Dentsu Aegis Media partners with Bilibili, Zhihu, Red and Kuaishou

Dentsu Aegis Network (DAN) has announced partnerships with four Chinese platforms that target specific audiences: Bilibili, Red, Zhihu and Kuaishou.

The partnerships applies across DAN's media line of business, including Carat, DX, Vizeum and iProspect. The partnerships aim to establish a closer connection with the platforms' e-commerce, data analysis and creative expertise. DAN said its clients will benefit from its expertise in media planning and buying, data analysis and strategy combined with the chance to be part of beta testing and product development initiatives from across the four growing Chinese platforms.

Tony Chen, China CEO of Dentsu Aegis Media, told Campaign Asia-Pacific that the company needs to invest ahead of its clients as consumer behaviour is changing amid the pandemic. "We have a motto for this year's strategy, that is to 'focus on the next'," Chen said. "The one-to-many model of transmission becomes a bit outdated; it is all about accurate advertising now."

COVID-19 has caused an average 30% to 40% decrease in OOH budgets in China in the first quarter, Chen noted. This is a challenge as well as an opportunity, according to Chen, and DAN team members are working to get certified in all Chinese digital platforms.

"Understanding where and how to invest, and integrating that spend into your media strategy is critical to build brand loyalty and drive sales," he said. "We want to take the first-mover advantage in unlocking the value of Bilibili, Red, Zhihu and Kuaishou on behalf of our clients." 

Bilibili has become the favourite video site for China's Gen Z, with 172 million monthly active users and average daily user time hitting 80 minutes. Zhihu is a site somewhat like Quora. Red focuses on premium lifestyles and has 100 million monthly active users. Kuaishou is the main competitor of Douyin (China's version of TikTok) with daily active users surpassing 300 million and almost 20 billion short videos in its library.

“I am very excited to drive close collaboration with forward-looking agency partners like Dentsu," said Jian Chao, head of national brand channel sales at Red. "Red is a fast-evolving media platform, and I look forward to driving some of the amazing initiatives that we are now ready to pioneer together with our most valued agency partners.”