ByteDance, the parent company of information delivery behemoth TikTok, is proving that it still knows how to learn from the Chinese playbook. The Beijing-based technology giant recently released Lemon8, its latest hit, across platforms in China. The launch of Lemon8 appears to be ByteDance’s bid to establish itself as a full-fledged entertainment company, furthering its ambition to expand into cultural sectors beyond technology.
Lemon8 is ByteDance’s attempt to promote Chinese culture and knowledge through short-form interactive videos. The platform offers a variety of videos, topics and hooks that cater to different audiences. Its main appeal, however, lies in the fact that it encourages users to interact with the videos by answering quizzes and playing games, which then enables the algorithm to deliver entertaining videos tailored to the individual user.
The launch of Lemon8 is seen as the company’s move to follow the traditional Chinese playbook for success. This involves using platforms, such as WeChat, Weibo and Douyin, to enable users to convert into paying customers through the integration of concepts like gamification, user engagement and community collaboration. Much like Douyin, the first iteration of Lemon8 seems to be tailored for the Chinese audience, with videos wholly localized to appeal to the taste of the domestic consumers.
What’s more, the platform is also planning to launch an e-commerce feature, which would enable users to purchase products seen on the platform. This is a common tactic used in China since the massive success of Alibaba, and it appears that ByteDance has followed the time-tested path and is looking to leverage the influence of its millions of users in the same way.
The success of Lemon8 so far stands as testimony to this move, with the platform quickly gaining popularity since its launch and boasting millions of monthly active users as of April 2021. With such numbers, ByteDance has successfully shown that it is in tune with the Chinese strategy for success, proving once again its grasp of the Chinese market.
It will be interesting to see how ByteDance intends to employ the Chinese playbook to Lemon8’s success in the long run, whose success could prove to be a decisive factor in the company’s expansion into cultural sectors beyond technology. Whatever stands to come, one thing is certain; ByteDance has once again proved its mastery of the Chinese playbook.