In this podcast, digital strategy consultant Jeffrey Towson explores the pitfalls of becoming an influencer through the framework of Porter’s Five Forces. He argues that the competitive pressures and market dynamics make it a challenging and often unsustainable career path. Towson emphasizes the importance of a comprehensive digital transformation strategy to achieve long-term success in the digital age.
In Part 1, I went through the basics of Ruhnn Holding, which is a combination of an influencer marketing agency and an ecommerce business. And I like its influencer-centric, asset-lite ecommerce business model. In this part, I’m going to talk about why I never invested in Ruhnn. In fact, I stopped considering it immediately after […]
Ruhnn Holding’s approach to ecommerce leverages influencers to drive sales while maintaining an asset-lite model. Digital strategy consultant Jeffrey Towson highlights how this digital transformation strategy enables scalability and efficiency. Discover the key elements that make Ruhnn Holding an interesting example in the evolving ecommerce sector.
I have one B2C “super chart”. It’s a bit ridiculous but stick with me. I think it is actually a good prediction of the future of B2C. The basic idea is that ecommerce is combining with entertainment. We see that in Taobao Live and TikTok already. And this is also being combined with social media […]
In this podcast, Jeffrey Towson discusses the short-term tactics that are popular in China, such as community group buying, blind boxes and influencer marketing. He argues that investors should not overvalue these tactics, as they are not sustainable in the long term.
At the suggestion of a subscriber, I looked at Joy Spreader Interactive Technologies. It is a digital marketing company that rose on the back of China’s recent KOL / influencer frenzy. Joy Spreader itself is not that interesting of a company. And, to be blunt, there is very little I like about it from a […]
Ruhnn Holding is a Chinese company that not many people follow. Based in Hangzhou, tied with Alibaba and vaguely described as a talent agency and/or social commerce company, it’s a strange animal. And it is currently being taken private and off the US exchanges (maybe). But the company is fascinating and has some really important […]
China’s cross-border ecommerce business doesn’t get a lot of attention. It seems peripheral to China ecommerce. There are a lot of logistics, taxes and customs requirements. There are tons of regulations. And it’s just not sexy. But it is also non-political. It doesn’t have any of the national security concerns of telecommunication (i.e., Huawei and […]
Much of our discussion about digital platforms (Alibaba, Tencent, etc.) has been about their business models. And all their strengths, which are formidable.But I haven’t talked much about the experiences of the user groups on these platforms. What does this mean for merchants and brands selling on Alibaba? For restaurants on Meituan? For content creators […]
Three big things are happening in digital China right now. The coronavirus is radically altering the behavior of hundreds of millions of consumers (and businesses), resulting in what is being called the quarantine economy. Everyone is trying to move from in-person to digital interactions. This shift to digital interactions is supercharging and rapidly evolving China’s […]