Zoe Liu is a freelance cultural strategist, semiotician, and researcher, working globally and with market expertise in China and Japan. Her work centres on bridging the micro and macro of culture, connecting people’s attitudes, behaviours, and lived realities with shifts in ideas, narratives, and meanings. She read East Asian Studies at the University of Cambridge. Outside of work, Zoe can be found on long walks through South East London, or chewing someone’s ear off with an analysis of whatever film or TV show she’s watching.

People are looking for a visceral reprieve from the permacrisis

Essential Escapism

People expect brands to rise to society’s challenges

Shared Values

People want their identities to be reflected in mainstream culture

Collective Equity

People expect products and services that feel made for them

Personal Worlds

People are mining the past for stable comfort 

Ultra Cosy 

With almost two decades of experience as a branding strategist, insight researcher, and moderator, Sizhang Kong co-founded With Their Eyes, a marketing research agency that helps clients create impactful and authentic brand stories. She's passionate about uncovering the cultural and consumer insights that drive the changing behaviours and preferences of the Chinese market and translating them into effective and engaging strategies for various media platforms. As a co-founder and insight expert, she leads the research and analysis of social, economic, and technological trends, as well as the design and facilitation of qualitative and quantitative studies, ethnographic interviews, and focus groups. 


Gen Z (born 1997-2010)

China

Eating and Drinking

Community and grassroots

Citizenship

Dao Insights

The World of Chinese

Interview with Sizhang Kong conducted by the author

Lagou Recruitment

Maeil Business Newspaper

Jing Daily

Coffee Intelligence

BrandStar

The National

Vogue Business

Sohu

199IT

Mintel

Woke Waves

China Daily

Tea’Stone has captured the hearts and tastebuds of China’s Gen Z, injecting fresh energy into a heritage category. With an authentic, craft-led approach that reinterprets tradition with innovative flair, the brand shows what third spaces and slow living can look like for China’s youth.