The Next China: Consumer Trends from Emerging Cities

Over the course of 60 days, Olivia Plotnick — founder of Shanghai-based marketing agency Wai Social — traveled to 32 cities, primarily second tier and below, to explore the shifts driving consumption outside China’s saturated megacities.

As economic growth slows in larger hubs, smaller cities are showing outsized momentum. Olivia’s on-the-ground journey explores trends in retail, youth culture, tourism, beauty, and the silver economy.

This talk invites the audience to go beyond dashboards and metrics — revealing, through a wide range of encounters from taxi drivers to entrepreneurs, what questions brands should be asking and where they should be looking next.

Speaker:

Olivia Plotnick, Founder, Wai Social (Marketing and Consultancy Agency)

With over a decade of experience, Olivia helps international brands and organizations decode and thrive in China's sophisticated digital ecosystem.

Her expert insights are regularly featured in leading publications, including The Financial Times, Business of Fashion, and Bloomberg. A keynote speaker and mentor at global startup and entrepreneurship programs,