In September 2013, the State Administration of Radio Film and Television in China declared that traditional advertising on prime-time radio and TV would be decreased. This created increased costs and even fiercer competition between brands that needed to stand out to their target audiences. With over 3000 TV channels in China, it was becoming increasingly difficult to obtain effective return on investment through TV advertising.

So, brands and TV channels began to develop more creative ways to integrate advertising and reach a high number of viewers. Implementing branded content became the best choice for brands across the board and hence competition in this space intensified.

However, typical use of branded content in China tends to rely on product placement in TV shows. Generally, choosing a popular show in which to feature the brand is viewed as sufficient due to the huge exposure it would receive. Integration and creativity with branded content is relatively low in China compared to other markets, with the focus on TV collaboration only. Very few brands were bringing their brand values to life through creative and integrated use of branded content.

“The Voice” was broadcast on CCTV-1 during peak hours for 9 months and on top video site iQIYI.com, integrated with celebrity endorsed content including role models chanting C4L’s slogan and reviews. This extended to social media through real-time questions to interact with celebrities on the show, and a WeChat APP including celebrity catch-phrases and exclusive videos. Celebrity-endorsed C4L videos were also broadcast in DongFeng Citroen 4S retail stores, expanding to tangible brand experience.

Our Youth Empowerment Programme inspired youths in real life! We selected students from top universities to express their opinions about C4L’s slogan, appearing on “The Voice” itself.

DongFeng Citroen C4L’s “The Power of Moving Forward” reached millions of youths and created emotional responses, appealing to the concerns and ideals of the target consumers.

• The creative technique of introducing C4L’s branded content clearly worked, gaining 15% more in social buzz than the main title sponsor of “The Voice”, Jiaduobao. (Source: Agency research)

• Over 373 million youths watched “The Voice” during the campaign “The Power of Moving Forward”, equating to 27% of China’s total population (Source: Infosys).

• The social campaign attained over 90 million views online. The social engagement (forwards and comments) reached 180,000, quadrupling the target KPI of 45,000 (Source: Sina Weibo).

• C4L created an emotional bond with over 15,000 students, who participated in the Youth Empowerment Programme to share their own thoughts about C4L’s campaign message (Source: Agency research)

• Actual ROI reached 403%, clearly surpassing the target ROI of 300%.(Source: Agency research)

• Sales of C4L 2014 Q2&Q3 increased 19.3 % compared to the same period 2013 (Source: Client).