You still struggle with brand awareness? I dominate Xiaohongshu IP marketing like Bailan Jewelry!
In the competitive world of jewelry Xiaohongshu (rednote) Marketing, standing out requires more than just beautiful designs—it demands strategic storytelling and emotional resonance. Xiaohongshu, with its 70% female user base and 50% of users hailing from first- and second-tier cities, has become a goldmine for brands targeting fashion-forward consumers. According to Nielsen IQ’s Xiaohongshu Media Value Insight White Paper, half of its users purchase jewelry at least once a quarter, showcasing a lucrative market for brands like Bailan Jewelry. In recent years, Bailan Jewelry faced a critical challenge: how to elevate brand awareness beyond its initial success with the viral "Xiaoyindou" product and establish a lasting brand moat. A strategic collaboration with Xiaohongshu’s New Year IP campaign, which not only amplified Bailan’s visibility but also drove significant sales growth. This case study delves into how niche brands can harness platform-level IP Xiaohongshu Marketing to break through market noise and achieve sustainable growth.
I. Marketing Background
The jewelry sector thrives on emotional connection and visual appeal, yet many brands struggle to differentiate themselves. Bailan’s 2022 triumph with "Xiaoyindou" demonstrated the power of Xiaohongshu’s closed-loop ecosystem—combining KOL endorsements, immersive content, and seamless e-commerce integration to create a hit product. However, sustaining momentum required a shift from product-centric to brand-centric strategies. In recent years, Bailan aimed to leverage cultural moments through Xiaohongshu Marketing to deepen consumer relationships. The Spring Festival, a period of heightened gifting and self-purchase demand, presented an ideal opportunity. By aligning with Xiaohongshu’s "Southeast, Northwest and New Year" IP—a platform-wide campaign celebrating regional traditions—Bailan tapped into collective nostalgia and festive sentiment, transcending transactional messaging to foster emotional resonance.
II. Strategic Actions
1. Leveraging Platform-Level IP
Bailan’s collaboration with Xiaohongshu’s New Year IP was a masterclass in cultural Xiaohongshu Marketing. The brand integrated its products into the platform’s "Spring Street" H5—a virtual marketplace where users could explore festive-themed venues. The booth of the "Bailan Jewelry Show" presented pearl collections using interactive 3D displays, enabling users to virtually "try on" the jewelry. This immersive experience bridged the gap between online engagement and offline desire, driving a 52.3% surge in brand searches. Crucially, Bailan avoided generic promotions; instead, it curated content around the symbolism of pearls in Chinese culture (e.g., prosperity and purity), aligning product attributes with IP narratives.
2. Creating Exclusive Brand IP
To dominate the pearl subcategory, Bailan launched "Celebrate the New Year with Jewels," a branded IP extension. Partnering with Xiaohongshu’s Dandelion platform as part of its Xiaohongshu Marketing efforts, it identified micro-influencers (10K–50K followers) whose minimalist aesthetics resonated with pearl enthusiasts. These KOLs produced styling guides highlighting Bailan’s textured pearls in everyday wear—a departure from overly polished campaign imagery. One note featuring a blogger layering pearl earrings with casual sweaters garnered 15K+ likes, outperforming celebrity-driven posts. The strategy hinged on authenticity: UGC-style close-ups of light reflecting off irregular pearl surfaces emphasized craftsmanship, countering mass-produced perceptions.
3. Integrated Conversion Strategies
While IP campaigns elevated top-funnel exposure, Bailan enhanced conversion rates through the application of meticulous targeting approaches. Search ads for "pearl earrings" directed traffic to live streams, where hosts demonstrated how pearls complemented different skin tones—a key purchase barrier. The streams’ "limited-edition" framing (e.g., "Only 100 pairs left for Lunar New Year") created urgency, reducing cart abandonment by 15%. Notably, Bailan’s live commerce didn’t hard-sell; hosts shared personal stories about gifting pearls to family, reinforcing the IP’s emotional core. This synergy between IP storytelling and conversion tools exemplifies Xiaohongshu Marketing’s "see-search-shop" advantage.
III. Key Success Factors
1. IP-Driven Influence Expansion
Bailan’s success underscores the multiplier effect of piggybacking on platform IPs. The S-tier campaigns on Xiaohongshu provide ready-made traffic (with over 100 million participants during the Spring Festival) and creative templates, lessening the content creation load for brands. Bailan’s twist was localizing the IP within the context of Xiaohongshu Marketing: Its "Jewelry Show" venue featured regional motifs like Suzhou garden-inspired backdrops, making global users feel personally addressed.
2. Product-Centric Stability
Despite the IP’s broad appeal, Bailan maintained focus on pearls—a subcategory with less competition than gold or diamonds. By dominating search rankings for "pearl jewelry," it achieved long-tail visibility; even post-campaign, pearl-related queries sustained 30% of total traffic.
3. Live Commerce Efficiency
Live streams contributed 40% of campaign sales, proving their role in demystifying high-price points (pearl sets averaged RMB 1,200). Real-time Q&A addressing durability concerns ("Can pearls withstand daily wear?") built trust, while QR code pop-ups streamlined checkout without leaving Xiaohongshu.
IV. Results and Impact
Quantitatively, Bailan’s campaign drove a 52.3% lift in brand searches, added 10K+ professional Xiaohongshu account followers, and lowered cost-per-purchase by 15%. Qualitatively, it repositioned Bailan as a pearl authority—a perception that facilitated a successful RMB 2,888 high-end collection launch later in 2023.
For instance, For brands seeking similar IP amplification, tools like Topkee’s Customized Theme Schedule can align campaigns with platform-native IPs while maintaining brand uniqueness. Topkee’s "Data Collection" feature helps brands quickly adapt to trending IP narratives. Topkee’s Social Customer Service tools, such as real-time comment moderation and @mention tracking, could further enhance interactions.
V. Comparative Insights from Swarovski
Swarovski’s parallel Xiaohongshu Marketing strategy highlights alternative approaches. While Bailan leveraged IPs for branding, Swarovski used its iconic "Swan" necklace to funnel attention to new releases like the "Bamboo" series. Its KFS (KOL-Feeds-Search) method saturated category keywords ("crystal bracelet"), achieving a 193% sales spike. Both cases confirm Xiaohongshu’s versatility for niche and established brands alike.
VI. Lessons for Brands
- Cultural Alignment Over Calendar Marketing: IP campaigns must transcend seasonal clichés. Bailan’s pearl narratives tied to familial blessings, not just "New Year discounts."
- Niche Dominance as a Foundation: Even within IP collaborations in Xiaohongshu Marketing, owning a subcategory (e.g., pearls) ensures sustained visibility amid platform noise.
- Live Commerce as Storytelling: Sales-driven streams underperform; Bailan’s success lay in blending product education with IP-themed storytelling.
For instance, Topkee’s Customized Theme Schedule helps brands identify and leverage cultural moments with data-driven precision, ensuring relevance beyond superficial calendar marketing. Topkee’s Data Insights tools, which track subcategory keyword performance to optimize content and ad targeting.
Conclusion
Bailan Jewelry’s campaign exemplifies how niche brands can harness Xiaohongshu Marketing’s IP ecosystem to amplify reach, deepen emotional connections, and drive conversions. By marrying platform-level cultural IPs with category-specific authority and live commerce innovation, brands can achieve breakout growth in competitive markets. For brands eyeing similar strategies, the key lies in balancing broad IP appeal with razor-sharp product focus—a duality Xiaohongshu is uniquely positioned to enable.
Need help unlocking Xiaohongshu’s potential for your brand? Connect with Topkee’s experts to craft a tailored IP marketing strategy.
