{"id":19601,"date":"2011-04-21T10:07:38","date_gmt":"2011-04-21T18:07:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/198.46.88.49\/?p=19601"},"modified":"2011-04-21T10:07:38","modified_gmt":"2011-04-21T18:07:38","slug":"beijings-luxury-billboard-ban-pushes-brands-online","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/198.46.88.49\/style\/fashion\/beijings-luxury-billboard-ban-pushes-brands-online","title":{"rendered":"Beijing’s Luxury Billboard Ban Pushes Brands Online"},"content":{"rendered":"

$\"\"$ Over the past weekend, Beijing\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s\u00c2\u00a0much-hyped ban<\/a> on outdoor advertisements that promote \u00e2\u20ac\u0153hedonism, lavishness and the worship of foreign things\u00e2\u20ac\u009d took effect.\u00c2\u00a0 As Jing Daily wrote last month<\/a>, the ban is ostensibly aimed at \u00e2\u20ac\u0153[easing] public concerns about the country\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s widening wealth gap\u00e2\u20ac\u009d by ridding the city of advertisements that use words such as \u00e2\u20ac\u0153luxury,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d \u00e2\u20ac\u0153high-class,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d \u00e2\u20ac\u0153supreme\u00e2\u20ac\u009d and \u00e2\u20ac\u0153royal\u00e2\u20ac\u009d at risk of a\u00c2\u00a0 30,000 yuan (US$4,595) fine<\/a> per infraction. Though Beijing\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s new campaign should have little actual effect on the city\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s fast-growing luxury market \u00e2\u20ac\u201d new and increasingly lavish flagships are opening there seemingly every month \u00e2\u20ac\u201d the ban shows that right now, in the words of\u00c2\u00a0 one article<\/a>, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153luxury is a dirty word\u00e2\u20ac\u009d in Beijing. (In public, at least.)<\/p>\n

However, in private, Beijing\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s luxury-obsessed consumers are now more spoiled than ever, as many of the world\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s top high-end brands have learned that outdoor advertising is less effective than online outreach and have gone\u00c2\u00a0increasingly\u00c2\u00a0digital.<\/p>\n

While some luxury brands have limited their digital efforts in China to Chinese-language versions of their websites, others have taken steps to harness the\u00c2\u00a0 growing popularity of online shopping<\/a>. International retailers ranging\u00c2\u00a0 from the Gap<\/a> to\u00c2\u00a0 Armani<\/a> have recently launched online shopping platforms for the China market, and over the next year, we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re likely to see\u00c2\u00a0 brands like Diane Von Furstenberg<\/a> offer e-commerce platforms on their Chinese-language sites. However, for some brands, simply adding a couple of extra features to their websites isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t enough. For Louis Vuitton and Burberry, two brands that have made serious pushes into the digital space in China, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s all about technological superiority in the China market.<\/p>\n

Back in 2008, Louis Vuitton, already one of the most well-known luxury brands operating in China, tapped celebrities Shu Qi, Joan Chen and Gong Li\u00c2\u00a0 for its Soundwalk audio guides campaign<\/a>, and last year LV became the first major luxury brand to experiment with digital marketing\u00c2\u00a0 via Sina Weibo<\/a> \u00e2\u20ac\u201d China\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s answer to Twitter \u00e2\u20ac\u201d a move saw other brands like Chanel, Gucci and DVF follow in rapid succession. Louis Vuitton has also taken steps to localize its digital outreach efforts by not only staking out a presence on Weibo, but also working to ensure its output resonates with Chinese netizens.\u00c2\u00a0 From Wave<\/a>:<\/p>\n

Louis Vuitton\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s <\/em>official brand page on SINA<\/a><\/em>, a popular Chinese social network similar to Twitter, has attracted a strong fan base with over 70,000 followers, more than other premium brands like Chanel or Gucci. Alongside posts about their products and cultural events, Louis Vuitton have recently posted pictures of <\/em>their charity sponsored panda<\/a><\/em>, named \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Louis\u00e2\u20ac\u009d, who acts as an emblem for the brand\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s supportive actions towards panda protection in China.<\/em><\/p>\n
WaveMetrix analysis shows that the post about Louis the panda generates the most positive response among all topics Louis Vuitton posts about. This suggests that a successful way to engage consumers in emerging markets is to post about topics that will resonate with their cultural background. In addition, Chinese consumers are not only more positive in response to the charity post, but also express more love for the Louis Vuitton brand than they do for product-related posts.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n
While Louis Vuitton was arguably the first out of the gates in terms of embracing the Chinese blogosphere, Burberry \u00e2\u20ac\u201d which has spent the last couple of years trying to change its image from one of stodgy British tradition to one of hip internationalism \u00e2\u20ac\u201d is in the midst of an extended (and expensive) effort to crack the China market. Last July,\u00c2\u00a0the company\u00c2\u00a0bought back control from its trading partner<\/a>, Kwok Hang Holdings, for US$108 million as part of a restructuring effort and announced plans to unify its brand message to appeal to Chinese consumers. Earlier this month, Burberry unveiled its largest-ever digital rollout in preparation for the opening of its massive Beijing flagship, promoting the event by launching official accounts on the four major Chinese social media platforms (Kaixin001<\/a>,\u00c2\u00a0 Douban<\/a>,\u00c2\u00a0 Youku<\/a>,\u00c2\u00a0 Sina Weibo<\/a>)\u00c2\u00a0and becoming the first luxury brand to experiment with China\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s location-based social media network,\u00c2\u00a0 Jiepang<\/a>. (A social \u00e2\u20ac\u0153check-in\u00e2\u20ac\u009d service akin to\u00c2\u00a0 Foursquare<\/a>.)<\/p>\n
To celebrate the opening of its flagship, Burberry\u00c2\u00a0 held a dazzling runway show at Beijing Television Centre<\/a>, which incorporated huge digital screens and music by the British band Keane and DJ ShanXi. Following its star-studded event, Burberry announced that it would upgrade all 57 of its current China locations to make them more \u00e2\u20ac\u0153digitally-savvy.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d\u00c2\u00a0 As PSFK notes<\/a>:<\/p>\n
The stores will have touchscreens as big as full-length mirrors displaying special collections and staff will carry iPads to help customers order items that aren\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t available in their store. Fashion shows will be streamed from other countries, and there will be special Burberry-produced entertainment. Burberry\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s other markets will later follow the digital retail model debuted in China.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Now, as Burberry \u00c2\u00a0has arguably taken the lead in China\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s\u00c2\u00a0 digital luxury \u00e2\u20ac\u0153war,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/a> the ball\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s in Louis Vuitton\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s court. But will LV be able to move quickly enough and appeal to a younger, hipper crowd? Do they want to? Will other brands like DVF or Gucci soon leapfrog LV in the digital sphere and successfully incorporate Chinese social platforms and cutting-edge technology into their China strategies? Interesting questions to keep in mind as major brands continue to make the transition from physical advertising to tailored digital outreach.<\/p>\n
As Beijing Cracks Down On Outdoor Advertising, Luxury Giants Go Digital<\/a> by Avery Booker<\/strong> originally appeared on Jing Daily<\/a> and is republished on Signature9 with permission.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Over the past weekend, Beijing\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s much-hyped ban on outdoor advertisements that promote \u00e2\u20ac\u0153hedonism, lavishness and the worship of foreign things\u00e2\u20ac\u009d took effect.<\/p>\n
While some luxury brands have limited their digital efforts in China to Chinese-language versions of their websites, others have taken steps to harness the growing popularity of online shopping.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[6875,5853,5854,5852,344],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/198.46.88.49\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19601"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/198.46.88.49\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/198.46.88.49\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/198.46.88.49\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/198.46.88.49\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19601"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/198.46.88.49\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19601\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":19604,"href":"http:\/\/198.46.88.49\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19601\/revisions\/19604"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/198.46.88.49\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19601"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/198.46.88.49\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19601"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/198.46.88.49\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19601"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}