Fan Bingbing’s Return to the Spotlight
The once-top Chinese actress Fan Bingbing has been making a comeback lately, after keeping a low profile following her tax scandal. While she remains cancelled by domestic showbiz for being “tainted”, Fan’s latest moves are mostly concentrated on international markets. Since last year, she’s been frequenting international film festivals and fashion weeks abroad. The latest development is her entry onto TikTok, the international version of Douyin.
TikTok Debut and Speculations
It has been reported that she joined TikTok last month and on 2 July, netizens found that Fan had posted on the platform announcing her entry. This, of course, drew speculation that this was paving the way for her own cosmetics brand Fan Beauty Diary to “go overseas” (出海). The brand was founded in 2018, around the time her tax scandal broke. Indeed, as early as 31 May, Fan Beauty Diary had entered Lazada, the Alibaba-owned international e-commerce platform that focuses on Southeast Asian countries.
Success of Fan Beauty Diary
Fan Beauty Diary currently has shops on domestic platforms such as Kuaishou, JD.com, Douyin, Tmall, and Xiaohongshu (RED). In fact, during the 618 Shopping Festival this year, Fan Beauty Diary became Xiaohongshu’s number 1 brand according to an aggregated index combining revenue, order and item number, views, engagement, and engagement time. The brand entered the top beauty brand rankings on both Taobao and JD. It reached over 2.2 billion RMB GMV (302.64 million USD) in the past 3 years with growth each year.
Strategic Promotion and Livestreaming
The brand operates merchant-led livestreams where Fan doesn’t participate. Fan in turn promotes her brand through her personal account showcasing beauty routines and tips. But Fan Beauty Diary has over 7 million followers across platforms, with 3.28 million on Taobao. Brands, livestreamers and now celebrities trying to expand worldwide in the face of stiff competition at home. Chinese-owned international platforms like TikTok and Lazada are certainly worth close monitoring.
Fan Bingbing’s strategic entry onto TikTok and the expansion of her beauty brand, Fan Beauty Diary, onto international platforms like Lazada marks a significant step in her global comeback. Despite the domestic challenges, her focus on international markets and strategic use of social media and e-commerce platforms showcase her resilience and business acumen.
