This is a Rednote video we localized for American Wave Machines, a manufacturer of patent protected surf technology. It features New Jersey surfer Cruz Dinofa visiting China to show off his skills using the company’s new wave pool in Hainan, China.
It has 500 likes so far, all organic. This is part of an ongoing campaign to reach surfing enthusiasts in China.
What did we do?
While the video and collaboration with Cruz was entirely American Wave Machine’s doing, Nanjing Marketing Group helped in the following ways:
- Gave advice on what to include in the video for a Chinese audience
- Trimmed the source video down from 12 minutes to 2:11 to make it appropriate for the Chinese app Rednote. It was originally a YouTube video.
- Added Chinese subtitles
- Added some interstitials
- Created a Chinese thumbnail, title, and video description to improve the clip’s traction on the app.
If your company is ever interested in collaborating with us, we are capable of doing all the above, as well as shooting videos anew and running a full-scale Chinese marketing campaign.
What Does This Post Teach Us About Marketing on Chinese Social Media?
Brands could learn a few pointers about marketing on Chinese social media from this example.
Apart from the inclusion of Chinese subtitles to help netizens understand the English spoken in the clip, there are other subtle ingredients that make this post so excellent. As shown by influencer Speed last year, showing interest in China is a great starting point for connecting one’s content with viewers who may not speak your language. By making a clip specifically for a foreign country, American Wave Machines’ clip gives the impression that they care, and much more than if they’d simply translated or repurposed content they’d already posted for the United States, Canada, or Great Britain. This video goes one step further by showing Cruz eating some local squid and locals trying out the wave pool.
The location and timing should not be lost on us either. Hainan has received a lot of focus recently due to it becoming a free trade port and its aspirations of becoming a world class tourist destination. Choosing to post a video now and on this southern island is more likely to gain traction because there will be other businesses and travelers posting similar content.
As this particular wave pool is a leading attraction of the Riyue Bay Surf Resort, the resort may share American Wave Machines’ videos themselves, as they benefit from it. While this highlights the importance of collaborating with local partners, it’s also important to recognize that Riyue Bay is China’s first surf-themed resort. If it is successful, alongside Hainan’s increasing importance to the travel industry, we can assume that other locations of a similar kind may open across the country in the future, especially if surfing becomes more popular. As American Wave Machines could play a starring role in this over the next few years.
Additionally, this video reminds us of the importance of cross-platform adaptability, even across languages. Although in this instance Nanjing Marketing Group repurposed American Wave Machine’s YouTube video for Rednote, it’s not uncommon to see Rednote users reposting viral content they’ve seen on TikTok or Instagram. Cruz Dinofa also shared this same video to his YouTube account. By making content that can be repurposed for different channels, companies can increase their chances of being seen.
Lastly, Cruz may be a good choice of partner in this video, as he is in the same age range as Rednote’s main demographic – women in their early 20s.
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