Ep. 496 wine2wine 2020 Recording Session | Social Media in the China Wine Market

Italian wine podcast. Chinchin with Italian wine people. Italian wine podcast as wine to wine twenty twenty media partner is proud to present a series of sessions chosen to highlight key themes and ideas and recorded during the two day event held on November twenty third and twenty fourth twenty twenty. Wine to Wine twenty twenty represented the first ever fully digital edition of the business to business forum. Visit wine to wine dot net, and make sure to attend future editions of wine to wine business forum. Hello. Hello, everybody. So I'm a, and, Gus. I am Gus. So, we're, we're the, first, the two Chinese MWs. So far, yeah, we're the only two, chai with the Chinese nationality. We recently got MWs. Gus is now just back from California, be based in, Beijing. And, me personally, I'm, based in France. So today what we're going to talk about, will be a social social media in China. Guys, would you like to talk briefly about what you're doing in China at the moment? Yeah. I'm doing the wine education side. And as everybody know that things are pretty opening up in China now. So we're still teaching and doing education, but in my leisure time, I watch a lot of, Japanese anime and the movies and all of that. And so today, I'm gonna talk a bit about that in relation to the wine industry and the Luling, and you are gonna talk about what we are using the most now, right, wechat. Yeah. I'm gonna touch a bit of, on the WeChat. So, my background is more, in the past, it's about, investment in China. And then now I'm reshifting my focus to a wine critic, the this role and the the, pre the audience is mainly Chinese. And there is some generation gap there. I don't know how old is the gas gas was almost the youngest, almost the youngest m w two. But he he's amazing young guy brilliant. We do have a generation gap between us. I think we are probably, like, a twelve or thirteen years apart. So it's also kind of what he's going to talk about is is quite folks for for his generation. We're we're two generations. Although I look as young as you are. But anyway, so now let's, let's go directly because we're running the clock. So we're going directly to what we're going to talk about. So I'm gonna take the take the, micro now. So my focus will be about the WeChat. But anyway, before we start, I think, some context we put in, we would need to put in head is that there is a wall there's this famous, Chinese firewall, and so there, there's things don't get through easily. And there are certain apps we're familiar in the Europe. In America, doesn't really exist, or you need to, you need to go to a VPN to get access to. So there are some different versions, kind of equivalent to what we're familiar with. So, like WhatsApp is, part of, the the function is part of what we chat. Can can deliver. And the YouTube, similarly, you will have your cool, bilibili, etcetera, etcetera. And the Facebook is also delivered partly by WeChat. But WeChat has more functions. I'm gonna touch about that later. And then, we would, also have something called Weibo to to replace basically the function of Twitter, but it's not as simple as that. WeChat. It's been launched nine years ago by Tencent. Now the daily active users is about one billion. We're talking about billions, almost everywhere, and with the daily message sent us, was about forty five billion. But I I see a tendency that people are more and more addicted to to the program. So maybe the recent figure is probably even bigger. So we talked about it's delivering some of the functions of Facebook and the WhatsApp, but it's also more than that. So there are different functions like mini programs I'm gonna talk about later. The mini programs has about one point one billion transactions daily. And the revenues has hit eighty two billion RMB in twenty nineteen. It's not just we chat, but it's also together with other tencent social media, this figure. There are also twenty million active official accounts. I'm gonna talk about what is official accounts later. And four ten million audio and video calls daily. It can also connect to other social media platform. And on top of this, which what's really amazing is that you can actually pay for your taxi, your busts, your utility bills can use it, in the convenience stores, buy some food in the restaurants, supermarkets, etcetera, etcetera. Basically, with with WeChat, as long as it's charged, You don't need to bring a wallet as well as you have money in a bank of course. So what does that mean to the wine trade? I'm gonna pick the three most relevant, functions of WeChat. So first of all, messages and calls. So it's it's really for instant communication. And we know that China has a very different culture than, and western culture that everything needs to be very instant. The Chinese one always to get things done yesterday. And you usually during the weekends, it's also not really shut down. So, like, I'm living in France, but I never really feel I'm I'm, living another country. I still feel like I'm living living in China with all the message you got through and the calls get through during weekends, you know. So that's so the notion of instance is very important, in China. They're expecting quick response. And, and the second thing is the official accounts. Basically, every every company can have the official presentations through we through official accounts. I'm gonna show you an example later. And then the last thing is the mini programs. It's It doesn't just allow you to do some purchase, some online business. It's also, it can provide you with the different functions like your, you can do your presentation permanently or exhibition permanently with this kind of program. By linking from one to the other. So messages and calls. It's actually, one thing that's quite interesting is that people are not really in China, people are not really inclined to to use emails. Only very big companies, they're, if you're working for multinational companies, they are more used to using emails like what we are doing. But lots of formal talks, it's made kind of informal by through, by the instant messages through WeChat. Lots of documents, company documents has also been sent this way. And it's very difficult to push Chinese to use emails these days. I think most of most of us are using WeChat to communicate unless you're you're forced to talk to a foreigner than to really have WeChat account. So that this is a quite big cultural difference. And, you could also have the group chat up to about five hundred members, and many things can be created, like, at the professional level. So you would have lots of Italian wine groups or, bordeaux wine groups and stuff like this. And, also interestingly, it has the translation function between foreign languages and it can also translate a verbal message to text. So, this could possibly make communication a lot easier for everybody if you don't necessarily speak Chinese or their English level is not very good. Although, the quality of translations as bad or as good as Google translator. So sometimes it could be tricky, bear this in mind. So now, so all I wanna say is, although there is a wall, and it will be created with more barrier with whatever is going on in America. I think there's, some, some campaign being against the use, the usage of, WeChat and stuff. So this is, this is what's gonna happen. But there are when there are problems, they always more solutions. So instead of seeing cultural difference as a problem, let's just face them and try to see how to adapt to the differences. So now I'm using, my own official account which I opened in July to give you an example. So the on the left of the string, that's how it's looking like. You would have your, logo, your description, your, whatever you have released, and it will tell you. I don't know if you can read, but, maybe the only thing you can read is, like, thirteen on the first article that was released there with the Mozzo, Mozzo vineyard on on the background. So, basically, it tells me that thirteen of my friends has paid for this So they paid for this, article, but, also give me figures, not how many in total. So I I wouldn't be able to know the split between whoever I know has been has accessing my articles and those who doesn't. So that this is a very interesting thing to know. And on the bigger screen, or the more articles on the right or in the middle, if you like. So it shows you there, there's different columns. There, there are four, five different columns under each those we're the Chinese characters. So the first was, showing you the with I, if you think that I was just showing you how much view has been directly carried through the official account. And then the second and third are basically quite alike. They're showing you how many people like it. And then the green thing is how much pay actually, people would pay you if they really like it. And then the last column is very important is how many, has been reposted by other official accounts. So if we go to the next slide, so this is very interesting. If you create some content, really draw the attention of other people. So for instance, the last article on the left on the left screen, on the left photo, you at the bottom, you will see the views. It was three three thousand two hundred ninety one views. But because the content has been very interesting to other people, so their eight platform has shared it. So that creates their reads. And in total, it comes to seventeen thousand views. So if you create interesting content, people does have the tendency to to repost. So so far as a new official account, I have got in in general between twelve to fifteen thousand views for most of the articles. And that's that's quite interesting, but and also not only that not only just that. You can also, have the very powerful analysis tour to see, where they have been accessed by by what? Is it in the chat, group chat or people shared in their personal post, or is it through other other official accounts? So it is a very powerful tool, but And bear in mind, it's not necessary a choice for everyone because basically, one is a very niche segment. All all of us, we we're aware of this. So, try not to invent new wheels. Or when there's already existing platforms. So try to find the synergy to to create something suitable for your business, in terms of type, in terms of skill, and the business model as well. So we do see we do see that there's, tendency that many people are so, motivated to have their official accounts, but, not necessarily have the, the expected, what, expected, the performance So the mini program is very interesting. It's not just, give you, give you instant efficient performance. It's, there are more functions to explore. So now what I'm going to going to do is to show you very, very briefly about the mini program, then I'm gonna hand over to GM because we're running out of time. And I've seen questions. I'm gonna, we're gonna go back to this later for the questions section just to keep us on time. Right now, a very brief show on the mini program video. So this is, somebody created this, basically, this year to adapt to the, the absence of many trade shows. So they created this online drink show. So companies or association, you can do different kinds of things. And there are many functions can be, accomplished through this, mini program. Purchase is also possible, presentations of course possible, and their events. You can also show your show the videos of, whatever you wanted to show to to others and a content, their personalized content can be created by whoever is, in in this, the supply chain. You can also create your notes. So it's a very powerful tool. I'm gonna show you this, full program later if we have more time. Right now, I'm gonna stop right here, and, we're gonna, so we're gonna hand over to Alright. So, Link has explained clearly how this program works, and we have lots of these apps in China, but the central ones are wechat is wechat. And for the, other, type of things that people use often. Of course, we use YouTube in the western world, but in China, we also have these kind of alternatives. And one of the biggest ones is called the Yo coupe. So YouTube the Chinese version is Yoku, but people are not actually watching lots of things on Yoku at the moment, and they gradually switch their focus to this website called And what the point that I wanna make here is sort of is more about the cultural thing is that here's a mentality of when I said to people, okay, I'm watching lots of Japanese anime, those kind of things, believe, these kind of platform. People will be like, oh, are you still ten years old, or only my son and my daughter watches it, and we don't care about it. But I have to say you have to think about this thing this way. Okay? First of all, the wine industry, I think we realize that lots of people talk about this point is that we say, okay, we are only playing this game within the wine industry. It's harder. It's becoming harder and harder for us to reach younger generations and the broader audiences for wine consumption at the moment. So people are like, okay, we need to be innovative. We need to be, like, creative. We need to listen to the consumers. I hear all about these kind of things in the wine industry. But what exactly did we do? I think we were not doing the things by really listening to consumers, and especially the consumers, we want to grab them into this wonderful world of wine. Here's the thing. So when I say, okay, I watch Japanese anime, and I just said that people would just say, oh, you're so childish, blah blah blah. But think about the other way for all the other people, which are most people in the world who don't understand wine and who don't understand the wine industry, when they look at us tasting, appreciating wines, they have the same mentality. Is that oh, this is just a drink. And when I drink it, it's so tammy and so acidic. Like, why the hell do I need to drink it? Right? Why do I need to appreciate that those kind of drinks? It's the same sort of mentality. So what I wanna say here to show you this, is to show you how this website really capture the audiences and expand the audiences and also integrate lots of things to make money to expand the market. So that is Billy Billy, and their logo is Cheers, Billy Billy Cheers. So what is this website? Just don't, how does it say? When you look at these kind of things, it's kinda messy at the beginning because it's a copycat from a Japanese website called the Nicole Nikko. What they do that's different from other video streaming website is that they have this kind of instant comment system. So when you watch the video, at one point, you'll say, okay, I watched something amazing. I think this is this guy is so handsome or this lady is so beautiful. I wanna comment on it, and you type it in, and your comment will be showing on the screen. Floating. Okay? So if they have the scrolling commenting system called the bullet curtain. So if certain video has a so famous such as this Japanese anime that I'm watching now, they have just for one video twenty minutes of the anime. One episode, they have five thousand nine hundred and ninety nine comments that you can see all the time. And some people say, why the hell do I wanna see that? It's so messy. Well, people got addicted to that, especially if you watch it all the time. It is just like tasting wine, okay, or just like drinking coffee when you show when you give an espresso without sugar, without milk to a two year old kid. That kid will be like, oh, they are not used to it. But with some milk, with some sugar, it's fine. And when they taste more, when they get used to it, they started to appreciate the complexity. Behind it. And for this kind of a bully curtain, people get used to it, and they started to see the content behind it. And then they started to see, wow, other people are interacting with me. For this single second of this screen for this video. And it feels like I am watching these with people together, and we we are changing ideas, and we are changing thoughts instantly. At that moment. Right? So, it's it's it's becoming really interesting, and the people can see the diversity of content behind it. So how did it do? How did this website do? Okay. If you think this kind of thing is ridiculous, look at this figure. Okay. It was founded ten years ago. I was a proud member ten years ago. Okay. And they started to build consumer base like crazy. And now they are valued at US dollars eight billion, and lots of companies started to invest in this, this website, like Sony put some, minor stake into it, and people can just see the growth and they have so much, so many paying users just to be very loyal to this website. But I have to say why does it why did it become so success successful? It is not only because oh, we just watch Japanese anime, those kind of things. It started with that, but then the website started to build up the content based on what the consumers are interested in. So then they they are thinking the people who watch Japanese animates, manga, read the manga. They are also the consumers who love to play games probably. Play those kind of games on their cell phones just like when we say, oh, we have a huge consumer base for New Zealand's of Yumplo. Maybe we have, we can expand our territory. We can try to introduce consumers to drink some chilions of a Yumplo. To drink some sunser. And therefore, this website, Billy Bel, they started to do a, cell phone game, a game on the cell phone called the Faith Grand Order. Because they know these types of consumers well, watching those kind of enemies. So they also know what kind of thing can really attract them and make them addicted to these kind of things. So they make the this game fake granddaughter, and they make lots of money. And as a result, because of this single game, they got the money to be able to be an IPO, to be on NASDAQ. I found out a pretty crazy, but then my cousin who is also a fan of anime and who is also a fan of playing cell phone games all the time, he said when he played this game because you wanna have this kind of equipment to fight the box in the game and to do all that and to change your costumes in the game. He paid twenty thousand Chinese yuan just for this game to buy all those kind of fancy closings and the high higher level of equipments. And they are the consumers for these kind of things. And think about the wine industry. How can we even get one consumer to invest another twenty thousand, Chinese yuan just for one product, buying one type of wine. Right? Think about how we can do it. You really wanna do it organically. And then because they developed so well, they started to integrate all these kind of business models just like with Linxapp, and we chat that they can link to any other applications of those kind of APPs, those kind of shopping things. So now the Bilibili can integrate those kind of advertisements and these kind of online shopping. For example, if you look at the right side of the screen, you can see all these kind of anime toys, that people would buy them because they collect them. Right? I bought some of them recently. And if you look at the other thing I think is another such a smart thing for them to do is that they use the money to invest in buying copy rights of certain movies and games and, animates. So this website is not only about the Japanese anime anymore. You can find literally everything on there. As long as you're your member, even if you're not a paid member, you can get access to lots of classic movies. Like Harry Potter, they bought from Harry Potter, and people would, if they want to watch it, they wouldn't buy DVDs at anymore. They wouldn't buy, like, paid members of YouTube or other websites anymore. They wouldn't download those kind of things by paying anymore. They would just become a member of Billy Billy and watch Harry Potter and frozen, and lots of different things. You can find literally everything you wanna watch, really busy at the moment. And it's not illegal. They are they all have those kind of copyrights. So they develop they diversify their consumer base by doing these kind of things. Alright? So and they also they are focusing on the people who upload quality original videos. So if you look at the most famous uploaders now, they are easily millions of fans following them, and they have easily millions of, of, plays of their video. So you always find original and quality videos of of any aspects, bilibili. Okay? So that's all I wanna say. We are running short in time, but I just wanna say, you really wanna think outside of the box in the wine industry. And one thing I would say is that you want to appreciate how the consumers perceive things. It's not about, oh, it's he's watching Japanese manga, and that's so childish. No. It's not about that. There's a huge consumer base. So the wine does really need to think about these kind of things. So, we're going to the question now, sir, maybe I'd like to to read the the questions for for a while. I'm gonna start with some questions I've already read. So they're about the small business. I, like I said, I think finding the synergy, together with the existing channel is quite important. Don't invent new will. Because you're gonna be disappearing in the in lots of information when you're a new starter and you're trying to create your own voice. So try to, get to either one to one or finding some other kill kill outlets and talking to some PR companies to see if they can do something for you instead of you do it on your own. Otherwise, the the cost of time is very expensive as well. And, question three, I think, you would like to answer this from Joseph. It's about, what role does taste based personalization play when selling wine online in China? Yes. It's it's a pretty complicated one. So and we're running out of time. Maybe we can just later follow-up with some, with the with the real stuff. Yeah. Yeah. We gotta make some conclusions. So thank you, everyone. Thank you very much. Yeah. Thank you very much. Have a lovely day. Bye bye. Listen to the Italian wine podcast wherever you get your podcast. We're on SoundCloud, Apple Podcasts, Himalaya FM, and more. Don't forget to subscribe and rate the show. If you enjoy listening, please consider donating through Italian wine podcast dot com. 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