Michael Kors loves that its Chinese consumers increasingly enjoy traveling, and it makes it clear based on the types of campaigns the fashion brand has released on social media in China. The brand's latest campaign arrived at a time that millions of Chinese people headed overseas for the Spring Festival holiday, totaling a predicted 6 million outbound trips (final numbers should be released in the coming days). In hopes that travelers will want to share their experiences with their friends and family back home, customizing them with a playful flare, Michael Kors collaborated with one of China's top photo-sharing apps to target its handbag enthusiasts intent on adding stamps to their passports.
The app is called “In,” and boasts 60 million users, meaning it occupies a huge chunk of China's market for photo-sharing applications. “In” enables people to edit their photos, decorate them with stickers, and share them on their social media accounts or with friends via direct messaging. With the Michael Kors campaign, users can decorate their images with 10 Michael Kors “stickers,” which feature several cartoon versions of a monkey. The primate is the same one that adorns a keychain in the brand's Chinese New Year collection and is featured traveling the globe in Jeff Rogers' illustrations for the brand's international Lunar New Year campaign.
The stickers also include some of the brand's more popular handbags, bucket bags, and backpacks, all featuring a tiny monkey keychain or a Michael Kors logo. Users are encouraged to use the hashtag “MonkeyAround” on their images when sharing them with friends on their social media accounts. Michael Kors worked directly with “In” to pull it all off.
In fact, this is the first time a luxury brand has worked with “In,” and it comes at a time when the use of stickers and emojis are extremely popular in social media in China. Digital sticker sharing on WeChat via messaging is arguably just as common a form of communication in Asia as emojis are in the United States. The cutesy branded stickers make for a simple way to spread the brand's image without the use of more complicated interactive apps or games, a route other luxury brands took this Chinese New Year season.
This campaign launch also follows a flurry of digital strategies by the brand, many revolving around its "Jet Set" culture. In spring 2014, the brand kicked off its Jet Set campaign in Shanghai with the opening of its flagship store there, which coincided with China-focused campaigns on Weibo and WeChat, video site Youku, and interest-sharing social media platform Douban. Last summer, the brand expanded its digital services via a customer relationship management experience on WeChat, which gives users eight-hour days' worth of shopping advice and consultations, with VIPs given the opportunity to reserve an in-store stylist.
“In” is the fifth major social media site in China that Michael Kors has worked with as it continues a multi-pronged approach to engaging with its fans.