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Photo by Tangting
A Proposal for China Youth
Innovation Tracker 2016

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WHAT IS CHINA YOUTH INNOVATION TRACKER........................... 3
WHAT IS THE METHODOLOGY...................................................... 5
DELIVERABLES............................................................................... 8
TIMELINE AND QUOTATION.......................................................... 9
PRODUCT SAMPLES...................................................................... 10
TABLE OF CONTENTS
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WHAT IS CHINA YOUTH INNOVATION TRACKER?
China Youth Innovation Tracker is designed to give you actionable insights into Chinese youth trends, to inspire
ideas and provide informative support to keep up with changing culture. it provides marketers inspirations and
support on following areas…
Youth motivation: What are the emerging motivations, values and identity among Chinese youth
Youth engagement: What are the effective ways of youth activation/engagement
Creative reference: What we can learn from creative culture
The implications will be valid for general youth marketing across different categories with multi-category cases.
We describe trends according to three factors:
What’s Up: Youth behavior that makes up a trend
Why Now: Needs and values driving behavior
Where and How: Examples of trends in action
China Youth Innovation Tracker is based on China Youthology’s youth culture signal pool. The signals are specific
events, people, stuff and marketing practices, including youth culture hits or important signals showing youth
culture changes. By tracking and interpreting these signals, we find emerging trends among young consumers
and provide you new perspectives.
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WHAT IS THE METHDOLOGY?
MEDIA TRACKING
We mine for data in an optimized and comprehensive mix of online and offline media (including academic
journals, in-depth magazines, portals, online community, etc.) that curate information/stories on a variety
of topics.
INFLUENCER TRACKING
We follow a diverse panel of opinion leaders (industry observers, critics, and opinion leaders in a variety
of youth communities from mass youth culture to leading-edge youth culture), tracking their blogs/
microblogs and conducting periodic face-to-face interviews.
INTERNAL WORKSHOP
Based on the signals collected by media and influencer tracking, we conduct internal workshop to
analysis the relationship between signals and draw out the potential micro trends, and then validate and
refine the trends by in-depth focused desk research.
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The Trends We Saw

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The Trends We Saw
2013 Jul 7th

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DELIVERABLES
China Youth Innovation Tracker deck
The deck (both Chinese and English version) comes in a PDF version, and a PPT version so you can
easily use these trends as part of your own presentations.
Print-outs (complimentary)
For each quarter, there will be 3 print-outs as reading materials and workshop stimulus for your daily
work.
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TIMELINE AND QUOTATION FOR 2016
China Youth Innovation Tracker will be delivered in ten working days after each quarter (before mid
April, July, October and January 2017).
The quotation is…
China Youth Innovation Tracker (including both Chinese and English versions)
RMB 25,000 per quarter
Print-outs (3 per quarter, Chinese or English version)
Complimentary
TOTAL COST FOR 2016: RMB 100,000 (6% business taxes included)
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China Youth Innovation Tracker SAMPLE
2015 Q1
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1. THE NEW CUSTOMIZATION

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THE CONVENTION
Conventionally, customization means either:
1. Putting your name or symbol on a product to
mark it as your own.
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2. Designing a product by picking out its
component parts.
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Youth are customizing the product to their lifestyles.
THE RISING TREND
Now, youth are customizing products to fit their lifestyles rather than carry their personal labels. This
means:
1. Experiential Solutions – Youth are buying items in packages based on the experience they can
bring. So rather than a young runner designing the best shoe by picking out its parts and colors
and then the best sweatband with the prettiest design, she cares more about getting running
shoes that come with a fitness bracelet and sweatband – an easy, packaged solution to the
running lifestyle.
2. Sharing the Solution – Because Youth like to do things socially, they value the option of sharing
their “customized solution packages” with friends who share similar lifestyles. They are not buying
customized products just for themselves.
Youth no longer derive value from personal customization of a product, but rather the customization of
the product to their lifestyle.
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WHAT ARE THE DRIVERS?
Luxury Redefined – Youth are no longer impressed solely by high price
tags.
Cultivating Lifestyles – Today’s youth are deep and broad explorers of
lifestyles.
Valuing the Experience – Youth see the product as a component part of
a whole experience.
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Luxury Redefined
As China’s consumption culture becomes
increasingly sophisticated, Youth are less
impressed with luxury for the sake of
luxury. They are more interested in
forming identities along cultural lines
rather than financial lines, preferring
products with heavy cultural meanings
over blatant symbols of luxury.
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Cultivating Lifestyles
Today’s youth are broad and deep
explorers of lifestyles. They look
broadly at the diverse options of
lifestyles, and deeply into each
lifestyle’s expressions. In order to
explore and understand each lifestyle
fully, they want to know how products
and services fit into them.
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Valuing the Experience
Youth are exploring and developing
self-identities through new and
interesting life experiences. They see
products and services as the
component parts of a single, whole
experience. Youth are therefore not
simply interested in a product’s
functions, but how a product can
bring greater value to that
experience.
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无二之旅：独一无二的海外定制旅行
Uniqueway: Customized Overseas Travel
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无二之旅，2012年诞生于北京，是针对年轻白领人群的私人定制海外旅
行服务公司。无二之旅的无二之意是独一无二，创始人希望提供客户有温
度的旅行，真正自由的简易个性行。
无二之旅会的旅行顾问和定制师，多为在当地长期留学具有生活经验的人，
因此熟知当地情况。他们会当面向用户了解他们的偏好、想法和需求，根
据这些个性化需求来为客户安排针对性的线路，并且帮助解决采买、预定
以及旅途中的各种问题。他们收取10%－30%不等的服务费用。
截至目前，无二之旅已获得来自北软天使基金、安思晟投资的1000万人
民币Pre-A轮融资。
Uniqueway, founded in Beijing in 2012, is a travel service company
targeting China’s young white-collar workers. Created to give
personalized travel experiences, Uniqueway simplifies the planning
process and offers opportunities for customization.
The website’s “travel consultants” are Chinese youth are familiar with
destinations through having spent long periods of time there, generally
as students. These consultants inquire about customer hobbies,
interests, and needs in order to custom tailor itineraries. They then help
customers to book their trips and are available for consultation during
trips. These consultants collect a 10-30% service fee.
Uniqueway.com has received an angel investment of RMB 10,000,000
in Pre-A series funding.

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趣送礼：一站式解决送礼难题
Qu Song Li: One-Stop Gift Shopping
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“趣送礼”是趣玩网旗下的新功能，目的是针对性地为用户提供送礼建议
的同时，借用趣玩网较成熟的商品销售渠道，做到一站式送礼服务。
“趣送礼”分四个版块：送礼、收礼、求礼以及纪念日。以“送礼”板块
为例，用户选择送礼对象性别后，会出现针对送礼对象的性格、喜好以及
个人特点等分类。比如对应女生的选项有萌妹子、自拍狂、驴友、吃货等；
而男生的选项则有数码达人、果粉、摄影爱好者、文艺青年等。与传统礼
物定制不同，趣送礼更加集中于送礼对象个人特点，而不仅仅是其社会身
份。
“趣送礼”及其所在的趣玩团队是为中国较有影响力的创意商品零售企业，
先后获得经纬及挚信资本的两轮千万美元级别投资。
Qu Song Li is a new function of the “Qu Wan” franchise. It aims to offer
a one-stop gift-giving service featuring product recommendation and
leveraging Qu Wan’s established product fulfillment channels.
Qu Song Li has four parts to its process: gift delivery, gift receipt, gift
request, and special commemorative dates. Gift delivery asks that the
customer fill in the gift receiver’s gender, interests, and personality traits.
For instance, you can select “Tech Junkies” or “Apple Fans” or
“Photographer,” “Artistic Hipsters,” etc. These gifts capture unique
individual traits, not just social identities.
As of late, Qu Song Li is a relatively influential and innovative retailer,
and has received a Series B investment of USD 10,000,000.

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妙计旅行：大数据帮助锁定最优路线
Miaoji Travel: Big Data Driven Travel
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妙计旅行是国内首家基于人工智能技术的旅行线路个性化定制引擎，利用
大数据和智能化技术为用户提供一键生成的出境游路线计划。
妙计收集全球数十种语言的旅行行业网站，根据语义理解技术挖掘出上亿
信息节点的旅行结构化知识库，无论是飞机、火车、自驾，还是酒店、景
点、餐厅都会完美涵盖。妙计还会根据用户的需求，定制最合理的线路安
排，完成个性化的旅行线路。在妙计旅行的首页上，用户只需输入旅行目
的地、时间、人数等基本信息，选择其他维度的旅行喜好选择，就会获得
妙计旅行自动生成旅行线路。
妙计旅行2014年成立，已获得两轮融资。
Miaoji Travel is a quantitative travel app established by a Chinese
engineer. It uses big data and smart tech to provide users with a full
itinerary customized to their needs and interests.
Miaoji leverages data from travel sites in 10 languages to collect and
collate millions of data points for flights, trains, car rental, hotels,
sightseeing, eating, and fun activities. It will plan personalized itineraries
according to user interests and needs, including travel destination,
dates, number of travelers, and personal specifications, to construct a
custom itinerary.
Miaoji was established in 2014, and has already received Series B
funding.

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IMPLICATIONS AND OPPORTUNITIES
The big idea here is: redefine your consumer segments along cultural lines.
Brands should consider:
1. What are their consumer segments, how are they defined? Do not just look at your target
consumers in terms of their demographics or product preferences. It is increasingly important and
beneficial to segment them by culture consumption identities. For instance, gamers vs. ACG fans,
young business travellers vs. exploratory DIY travellers, or Teddy bear gifters vs. Teddy bear
collectors.
2. What are their meaningful experiences in youth culture? Designing a consumer’s experience means
changing the cultural meaning of that product. Understand through youth research what defines a
“meaningful experience” to today’s young consumers, so that the experience design surrounding a
product is optimally impactful.
3. Recognize the Opportunity. This new type of customization is inexpensive. It does not require
spending a lot on product design and development so much as understanding strategically how
youth see products and services fitting into their lives.20

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ABOUT US:
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China Youthology is a research- based youth consultancy
that aspires to build meaningful connections between
brands and Chinese youth.
We care about Chinese youth, and believe that deeper
mutual understanding benefits everyone.
For more information about China Youthology, visit
www.chinayouthology.com
Also feel free to contact:
Hannah: hannah.lincoln@chinayouthology.com
Thanks for your support!
- China Youthology Team