In the first half of 2025, marketing in China has been shaped by a consumer market that demonstrates both remarkable resilience and structural transformation. In this evolving environment, brands and marketers are facing a new wave of strategic change. Drawing on shifts in consumer behavior and the direction of leading platforms, this article highlights five of the most important marketing trends in China for the first half of 2025—providing actionable insights for brand strategy.
Chinese Consumers’ Interests Are Becoming More Niche and Refined
The landscape of marketing in China is being reshaped by a profound evolution in consumer interests. In early 2025, over 70% of Chinese consumers developed new hobbies or habits, with tangible spending in these emerging categories. On average, each consumer explored 3.86 new areas of interest and made purchases in 3.6 of them.
Price is no longer the sole driver of purchasing decisions. While more than 60% of consumers still view low prices as a significant factor, many are now focusing on value for money. At the same time, they are growing more cautious about the compromises in quality and experience often associated with ultra-low pricing.
In addition, Chinese shopping behavior is moving toward “high-efficiency decision-making.” Average daily shopping time has dropped from 80 minutes to just 43 minutes. However, the persistently high return rate suggests that while consumers are making decisions faster, satisfaction levels are not rising.
For marketing in China, this presents a crucial lesson: rather than competing solely on price or speed, brands should focus on creating clear and emotionally resonant touchpoints, backed by strong product value. This approach builds trust and fosters lasting consumer relationships.
China’s Traditional Media Pushes for Transformation
In the fast-changing landscape of marketing in China, the rapid rise of short video and mobile-first content on Chinese social media platforms is driving a systemic transformation of the country’s traditional media. This transformation is not only modernizing content production methods but also redefining distribution channels and technological frameworks.
Broadcast television still commands massive reach. As of 2024, radio and TV combined achieved nearly 100% nationwide coverage. Large-screen audiences reached 1.25 billion people, with total viewing time exceeding 722.3 billion hours. However, in the context of marketing in China, such dominance is no longer a guarantee of stability, it is a catalyst pushing the industry toward AI-driven and smart innovations.
China’s AI-powered news generation and personalized content recommendation systems are reshaping how traditional media delivers value to audiences. These technologies boost production efficiency while allowing for more tailored, engaging content. At the same time, mainstream Chinese media outlets are accelerating their presence on international social platforms. Over 1,000 official accounts are now active on Facebook and YouTube, amassing more than 1.4 billion subscribers, a reflection of how marketing in China increasingly extends beyond national borders.
An Expansion Project in China? We Can Help You!
Chinese Social Video Platforms: The New Powerhouse for Precision Marketing in China
By the first half of 2025, Chinese video platforms have become central to brand strategies for marketing in China. The country’s mobile internet user base reached 1.259 billion, with average monthly usage per person exceeding 175 hours. Consumer attention has concentrated in three key arenas (short video, social media, and online video), signaling a structural shift in where brands must compete for engagement.
This shift has made video platforms critical to precision targeting. They now serve as powerful engines for brand awareness, demand generation, and full-funnel conversion in the Chinese market.
Short video platforms like Douyin have evolved into “content-driven e-commerce” ecosystems, a major turning point for marketing in China. Video content sparks user interest, while in-app search and integrated shopping functions ensure seamless conversion. Advertising and promotional campaigns amplify this effect, creating a self-sustaining loop: the more targeted the content, the higher the sales efficiency.
Traditional long-form video platforms such as Tencent Video, iQIYI, and Youku retain strong appeal through niche content strategies while expanding commercial ecosystems. Mango TV’s integration of e-commerce directly into content pathways enables viewers to shop instantly from what they watch, a game-changing feature for content-based marketing in China. As Chinese social media platforms become “content + commerce” hybrids, they are rewriting the rules of brand-consumer interaction.
China Social Media Marketing: Storytelling as the Core Brand Capability
In the evolving landscape of marketing in China, 2025 marks the rise of the “narrative universe” era. Brands are no longer just telling a good story，they are building a worldview that users can identify with, adopt, and repeat. This “brand universe” not only carries brand messaging but also becomes a tool for self-expression and interpretation of the world. A truly powerful brand story has strong explanatory power, enabling consumers to naturally weave the brand’s narrative into the way they tell their own life stories.
One of the most striking examples of this trend is the fusion of technology and storytelling. For instance, BMW’s latest short film doesn’t directly showcase its cars. Instead, it uses the metaphor of an octopus moving with neural impulses to illustrate the responsiveness and intelligence of its central control system. In this new age of marketing in China, stories are less about direct selling and more about symbolism, metaphor, and emotional resonance with technology. AI has transformed content marketing from pushing product features to building narrative structures that consumers willingly adopt, creating long-term brand meaning.
China Brand Marketing: The Full-Scale Launch of AI Collaborative Marketing
Unlike the enterprise-led “digital transformation” of the past, the AI marketing wave of early 2025 is more like a bottom-up “cognitive reorganization” led by marketers themselves. AI is no longer just a tool—it is becoming a decision-making partner. From creative generation, asset iteration, and campaign management to performance analytics, AI is fully embedded in marketing workflows, shaping new roles such as “prompt engineers” and “data-driven creatives.”
China’s major social media platforms are also accelerating the release of AI capabilities. Advertising giants like Tencent and ByteDance have introduced proprietary large models to help brands quickly generate creative content ready for direct campaign deployment. AI-powered customer service and intelligent operations tools are now mature enough to break down the barriers between creativity, production, and media execution. For marketing professionals in China, the key is mastering AI collaboration—merging creativity and technology to participate in both strategic planning and content evolution. Forrester’s “cognitive collaboration model” is no longer a concept but a reality, with AI acting as an intellectual partner in the marketing team. This evolution will drive the industry from efficiency-led strategies toward a true rethink of how marketing in China operates.
Partner with STAiiRS for Marketing Success in China
In a constantly shifting Chinese market, understanding trends is only the first step. The real challenge lies in execution. If you want to achieve sustained growth in marketing in China, STAiiRS is your trusted partner. As experts in China’s market dynamics, we help brands seize opportunities and turn them into long-term success stories.
Recent Comments