Week #26: money-pinching becomes trendy 🤑, Starbucks’ new opportunities (not mooncakes 🥮), 5th Gen filmmakers go rouge 🇨🇳| Following the yuan

Starbucks China staff are getting increased pressure to sell mooncakes that few desire, and it’s become the butt of jokes.

As you probably know, last week was mooncake festival in China (though regular folks call it mid-autumn). As I’ve been swamped by mooncakes of all kinds of flavors across China — gifts and re-gifts alike to the family — while being jealous of one particular food blogger, Wayne, who received 45 gift sets from various brands and showcased them all.

While it’s quite standard to see entries from high-end hotels like Waldorf Astoria and Bulgari, as they also target those who appreciate fine-dining and quality lifestyle, like his fans do. There’s a few other brands that stand out — including cognac producer Rémy Martin, domestic liquor brand Shui Jin Fang, also Beijing-based Taikang Life Insurance — that traditionally cater to a more mature audience.

Mooncake gift sets from cognac producer Rémy Martin, domestic liquor brand Shui Jin Fang, also Beijing-based Taikang Life Insurance. Image: Wayne's blog

It’s no news that every brand would love to nurture a young audience, that’s why luxury has been working with pop idols, although many of the young people it’s trying to influence cannot afford them yet. One tangible connection is, quite reasonably, food.

In 2021, food-related content had been played 24 billion times on video streaming site Bilibili, according to a now-discontinued report by the platform. In 2022, food influencers accounted for 6.5% of all FMCG-related influencers across platforms, wrote Beijing-based consultancy Topklout this year.

Chart from Toplout, translated by author

I have learned one thing from Taikang Life, though, that in order to connect with a potential audience, one should bind them with food. Maybe I should do that more often with my readers. 🤔

1. When money-pinching becomes trendy 🤑

What happened: Once seen as a retired tradition from previous generations, saving money is recently getting popular among China’s millennials and Gen-Zs, who proudly showcase granular applications across every aspect of life.