Youku, China’s third-largest online video platform by market share, has touched up its branding to appeal to an increasingly young and majority female (56%) user base.
The new logo and color palette are visual manifestations of Youku’s content strategy, which has included focus on marketing campaigns and content targeted towards women.
Why it matters
There’s been considerable chatter about China’s emerging “She-economy” 她经济, as Chinese women flex their spending power over apps and e-commerce platforms. (SCMP):
About 80 per cent of Chinese household consumption is decided by women, including expenditure on eating and drinking, education and cultural activities, and travel, according to a recent report from Tongbanjie, a Chinese online financing platform. It said that during the past three decades, the average income of Chinese women has grown by 63 per cent.
In digital markets, women are fueling the rise of selfie-beautifying apps like Meitu 美图, and transforming traditional holidays like Women’s Day into online shopping free-for-alls (AdAge):
International Women’s Day has always been a well-known holiday in China. Women typically get a half-day off from work, and companies arrange special gifts for female staff. But the holiday was more focused on Chinese mothers and older women until companies–including online shopping giant Alibaba Group–stepped in and rebranded it as a shopping day. They often call it “Queen’s Day,” and they gave it a fresher edge that’s appealing to all women, including young, unmarried millennials. It’s about embracing your inner queen (and buying lots of stuff for yourself).
In terms of video content, this demographic breakdown sits in stark contrast to western platforms like Youtube, whose user base in 2017 was 62% male and 38% female.
Sources
Kendra Schaefer
