Influencers offer lucrative channel for China's FMCGs: report

Brands linked to comfort or cleanliness are best placed to benefit from Wanghong.

The pandemic has pushed fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) brands in China to modify promotion strategies such as collaborating with social media influencers, which could be a lucrative sales channel for FMCG if done well, according to GlobalData.

According to a survey, consumers have been buying products in same or even greater quantities, including pasta or noodles (62%), household cleaning products (88%), skincare products (73%) chocolate & confectionery (57%), and beer (50%).

“It is likely that consumers will want to stockpile these products because they are linked to pleasurable experiences or cleanliness during the pandemic. Companies with brands in these categories may find a well-managed Wanghong market to be most lucrative to take advantage of increased consumer demand,” Zheng commented.

It further noted that consumers have been spending more time on social media, and good shopping experiences through Wanghong or internet celebrities could establish a consumer trust that could continue beyond the pandemic.

“FMCG brands looking for growth opportunities can target this audience with ads and campaigns using products that are in high demand – presenting an important opportunity for brands to maintain or even boost sales,” GlobalData’s innovation researcher Lihong Zheng said.

One success story is the instant noodle brand Ramen Talk, which boosted its sales dramatically by re-positioning as ‘Wanghong Noodle’ in an influencer campaign, resulting in $14.29m (CNY100m) in sales.