McKinsey & Company said Chinese consumers will take up 44% of the entire luxury market by 2025. The firm estimates that Chinese will spend over 1 trillion yuan (US 144.46 billion) on luxury goods. In fact, nowadays half of the revenue of the high-end brands already come from Chinese consumers. Though big brands still use the same successful marketing strategies, the sales figures are dropping in Europe. Adopting Chinese social media platforms is the key in the highly digitalized era.
WeChat and Weibo are a must in China
For “infotainment”, Chinese users rely heavily on two dominating Chinese social media platform—WeChat and Weibo. Luxury brands’ typical audience is closer to a young woman reading product reviews on Weibo, rather than someone reading French magazines. And while companies are aware of this, the challenge lies in finding ways to connect with their intended Chinese customers among hundreds of millions of active users in WeChat and Weibo.
Image Source: South China Morning Post
Adopt Chinese social media and reach consumers
While Chinese clients favor shopping online and abroad, some Western brands are slow or even reluctant in embracing Chinese social media platforms and e-commerce channels. Brands tend to rely on marketing teams who lack knowledge in China’s culture, and PRs who choose unbefitting celebrities or KOLs. Thus, failing to connect with Chinese consumers. As a result, these give rise to “Daigou”—personal shoppers who purchase commodities on others’ behalf. They hinder the companies’ ability to identify their end users.
Generation Z is your prospect
Since brands cannot accurately identify their audience, they might overlook potential clients with specific demographic traits. For instance, Chinese youngsters are undetected consumers of luxury goods. As the young generation is hyper-connected to social media, they know more about trends than their parents. They might not have the purchasing power yet, but their parents do. In China, children’s accomplishments and status are a source of pride for parents. Moreover, having high-end goods represents upward mobility and family nobility. Hence, buying luxury goods for children is the norm in affluent Chinese families. Luxury brands should take this group into account and widen their market reach.
Image Source: South China Morning Post
Tencent launching new advertising system on WeChat
Tencent is developing a new digital marketing system for WeChat, aiming to advertise to billions of Chinese active users. In addition, 20 countries in Europe will be able to accept Alipay–the largest payment company in China, at the end of 2018. Brands can soon experience new ways of reaching the lucrative Chinese market.
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See more on: South China Morning Post, Vimeo
