Researching what sisterhood really means to women in China to shape Sweaty Betty's community, partnership and content directions
Sisterhood sits at the center of Sweaty Betty globally. The direct Chinese translation, sisters (姐妹), doesn't carry the same weight, and even the brand's own team knew they didn't fully understand what the concept meant locally. We were brought in to find out.
What we found was more complicated than a soft word. China's version of sisterhood isn't ideological like the West's, it's practical, and its history is genuinely double-edged, women have called each other sisters even in open rivalry, and a modern term, plastic sisters (塑料姐妹花), exists specifically to call out friendships that look supportive but aren't. Real solidarity in China has always lived elsewhere, in traditions the word itself never fully captured.
That reframed the brief. Sweaty Betty needed a version of sisterhood built for how Chinese women actually form and protect real bonds, not a translated slogan. The output was a set of community, partnership, and content directions built on that distinction, developed for the brand's own use in the market.
Related Works
Rebranding Strategy
What do you sell the day after the festival ends?
Chase the Star
How do you make a Chinese New Year collection actually mean something to skaters instead of just decorating for the holiday?
Photo Imaging Platform Strategy
How do you find a distinct point of view in phone photography when every major competitor already owns a piece of the story?
Rebranding Strategy
What do you sell the day after the festival ends?
Chase the Star
How do you make a Chinese New Year collection actually mean something to skaters instead of just decorating for the holiday?
Photo Imaging Platform Strategy
How do you find a distinct point of view in phone photography when every major competitor already owns a piece of the story?
Chase the Star
How do you make a Chinese New Year collection actually mean something to skaters instead of just decorating for the holiday?
Photo Imaging Platform Strategy
How do you find a distinct point of view in phone photography when every major competitor already owns a piece of the story?
Rebranding Strategy
What do you sell the day after the festival ends?
Chase the Star
How do you make a Chinese New Year collection actually mean something to skaters instead of just decorating for the holiday?
Photo Imaging Platform Strategy
How do you find a distinct point of view in phone photography when every major competitor already owns a piece of the story?
Rebranding Strategy
What do you sell the day after the festival ends?
Photo Imaging Platform Strategy
How do you find a distinct point of view in phone photography when every major competitor already owns a piece of the story?
Rebranding Strategy
What do you sell the day after the festival ends?
Chase the Star
How do you make a Chinese New Year collection actually mean something to skaters instead of just decorating for the holiday?
Photo Imaging Platform Strategy
How do you find a distinct point of view in phone photography when every major competitor already owns a piece of the story?
Rebranding Strategy
What do you sell the day after the festival ends?
Chase the Star
How do you make a Chinese New Year collection actually mean something to skaters instead of just decorating for the holiday?