(Source: https://pltfrm.com.cn)
Planning your first celebrity campaign in China? Use this proven budget allocation framework that has helped dozens of overseas brands achieve 10×+ returns.
1. Realistic Budget Ranges by Category (2025)
1.1 Beauty & Personal Care Top-tier: 35–80M RMB | Rising star: 8–25M RMB | Strong ROI threshold: 8×+
1.2 Fashion & Luxury Top-tier: 45–120M RMB | Niche/iconic actor: 15–40M RMB | Requires strong storytelling
1.3 Health & FMCG Rising + KOL hybrid: 5–18M RMB | Highest ROI category (15–40× possible)
2. The 40-30-20-10 Rule That Maximizes ROI
2.1 40% Celebrity Fee Lock in sales-linked clauses from day one.
2.2 30% Content Production & Platform Traffic Buy High-quality videos and guaranteed placements are non-negotiable.
2.3 20% Live Streaming & Events The real money is made in live commerce sessions.
2.4 10% Monitoring & Legal Real-time fake traffic detection and contract enforcement.
3. Red Flags That Destroy ROI
3.1 No Sales-Linked Clauses Never sign flat-fee contracts above 15M RMB without performance protection.
3.2 Wrong Platform Focus Choosing Weibo over Douyin for Gen-Z products can cut conversion by 70%.
4. Negotiation Leverage Points
4.1 Off-Season Signing Signing contracts in January–February can reduce fees by 15–30%.
4.2 Multi-Year Deals Second-year renewal discounts average 25–40% with proven performance.
Case Study: New Zealand Dairy Brand – a2 Milk 2024 Relaunch
a2 Milk allocated 38 million RMB using the 40-30-20-10 model with rising actress Zhou Ye. The campaign generated 1.26 billion RMB GMV in year one (33× ROI) and secured Top 3 position in the fresh milk category on Tmall for 18 consecutive months.
PLTFRM is an international brand consulting agency that works with companies such as Red, TikTok, Tmall, Baidu, and other well-known Chinese internet e-commerce platforms. We have been working with Chile Cherries for many years, reaching Chinese consumers in depth through different platforms and realizing that Chile Cherries’ exports in China account for 97% of the total exports in Asia. Contact us, and we will help you find the best China e-commerce platform for you. Search PLTFRM for a free consultation!
