TikTok, Temu and Shein get branding better than the West – Björn Ognibeni

 

Bjorn Ognibeni

TikTok, Temu, and Shein are better in branding than most Western brands, argues branding expert Björn Ognibeni on his weblog. The result of this miscalculation is evident in performance differences: While many Asian platforms boast strong user retention and high time spent on site, Western providers are struggling with declining conversion rates and rising acquisition costs.

Björn Ognibeni:

Measurability is complex (how can trust building be quantified?), ROI seems uncertain, and impatience for quarterly results leads to short-term tactics. But when comparing the branding strategies of Western and Chinese companies, three areas of missed opportunities become obvious:

1. Untapped Discovery Potential: Western e-commerce is ideal for when you know exactly what you’re looking for. But what about those times when people want to browse, find inspiration and discover something new? Chinese platforms show us: Discovery-driven shopping can complement search well and offer a significant growth opportunity, but only if it is done right and does not annoy customers.

2. The Social Commerce Misunderstanding: Western companies often misunderstand ‘social commerce’, viewing it merely as a way of buying reach on Instagram or TikTok, when in fact it is so much more than that. In Asia, where social thinking has always been more ingrained in the culture, companies have realized that it’s about building genuine relationships. This approach might also appeal to Western customers because the desire for social connection is universal, not just cultural.

3. Enshittification of the UX: The creeping deterioration of the user experience due to excessive advertising is rendering Western platforms increasingly unusable. Search results are flooded with sponsored products and every click leads to more ads. And to customer frustration.

The result of this miscalculation is evident in performance differences: While many Asian platforms boast strong user retention and high time spent on site, Western providers are struggling with declining conversion rates and rising acquisition costs.

More at Björn Ognibeni’s weblog.

 Björn Ognibeni is a speaker at the China Speakers Bureau. Do you need him at your meeting or conference? Do get in touch or fill in our speakers’ request form.

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What is the Douyin app? – Ashley Dudarenok

 

Ashley Dudarenok

Marketing expert Ashley Dudarenok explains the difference between TikTok and its Chinese sister Douyin at her website Chozan. In 2025, Douyin was named China’s most valuable brand, with a valuation of US$105.8 billion. That marked a 26% increase from the previous year, driven by the platform’s deep integration into everyday digital life. In March 2025, Douyin reached 1 billion monthly active users in China. What exactly is Douyin?

Ashley Dudarenok:

Douyin is China’s most advanced mobile video platform, built by ByteDance to serve as a real-time content engine, recommendation system, and behavioral mirror.

It’s not just a social media app or a video feed. It’s a fully enclosed digital environment where the algorithm not only delivers content, but also orchestrates user attention, timing, and emotional rhythm within the scroll itself.

Below are the foundational elements that define how Douyin works at its core:

• A video-first infrastructure, not social-first

Douyin was never built on the concept of friends, followers, or timelines. From day one, it prioritized algorithmic distribution over social connections. You’re not shown who you know—you’re shown what holds your attention.

• An interest engine fueled by micro-interactions

Every interaction matters. Pausing for two seconds, skipping after three, replaying a scene—all of it feeds the algorithm. Douyin uses this data to fine-tune every next video, second by second.

• Content designed to be experienced in vertical isolation

Douyin videos are full-screen by default. This isn’t an aesthetic choice. It ensures undivided attention and allows for edge-to-edge optimization of both content and call-to-action dynamics. Users see nothing but the story.

• A synthetic culture layer powered by remix

Douyin thrives on replication. Its tools—like short sound loops, filters, or caption formats—are designed to turn any video into a template for others. Culture is not just consumed here. It is mechanically encouraged to reproduce.

• A platform that blurs time boundaries

Douyin’s scroll is not chronological. A post from five minutes ago can appear beside one from five days ago. What matters is not when something was posted, but how well it matches a current behavioral cluster.

• A testbed for visual grammar

Many visual trends—such as flash-cut confessionals, POV camera flips, or hand-to-camera transitions—originate on Douyin before spreading to other platforms. It’s where China’s visual vocabulary is shaped and stress-tested for the first time.

• A platform that rewrites the idea of ‘user’

On Douyin, users are not defined by who they follow or what they say. They are clusters of behavior, composed of habits, timings, reactions, and attention patterns. The platform doesn’t track identity. It tracks disposition.

Much more at Chozan.

Ashley Dudarenok is a speaker at the China Speakers Bureau. Do you need her at your meeting or conference? Do get in touch or fill in our speakers’ request form.

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How China’s technology, design and culture fuse – Ashley Dudarenok

 

Ashley Dudarenok

China’s technology, design, and culture are part of a fusion that reshapes the country, says innovation expert Ashley Dudarenok in an analysis by the state-owned China Daily. “It’s a holistic shift, where tech meets culture, design, and daily life, and this wave is just starting,” according to Ashley Dudarenok

China Daily:

The fusion of technology and storytelling has elevated Chinese pop culture to new heights. Video games such as Black Myth: Wukong, based on the classic novel Journey to the West, are drawing global praise for both their cinematic visuals and mythological depth.

“It’s a holistic shift, where tech meets culture, design, and daily life, and this wave is just starting,” according to Ashley Dudarenok, founder of China-focused digital marketing company Alarice.

Platforms like TikTok and Xiaohongshu (RedNote) are at the center of this movement. TikTok, developed by China’s ByteDance, is not only a global leader in short-form video but also ranked by Brand Finance as the world’s seventh most valuable brand, ahead of Instagram and Facebook…

Dudarenok attributed this rise to China’s multi-pronged strategy of massive R&D investment, tax incentives for global co-productions, and a creative wave led by Gen Z content makers.

In 2024 alone, China invested 3.6 trillion yuan ($502 billion) in research and development, as per the National Bureau of Statistics…

Younger generations, particularly Gen Z and Millennials, are engaging with China in more nuanced ways. According to Brand Finance’s 2025 Soft Power Index, perceptions of China among digitally connected young people have improved significantly since 2020.

“Gen Z appreciates the blend of heritage and hyper-modernity,” said Dudarenok. “Black Myth: Wukong isn’t just a game, it’s a cultural ambassador that shifts how people view Chinese creativity.”…

Despite the momentum, challenges remain. Some cultural exports still struggle to resonate abroad due to localized storytelling or dense cultural references.

“Many Chinese pop culture exports focus on fusing ancient stories with modern values, which can sometimes limit global reach,” said Dudarenok from Alarice.

She pointed to Ne Zha 2, which became the highest-grossing animated film of all time, yet earned 99 percent of its revenue on the Chinese mainland.

“While the world is fascinated by companies like DeepSeek and Unitree, it will take time for people to fully embrace these innovations,” she said. “As interactions with China increase, initial apprehension will give way to excitement and appreciation.”

More in the China Daily.

Ashley Dudarenok is a speaker at the China Speakers Bureau. Do you need her at your meeting or conference? Do get in touch or fill in our speakers’ request form.

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How AI has entered the stage as filmmaker – Winston Ma

 

Winston ma

AI tools to generate videos, like TikTok, have been challenged by a new wave of innovations using AI as filmmakers, says Winston Ma, author of The Digital War: How China’s Tech Power Shapes the Future of AI, Blockchain and Cyberspace at CNBC. “Just like TikTok took the global markets by storm with short videos in the mobile internet age, Chinese AI companies could well lead the Generative AI revolution in visual digital entertainment,” said Ma.

CNBC:

Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba has also stayed on top of the trend by releasing the latest version of its video generation AI model this week called Wan2.2. The company claimed that with the open-source model, users can control lighting, time of day, color tone, camera angle, frame size, composition and focal length.

Open source allows users to download a model for free, and customize, if not commercialize, products with it. Alibaba claimed that since open sourcing the “Wan” model series in February, the models have been downloaded more than 5.4 million times from the Hugging Face platform and a similar one in China called ModelScope.

“The age of AI in film is over. We’ve entered the age of AI as filmmaker,” said Winston Ma, adjunct professor at NYU School of Law. He pointed out that China’s 1.4 billion population has given local companies “enormous” amounts of video-watching data to work with.

“Just like TikTok took the global markets by storm with short videos in the mobile internet age, Chinese AI companies could well lead the Generative AI revolution in visual digital entertainment,” said Ma, author of “The Digital War: How China’s Tech Power Shapes the Future of AI, Blockchain and Cyberspace.”

More at CNBC.

Winston Ma is a speaker at the China Speakers Bureau. Do you need him at your meeting or conference? Email us or fill in our speakers’ request form.

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The innovation battle between China and the US – Shaun Rein

 

Shaun Rein

Business analyst Shaun Rein looks at the nervewracking few weeks for the global IT industry, starting with the DeekSeek moment of fame, proving that China was way ahead of the US competition in AI. Also, TikTok, Trump’s curtailing of Nvidia, RedNote’s success, censorship in the US, and Silicon Valley get his verdict on East-West Investment opportunities.

Shaun Rein is a speaker at the China Speakers Bureau. Do you need him at your meeting or conference? Get in touch or fill out our speakers’ request form.

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While banning Tiktok might be fair game, it’s not smart domestically in the US – Victor Shih

 

Victor Shih

Political analyst Victor Shih, author of  Factions and Finance in China: Elite Conflict and Inflation and director of the 21st Century China Center at the University of California San Diego School of Global Policy and Strategy tells at UC San Diego Today. “From a pure competitive technology perspective: I don’t think the ban is optimal, but at least it’s fair game,” he says.

Victor Shih:

What’s the relationship between TikTok and the Chinese Communist Party?

TikTok is a private company, and it’s now registered offshore from China — but, of course, historically most of its operation has been in China. As of five or six years ago, maybe even a bit longer, the Chinese government has required large, private companies to have branches of the Chinese Communist Party within the company structure.

For the Chinese equivalent of TikTok, Douyin, there’s a party committee in the company. And the parent company, ByteDance, which is located in China, also has a Chinese Communist Party branch. Most of the people in the party committee would not be full-time government officials — they’re just workers or executives who had already belonged to the party. That’s actually a common thing to happen. You will soon be recruited into the party at a university or in the workplace, and a lot of people do it just to advance their careers.

There are certain requirements for joining the party, and the No. 1 requirement is that you have to obey the party no matter what. I think that’s where a lot of U.S. lawmakers and people in the government really have an issue.

More recently, within the past four years, the party has demanded top tech companies to give part of their shares to entities of the Chinese government. So China has sovereign wealth funds. Through that mechanism, the government becomes a minority shareholder of these tech companies, so then it can send members to the management boards of these tech companies, and these board members are full-time Chinese government officials.

How has this relationship between ByteDance and the party played into Chinese President Xi Jinping’s larger goals?

Xi Jinping recognizes the power of social media and the internet in general — not really as something to control people’s minds with, but certainly something to use to sway people’s opinions. He has ordered internet companies in China to work for the party on behalf of the party. It’s very well known that the Chinese counterpart of TikTok is ordered by the Chinese government to convey propaganda to users within China all the time, even if TikTok claims that it doesn’t do that for audiences outside of China.

Xi has also said that he wants users around the world, not just in China, to use Chinese technology. And of course, TikTok has been the most successful case of this, certainly on the software side: it’s used by over a billion users worldwide.

Is there reason for the U.S. to be legitimately concerned about how TikTok might make users’ personal data available to the Chinese government?

I don’t buy the argument that we should be alarmed how the Chinese government can get all this data on users from TikTok — because all the other internet platforms active in the U.S. already sell user data to data brokers, and China can obtain it that way. To be clear, I’m sure TikTok is feeding some data to the Chinese government; I’m just saying that it’s probably not that much worse than what they could do already using all the other sources of data.

The other worry is that TikTok is so powerful, and that it’s used by so many people that the people behind the app can bias the politics within the United States. I think that TikTok does have the potential to do that. But then, compare that with other people who are influencing opinion on social media. You have to ask yourself, “Who has done more damage to the quality of American democracy: Elon Musk or TikTok?”

Is the ban a wise move? How could it affect relations between the two countries?

It’s really difficult to assess because former government officials, sometimes at 21st Century China Center events, will say, “If only you knew what we knew, you would definitely support the ban.” But we don’t know what they know.

One consideration is that the Chinese government has banned pretty much all of our social media and search platforms, including Facebook, Instagram and Google.

From a pure competitive technology perspective: I don’t think the ban is optimal, but at least it’s fair game. But of course, TikTok has great currency in the United States: people make a living off of TikTok, so a ban is going to affect them, and as a result, for domestic political reasons it may not be the smartest thing to do.

More at UC San Diego Today.

Victor Shih is a speaker at the China Speakers Bureau. Do you need him at your meeting or conference? Get in touch or fill out our speakers’ request form.

Are you looking for more political experts at the China Speakers Bureau? Do check out this list.

What makes China’s apps different – Sharon Gai

 

Sharon Gai

Former Alibaba employee Sharon Gai, author of Ecommerce Reimagined: Retail and E-commerce in China, is an expert on how Western apps and those from China differ from each other. Now that Rednote, formerly known as Xiaohongshu, has become an alternative for Tiktok, she takes the opportunity to dive into this issue again in her vlog.

Sharon Gai is a speaker at the China Speakers Bureau. Do you need her at your meeting or conference? Get in touch or fill out our speakers’ request form.

Are you looking for more e-commerce experts at the China Speakers Bureau? Do check out this list.

How China is leading the world in 5G and will be in 6G – Ashley Dudarenok

 

Ashley Dudarenok

With 3.8 million 5G stations China is leading the world in 5G, explains marketing expert Ashley Dudarenok on TikTok. Alibaba already uses technology to replace workers, she adds.

Ashley Dudarenok is a speaker at the China Speakers Bureau. Would you like her at your meeting or conference? Contact us or fill out our speakers’ request form.

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Why the anti-TikTok law in the US does not make sense – Kaiser Kuo

 

Kaiser Kuo

US lawmakers have started debate on a law that would ban the successful TikTok app.  Political analyst Kaiser Kuo dismisses the effort as misguided at best, he writes in the ChinaFile. “In a sense, the threat of TikTok is real: In this crisis of confidence, and in a state of moral panic that we’ll look back on red-faced a decade out, TikTok is causing us to inflict grievous self-harm.”

Kaiser Kuo:

The bill that got through Congress on Wednesday to effectively ban TikTok—let’s not pretend either that this bill isn’t specifically about TikTok, or that a forced divestiture isn’t tantamount to a ban—is the latest example of a classic pattern of American behavior: In a panicked attempt to preserve the American way of life, we undermine that very way of life. This time, we seem to be falling over one another to sacrifice our openness, a cornerstone of American strength, out of exaggerated fear that a social media app owned by a Chinese company could be our undoing. As usual, this whole episode says much more about us than it does about China. We have a terrible track record of making bad decisions while in the throes of a moral panic, from Prohibition to the Patriot Act. A closer analogy can be found in the Trump administration’s moves to restrict Chinese STEM students and researchers from coming and working in the U.S., and the subsequent China Initiative. Out of a fear that Chinese industrial espionage would confer an advantage on Beijing, we somehow decided that we were better off if all that prodigious Chinese STEM talent went back to China or just stayed there.

If we accept that we ought to take preemptive action against threats to national security, even if they are only latent and potential, any actions should address those potential threats in good faith. In this case, the threats are data harvested by social media falling into the hands of the Chinese, and social media being used by China to advance a hostile agenda. The bill now making its way to the Senate does not address either of these threats. Instead, it takes aim only at one relatively minor potential vector. Not only is the preponderance of valuable data on TikTok out in the open—the content itself, not the metadata—and would be there just the same irrespective of who owned the company, but Beijing can easily either buy valuable data from brokers, vacuum it up from other social media properties, or just acquire it the old fashioned way, through hacking.

That the motive behind this bill is not, in fact, data security is driven home by the refusal of legislators to accept ByteDance’s own proposal, Project Texas, which was devised in consultation with the Austin-based tech company Oracle and The Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) and would see data localized and housed entirely on servers controlled by Oracle with oversight entirely by U.S. citizens vetted and approved by Oracle. Project Texas would make TikTok the most locked-down, secure social media property in the U.S., if not in the world. The notion that even under that plan, Beijing would still decide to squeeze ByteDance just to acquire data it could obtain far more easily, and in ways that wouldn’t seriously imperil the only Chinese social media company to have enjoyed any global success, is just risible.

And influence? If TikTok is a potent vector for Chinese propagandists, one has to ask: How’s that working out for you, Beijing? Across its years of popularity, American attitudes toward China have plummeted, not improved. If we’re looking for causation, it is clear enough that, if anything, it’s our low national opinion of China driving D.C.’s animus toward TikTok. In a sense, the threat of TikTok is real: In this crisis of confidence, and in a state of moral panic that we’ll look back on red-faced a decade out, TikTok is causing us to inflict grievous self-harm.

More viewpoints at the ChinaFile.

Kaiser Kuo is a speaker at the China Speakers Bureau. Do you need him at your meeting or conference? Do get in touch or fill in our speakers’ request form.

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Why Chinese enter the US through the Mexican border – Ian Johnson

Ian Johnson

A large number of the illegal immigrants entering the US from Mexico are Chinese, and not only poor Chinese, says China scholar Ian Johnson in DW. They mostly rely on dubious information on TikTok and have no clue what kind of adventure they get into, he adds.

DW:

The phenomenon of Chinese people entering the United States via the southern border has come to be described by the term “Zouxian,” which can roughly be translated as “take the risk” — and the term’s broad dissemination on social media platforms has led many young Chinese to do just that.

“They rely on social media more in China for getting their information,” said Ian Johnson, a China expert at the US Council on Foreign Relations. “In the Western countries, you would say: ‘What does the mainstream media say about it?’ But, in China, there is no way to fact- check.” Johnson said it concerned him that so many of those young people have no idea what they are getting themselves into.

Johnson said the situation would not just hit the very poor.

“The economic slowdown is affecting broader ranges of the population, including the lower middle class,” Johnson said. He added that increased political persecution under President Xi Jinping has also fueled a desire to leave China behind.

More in DW.

Ian Johnson is a speaker at the China Speakers Bureau. Do you need him at your meeting or conference? Do get in touch or fill in our speakers’ request form.

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How China’s internet platforms differ from those in the West – Sharon Gai

 

Sharon Gai

China’s platforms like Shein, Temu, and TikTok can conquer Western markets, but Western retail apps fail to do the same in China. E-commerce expert Sharon Gai gives some reason for that difference in the Australian network ABC.

ABC:

Sharon Gai is an e-commerce author, keynote speaker, and former head of global key accounts at online retail giant Alibaba.

She says the way retail apps are designed in China is “fundamentally very different” from businesses in the West, which tend to focus more on search functionality.

“So their primary goal is to get you into an app very quickly, and then out of the app very quickly as well,” Gai said.

“In China, shopping apps are oriented around discoverability — how long can we keep you inside the app, how long can we entertain you, [and] how many new brands or products or trends or styles can you discover?”

Gai also said China’s huge domestic ecommerce market — which recorded almost $3 trillion in sales last year — enables platforms like TEMU and Shein to find the best formula for attracting new customers.

But while Chinese apps have been able to adapt their models to dominate US, UK and Australian markets, Western apps are struggling to achieve the same success bringing their business to China.

Last week, corporate social media giant LinkedIn announced it was shutting down its China service, InCareer, after pulling its main platform from China in 2021.

According to Gai, what sets Chinese and Western apps apart is how fast they are able to respond to the market’s needs

She said at Alibaba, the team motto “changing the motor of the aeroplane, when you’re flying in the air” means moving fast to address the market.

Gai says it’s this speed that has allowed Chinese companies to adapt to Western markets and become the preferred platforms for shoppers worldwide.

More in ABC.

Sharon Gai is a speaker at the China Speakers Bureau. Do you need her at your meeting or conference? Do get in touch or fill in our speakers’ request form.

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Why low-cost platforms are logical winners – Sharon Gai

 

Sharon Gai

Shein, Temu and TikTok have become winning platforms on the internet, and for a good reason, says e-commerce expert Sharon Gai at the Rest of the World. “Globally you have an economic slowdown, so a lot of consumers are also spending less per platform,”

The Rest of the World:

When Temu launched in September 2022, it also drew people in with low prices. In February, it broadcast an ad during the Super Bowl encouraging viewers to “shop like a billionaire” and fill their virtual carts without having to worry about the cost. That weekend, Temu racked 426,000 app downloads in the U.S., according to digital analytics company Sensor Tower.

“Globally you have an economic slowdown, so a lot of consumers are also spending less per platform,” Sharon Gai, the former head of global key accounts at Alibaba and author of Ecommerce Reimagined, told Rest of World. “When there’s a low-cost e-commerce platform that’s emerged out of nowhere, they are obviously going to like it.”

More at the Rest of the World.

Sharon Gai is a speaker at the China Speakers Bureau. Do you need her at your meeting or conference? Do get in touch or fill in our speakers’ request form.

Are you looking for more e-commerce experts? Do check out this list.