In a new report by L2 which analyzes global brands’ performance on the world's most popular social platforms, innovative and strategic marketing campaigns have propelled several international fashion and beauty brands to gain top honors for their performance on social media platforms WeChat and Sina Weibo.
The report surveyed the social media activities across 247 global prestige brands in the fashion, beauty, retail, hospitality, and watches and jewelry industries, comparing their marketing strategies across 15 global social media platforms.
Clarins, Coach, and Jaeger LeCoultre gained the top spots for best WeChat marketing, while Uniqlo, Chanel, and Benefit were recognized for their performance on Weibo. Coach, which has been making substantial efforts to appeal to a young, tech-savvy consumer demographic in China, unveiled its WeChat account last November in conjunction with its China e-commerce launch, with some of its campaigns including wallpaper downloads and its weekly “Surprise Friday” campaign. Clarins has taken advantage of the app’s geo-targeting feature by tailoring its product recommendations to the climate of the fan’s location. For example, the company promotes SPF products in hot regions and products for dry skin in drier climates.
A substantially larger number of brands are present on Sina Weibo than on WeChat, which was launched about a year and a half after Weibo. Only 19.8 percent of brands surveyed can be found on WeChat at the moment, compared to 59.5 percent on Sina Weibo.
However, WeChat is catching up quickly, as it was named by the report as one of the world’s fastest growing social media platforms. As you can see below, the user base has grown by an impressive 500 percent in the last year, jumping from 50 million to 300 million users in China alone. An additional 70 million more users are overseas, creating massive potential for brands hoping to market to Chinese consumers both at a home and abroad.
