Welcome to Jing Daily’s China Luxury Brief: the day’s top news on the business of luxury and culture in China, all in one place. Look below for the top industry news from January 16, 2014.
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Today’s stories:
How Brands Can Navigate Chinese Fashion Bloggers’ ‘Red Envelope’ Culture
“Customarily, journalists are offered a standard amount of money—a “red envelope”—in exchange for press coverage. This is a grey but accepted practice that is also applied to the online world, where bloggers have a standard price list that varies depending on factors such as how many fans they have on their blogs. Prices can range from USD$150 for reposting tweets up to USD$5000 for generating original content and endorsing products.”
China: This Week In Digital Luxury Marketing
“A roundup of ongoing campaigns in China through January 31, featuring Jaguar, Gucci, Rado, Tommy Hilfiger, and DKNY.”
Chinese Travel Site Qunar Doesn’t Care About Any Labels Other Than ‘Largest’
(PlaceIt)
“Qunar was founded as a travel metasearch site in 2005, but by 2011 it had evolved into a hybrid to better-address the needs of the largely offline travel market in China.”
What we’re reading:
Luxury In China Loses Luster As Wealthy Flee
“Overall spending by wealthy Chinese fell by 15 percent in 2013, the third consecutive year of decline, according to a survey by the Hurun Report. Spending on gifts in particular also declined by a quarter.”
[Reuters]
Richemont Warns Of Luxury Slowdown In China As Third Quarter Sales Miss Estimates
“The group’s watches and jewellery have been hit by a Chinese crackdown on alleged gif giving and bribes at a government level. A number of luxury brands have been hit by the change.”
Don’t Bet On China’s Luxury Spenders: Goldman
“‘Recent policy comments suggest an intensification of efforts, particularly in terms of stricter supervision and firmer punishments,’ it said. The anti-corruption language in the Third Plenum is firmer and more comprehensive than previous comments from President Xi Jinping and the recently released anti-corruption five-year plan adds more reform focus areas, including supervision and enforcement, it said.”
[CNBC]
Bordeaux Vs. Burgundy: Wine Auction Showdown In Hong Kong
“A trio of wine auctions kick off tonight in Hong Kong with Chinese collectors showing few signs that a crackdown by Beijing on luxury buying is denting their thirst for the world’s top bottles — especially if they’re from Burgundy.”
Why Luxury Means More Than One Thing In China
“China may well be seeing the emergence of a clearer, mid- high-end market – affluent customers willing to spend hundreds, but not thousands. There’s luxury, and then there’s luxury. ”
More Chinese Renting Cars To Travel Home For Lunar New Year Celebrations
“Zhang Xiaogao, assistant manager at China Auto Rental Beijing Branch, said: ‘When going home to celebrate the Lunar New Year, ‘face’ is still important to the Chinese. Renting a car home means having more ‘face’. During the New Year season, middle- to high- end cars like the Audi and BMW are more popular than usual. It also has to do with rising affluence among people in Beijing.'”
