Chinese consumers in the United States and Canada are a major market opportunity for brands and retailers, but the media usage habits of this group can make them difficult to reach.

At Eastward Media, we help agencies and brands target Chinese consumers in the United States and Canada through their favorite Chinese websites and platforms.

We’re able to target Chinese consumers through our unique DSP that accesses premium inventories from Chinese publishers. This inventory is not available through the open auction and exchange. 

Through our DSP, we can access 99% of all available Chinese publisher inventory in North America. Our niche audience can be segmented into targeting Chinese consumers who have lived in the United States and Canada for fewer than 10 years. 

How large is the Chinese consumer market in North America?
 Canada (2016 Figures)United States (2015 Figures)
Total Chinese Population1,805,705*4,948,000
5-Year Population Growth +19.05%
Fastest of any ethnic group
+24.19%
Fastest of any ethnic group
# Annual Tourists from China682,0003,170,000
Cities with Densest Chinese PopulationsToronto, Vancouver, Montreal, Calgary, Edmonton, Ottawa,New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles, San Jose, Chicago, Honolulu, San Diego,
Philadelphia, Oakland, Houston, Irvine, Seattle, Boston, Fairfax, Sacramento
What makes the Chinese consumer audience in North America so difficult to reach?

Chinese consumer audiences can be difficult to reach because of their media usage habits. Let’s elaborate using the example of a newcomer from China who’s resided in North America for 3 – 5 years, markets of about 1,500,000 and 350,000 people in the United States and Canada, respectively.

In the first few years since moving from China, consumers will demonstrate all of the following:

1. High Purchasing Motivations or Customer Propensities

Newcomers from China will demonstrate greater-than-average purchasing motivations for a range of products and services. Banking, Automotive, Insurance, Real Estate and Education are some of the most important categories in their consumer journey.

2. Strong Retention of Digital Media Usage Habits

Newcomers from China retain many of their media habits from back home, demonstrating a preference to use Chinese websites and social media even while living in the United States and Canada. A comScore Key Measures report indicates that newcomers from China will spend up to 85% of their online time consuming content from Chinese publishers. 

For example, a newcomer from China in the United States or Canada will consistenly under-index on YouTube but over-index on YouKu for video media. 

This media retention is largely driven by their wants to access Chinese-language content on familiar platforms.

The unique digital media habits of this Chinese consumer segment present a significant challenge for advertisers, since the places they most frequently visit online are disconnected from North American ad exchanges.

This means that DSPs operated in North America cannot access the ad inventory on Chinese websites. And by extension of this, DSPs in North America will be extremely limited in their reach of Chinese Newcomers audiences – a key market opportunity for many brands. 

Chinese Audiences in North America retain media habits by Eastward Media

Why are North American DSPs unable to access ad inventories on Chinese websites?

Chinese publisher inventory isn’t available on the open auction or exchange due to a set of censorship policies known as the Great Firewall.

China’s Great Firewall policy prevents foreign (non-China) media companies from participating in their media landscape. This means that all of the leading DSPs and ad exchanges outside of China can’t access the wide majority of Chinese publisher inventory.

Lack of inventory access is one of three reasons why many media plans miss the Chinese consumer target audience.

How does Eastward Media help agencies and brands access inventory on Chinese websites?

Eastward Media offers a managed programmatic direct  / guaranteed service for agencies and brands.

Through our exclusive license from the Chinese Censor and direct partnerships with Chinese publishers, Eastward Media can offer guaranteed impressions on about 98.7% of all Chinese websites and video streaming platforms.

What are your targeting capabilities?

Eastward Media leverages data management platforms (DMPs) from Baidu (China’s Google), Alibaba (China’s Amazon), Tencent (China’s Facebook) and Ctrip (China’s Expedia) to target digital audiences across the United States and Canada.

Through our managed programmatic direct / guaranteed service, Eastward Media can target segmented online audiences by the following attributes:

  • City Location in the United States & Canada
  • Age Group
  • Household Income
  • Affinity Group
  • In-Market Categories
  • Purchase Intent
What are your reporting capabilities?

Our ad stack and DSP is compatible with DoubleClick Campaign Manager’s tracking tags, thereby enabling third-party verification for impression delivery and click activities. Unfortunately, at this time we’re unable to accept Sizmek or Omniture tracking due to ad stack incompatibility.

Advertisers who track campaigns through DoubleClick Campaign Manager are able to benefit from first-party log files that can be imported into in-house DMPs to enrich targeting, audience lists and subsequent digital campaigns.

What are Eastward Media’s programmatic solutions for media planners?
Chinese Programmatic DisplayChinese Video Pre-Roll
Display Ads
Banners
Static or Animated Creative
Simplified Chinese Copy
300 K Minimum Impression Order
Minimum Campaign Flight: 2 Weeks
Maximum Campaign Flight: 4 Weeks
Non-Skip Video Ads
Pre-Roll
15-Second or 30-Second Videos
Subtitled in Simplified Chinese or Voice-over in Mandarin
200 K Minimum Impression Order
Minimum Campaign Flight: 2 Weeks
Maximum Campaign Flight: 4 Weeks
Interested in targeting Chinese consumers in the United State or Canada?
Connect with us here.

*Ethnic origin: Chinese & Taiwanese, 2016 Census, Statistics Canada

Eastward Media | Reaching Chinese Audiences, Worldwide
303 West 5th Avenue
Vancouver, BC V5Y 1J6