Bye KOLs, hello sales: Beauty brands rush to sign celebrities who convert

What happened China’s beauty market is in the middle of its strongest celebrity-marketing surge in years, so intense that the industry is running out of celebrities to sign. Data intelligence service provider Endata shows that beauty and skincare endorsements accounted for over 20% of all new celebrity partnerships in Q1 2025, the highest share across consumer categories. The momentum intensified through 2025. By early September, 226 beauty brands had unveiled 136 new star partnerships, with celebrities now holding roughly two beauty deals each. The rush reflects a deep structural pivot: the KOL ecosystem that once powered China’s beauty growth is slowing, and brands are chasing more reliable pathways to conversion. The ROI (return on investment) is immediate. Kans generated sales of 20 million RMB ($2.77 million) within five minutes of naming actor Tian Xuning, ending the day above 60 million RMB ($8.3 million). Little Dream Garden (半亩花田) hit 30 million RMB ($4.15 million) in one hour after announcing its appointment of table tennis champion Sun Yingsha. Even ultra-premium names benefited: Noble Panacea’s 3,000 RMB ($415) mask saw four- and five-figure fan purchases immediately after selecting actor Zhang Wanyi as a face. The Jing Take: Why brands are ditching KOL-first strategies The endorsement spike comes as livestreaming and seeding models lose efficacy. Repetitive scripts, saturating ads and rising influencer rates have weakened conversion, particularly on Douyin, where visibility depends heavily on costly bid-for-ranking mechanisms. As a result, brands report diminishing ROI and limited ability to attract new users through traditional seeding or creator-first activations. In contrast, the economics of celebrity partnerships have shifted in brands’ favor. As entertainment pricing corrects, celebrity fees have fallen relative to previous peaks, making A- and B-tier stars more accessible. For domestic beauty labels operating at scale, endorsements now offer higher certainty per spend, helping maintain national visibility and defend category share in a crowded market. New categories of stars take the lead Sports athletes have rapidly become beauty’s most sought-after endorsement assets. Sun Yingsha carries six beauty endorsements, spanning dermocosmetics, body care, and fragrance, while table tennis player Wang Chuqin fronts sunscreen, men’s grooming and scalp care. Their appeal lies in credibility, national visibility, and low reputational risk. Top sports figures now rival or surpass first-line actors in endorsement pricing, supported by a growing preference for health-driven imagery in functional skincare categories such as sunscreen and dermatology-inspired lines. At the same time, short-drama actors have become high-impact conversion drivers. Their fandoms are built on rapid-fire emotional immersion and skew toward urban women aged 18–35, aligning directly with beauty’s core consumer base. This demographic precision, combined with binge-watching behavior, allows brands to convert interest quickly at launch. Notably, male celebrities accounted for 60% of beauty endorsements, a reflection of how female fandoms now function as one of the market’s most influential commercial engines. Endorsements evolve into full-stack marketing engines As the commercial pull of 618 and Double 11 (Singles’ Day) shopping festivals wanes, brands have shifted endorsement announcements to April and May, creating an early-stage traffic surge that replaces organic festival hype. Celebrity marketing is also maturing. Traditional one-direction endorsements have given way to scenario-based, multi-touchpoint campaigns where stars anchor livestreams, short-video storylines, offline activations and targeted content tied to specific needs, such as summer sun care, sensitive-skin routines or long-wear makeup. Several brands, including Mistine, have shifted from personality-driven image ads to scenario-driven content, converting technical claims into emotional labels that reinforce trust and willingness to pay. Category segmentation is also becoming more granular. Brands now sign different stars for specific functions, regions, or product ecosystems, mirroring strategies once used only by top international labels. Celebrity risk management becomes strategic infrastructure With so many endorsements in play, risk control has become a central part of marketing strategy. Celebrity scandals in recent years have forced beauty brands to formalize how they screen talent, adding cross-department checks, real-time reputation monitoring, and tiered partnership structures that spread exposure across multiple spokespeople. This shift has also strengthened the appeal of sports stars, whose public profiles are tightly managed and whose personal lives remain largely out of the media. Their lower risk and rising cultural influence makes them a safer long-term asset than many entertainment celebrities. Beauty brands seek predictable growth The endorsement boom signals a market searching for strategic certainty. As the cost of acquisition rises and content-driven virality becomes harder to engineer, celebrities offer cross-platform recognition, community stability, and high emotional bandwidth. The Jing Take reports on a piece of the leading news and presents our editorial team’s analysis of the key implications for the luxury industry. In the recurring column, we analyze everything from product drops and mergers to heated debate sprouting on Chinese social media.

Sectors

Insights

Company

Bye KOLs, hello sales: Beauty brands rush to sign celebrities who convert