Emerging markets offer a goldmine of revenue potential for Western luxury brands. It is important to tailor luxury PR campaigns when targeting Chinese, Indian, or Brazilian consumers by far the hottest luxury audiences right now. Western luxury brands are still favorites among the top emerging markets so customizing luxury campaigns can equal a lot of success.
Here is where smart luxury PR comes into play. You want to consider shape, size, and features. This is a fast approach to tailor your luxury PR campaigns to meet needs, wants, and desires. Understand the importance of cultural pride, heritage, and lifestyle. The critical point for luxury brands when targeting emerging markets will be engagement. See how Chineseluxurybrands.com uses elements of culture and lifestyle.
This MADE FOR CHINA (IF NOT BRIC) phenomenon is just one of the many sub-trends spawned by the macro trend of economic and consumption power shifting towards emerging markets. Just to remind you:
- China’s retail sales, the main gauge of consumer spending, rose 18.7% year on year to USD 183 billion in May 2010, following a 15.2% rise the previous year. (Source: Chinese National Bureau of Statistics, June 2010)
- China’s retail sales may outstrip those of the US by reaching USD 5 trillion in 2016. (Source: Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, September 2010)
- Affluent Chinese consumers prefer foreign brands: 52% of consumers whose annual income exceeds RMB 250,000 (USD 36,765) trust foreign brands more than Chinese ones while just 37% said they prefer the latter. (Source: McKinsey, September 2010)
So who has already jumped on the MADE FOR CHINA band wagon? Check out the following examples:
- Levi’s dENIZEN Jeans brand, targeting Asians/Chinese consumers with slimmer fits.
- Dior‘s very expensive Shanghai Blue Phone, only available in Shanghai stores.
- Hermès’ new Chinese brand, Shang Xia; its luxury stores sell ready-to-wear and decorative arts inspired by Chinese culture.
- Chloé’s limited edition Marcie handbag to celebrate their fifth anniversary in China.
- BMW’s limited edition, orange metallic M3 Tiger to celebrate the 25th anniversary of its M3 model in China, coinciding with the Chinese lunar calendar (the year of the tiger).
- Last but not least, and the inspiration behind the naming of this trend: Apple’s Shanghai store employees started wearing red t-shirts with the slogan ‘Designed in California, Made for China’ written in Mandarin. The message is a play on the words that are found on the back of all iPhones: ‘Designed by Apple in California, assembled in China’.
As you can see a strong emphasis is focused on China and Chinese luxury brands. Western luxury brands can use online presence to attract and target Chinese consumers.
