Issue 5. Luxury Brands in China Bi-weekly: Fendi / Burberry / Gucci

We turn our attention to two major marketing initiatives for luxury brands in China from the past two weeks: concerts and pop-up stores.

After a number of luxury brands released their customized playlists as seen in our last issue, the Italian luxury brand Fendi and the Spanish luxury brand Loewe recently held their own concerts. The styles chosen by the two brands were entirely different, with Fendi going with classical music and Loewe opting for rap.

"Pop-up stores" have always been an important format for luxury brands in physical commerce. The recently-released plan for the Hainan Free Trade Port has attracted the attention of many brands. The Italian luxury watch brand Panerai has already opened a pop-up store at the Sanya Haitang Bay International Duty Free Complex.

In this issue 5 of 2020 Luxe.CO Luxury Brands in China Bi-weekly, we have selected Italian luxury brand Fendi, British luxury brand Burberry and Italian luxury brand Gucci for their outstanding marketing efforts: congratulations to them. Their three brand stories will go directly onto the “2020 Luxe.CO Innovative Marketing Award” shortlist!

Here’s the complete rundown of 16 stories for June 29 – July 12, 2020 (listed in no particular order):

1) French luxury brand Celine has opened its official Weibo account.

2) French luxury brand Balenciaga has entered the Xiaohongshu and Douyin platforms.

3) Swiss luxury watch brand Piaget has announced that Chinese actor Liu Haoran will serve as its brand ambassador for China.

4) Italian luxury brand Fendi has announced that Chinese actor Zhao Wei will serve as the brand’s spokesperson.

5) British luxury brand Burberry has launched a surfing game called "B Surf" on its WeChat Mini Program. Players can put on “Burberry TB Summer Monogram” clothing for their game characters and compete with their friends.

Luxe.CO comment: Burberry has just released its First Quarter Trading Update for fiscal 2021 (as of June 27). It shows that the Chinese market performed best, with retail sales increasing by 15% year-on-year. Burberry is accelerating its integration into China's local digital ecosystem. In addition to launching mini-games on China's local social media, it has recently opened pop-up stores in Shanghai malls and used AR interactive technology to enhance users' experience in those stores.

Related Reading: Surfing Sports Game "B Surf"

6) Italian luxury brand Gucci has launched the Chinese version of “Gucci Mascara Hunt", which requires players to avoid obstacles and hit the mascara with a pinball to score points.

7) Italian luxury jewelry brand BVLGARI has launched an interactive comic series  on its official WeChat account to promote the high-end jewelry series Barocko. Users can find out the number of jewelry items in the comics through text clues.

8) Gucci has released a series of eight short videos on its Douyin account with the topic "Unexpected Style Leaders". So far, it has received nearly 1.4 million likes and inspired Douyin users to shoot 415 similar videos of their own.

Luxe.CO comment: Under the leadership of creative director Alessandro Michele, Gucci’s communication strategy for young people has been effective. Initiating interactive topics and shooting short videos that are creative and easy to emulate has clearly inspired many users. At present, Gucci has 667,000 fans on Douyin, which exceeds the number of fans of most luxury brands on that platform.

Related reading: Gucci Douyin

9) Fendi has simultaneously launched online and offline marketing initiatives to promote the California Sky series in collaboration with Los Angeles visual artist Joshua Vides. It has opened a pop-up store with the theme of California Sky at Nanjing’s Deji Plaza, and launched the California Sky series theme stickers on Douyin , inspiring Douyin users to create nearly 40,000 videos using the theme stickers. The video "Fendi California Sky" has been viewed more than 10 million times.

10) Fendi has held “Fendi Renaissance - Anima Mundi” on the Bund in Shanghai. The concert was co-organized by Fendi and China Poly Group. 10 young Chinese musicians including Jia Fan performed eight classical Italian songs. It was also broadcast live on Fendi’s official WeChat mini program, receiving nearly 50,000 views.

Luxe.CO comment: While chasing the younger generation, luxury brands desperately need to return to the classics and awaken the human spirit. Fendi's concerts in Italy and Shanghai, China are a very eye-catching example of such efforts. The presence of the talented young baritone Jia Fan, who stood out from the crowd in the recent TV talent show “Super–Vocal”, has allowed  Fendi to break into the sight of trendy young people, who are atypical consumers.

Related reading: Fendi Renaissance - Anima Mundi in Shanghai

11) Spanish luxury brand Loewe has joined hands with MODERN SKY to hold “Club Paula’s” summer concert in Shanghai, inviting rappers Tizzy T, Vinida, Li Daben and OB03 to perform. The concert was broadcast live simultaneously through the Loewe WeChat mini-program and QQ Music.

12) French luxury brand SAINT LAURENT has launched the "NAMEYOURLOVE" Tanabata limited series, and for the first time provides a customized service in the embroidery of customers’ Chinese and English names onto their hoodies.

13) Italian luxury brand Marni has collaborated with three Chinese illustrators to launch the Tanabata limited Trunk series to celebrate the Chinese Qixi Festival.

14) Gucci and global e-sports organization Fnatic have launched a limited edition watch exclusively available on the Gucci Dive official website. The watch is limited to 100 pieces, priced at 1150 pounds sterling. According to Gucci's official Chinese website, the watch is already sold out.

15) French luxury brand Berluti has released its first cross-borderready-to-wear collection, which was a long-distance collaboration between creative director Kris Van Assche and ceramic artist Brian Rochefort. Berluti has also released a video of the creative process on its official Weibo and WeChat account.

16) In an official WeChat article, French luxury brand Louis Vuitton has shared the history behind its classic bags in a ‘question and answer’ format.

More updates: The latest developments in major luxury brands' online and offline sales channels in China

1) Italian luxury brand GIADA has opened its first conceptual retail space in China at Shenzhen’s Yitian Holiday Plaza. It covers an area of ​​about 500 square meters. It is the first to deploy the “GIADA by Giorgetti” household series products in China.

2) German luxury brand Montblanc’s Tmall flagship store will officially open on July 26, and the store is currently entering a pre-sale opening stage.

3) Panerai has opened a pop-up store at the Sanya Haitang Bay International Duty Free Complex.

4) Swiss luxury watch brand Audemars Piguet has opened its fourth boutique in Mainland China at the Chengdu International Financial Center.

5) Italian luxury brand Brunello Cucinelli has opened its first children's clothing boutique in Beijing at SKP Beijing.

6) Louis Vuitton has opened a boutique at Shanghai One ITC.

7) French high-end audio brand Devialet has opened a boutique at the in01 BEIJING YINTAI CENTRE.

8) French luxury brand Dior has opened its Air Dior exclusive men’s clothing pop-up boutique at Sino-Ocean Taikoo Li Chengdu.

About “Luxury Brands in China – Top Trends” 

People often think that the advantages of international top-tier luxury brands are their wealth of experience, superb craftsmanship and use of rare materials. Every luxury brand that has stood the test of time must have an enterprising management team and innovative strategies behind the scenes to keep pace with the times. This is especially true in the Chinese market, where innovation among luxury brands is more agile and bolder than anywhere else in the world.

Launched in May 2020, Luxe.CO publishes “Luxury Brands in China – Top Trends" every two weeks, promptly selecting and summarizing the luxury brands whose recent work is most worthy of attention. It is worth mentioning that each trend on the list will directly go into the running for the "2020 Luxe.CO Innovative Marketing Award".

Notes:

1. From the perspective of industry innovation and leadership, the Luxe.CO Committee will select the top 20% of stories from each issue with the most outstanding performance.
2. The top 20% from each issue will directly go into the running for the "2020 Luxe.CO Innovative Marketing Award".

If you would like to contact us, please add Hualitea, Luxe.CO’s virtual assistant on WeChat, and note “双周榜”.