The Social Edition is our weekly series which deep dives into luxury initiatives in China’s social media landscape. Every week, we highlight brand campaigns distributed on Chinese digital platforms — WeChat, Weibo, Tmall, Douyin, and beyond.
Our coverage spotlights global luxury brands, global beauty brands, and local Chinese brands. The latter gives insight into some of China’s most successful campaigns, which often come from local players, and are outside of the beauty and fashion space.
In this week’s roundup, we look at three campaigns, including C-beauty brand Florasis' newly launched animation, Japanese jewelry house Tasaki's announcement of its first brand ambassador and Tmall's special campaign in celebration of Qixi.
Florasis Premieres New Animation for Chinese Valentine’s Day#
BRAND#
Florasis
CATEGORY
Beauty
PLATFORMS
Weibo, Douyin, Kuaishou
MEDIUM#
Animation, Short-video
OVERVIEW#
Florasis, a leading C-beauty company, created an ancient China inspired animation entitled, “Zhang Chang Touches up Eyebrows (《张敞画眉》),” which was adapted from the historical Book of Han. By using a couple to retell the historical allusion of this classic work, the brand hopes to convey a portrait of Eastern romance. The animation premiered on August 12 in celebration of Chinese Valentine’s Day (Qixi Festival). Meanwhile, the brand also launched a social campaign, inviting consumers to share pictures or videos of their beloved one touching up their eyebrows using Florasis products on any social platform.
NETIZEN REACTION#
Florasis’ social followers displayed high expectations regarding the animation and gave a thumbs up on the 15-second film trailer featuring Florasis’ signature ancient Chinese aesthetic. On Weibo, as well as other short video platforms, including Douyin and Kuaishou, users actively participated in the campaign hashtag #QixiHuaMei (七夕画眉), which garnered substantial traffic and drove the e-commerce sales of the brand’s eyebrow pencil product lineup.
VERDICT#
This Qixi Festival, homegrown fashion and beauty brands have excelled at developing localized narratives wrapped around the traditional Valentine’s Day theme. In Florasis case, the nimble brand thumbed through ancient Chinese classics and drew inspiration from a romantic archetype dating back to the Han Dynasty, a theme which differs greatly from the typical Western Romeo and Juliet-type stories. This approach not only aligns with the brand’s image — rooted deeply in Chinese traditional culture — but also solidifies its bonds with today’s younger generations who show strong interest in anime content.
Japanese Jeweller Tasaki Taps Chinese Actor As First Brand Ambassador#
BRAND#
Tasaki
CATEGORY
Luxury
PLATFORMS
Weibo, WeChat, Little Red Book
MEDIUM#
Image, Short-video
FEATURED TALENTS#
Zhang Zhehan (18M Weibo Followers) | Zhou Ye (2M)
OVERVIEW#
Japanese jewelry house Tasaki announced Chinese actor Zhang Zhehan as its first-ever brand ambassador and Gen-Z actress Zhou Ye as a brand partner on August 2 and July 30, respectively. Meanwhile, the brand launched a special-edition Fine Links necklace — along with a dedicated WeChat Red package cover featuring Zhang wearing the new necklace — to celebrate Chinese Valentine’s Day on August 14.
NETIZEN REACTION#
The endorsement from the two young faces and the special Qixi initiative resonated well with local jewelry shoppers. In particular, Zhang Zhehan’s 18 million Weibo followers fueled the exposure and engagement of the campaign hashtag #ZhangZhehanTasakiBrandAmbassador, which garnered 810 million views in one week. The actor gained massive fame and recognition due to his performance in the BL C-drama World of Honor.
VERDICT#
Tasaki is a jewelry house specializing in pearls and diamonds, both of which are associated with femininity. So China's booming young female demographics are the perfect way to reinvigorate its brand image. As its partnerships with a popular actor and an emerging Gen-Z female star showed, the house has targeted a wider audience while embracing the gender-fluidity trend, which has been welcomed by today’s local customers, thanks to local male idol endorsements.
Tmall Luxury Pavilion Unveils Exclusive Shopping Experience for Qixi#
BRAND#
Tmall Luxury Pavilion
CATEGORY#
Luxury Ecommerce
PLATFORMS#
Weibo, Tmall
MEDIUM#
Short-film
FEATURED TALENTS#
Li Jiaqi (29.4M Weibo Follower) | Zhu Jingxi (3.3M) | Wild Jenny (3M) | Eponine Huang (1M)
OVERVIEW#
To celebrate this year's Qixi Festival, Tmall Luxury Pavilion collaborated with top livestreamer Li Jiaqi and four other KOLs to launch a short film titled “Meet by Chance,” which tells three different love stories. This special initiative features three unique specialties Tmall Luxury Pavilion offers for Qixi: luxury brand limited editions, exclusive holiday packaging, and an immersive, one-on-one livestream service for clients.
NETIZEN REACTION#
The two-minute short film has garnered over 1 million views, while Tmall’s Qixi campaign hashtag, #MeetByChance, has received 180 million views as of publication. The retro vibe of the film and the cast (Li Jiaqi, Zhu Jingxi, and Wild Jenny) resonated very well with young Chinese luxury shoppers. Meanwhile, the featured Qixi-limited releases, such as Maison Margiela’s Glam Slam handbag, have seen growing popularity this year.
VERDICT#
As luxury e-commerce rivalries continue to heat up, the major players have given birth to extra bonuses for their luxury partners. Tmall Luxury Pavilion now leverages content marketing as a way to show off its specialties and diversify its online luxury marketplace image. This year, it is doing that by staging various scenarios where people can spend the holiday with their lovers, friends, or just on their own. Although Tmall leads in this space with a robust brand portfolio, it should keep an eye out for its top competitor, JD.com, which will soon launch its JD Mini Program — a promising tool that could attract more luxury houses.