China Q3 Vaping Brand Rankings Released: RELX No.1, YOOZ No.2

On November 18, news emerged that BlueHole, a new media outlet focused on electronic vaping, and the digital brand ranking research organization DBRank jointly released the third quarter brand awareness rankings for electronic cigarette brands in China. This ranking reflects the performance of brands in the third quarter of 2021.

Since the second quarter of last year, we have adopted the current quarter's digital brand assets as the basis for ranking, rather than relying on past data. This approach better reflects the operations and immediate feedback of brands during the current quarter, rewarding those that perform well while eliminating brands that rely on historical rankings.

Readers should also note that the brand awareness rankings can change each quarter and are not as static as one might think.

Both parties have committed to producing this ranking based on original, authentic data without any artificial intervention or commercialization.
 
BlueHole Commentary:<\/strong>

Observant readers may have noticed that only 17 brands made the list in the third quarter, down from 28 in the second quarter, a reduction of 40%.

Brands that fell off the list had insufficient citation data, which, while generating some data, ultimately accounted for 0% of the awareness share and were disregarded.

From a policy perspective, on March 22, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology announced that electronic cigarettes would be managed similarly to traditional cigarettes, causing a stir in the industry. Additionally, on May 26, the National Health Commission released a report indicating sufficient evidence that electronic cigarettes are unsafe, raising concerns among experts, leading the industry into a downward trend this year.

From an industry perspective, many electronic cigarette brands have ceased opening stores and providing subsidies, adopting a more passive approach to operations.

From offline terminals, surveyed electronic cigarette stores have seen sales decline for seven consecutive months, and with lease expirations, a wave of store closures may occur by the end of the year.

The rankings indicate quarterly trends: rising, falling, or stable, to help readers reference brand performance over two consecutive quarters.

Let’s briefly comment on individual brands:<\/strong>

1. RELX continues to rank first, with a share increase of about 7% compared to the previous quarter. Last quarter's share was 74.8%, while this quarter it is 82.5%. The growth mainly comes from RELX's initiatives in the third quarter, including the electronic cigarette empty pod recycling program and funding for the return of Northeast tigers and leopards, both of which have led the industry and received extensive media coverage.

2. Lami has entered the top three for the first time, jumping from 18th in the second quarter to second in the third quarter, a meteoric rise. This is attributed to a significant increase in topic mentions and planning related to Lami this quarter, both for Lami itself and the Zero HNB brand, especially with the clever integration of Lami products into the history of electronic cigarette development. Although it may seem overly self-promotional, it is a clever strategy for spreading awareness. From the social media of Lami's CEO, employees, and distributors, it is evident that the brand has undertaken large-scale planning in the third quarter.

3. Pod has risen three places to rank third. This quarter, Pod continues to benefit from the residual effects of PMTA, creating multiple communication events, such as the remaining 7% and 2% of the FDA's review list, which Pod has cleverly leveraged for topic dissemination. It is understandable that Pod has not been rejected by the FDA, which serves as a form of endorsement. However, there are concerns about what would happen if it were rejected. But for now, let’s enjoy the moment.

4. Xiaoye remains unchanged at fourth place. There are not many highlights, but the presence of two major celebrities, Luo Yonghao and Chen Guanxi, helps maintain Xiaoye's daily popularity.

5. Weita has risen seven places to rank fifth. Weita launched new products X and a new brand, New Bee, in the third quarter, benefiting from a grand launch event and the promotion of the new brand, re-entering the top five. Unlike Lami and Pod, which stirred up discussions, Weita adopted a product launch strategy to drive topic dissemination.

6. Yuzu has dropped one place to rank sixth. Yuzu has been focusing on internal restructuring and has not engaged much in external promotion.

7. MoDi has dropped four places to rank seventh. MoDi first entered the top three in the second quarter due to multiple new product launches but has been relatively quiet in the third quarter. MoDi excels in product development but needs clearer external communication strategies.

8. VAZO has risen five places to rank eighth. VAZO has re-entered the top ten, likely due to frequent collaborations with well-known IPs to launch new products.

9. Podlan continues to rank ninth. There are not many highlights, mostly routine communication.

10. Xiwu has dropped eight places to rank tenth. From second place in the second quarter to tenth in the third quarter, Xiwu's decline is normal due to fewer highlights in the third quarter.

11. Jigan continues to rank eleventh, while MYX has also dropped, both falling out of the top ten.

12. Fulou, Xuejia, and Longwu have re-entered the top 20 rankings, with Fugou continuing to rank 17th.

13. Some newly established brands have also made significant moves in Q3, such as COEE and MUSE. However, due to ranking rules, they were not included in data monitoring before the quarter began, and their data will only be reflected in Q4. Whether they can enter the rankings will depend on their individual circumstances.

Due to space limitations, this concludes our commentary on individual brands.

As always, the BlueHole awareness rankings reflect the volume of related information and mentions of brands on platforms like WeChat, Weibo, Zhihu, and industry websites, and do not represent actual market share or sales volume. They are intended for reference regarding brands.

We hope all brands approach this with a calm mindset, and we also hope that brand agents do the same.

Overall, brands that can consistently maintain their positions on the rankings may have new product launches, store opening policies, and more unique strategic communications.

Brands that did not make the list do not necessarily indicate poor development; they may simply not have had significant activities in the third quarter.

Additionally, the BlueHole rankings will never include generic entries and will not monitor data from media accounts that artificially inflate their numbers. Several media accounts that have engaged in such practices have already been blacklisted.

In other words, no matter how many articles you publish on these fake inflated accounts, they will ultimately generate no data and have no impact on the rankings. Because you know that those are fake readership numbers.

We must emphasize once again that the BlueHole rankings do not accept any commercial sponsorship or requests for assistance.

Furthermore, let me reiterate: please do not ask us how the rankings are calculated.

This ranking is generated based on the proprietary calculation model of the Digital Brand Ranking, covering news media, information websites, news apps, Weibo, WeChat, and content platforms like Zhihu, based on media reports and user-generated content to calculate the brand's user awareness share.