engagement. This technology has widely applied in Netflix and Spotify, who use machine learning algorithms to anlayse viewing and listening habits. This allows them to suggest tailored content to users’ preference. 

 Although the rise of AI benefits our industry development, there are still limitations on it. 

 Limitations of AI: 

 1. Ethical and Right Concerns 

With the further development of AI, journalism industry raises ethical questions, particularly for the bias and misinformation. AI systems are only grown by the data they are training on. If that data contains biases, the resulting content can be stereotypes and misinformation, which may lead to concerns of fairness and accountability. 

 2. Job Displacement

As mentions, AI helps to reduce production cost and time. The automation of media tasks poses a risk of job displacement for human workers due to higher salary cost. As AI takes over routine reporting and content generation, there are fears arise in the industry about reduction in jobs for journalists and content creators. 

 3. Dependence on Technology 

The reliance on AI technologies can create insecurities, especially when the systems fail or produce erroneous outputs. Media corporate may find themselves overly depend on AI for content creation and analysis, which may risk accuracy and reliability. 

In conclusion, the application of AI in the media industry bring both developments and notable limitations. While AI enhances efficiency, we should use it in a proper way as assisting tools and foster the collaboration of AI and human creativity, to maintain the balance of AI with ethical consideration.

Short Essay 2_CHEN Chenyu (1155219816)

A Brief Analysis of the Current State, Challenges, and Impacts of Programmatic Advertising Technology on Advertising Agencies

Programmatic advertising, built on big data and supported by various programmatic technologies, facilitates automated insights into consumer needs in specific contexts, resulting in the generation of programmatic creativity. Programmatic buying further ensures that highly contextually relevant advertising content or services are delivered to consumers, aligning deeply with their personal habits, spatial environments, real-time behaviors, and social dynamics. This enhances the effectiveness of advertising in the mobile internet era.

 

1. Current State

The ecosystem of programmatic advertising in China is increasingly optimized, with a growing number of platforms and enterprises within the industry chain. Leading internet companies such as Alibaba, Tencent, and Baidu have established advertising exchanges and DSP companies, actively driving the development of programmatic advertising. For example, AdChina, a notable DSP company, significantly enhanced its programmatic trading capabilities after its acquisition by Alibaba, leveraging its own data resources and expertise alongside Alibaba’s extensive e-commerce data and technological advantages.

 

2. Challenges

(1) Data Silos

Access to big data is a critical factor influencing the development of the programmatic advertising industry. However, as large corporations and government organizations typically control such data, programmatic advertising companies face significant hurdles in obtaining these essential resources.

(2) Fraudulent Traffic

The effectiveness of programmatic advertising relies heavily on the authenticity of traffic. On one hand, websites often inflate traffic to maximize economic benefits, harming advertisers’ interests. On the other hand, for programmatic buying companies, traffic data is a core element of their competitive edge. Yet, fake traffic fails to deliver actual advertising results.

(3) Cross-Screen Identification

While cookies effectively track user behavior in traditional PC environments for precise ad targeting, the mobile internet era introduces complexity. Users frequently switch between PCs, mobile devices, TVs, and outdoor screens, making user profiling increasingly volatile and complicating cross-screen identification, which in turn affects ad precision.

(4) Brand Safety

Some advertisers overlook brand safety, leading to rapid depreciation of brand value or even legal challenges. For instance, during programmatic campaigns, brands such as Nissan, Nationwide Building Society, and Unilever’s Dove found their ads placed next to offensive content. This triggered lawsuits from civil organizations and led 15 brands to suspend their advertising.

 

3. Impacts on Advertising Agencies

(1) Challenges to Creative Workflows: From Perfection to Experimentation

In the digital era, advertisers must maintain round-the-clock, context-specific communication with individual consumers. This requires producing a vast array of content quickly and at scale. Programmatic creativity has emerged as a solution, enabling the generation of diverse and adaptable creative elements tailored for cross-screen dissemination. By adjusting creative components, agencies can efficiently produce varied formats while retaining consistent messaging. This shift has profoundly disrupted traditional content production models in advertising.

(2) Challenges to Pricing Models

Programmatic buying has transformed pricing from traditional, manual negotiations to real-time bidding (RTB) and non-RTB transactions, known as open market and private market trading, respectively. These methods significantly enhance efficiency compared to traditional media trading practices.

(3) Organizational and Structural Challenges

Media-buying agencies, in particular, experience significant disruptions due to the separation of creative and media functions. High communication costs between departments and external partners hinder efficiency. Merging creative and media-buying teams often necessitates adjustments in leadership structures and employee composition. For global advertising networks, such as the 4A agencies, structural adjustments must align with global strategies dictated by headquarters, adding complexity and resistance to transformation.

The rise of programmatic buying also influences workforce composition. As creative and media functions converge, advertisers demand deeper integration with client needs. Moreover, the increasing complexity of programmatic campaigns calls for more specialized talent in data analysis and technology, emphasizing the critical role of technical expertise in enhancing competitiveness.

(4) Higher Client Expectations for Integrated Outcomes

Advances in internet technology have increased the volume of data available for analysis and expanded measurable touchpoints. Clients now demand that agencies not only elevate brand image but also directly contribute to product sales. Under mounting competitive and revenue pressures, advertisers expect optimal utilization of advertising budgets.

(5) Cross-Industry Disruption

Advertising agencies face competition not only from within the industry but also from external service providers. With the growing importance of technology and data in marketing, tech giants like Adobe and Microsoft are entering the advertising space. Unlike traditional agencies, these companies boast advanced technologies, extensive data resources, and the ability to attract top advertising talent with high salaries. These advantages allow them to offer clients not just data support but also strategic advice and even end-to-end advertising content production.

 

Conclusion
The rise of programmatic advertising has significantly reshaped the advertising landscape. While it offers immense opportunities for efficiency and innovation, it also presents formidable challenges in data access, traffic authenticity, and organizational adaptation. Advertising agencies must evolve rapidly to remain competitive in this technology-driven environment.