[ 🎬 Medium Matters ] 2025's Most Successful Mini Drama (to date) + Just Listen to these 🎧
Yili, Nike and KFC leading the charge this month
Welcome to… Medium Matters 🍿 It’s our (new) series where we share examples of brands finding fresh ways to reach and build relationships with Chinese consumers.
Why should you care? Another ad? Yawn. Another product post? Scroll. The days of grabbing attention with basic marketing are long gone. Today's savvy consumers want brands that entertain them, add value to their lives, and actually get them. Smart brands are experimenting with creative ways to slip into consumers' hearts (and wallets). These are those smart brands 👇
🎬 Let’s go to the (mini) movies
Mini dramas are all the rage, and Chinese dairy brand Yili gets it.
Yili’s “The Legend of Jiu Li (九粒传奇)” stands out as the most successful branded mini drama of 2025 (so far). Framed as a “time-travel and reincarnation” comedy, the story follows a modern top salesperson who unexpectedly wakes up in an ancient dairy family.
Each episode (between just 3-5 minutes in length) blends hilarious business crises and ancient culinary inventions, seamlessly weaving Yili’s milk into the plot as both a story driver and product highlight.
Platforms used: Douyin, WeChat Channels, Rednote
👀 What’s working:
🍿 Unexpected Plot Twists
Breaks from traditional time-travel tropes with wild, modern twists—like turning the imperial kitchen into a livestream studio, or flipping a house raid into a sales opportunity—creating strong dramatic tension.
🍿 Snappy Comedy Format
Each 4-minute episode hits a “crisis–resolution–cliffhanger” arc, with major plot beats every minute, tailor-made for short-video audiences.
🍿 Integrated Product Placement
Yili milk isn’t just a prop—it’s often the key to solving problems, elevating the product from passive ad to active storytelling element.
🍿 Star Power & Emotional Resonance
Comedian Jin Jing (on Douyin as @金九粒) enhances the humor with her exaggerated delivery. Her return to screen post-maternity added both buzz and warmth to the campaign.
Over 218 million total views and 5.1 million interactions across platforms. Douyin alone generated 4+ million likes and over 200 million hashtag views.
Clever use of a wordplay “Yili + Jiu Li = Shi Li (Strength)” boosted brand recall by 82%. User interaction intent increased by 3.6× thanks to strong product integration.
🎙️ PodTalk
✔️ Just Listen
Brand:
Nike (Self-produced by Nike in partnership with JustPod)
🎧 What’s it about:
Focus on sports culture, human stories, and social themes rather than direct product promotion. Covers a wide range of topics:
- Niche youth sports and their social implications
- Behind-the-scenes stories of athletes
- Timely specials linked to major events like the Asian Games
🔑 Avoids competitive analysis and instead emphasizes how sports shape personal growth and identity.
Who’s on it:
Professional athletes (e.g., Chinese women’s basketball coach Zheng Wei and captain Yang Liwei)
Cultural scholars, industry veterans, and passionate amateur athletes
🧠 Why it’s clever:
Targets a valuable audience. Young, high-income, urban listeners whose lifestyle aligns with Nike’s core consumer base.
Strengthens brand loyalty through 30–50 minute episodes of deep, thoughtful storytelling.
Aligns with Nike’s DTC strategy, building direct emotional connections and reducing reliance on traditional ads.
Extends reach via cross-platform promotion, combining podcast platforms (Xiaoyuzhou, Apple Podcasts, Ximalaya) with social media (e.g., Weibo hashtags #NikeTalksPodcast).
Taps into the “ear economy” trend where listeners seek content that offers depth, reflection, and emotional resonance.
🍗 Chicken Talks
Brand:
KFC
KFC partnered with podcast producer JustPod to launch two branded podcast series: Definitely a Pro (肯定是大神) and K Morning Chat (一早肯聊), both now streaming on Xiaoyuzhou FM.
🎧 What it’s about:
Definitely a Pro explores the theme of side hustles, featuring guest interviews and observation segments that align with KFC’s “Da Shen Card” concept—a loyalty program aimed at ambitious young professionals.
K Morning Chat centers on healthy lifestyle topics, with the debut episode addressing sleep debt, cleverly tying into KFC’s breakfast offering.
🧠 Why it’s clever:
Content directly targets consumer interests, from work-life balance to wellness.
Podcast listening creates an immersive, brand-friendly setting.
The initiative signals KFC’s ambition to evolve from a fast food brand to a lifestyle leader.
As always, thanks for reading! ✌🏼 We hope you like this new series 🤞🏼
We craft strategies and content that help our clients reach, engage, and build relationships with Chinese consumers to drive long-term business results. Reach out to us at hello@waisocial.com to learn more 💬