MoonFox Analysis | The Quiet End of Double 11 Carnival: Marketing During Major Sales Events Shifts Toward "Eliminating the False and Retaining the True"

About us: Aurora Mobile (NASDAQ: JG) established in 2011, is a leading customer engagement and marketing technology service provider in China. Its business includes notification services, marketing growth, development tools, and data products. As its sub-brand, MoonFox Data is a leading expert in data insights and analysis services across all scenarios, aiming to help companies gain market insights and empower precise decision-making.

SHENZHEN, China, Dec. 17, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- On October 8, TikTok kicked off its Double 11 Shopping Festival (hereinafter referred to as "Double 11"), ahead of other platforms. The festival lasted for over a month and has now concluded. It is evident that the role of e-commerce platforms has shifted from being "leaders" to "servicers." Official data reports emphasize the importance of service quality and growth efficiency, leading to simplified marketing strategies—such as JD.com canceling the pre-sale period and Tmall eliminating the celebrity gala—while directing more unique visitors (UV) and resources as subsidies to merchants. Consumers are becoming more rational, and platforms and merchants are aligning with the marketing concept of "Eliminating the False and Retaining the True." This shift reflects a return to core values and a choice of more suitable marketing strategies.

1.   Shift in Marketing Vehicles: Diversification as a Double-Edged Sword

The creation of "Double 11" has undoubtedly been a success, but marketing during major sales events has gradually shifted from platform-led to brand-led strategies. By around 2019, many brands and merchants began to view "Double 11" as a pivotal moment in their annual marketing strategy, aligning their marketing rhythms and differentiated content around this event. The goal was to leverage Double 11 for a significant sales boost and to expand their product reach beyond traditional circles.

This diversification of marketing channels and content formats has led to a surge in unique visitor (UV) costs and intensified creative competition during Double 11. Rather than simply offering substantial discounts to consumers, the event has increasingly become a battleground for brands and platforms competing over marketing strategies and tactics. As a result, users have found themselves overwhelmed by product choices and vague promotional messages, a trend that became even more pronounced in 2024.

Once called the "Black Friday" and "Super Bowl" of China, the Tmall double 11 Gala was canceled in 2024. The star-studded shopping festival, held by Tmall in 2015, symbolized the explosive growth of Chinese consumerism. The cancellation in 2024 signals the decline of consumerism in China and a return to rational consumer spending. 

2.   Short Videos, Talk Shows, and E-commerce Variety Shows Replace Celebrities Galas

In the past two years, consumers have begun to demystify consumerism, leading many flashy marketing tactics during major sales events to become ineffective. As a result, platforms are extending their sales periods to ensure a final sales boost. During the major promotional events of Double 11, merchants find themselves in the awkward position of "increasing revenue but not profit."

In 2024, more platforms and brands are moving away from celebrity collaborations for Double 11 in favor of cost-effective KOLs and more relatable content formats. Talk shows and unpaid short videos are now trending.

• Non-Paid Short Videos: Longer plotlines increase user engagement time and enhance the efficiency of information dissemination.

Short videos, which have seen explosive growth, are becoming the new generation's form of "meal time fun." The collaboration formats and distribution platforms for these videos are becoming increasingly diverse. According to the 2024 Q3 Micro Short Video Industry Report & Marketing Guide, over 40 brand-customized short videos were launched in October, covering 32 brands across industries such as beauty, mother & baby, and food & beverage. These videos were distributed on platforms like Tmall, TikTok, and Meituan through customized or single-episode product placements, successfully generating unique visitors (UV) and endorsements.

• Talk Show Actors: Opting for cost-effective choices, viral memes, and KOLs enhances user awareness.

High costs and risks have resulted in marketing failures, leading both consumers and brands to demystify top-tier KOLs and celebrity endorsements. As a result, talk shows and new comedic formats have emerged as more relatable methods for product promotion. These approaches often involve lower costs while delivering a more significant impact on consumers.

Despite the "collective boycott of Yang Li's endorsement" incident by JD.com, the "Save Money Little Theater" short video series, which featured several talk show actors, gained significant attention. Platforms like Tmall, Xiaohongshu, TikTok, and Xianyu invited talk show actors to reverse-market products through "complaints", enhancing users' trust.

• E-commerce Variety Shows: Live commerce combined with lifestyle scenes and entertaining content packaging.

During major promotional events or live commerce, brands and platforms are subtly influencing users through more variety-style content. They are no longer limited to product placements or sponsorships in variety shows, but are directly becoming the core of the content expression. 

• The IP effect of All Girls' Offers has been established, consistently driving UV to Austin Li(China TOP 1 e-commerce KOL)'s live streaming room during pre-sale periods for the past 3 years, generating substantial brand content cut-offs; 
• During 2024 Double 11, Tmall collaborated with Mango TV's H!6 to create a custom variety show, launching a group variety live streaming under the "Shige Qintian"(Group name of the ten guests in the interactive documentary show "Become a Farmer") theme, which was broadcast across multiple platforms including TV, PC, and mobile devices. 
• TikTok E-commerce partnered with official live streaming rooms of leading brands across various categories to simultaneously launch three "Sparkling & Shining Season" themed gala events to boost brand visibility.

3.    Platforms Shift Focus to Paid Memberships, Emphasizing "Service" in Marketing

During the growth bottleneck of Double 11, e-commerce platforms began to focus on "growth quality" and strengthen their paid membership systems. Both Tmall and JD.com invested heavily in social media content during the early stages of the event to drive unique visitors (UV), expand membership, and offer exclusive discounts along with enhanced after-sales protections for paid members. According to official reports, as of October 31, the number of 88VIP members who placed orders increased by over 60% compared to the same period last year.

However, e-commerce platforms still face significant limitations in terms of service. Improvements for paid members have primarily focused on return guarantees, price protection, logistics guarantees, large discounts, and joint membership. As a result, marketing strategies have become increasingly homogeneous. Finding ways for platforms to differentiate themselves based on "service" remains a critical marketing challenge.

• Confusion from Excessive Marketing: Merchants are returning to pragmatic strategies.

With the rise of KOL-driven product promotion (planting seeds), brands across the internet have concentrated their resources on Double 11 to push hit products and compete with viral content. However, the variety of marketing tactics has diminished the overall experience of shopping festivals. In 2024, compared to the once-exciting slogan "lowest prices on the internet," Double 11, lacking the edge of low-price advantages, felt somewhat ordinary amid the continuous promotional events from various e-commerce platforms.

Merchants have shifted their attitudes, leading to more divided marketing strategies. This year, many small and medium-sized businesses chose to abandon Double 11 marketing to cut costs and return to a regular marketing rhythm. Additionally, some larger brands have stopped heavily investing in top live streaming channels and instead focused on driving unique visitors (UV) and operating their own branded live streaming rooms, offering more subsidies to users.

• Xiaohongshu's Buyer Live Streaming: Provides a new path for small and medium-sized merchants to avoid price wars.

Xiaohongshu e-commerce has concentrated on "lifestyle e-commerce," leveraging platform-specific audience segmentation. During Double 11, it launched five major themed shopping districts, including "Asian Street Style," "Impulse Bar," and "Lotto Carnival," to attract unique visitors (UV) from different interest groups to the live streaming rooms of niche category merchants and mass category merchants with niche products. This strategy aims to promote the conversion from content consumption to product consumption. According to MoonFox Data, Xiaohongshu experienced a 33.2% year-over-year increase in daily new users during the 2024 Double 11 period.

Daily New Users across Mainstream E-commerce Platforms during Double 11

4. While Technology Enhances Efficiency, Emotional Consumption Still Requires Attention

While technology has been integrated into many aspects of Double 11 marketing, enhancing e-commerce efficiency, it has not sparked consumer passion. Ongoing issues, such as high return rates and unclear discount rules, remain significant complaints among consumers.

• Technological Advancements: Bring benefits to B2B marketing cycles.

Before Double 11 in 2024, the role of technology in enhancing efficiency became evident. Payment functions were streamlined, and the interactions between the internal e-commerce and content ecosystem were optimized for unique visitors (UV). AI products not only assisted merchants with precise targeting but also improved search matching capabilities, pushing relevant content directly to consumers.

AI-driven short videos, virtual spokespersons, and digital human live streaming have become common marketing tools. For example, JD.com introduced a combination of digital and real-person interaction in its live streaming rooms for live commerce, while Tmall's sports and outdoor brands utilized the ultra-realistic digital human "Leah" for promotional videos and posters to showcase new clothing.

• Consumer Preference:More personalized and relatable marketing.

Platforms and brands are increasingly utilizing everyday and relatable formats, such as short videos and talk shows, to alleviate consumer frustrations. They are also employing offline immersive art exhibitions and interactive pop-up stores to convey brand concepts and strengthen emotional connections with consumers.

• Tmall Hey Box collaborated with VOGUE and brands in beauty, home goods, and skincare to host offline art events, inviting celebrities for brand marketing and setting up various interactive art installations for consumers to engage with during Double 11, boosting UV to online product launches; 
• Taobao Factory platform collaborated with merchants in Hangzhou's Alibaba campus to host the "World's Largest Hotpot Challenge", where consumers could enjoy free hotpot samples using Taobao Factory's Double 11 coupons, with the platform using offline marketing to promote the quality and reputation of the original manufacturers, driving Double 11 UV through user-generated content; 
• JD.com capitalized on the Double 11 buzz by showcasing its on-demand delivery service capabilities and emphasizing the platform's focus on "local life service" business development through offline marketing. JD Pharmacy collaborated with artists to create an immersive, interactive art space in Shanghai, enhancing user awareness.

5.   Double 11 Review and Outlook

The 2024 Double 11 Carnival has been described as "the longest" and "the quietest" in history, signaling the end of the peak excitement surrounding the event. Consumers have adopted a more rational mindset, and flashy, discount-driven marketing tactics no longer generate the same enthusiasm. As a result, strategies for Double 11 have been simplified, with platforms and brands shifting towards more pragmatic marketing forms, such as talk shows, short videos, and e-commerce variety shows. Both platforms and merchants have returned to their core values, leading to noticeable divergence in content formats, sales channels, and marketing focus.

Throughout its 16-year history, each Double 11 has marked a pivotal moment in showcasing the evolution of platform and brand marketing trends. The changes in marketing strategies for 2024 Double 11 indicate that "Eliminating the False and Retaining the True" has become a key focus of domestic e-commerce marketing. To win consumers' trust and loyalty, brands and platforms must continuously refine their product offerings and emphasize competitive product value and genuine consumer benefits.

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