Bytedance: beyond Baidu, Alibaba and Tencent - Ashley Dudarenok

Ashley Dudarenok

Marketing expert Ashley Dudarenok dives into the fast-changing landscape of China's internet, especially Bytedance. The relative newcomer has become an established player next to the old trinity of Baidu, Alibaba, and Tencent (BAT). She looks at some of Bytedance's major operations: Jinri Toutiao and Douyin, and Bytebance international expansion for Asia Times.

Ashley Dudarenok:

ByteDance has ambitious expansion plans outside China. Founder and CEO Zhang Yiming announced at the company's sixth year-end gala in March 2018 that the company wants to become a global content creation and communication platform and that they will focus on globalization this year. 

ByteDance recently attracted notice in the West after acquiring Musical.ly, the mobile app that's very popular among young people in the US Topbuzz, the English version of Toutiao was also launched in North and South America three years ago to expand its global presence. The rising giant also bought France-based media aggregation service News Republic in 2017 and invested in Indian news app Dailyhunt in 2016. 

Outside of news aggregation, ByteDance also wants to increase its market share in video platforms and mobile entertainment apps. It acquired US video creation app Flipagram in early 2017. Then in November 2017, it invested $50 million in Live.me, a successful mobile streaming app that's focused on the US market. 

By rolling out its own products and acquiring others, ByteDance has successfully amplified its global presence to grab market share in Japan, India, Southeast Asia, Europe, North America and South America. Yet the brand itself is not as well-known as the top three – BAT – locally or overseas. Many people have only heard of their apps and can't connect them to their parent company. As a result, in April 2018, Toutiao confirmed that they will use 'ByteDance' from now on as the brand name for external communication and marketing. This is an obvious signal that ByteDance is gearing up for branding and firmly establishing its image as an industry leader in China's tech scene and beyond.

More at Asia Times.

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.

Are you looking for more experts on China's digital transformation? Do check out this list.

Why BuzzFeed is likely to fail in China - Shaun Rein

Shaun Rein

News aggregator Jinri Toutiao agrees to distribute content from American media outlet BuzzFeed to a Chinese audience, the Sixth Tone reports. After failures to start media operations in China by Rupert Murdoch, Google, Yahoo, Facebook, Time Warner and Viacom - to mention a few - you can see business analyst Shaun Rein, author of The War for China's Wallet: Profiting from the New World Order shaking his head in disbelieve, as he comments on the move.

The Sixth Tone:

ByteDance, Toutiao’s parent company, will publish BuzzFeed’s videos to hundreds of millions of users across multiple platforms, according to a statement released Thursday. The financial details of the licensing deal have not been disclosed. 

BuzzFeed, known for its fun and often viral content, will have to “jump through some regulatory hoops” to be successful in China, said Shaun Rein, founder of the Shanghai-based consulting firm China Market Research Group and author of the book “The War for China’s Wallet.” 

“The risks are really high, to be honest,” Rein told Sixth Tone. In addition to creating eye-catching content, he added, BuzzFeed does not tend to shy away from tackling weighty political issues.

More in the Sixth Tone. Shaun Rein is a speaker at the China Speakers Bureau. Do you need him at you your meeting or conference? Do get in touch or fill in our speakers' request form.

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