Interview: Marketer Rudd Liu on how to localise content for HK and China audiences

MARKETING-INTERACTIVE is proud to present Content 360 – Hong Kong: Content that captivates, a conference about content marketing, content trends and storytelling in a year amidst the return of live events, cookie deprecation, the integration of AI in marketing, new devices, global sporting events and weekend shopping trips to mainland China.

Taking place on 26 June at Hong Kong Ocean Park Marriott Hotel, our 28 speakers will share with us their insights and experiences on content strategy for topics such as integration of content with commerce, cross-border marketing and the use of AI in content creation. 

One of our speakers is Ruud Liu (pictured), head of marketing, Greater China, Go City, who will discuss the topic of localising content for brands targeting audiences in Hong Kong and mainland China. He leads end-to-end marketing and sales efforts for Go City across the region, including eCommerce operations, social media marketing, advertisement, creative, PR, events, strategic partnership development and affiliate marketing.

Following three years of enduring the pandemic, brands find themselves compelled to craft survival strategies and adjust to the evolving demands of the new era.

In a conversation with MARKETING-INTERACTIVE, Liu said his team has localised an array of content featuring overseas attractions, such as “city walk” and “special forces-style travel” (特種兵式旅遊), to make it more enticing and relatable to Chinese users. Following this localisation, the team contextualises these concepts into recommended itineraries within Go City’s social media posts.

Liu emphasised that for effective audience engagement in China, brand marketers should engage in active browsing and interaction with social content on major Chinese platforms. Additionally, they can consider implementing a social listening mechanism to stay updated on customer trends.

MARKETING-INTERACTIVE: What was your challenge when you joined Go City as head of Greater China marketing last year? How did you go about “localising” the extensive legacy of content featuring overseas attractions so that it was more palatable to Chinese users?

The challenge in the initial period is to establish an effective marketing operation standard operating procedure (SOP) and an up-to-date marketing channel mix with my multinational team members outside China and local China partners in the post-COVID business environment.

Go City’s localisation principle is customer-centric, resonating with the present major social context in the top social platforms as well as blending the beauty of attraction, and the benefits of our pass products into the target audience’s outbound travel patterns.

For example, we identify two popular travel patterns that are relevant to our pass use cases – the “city walk” and “special force travel”, and then contextualise these concepts into the recommended itinerary in our social post.

MARKETING-INTERACTIVE: How can you cultivate stronger relationships with key account managers on social media platforms? What solutions do they provide that are key for any marketing teams seeking to improve their marketing performance on Chinese social platforms?

The basic logic of business relation management with China platforms and international media such as Google and Meta is almost the same.

Firstly, we should align our business objective with our platform counterpart’s. Then we discuss the reciprocal collaboration approaches with a clear P&L mindset (the way every employee, manager, and stakeholder understands how their actions and decisions impact the bottom line of the business). The indispensable value from the social platform key account managers is the express censorship channel which enables our social posts to pass this phase faster than normal. 

Some of the other values include complimentary user traffic, the latest industry insights, and learnings of effective operating approaches.

MARKETING-INTERACTIVE: What would be your advice for brands in Hong Kong aiming to attract the attention of a target audience of Mainland Chinese tourists? 

Firstly, brand marketers should browse and engage the social content in major China platforms as their# target audience.

Secondly, they should build a social listening mechanism to capture the latest trends from customers and key players in quantified or factual information. 

Thirdly, marketers should build their own industry network with different stakeholders, such as customer representatives, third-party research organisations, and supply-side or buy-side partners, in China market to keep refreshing the industry practice and knowledge. 

Lastly, if conditions permit, they may actively participate in the ongoing hot social topics, even the industry shopping festivals or traditional Chinese holiday celebrations, such as snatching red envelopes in Chinese New Year. 

Join us this coming 26 June for Content360 Hong Kong, a one-day-two-streams extravaganza under the theme of "Content that captivates". Get together with our fellow marketers to learn about AI in content creation, integration of content with commerce and cross-border targeting, and find the recipe for success within the content marketing world!

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