It is no secret that internet personalities these days can be as effective as expensive marketing campaigns. And China’s major video portal Youku wants a slice of the action.
YouTube star Michelle Phan launched her own channel on China’s major video portal Youku recently.
During her trip to China, she hosted a gathering for local fans and created makeup for some of them in Beijing, which was broadcast live on Youku on Oct 13.
The move is part of Youku’s plan to introduce more international internet personalities and semi professionals to its platform, which already has more than 100 such video bloggers on it.
Cosmetics and apparel are among the top three categories on Tmall, China’s major online market place, and consumers are now increasingly relying on internet personalities to make their purchase decisions, says Ge Wei, vice-president of Youku Tudou Inc.
Youku has recently collaborated with Alibaba, the owner of Tmall, to merge videos with e-commerce.
The collaboration allows the audience to buy the products while watching the video, which also presents an opportunity for Phan.
With more than 7.5 million subscribers, Phan’s videos have been viewed more than 1 billion times and she is one of the most watched personalities online.
Phan has her own beauty subscription service, Ipsy.
Phan is also an inspiration for Chinese women to start their own business, says Ge. “We want to encourage more young women to start on their own, to empower them to live a better life through their own efforts,” she says.
The channel will be different from Phan’s YouTube channel, catering more to the needs of Chinese women.
She will also spend more time in China to get to know the local audience and the Chinese market.
Phan says she sees the future of makeup as being more diversified and Chinese girls will wear makeup that is inspired by their own culture, instead of Japanese or Korean cultures.
Besides makeup, Phan says she will also share career advice with Chinese audiences.
“There are a lot of industries that are run by men, and beauty is actually one of them … I will be sharing my experience in the industry as a woman, how I came through and what I learned,” she says.
Relationship tips will also be part of the sharing, she says.
“It’s like being a big sister. These are things that you would want to learn from a sister. Not everyone has a big sister. And I want to fill in that role for the girls.”
