In today’s Chinese market, simply relying on advertising placements and feature-heavy promotions is no longer enough to win over consumers. The success of brand marketing depends not only on product quality and pricing but also on the ability to establish an emotional connection with consumers. As digital marketing rapidly evolves, overseas brands entering the Chinese market must recognize that consumers are no longer satisfied with aggressive advertising or mere feature lists. They seek a deeper emotional resonance with brands. Storytelling marketing is the key to achieving this. It goes beyond narrating a brand’s story; it uses emotional content to convey the brand’s warmth and values, fostering trust through cultural alignment. For overseas brands, the core challenge of localization lies in blending their values with Chinese consumers’ cultural habits and language preferences to tell a story that resonates locally while staying true to their identity.
A brand story is not just a marketing tool; it is essential for building trust and differentiating in a competitive market. Reports indicate that[1] Chinese consumers place a high value on “emotional consumption,” meaning a brand’s ability to forge a deep emotional connection often directly influences purchasing decisions. Through clever storytelling, brands can not only showcase product value but also craft an image of being “in tune with China and its users,” significantly boosting their market competitiveness. So, how can brands tell a story that truly resonates with Chinese consumers? We have distilled the following key strategies.
I. Three Core Elements of Storytelling Marketing
1.1 Cultural Resonance: Integrating Local Symbols and Collective Memory
In the Chinese market, cultural resonance is crucial for successful brand storytelling. Chinese consumers naturally feel a sense of familiarity with local cultural symbols (such as festivals, dialects, and traditional customs). Brands need to skillfully weave these elements into their stories to create an experience that feels both “familiar and fresh.” Festivals and traditions, in particular, are part of China’s collective memory, deeply influencing consumer emotions and behaviors. For example, a well-known international coffee brand[2] launches mooncake gift boxes every Mid-Autumn Festival, a prime example of successfully integrating into Chinese culture. These gift boxes incorporate rich Chinese elements, such as traditional moon symbols and festive patterns, while combining modern flavors and packaging to create a unique consumer experience. This strategy of blending innovation with tradition not only evokes the warmth of the festival but also strengthens the brand’s localized image, allowing consumers to enjoy traditional culture while experiencing the brand’s global perspective and innovative spirit. Through such storytelling, the brand has successfully built a deep emotional connection in the Chinese market, earning high recognition and loyalty from consumers.
1.2 Emotional Drive: Replacing “Perfect Persona” with “Authenticity”
In the Chinese market, Gen Z consumers prefer authentic, imperfect brand expressions. They are more likely to trust stories that show how products fit into daily life and genuinely solve pain points, rather than polished brand images or celebrity endorsements. Compared to traditional celebrity ads, user-generated content (UGC) or endorsements from everyday people can more authentically present product usage scenarios and emotional connections, resonating with consumers’ emotional needs and building trust and recognition. As consumer trust in advertising declines, especially with strong resistance to hard-sell tactics, brands that stick to traditional sales methods often face backlash or indifference. By using more approachable and authentic content, brands can break through this barrier and win consumers’ attention and favor.
The core of storytelling marketing is emotional resonance. Consumers are not just buying a product; they are buying an emotional experience. By telling authentic stories that relate to consumers’ lives, brands can quickly close the distance and build deep trust. When brands showcase “authenticity” rather than a perfect persona, they are more likely to emotionally connect with consumers, especially Gen Z, who prefer stories that demonstrate how products solve real-life problems. This emotionally driven marketing approach leads to higher conversion rates and helps brands establish a more sincere and credible image in the market.
1.3 Social Interaction: Making Users the Protagonists of the Story
With the rise of short videos and live streaming, consumers are no longer mere spectators of brand stories but active participants. Social platforms provide an interactive space where brands can build closer connections with consumers, sparking engagement and creativity through challenges, co-created content, and more. By making consumers part of the story, brands not only deepen emotional identification but also encourage them to spontaneously share the brand story, amplifying its influence and enhancing brand recognition and market acceptance. For example, a foreign daily-use brand launched a campaign themed “Achieving a Better Me” to celebrate its 130th anniversary[3], successfully engaging a large number of consumers. By offering fun stickers and interactive elements, the brand initiated the “NaturalLipLove” challenge on Douyin (TikTok’s Chinese version), where users shared their authentic experiences with the product, creating strong social interaction. This not only deepened consumers’ emotional connection with the brand but also expanded its influence through user-driven sharing, boosting market awareness and reputation.
II. How Overseas Brands Can Craft a “Chinese Story”
2.1 Language Localization: Down-to-Earth Expression
Language is a vital carrier of culture, and when engaging in storytelling marketing, brands must use expressions that align with Chinese consumers’ habits. Different languages have distinct expression styles, senses of humor, and cultural backgrounds, making simple translations of slogans often ineffective in resonating with local audiences. Therefore, shifting from “translation” to “transcreation” is key to brand localization. Brands need to focus on cultural adaptation in their messaging, avoiding stiff translations and ensuring that slogans are not only fluent but also emotionally resonant with local consumers. To achieve this, brands can adopt the following strategies to make their language and expression more localized:
- Incorporating Internet Slang
Brands can use local Chinese internet slang (e.g., “沉浸式体验” [chenjinshi tiyan], meaning “immersive experience”) to enhance the relatability and trendiness of their ads. However, they should avoid overusing such terms to maintain a premium brand image and tone.
- Regionalized Expression
Brands can adjust their language based on regional cultural habits. For example, in the Chengdu market, using Sichuan dialect voiceovers can enhance the local feel of the ad, making the brand seem more approachable and emotionally appealing to consumers.
- Avoiding Direct Translation
Simple translations of slogans may overlook humor and subtext in the Chinese context, leading to distorted messaging. Therefore, brands need to “transcreate” their slogans to ensure they fit the cultural context while accurately conveying the brand’s message.
- Humanized Expression: From “Brand Preaching” to “Friendly Dialogue”
In traditional advertising, brands often use a “preachy” tone, emphasizing product advantages and features. However, in the Chinese market, consumers prefer a “friendly dialogue” relationship with brands, communicated through a more natural and approachable tone. By using humanized language, brands can make consumers feel warmth and trust, avoiding the impression of one-way selling. For instance, brands can share emotional experiences with consumers in a warm and caring way rather than just promoting products. This approach not only builds deep emotional connections but also enhances brand loyalty and user engagement.
2.2 Localized Emotional Expression and Content Creation: Blending Culture, Habits, and Language
In the Chinese market, building strong consumer connections goes beyond the product itself—it requires emotional resonance and cultural relevance. For overseas brands, the key to strengthening brand impact lies in seamlessly integrating local culture, language nuances, and consumer emotions into content creation. Leveraging cultural symbols, humor, and popular IPs are powerful ways to craft compelling narratives and convey brand values. With this in mind, a deep understanding of China’s cultural landscape can help brands create content that feels more authentic, engaging, and relatable to local audiences.
- Deep Understanding of Local Cultural Symbols and Consumer Needs
When overseas brands engage in storytelling marketing in China, they must deeply understand the cultural background and emotional needs of local consumers, particularly their sensitivity to popular cultural symbols. Beyond traditional festivals, the use of local intellectual properties (IPs) has emerged in recent years as a vital way for brands to forge emotional connections with consumers. For example, a domestic brand launched a new phone through a cross-industry collaboration with the movie Nezha. By integrating offline and online strategies, this initiative successfully attracted a large number of young consumers. In over 2,000 brand’s stores, consumers could experience festive decorations infused with Nezha elements and participate in activities to win generous prizes and discounts. Meanwhile, online platforms such as brand’s Mall, JD, Tmall, and Douyin rolled out limited-time events, further boosting consumer engagement and interaction[4]. This cross-industry collaboration not only sparked strong emotional resonance for the brand but also highlighted its precise understanding of Chinese local culture and consumer emotions. For overseas brands, this model offers valuable insights. By leveraging local cultural symbols and popular IPs, they can more effectively connect with the emotional needs of young Chinese consumers and foster a stronger sense of brand identity.
- Incorporating Humor and Creativity: Enhancing Brand Approachability
Humor is highly popular in China, but its use must be carefully calibrated. Chinese humor is often subtle and sometimes absurdist, and brands need to understand its essence to use it effectively in marketing. Consumers increasingly expect brands to inject creativity and fun into their storytelling while avoiding overly contrived or inauthentic expressions. Humor can make a brand more relatable and allow consumers to feel its humanized and approachable side, thereby enhancing brand recognition and loyalty. In the Chinese market, brands need to use nuanced and creative humor to close the psychological distance with consumers, making stories more vivid and engaging. Humor not only softens the commercial tone of ads but also makes interactions between the brand and consumers more relaxed and natural, increasing the brand’s approachability.
2.3 Crafting a “Chinese Story”: Skillful Tone and Cultural Alignment
In the Chinese market, a brand’s tone needs to skillfully blend professionalism and warmth. A tone that is both professional and friendly conveys the brand’s authority while closing the distance with consumers. In this diverse market, using the right language style to resonate with Chinese consumers is key to successful marketing. A friendly tone, in particular, allows brands to connect with consumers’ daily emotional needs, fostering a relaxed and approachable dialogue.
- Friendly Tone to Close the Distance
Chinese consumers value interaction, especially on social media platforms. Brands can use a friendly and casual tone to build closer relationships with consumers.
- Professional Tone to Build Trust
While a friendly tone helps close the distance, brands still need to maintain professionalism when conveying product information. Accurate data and expert endorsements can effectively enhance consumer trust.
- Aligning with Consumer Habits： Connecting with Daily Life
Brands also need to ensure their storytelling aligns with Chinese consumers’ lifestyles. Since Chinese consumers’ habits and needs differ from those in Western markets, brands must present their products in ways that fit local culture and customs.
2.4 Data-Driven: Precisely Capturing Story Inspiration
Social media trends provide brands with a window to accurately capture consumer interests and emotions. By analyzing trending topics and search term clouds, brands can identify hot topics that consumers care about, creating more relevant story content. For example, popular topics on platforms like Xiaohongshu and Douyin (such as “熬夜自救” [aoye zijiu], meaning “late-night self-rescue,” or “职场穿搭” [zhichang chuanda], meaning “workplace fashion”) offer valuable data for brands to mine story inspiration. By combining these trends with product features, brands can create content that meets consumer needs.
For instance, a well-known domestic tea beverage brand once trended unexpectedly when its logo was parodied by netizens. The brand quickly capitalized on this hotspot by launching a “brand logo full-body image” product series, cleverly turning the trending term into brand story content, boosting exposure, and successfully attracting significant consumer attention and discussion.[5]
Additionally, using AI tools to analyze user comments and social media data can extract frequently appearing emotional keywords (such as “治愈” [zhiyu], meaning “healing,” or “成就感” [chengjiugan], meaning “sense of achievement”), helping brands precisely define their emotional tone and further enhance the emotional resonance of their stories. This data-driven creative approach allows brands to more accurately reach their target audience and improve marketing effectiveness.
2.5 Long-Term Strategy: From Single Hits to IP-Based Operations
For overseas brands, marketing stories in the Chinese market are not achieved overnight but require a long-term strategy to gradually deepen emotional connections with consumers. Brands can start by creating single breakout hits, but to achieve sustained brand influence and user loyalty, they need to operate and expand their brand stories over the long term. Extending brand stories into series content—such as micro-dramas, comic serials, or cross-platform interactive activities—not only maintains user interest but also cultivates habits of following updates, fostering long-term brand attention.
By turning brand stories into intellectual properties (IPs), brands can not only capture consumer attention in the short term but also achieve sustainable brand growth in the future. For example, by building a brand IP with a unique worldview, brands can release related content and products at different times, maintaining ongoing interaction and emotional connection with consumers. IP-based operations help brands build strong fan communities, where fans not only connect more deeply with the brand through content but may also spontaneously become brand advocates.
Additionally, brands can use social media and live streaming platforms to interact with users, inviting them to participate in the extension of the brand story. For instance, brands can encourage consumers to contribute ideas, participate in plot development, or character creation, further enhancing user engagement and stickiness. Through this long-term strategy, brands can transition from short-term marketing bursts to long-term brand value accumulation, continuously deepening their place in consumers’ hearts.
Case Study: Duolingo’s IP Marketing
A standout success story is Duolingo’s IP marketing campaign. Through a series of dramatic storytelling phases—beginning with the announcement of its mascot Duo’s “death,” followed by a funeral video, and culminating in an “investigation” to identify the “culprit”—Duolingo effectively elevated its mascot into a compelling brand IP. This IP-driven narrative approach not only sparked widespread conversation but also engaged users by weaving them into the brand’s story through interactive elements, fostering stronger emotional ties. Data reveals that within five days of the campaign’s launch, Duolingo’s social media mentions skyrocketed from a daily average of 11,000 to 59,900, with the #ripduo hashtag appearing in over 45,000 posts. The campaign even drew participation from celebrities like Dua Lipa, significantly boosting its visibility[6]. Duolingo’s example illustrates that IP marketing can do more than generate short-term buzz; it can also cultivate lasting connections between brands and consumers through ongoing storytelling and engagement. This offers valuable lessons for overseas brands aiming to establish a long-term presence in the Chinese market.
Conclusion
In the Chinese market, a brand’s success depends not only on the product itself but also on building deep emotional connections with consumers through emotionally driven storytelling marketing. From cultural resonance to emotional drive and social interaction, every step requires brands to localize their language, expression, emotional resonance, and social media interactions to truly touch consumers’ hearts. To win the hearts of Chinese consumers, overseas brands must deeply understand local culture, habits, and emotional needs, earning trust through precise content creation and authentic brand imagery.
Through continuous innovation and flexibility, brands can evolve from short-term single hits to long-term IP-based operations, building lasting brand influence and user loyalty. The continuation and diversification of brand stories help maintain long-term emotional connections with consumers, translating into sustained market competitiveness. Successful storytelling marketing not only helps brands stand out in a fiercely competitive market but also creates a warm brand image that wins the genuine support of Chinese consumers. In this process, every detail and story of the brand lays the foundation for a deep connection with consumers. Brands are not just selling products; they are conveying emotional value. Through in-depth research, consumer profiling, and competitor analysis, brands can precisely find the cultural entry points for their stories, allowing them to take root in users’ hearts, bridge cultural differences, and plant the “seeds of trust.”
PLTFRM, a professional company in digital marketing and brand localization, focuses on helping overseas brands successfully enter the Chinese market. Through in-depth market research, precise consumer profiling, and competitor analysis, PLTFRM tailors localized digital marketing strategies for brands, ensuring they can win the trust and loyalty of Chinese consumers. With comprehensive services including content creation, social media operations, and long-term brand management, PLTFRM leverages innovative technology and data-driven strategies to help overseas brands achieve steady growth and establish long-term brand influence in China. If your brand aims to build a deep emotional connection with Chinese consumers through storytelling, feel free to leave your comments or contact us at info@pltfrm.cn. With our deep market insights and extensive practical experience, we provide customized content creation and localized marketing strategies to help your brand achieve lasting influence and consumer loyalty in the Chinese market.
References：
1. Huanqiu
https://baijiahao.baidu.com/s?id=1819905616816132636&wf
2. BJnews
https://baijiahao.baidu.com/s?id=1742548806713844724&wfr
3. Sina Finance
https://cj.sina.com.cn/articles/view/1215209095/486e9e8701900qeo
4. Sohu
https://www.sohu.com/a/842212469_121798711
5. Netease
https://www.163.com/dy/article/GLUVGR080511CQMA.html
6. Meltwater
https://www.meltwater.com/en/blog/duolingo-dead-mascot-campaign
