In China, the government plays an influential role in the development of media. All advertising content is censored, especially foreign entertainment as regulation are strict and always require a limited permit. However, Chinese viewers are increasingly eager to see entertainment from abroad, forcing entertainment leaders to import foreign shows in order to earn audience loyalty and high rating. In recent years, variety shows are thriving on Chinese screens and many brands have sponsored these shows so as to strengthen their brand’s image.

Branded content always walks a fine line between being effective and tasteless, and this line is defined by the how much branding the audience is willing to tolerate. In the West, branded content needs to be done subtly and naturally to avoid scrutiny from the audience. In China, the sky is the limit for brands. As a result of this, Chinese viewers have a thick filter for branding, making it more and more difficult for brands to communicate with consumers.

Another challenge considering, the cost of quality content partnerships is rapidly rising, making the financial risk becomes much greater. Failing to make a logical connection between the brand message and content audience could be a catastrophic mistake.

In China, singing karaoke with friends is a pillar of one’s social life. It’s a time where the quietest person in the office can become the brightest star in the room. With all the stresses of working, family and social life, singing becomes a way to release all that energy in a shared, positive way. This shared, cultural foundation has led to an insatiable viewing audience for singing competitions.

We chose ‘The X-Factor’ because the heart and soul of the competition is the inner strength of its contestants. Only those with the greatest inner strength move on. Just like Intel.

After three months, Intel’s communication was already seeing amazing results:

-X-factor was the top rated TV program for the timeslot, and reached 238,246,000 people, plus 515 million video views across ten video sites

-The exposure level exceeded that of the other two co-sponsors and even exceeded that of the title sponsor for the fifth to tenth episodes despite having just 1/3 of their budgets

-Intel’s top of mind leading technology brand awareness rose 100%, product performance awareness rose from 9 to 25, and awareness of the key message rose 180%.

-Social effective exposure impressions for the campaign reached 106,610,907 (UV) and retweets and comments reached 499,242., which is equivalent to 256.8K USD advertising value. The average impression for every tweet was about one million and the engagement rate for every tweet was 4,992.

In the end, Intel was able to find a unique insight, create a relevant connection and engage an audience like none other before it to show how Intel powers the world around us.