Free HR Services from our Employee Relations Experts. Find out more.

Our Business Services

Chamber of Commerce & Industry WA

With over 130 years of experience representing WA businesses, we’re ready to help with the resources and advice you need to succeed.

Employee Relations Helpline

Employee Relations Helpline

Get timely, reliable and practical employee relations advice on employment laws, the awards system and other human resource matters. CCIWA Members get unlimited access.

Business Law WA - Legal Services

Legal Services at BLWA

Through our incorporated legal practice, Business Law WA, our team of experienced, client-focused business lawyers offer a full range of Commercial Law & Employment Law services for all your essential legal needs.

Accounting & Taxation Services

Optima Partners and CCIWA

Innovative and personalised accounting, taxation and business advisory services that focus on delivering the best results to help your business grow.

Workplace Health & Safety Services

Workplace Health & Safety Services

Unlock the potential of your business with our suite of staff training and development programs, crafted by workplace relations experts and tailored to your business needs.

Construction & Mining IR Services

Construction & Mining IR Services

We offer extensive, independent and practical industrial and labour relations support to the engineering, construction and mining industries.

Workplace Training & Development

Workplace Training & Development

Unlock the potential of your business with our suite of staff training and development programs, crafted by workplace relations experts and tailored to your business needs.

Apprenticeship Support Australia WA

Apprenticeship Support Australia WA

Our dedicated team specialises in assisting employers maximise the benefits of investing in apprenticeships and traineeships to build local skills for the diverse WA workforce. Our team of experts will provide all the advice, support and services you need — free of charge.

Work Integrated Learning – Internships

Work Integrated Learning - Internships

Tap into WA’s future workforce with our Work Integrated Learning – Internships program. This free service facilitates university student work experience placements for your business.

Industry Capability Network WA

Industry Capability Network WA

Connecting your business with mining, construction, infrastructure, defence and other major projects using the ICN Gateway.

International Trade Services

International Trade Services

Take your business global using our comprehensive suite of international trade services to streamline importing and exporting, reduce risks and identify international partners.

You have one free articles for this month. Sign up for a CCIWA Membership for unlimited access.

Consider ‘influencers’ in China marketing strategy

By CCIWA Editor

If China is your market, then social media and KOLs should probably be a big part of your marketing strategy.

But don’t think that means Facebook, YouTube and Twitter as they are not available in China, so you will have to research the platform best suited to your product or service.

Chinese television star Meng Fei on the power of KOLs

Then there are KOLs – key opinion leaders – which are the Chinese equivalent of our influencers. Think tennis royalty Rafael Nadale or Roger Federer posing quokka selfies and what that exposure does for the WA holiday island’s profile when viewed and liked by their millions of followers, not to mention the news stories the posts themselves attract.

Mind you, their selfies were aced by actor Chris Hemsworth’s, who pulled more than four million likes from his more than 39 million followers on Instragram for his famous quokka selfie.

In China, there’s more than 900 million social media users on mobile devices, driving “social e-commerce” where commentary and posts – especially by KOLs – can have a dramatic impact on sales and product awareness.

Chinese television star Meng Fei, known internationally as host of top Chinese dating show If You Are the One, told CCIWA in an exclusive interview that the impact of KOLs depended on what was being promoted.

He said Australian companies doing business in China should do their research when matching a KOL to a product and to remember that algorithms change fast, so the platform that works today might be gone tomorrow.

Fei is in the top tier of KOLs, boasting 34 million followers on Weibo and about five million on Douyin, the Chinese equivalent of TikTok. One of his points of difference is that he has a large number of followers in Australia.

Meng Fei's TikTok post about The Perth Mint
GFC's fresh lobster showcase
Juyo Travel director Song Qi

While in WA recently, CCIWA organised networking with Fei and some of its Members including Geraldton Fisherman’s Cooperative (GFC) to showcase lobsters and The Perth Mint’s gold and jewellery.

His video post on TikTok about The Perth Mint was viewed by more than 2 million people and received more than 82,000 likes within 24 hours.

GFC posted photographs and a story to WeChat about how Chairman Basil Lenzo transported Fei and his support team to Rottnest island, inclusive of a spectacular fresh lobster lunch.

“It is very important for us because we’ve been trying to tap into the Chinese e-commerce market for a couple of years now,” Lenzo said of the opportunity to position the company with Fei.

“The Chinese market is significant because, while they say the Australians like lobster, the Japanese love them, but the Chinese revere the lobster.

“It’s so culturally significant for them and they will and understand how important it is, not only as a delicious meal but as a cultural symbol, being the dragon, with the lobster named dragon shrimp or longxia in China.”

KOLs boost tourism

Juyo Travel director Song Qi, who has hosted and guided several Chinese celebrities including Fei, has also realised the impact of KOLs and Chinese television shows filmed in WA.

The Northbridge-based travel agency operates solely on social media and word of mouth, specialising in China-based tourists. It employees 13 people.

When Fei visited WA’s Pink Lake and posted videos about it in April 2019, Qi had Chinese tourists lining up to follow in his footsteps.

“After he experienced an aircraft tour above Pink Lake and popped out a short video via his Weibo social media in China, more than 14,000 views were recorded on the same day, with lots of reviews and messages under it,” Qi said.

Seeing an opportunity, Qi created an itinerary reflecting Fei’s visit.

“Because he is a famous person, Chinese tourists want to follow the path of what he was doing and where he took the photos. It’s good for my business, to be honest. We created the ‘Meng Fei itinerary’ and the people came.”

After hit Chinese reality show Viva La Romance was filmed in WA and aired in China, also in 2019, it had a similar impact on tourism.

“After that show went public, the similar concept and same itinerary were created into our travel products,” Qi said.

“You cannot believe it was just in that short period, more and more Chinese tourists knew about where Perth was and how exciting skydiving in Rottnest could be.

“It helped many potential Chinese tourists to make a quick decision on why they should make WA their travel destination, which is definitely a great role of ‘influencers’, who have greatly promoted tourism industry and other related businesses.

Qi said his clients were mostly aged between 30 and 50 and numbers had tripled to 2700 in 2019 compared with his first year of operation in 2017.

CCIWA’s International Trade and Investment Centre can help connect you to the right people and provide expert advice on bilateral trade with China. Call (08) 9365 7550 or find out more here.

People with yacht

If China is your market, then social media and KOLs should probably be a big part of your marketing strategy.

But don’t think that means Facebook, YouTube and Twitter as they are not available in China, so you will have to research the platform best suited to your product or service.

Chinese television star Meng Fei on the power of KOLs

Tagged under: