What happened
: On October 19, Chinese domestic beauty brand Perfect Diary announced that top actress and singer Zhou Xun would be its first global spokesperson. She is its first brand spokesperson since the brand’s debut three years ago. The official announcement was a high-profile one: In addition to taking over the most-searched keyword spot on Weibo, the brand also debuted a collaboration with the fashion magazine Elle China on a lipstick campaign starring the actress. Many netizens see this celebrity endorsement signals a brand effort towards premiumization (along with a possible price hike), saying that Perfect Diary has adopted a “higher-class tonality,” and many people might “not be able to afford it anymore.”
Jing Take#
: It is no surprise that Perfect Diary is looking to grab a piece of the luxury beauty market. In Jing Daily’s webinar, titled C-Beauty Secrets: Learnings From China's Top Cosmetics Brands, Shiseido’s global marketing expert, Carol Zhou, predicted that many Chinese domestic brands would try to penetrate the luxury market over the next few years.
As a young and cutting-edge domestic beauty brand, Perfect Diary has consistently launched new products through successful social media marketing campaigns aimed at Gen Zers. But its new campaign is only one step in a series of branding transformations. In April, Perfect Diary launched a new brand logo, which incorporates a design often used by luxury brands to exhibit a high-end business image. Chinese beauty brands are on a powerful rise, and we should only anticipate more of these actions from beauty players in the future.
The Jing Take reports on a piece of the leading news and presents our editorial team’s analysis of the key implications for the luxury industry. In the recurring column, we analyze everything from product drops and mergers to heated debate sprouting on Chinese social media.