Matthew Brennan pt. 1 | Attention Factory - TikTok & China's ByteDance

The Negotiation

Topics Discussed and Key Points:

● How Matthew built a fascination for WeChat and digital innovation in China

● Writing objectively about big tech brands in a country known for heavy censorship

● The huge potential of sharing short videos via these newest social media platforms

● What is ByteDance, exactly?

● How ByteDance compares to the other tech giants in China

● What makes TikTok unique?

● Localizing TikTok’s content in other markets

Episode Summary:

Today on The Negotiation, we speak with Matthew Brennan, a highly sought-after speaker on the Chinese internet and tech innovation space, with a particular focus on WeChat and ByteDance. He is also the author of Attention Factory: The Story of TikTok and China's ByteDance (2020).

Matthew is the Co-Founder of China Channel, which “provides digital marketing services for brands wishing to perform better on WeChat and China's digital ecosystem.” China Channel also organizes “China’s largest WeChat marketing conference series for international companies, China Channel delivers regular presentations, workshops, training, and events globally about WeChat.”

Matthew says that his interest in digital innovation in China transcends geopolitics. Since writing his book, there has been a swell of controversy around TikTok as the U.S. and India worked to ban the popular social media app. Matthew, however, would rather focus on the bigger picture that is the trajectory this opens up for internet usage, globally. Short video is changing the way we use the internet, we are only in the early stages of this new trend.

Listen in as Matthew goes on to share how ByteDance and TikTok came to be and how they sparked massive innovation in the mobile landscape, as well as how ByteDance compares to China’s other tech giants today and what the future holds.

Key Quotes:

“I do believe that short video is a very important trend for internet usage, globally. What TikTok provides is a new way that people are using the internet, and it’s not going away.”

“China is all about mobile. It’s an app economy. People don’t tend to use browsers that much. Browser usage is very low in China.”

“ByteDance has the potential to be a viable option to the Facebook and Google duopoly around online advertising globally.”