Recently, emerging Chinese beauty group GENCA, together with its three brands KIMTRUE, ddg, and Aucuz, successfully completed its campus tour in partnership with the China University Student Advertising Art Festival Academy Award. The tour visited five universities—Wuhan University, Communication University of China, Shanghai Normal University, Anhui University, and China Academy of Art—engaging in face-to-face exchanges with thousands of students.
As brand presentations filled packed lecture halls, and as corporate representatives engaged not only with consumers but with creative future collaborators, what began as a marketing initiative evolved into a profound resonance of shared values. In recent years, GENCA's brands have built a strong reputation among students through precise positioning and solid product strength. This campus tour transformed that "popularity" into genuine "resonance," aligning the brand's DNA with the creative energy of the younger generation.
A Five-City Tour: An Immersive Dialogue with Gen Z
This campus tour was not a one-way broadcast, but an equal dialogue built on mutual recognition. GENCA's three brands—KIMTRUE, ddg, and Aucuz—each with distinct positioning, precisely addressed the diverse skincare needs of university students.
Every sharing session filled the venue to capacity, transforming each lecture hall into a scene of creative inspiration and intellectual exchange. Students' enthusiastic questions about creative directions and product features not only reflected their understanding of the brand brief, but also revealed the consumption values and aesthetic preferences of Gen Z. The interactive experiences outside the venue not only reached a wider student audience, offering hands-on product trials, but also provided GENCA Group with fresh, front-line market insights.
Meanwhile, the creative brief released by GENCA Group to 1,830 universities nationwide is propelling this co-creation to new heights. Students are encouraged to engage in content creation with the mindset of "brand curators," turning their personal social media into extensions of brand communication. This full-funnel marketing approach—from inspiring creativity, to content creation, to social amplification—completes a true "two-way journey" between the brand and its target consumers.
From Mindshare Resonance to Long-Term Talent Investment
In an era of intense brand competition, GENCA Group's collaboration with the Academy Award represents a strategic choice to return to the essence of branding. This is not a short-term marketing play, but a long-term investment in the future of the brand.
For a domestic beauty group, Gen Z university students are not only a dynamic force in the current consumer market, but also the key decision-makers and opinion leaders of the next decade. Through this campus tour, GENCA Group has effectively executed a form of "mindshare pre-selling" at a critical stage when young people are forming their consumption habits and brand perceptions.
At the tour sessions, brand representatives were no longer distant commercial symbols, but rather "creative mentors" engaging face-to-face with students—articulating brand values and sharing product philosophies. This shift from "one-way communication" to "two-way dialogue" proves far more effective in building brand affinity and trust than traditional hard-sell advertising.
At the same time, this initiative also serves as a forward-looking talent strategy. GENCA Group launched its Management Trainee Program as early as 2023. By leveraging this campus tour, the company has been able to establish emotional connections with outstanding students at the very beginning of their career journeys, building a robust talent pipeline to support its long-term development.
Beyond Traditional Marketing: Setting a New Benchmark for Domestic Brands
By empowering the next generation of creative talent, GENCA Group is actively contributing to the development of a healthier industry ecosystem. This initiative is more than a commercial partnership—it is a tangible response to the national call for "industry-education integration" and a meaningful contribution to China's creative education landscape.
It demonstrates to the market that competition among domestic beauty brands need not be confined to price wars or traffic battles. Instead, brands can build their strongest moat by investing in the future and growing alongside the younger generation. This brand practice—grounded in innovation and driven by co-creation—sets a new benchmark for the industry as a whole.
As the five-city campus tour draws to a close, the nationwide creative call for submissions is now in full swing. Guided by its mission to "make beauty accessible," GENCA Group is forging deep connections with Gen Z—ensuring that domestic beauty brands are not only used, but embraced, loved, and ultimately trusted as go-to companions and a source of pride for a new generation.
