How L'Oréal, Kiehl's and Shu Uemura Collaborate with Celebrities to Advertise On “WeChat Moments”

In the past, brands used to "shout" to users through their advertising.Nowadays, various social media platforms make it easier to shout, but in this increasingly noisy environment, how can brands make users "hear" them, and more importantly, how do they  get them to really "listen"?

The most important role of social media for brands is not simply "propaganda", but also "dialogue". Getting consumers to participate actively in and enjoy the conversations initiated by the brand is harder than ever.

Recently, L'Oréal, Kiehl'sand Shu Uemura advertised a few examples of beauty makeup on their WeChat Moments. In addition to the advertising content, there is a large number of users directly communicating with celebrities in the comments section. These cases make us rethink how we can  inspire richer and deeper emotional connections, and to look more closely into the relationship between people, users, and brands.

Equal Relationship: "Heart-To-Heart Talk" Between Brands And Users

Wang Yibo (celebrity)：Shu Uemura Rouge Unlimited Lacquer Shine Flame163. Would you like to try it with me?

User A: I will try it because you are handsome!

Turbo Liu (celebrity): Thanks to Kiehl’s Ultra Facial Cream for supporting my Alaska Extreme Challenge. Would you like to come and watch it?

User B: I’ll just come to see you!

Nana Ou-Yang(celebrity): No compromise. My L'Oréal 24 Hour Fresh Wear Foundation can breathe. What about yours?

User C: Not only does my foundation not breathe, it also floats.

In the social era, the relationship betweenordinary people, idols, and brands tends to be flat, equal and close. As the hierarchical relationship between idols and fans is gradually broken, there are more dividends for  the brand, bringing opportunities for it  to "narrow the psychological distance".

When viewing the three ads from L'Oréal, Kiehl’s and Shu Uemura, users not only saw  WeChat Moments posted by celebrities, but also found replies from them. .

As we just saw, Wang Yibo invited fans to try out anew product in the comments section, Turbo Liu invited fans to watch his  Extreme Challenge, and Nana Ou-Yang invited  fans to share beauty tips. Out of curiosity and a desire to interact, many users post messages to celebrities on WeChat Moments, expecting a reply.

In fact, this is the first comment feature recently launched in WeChat Moments.The brand posts the first comment under the advertisement, and the user can reply to the brand or the brand can choose to reply to the user. Thanks to this feature, celebrities are no longer just storytellers or performers of brand stories. They are everywhere, taking over everything from advertisements to comments.

When celebrities and brands interact so closely with users in the social ecosystem in this unprecedented way, users' desire for reciprocity is satisfied, and their willingness for active feedback is stronger than ever. In this process, brand output is no longer a one-way street, the user is no longer passively accepting information.Now, both sides together are responsible for  a closer interaction.

From the perspective of data, the first comment function has significantly improved the performance of WeChat ads in the metrics of comment rate and interaction rate. In the two ads that have been delivered, the comment rate of  Kiehl’s and Turbo Liu WeChat ads is up 27 times higher than the industry average, and the total click interaction rate is 86% higher than the industry average. L'Oréal cooperated with Nana Ou-Yang to release the WeChat advertisement in the form of a short interactive video. The total click rate was 38.3% higher than the industry average, and the comment rate was 2.1 times higher. In addition, the ongoing Shu Uemura WeChat ad with Wang Yibo continues to receive more interactive comments from users.

Intimate Relationship: Helping Brands Develop Closer, More Loyal Customers

In the past, brands needed to rely on television, magazines and other media to advertise and to attract consumers to stores. Once there, they would rely on store sales staff to convey the brand message to consumers.

When brands reach users through traditional advertisements, physical stores, and staff, the timeliness and effectiveness of information communication is greatly reduced. In this way, the communication efficiency between the brand and the user is not high, and direct communication is very limited.

In the Internet era, the emergence of social media has extended the connection between brands and users from offline to online, and the communication options have become more diversified.

In recent years, WeChat Moments advertising is committed to putting forth new ideas to help  upgrade the relationship between the brand and the users. Based on these insights into the importance of an interpersonal relationship, advertising on WeChat Moments goes  through the following four stages:

1. The first stage:  brand advertisements directly appear in Wechat Moments, which is the basic connection between the brand and users in the social network.
2. The second stage: celebrities publish brand advertisements on WeChat Moments in the name of their WeChat friends, which connects brands with users in the form of personified roles. At the same time, the outer layer of WeChat Moments advertising adds a light interactive function, which enables the brand to connect with users.
3. The third stage: WeChat Moments advertising has added the @friends function, , which is the connection between the brand and the user's personal social circle.
4. The fourth stage: the celebrities’ comments and user reply of the first comment function are a brand's natural integration into the user's social circle, generating a closer connection with the user.

In the vast and multi-faceted social networking space, the WeChat social ecosystem provides brands with a more friendly way to communicate with users. As the connection between brands and their users shifts online,  communication between the brand and the user is all on the screen.

Conclusion

In WeChat, which makes "connecting everything" possible, the connections between people, brands, and users have been completely reinvented.

People are the most important assets of a brand. In the digital era, such assets are becoming more and more tangible and digital. In social networks, brands can not only connect with users but also achieve a higher degree of trust with the help of diversified forms of advertising on WeChat Moments.

The interactive form brought by the first comment function appearing  in the brand advertisement in  WeChat Moments is just like a conversation initiated by the brand to users. In this conversation, the user becomes the listener, witness, and sharer.

Through this conversation, the brand naturally integrates into the social circle of the user and attracts their attention. The user's curiosity is aroused, and they take the initiative to connect with the brand. The brand delivers its content in a  two-way interaction with the user, and can finally bring about effective transformation.