What does zhongcao (种草, seeding) mean in Chinese marketing?
Zhongcao (种草, literally “planting grass”) is Chinese internet and marketing slang for content that makes people want to buy something by sharing first-hand experience or recommending a product; zhongcao marketing is a brand promoting products through such posts by creators or users. It is industry usage with no official definition.
Also known as: Seeding, Product seeding, 种草, Zhongcao marketing
The phrase began as internet slang: making someone want a product is pictured as planting a blade of grass in their mind. It spread on content platforms such as Xiaohongshu (RedNote), and the platforms use it themselves: Xiaohongshu describes Pugongying, its official marketplace for brand deals with creators, as the official platform for “content seeding and livestream collaborations” (内容种草与直播合作官方平台).1
When is a zhongcao post an ad?
A seeding post that promotes a brand’s goods or services is an online advertisement and follows advertising rules. China’s Measures for the Administration of Internet Advertising apply to commercial advertising that directly or indirectly promotes goods or services through websites, apps and other online media (Article 2); online ads must be recognizable as ads, and where goods or services are promoted through knowledge-sharing, experience-sharing or reviews with a purchase link attached, the publisher must clearly label the content as an advertisement (Article 9).2
In the US and Canada, a creator paid by a brand or given free products must likewise disclose that relationship; see material connection.
How is zhongcao different from KOL marketing?
Zhongcao describes what the content does, making people want to buy, while KOL marketing describes who is speaking. Seeding posts may come from KOLs, but often come from KOCs, smaller accounts that feel closer to ordinary users, and from ordinary users themselves. The difference between KOLs and KOCs is explained under KOL.
Further reading
- Marketing on Xiaohongshu, Douyin and other Chinese platforms for foreign brands: China entry: PR & social ads
- Brand partnerships with creators in China and North America: Cross-border influencer marketing
Notes
- 小红书蒲公英 (Pugongying)
- 《互联网广告管理办法》 (Measures for the Administration of Internet Advertising)