Can Estée Lauder X ‘Honor of Kings’ collab offset Double 11 discount fatigue?

For the latest on skincare, cosmetics, fragrances, wellness, emerging Chinese and APAC beauty brands, subscribe to our weekly Jing Beauty Newsletter. What happened Estée Lauder paired its iconic Advanced Night Repair Serum with Tencent’s Honor of Kings during this year’s Double 11 (Singles’ Day) shopping festival, partnering with China's most popular mobile game — which has over 260 million monthly active users — to reach younger consumers beyond traditional discount-driven promotions.The timing was strategic. Honor of Kings marked its 10th anniversary this year, while Estée Laude's “Little Brown Bottle” serum — first launched in 1982 — remains one of the most recognized products in China’s premium skincare category. The tie-up offers mutual benefits: Honor of Kings gains a lifestyle dimension beyond gaming, while Estée Lauder accesses a younger, digitally native demographic. Celebrity influence as cultural connector: Yang Mi bridges beauty, gaming, and fan communities At the center of the campaign is actress Yang Mi, who serves as a spokesperson for both brands. Her dual role created a shared narrative linking beauty, celebrity, and gaming culture. Across social media, clips of Yang unboxing the co-branded “King’s Power” gift set or holding a custom serum pillow at a Honor of Kings concert spread widely. “Honor of Kings gave out Estée Lauder at the concert?!” wrote Xiaohongshu user ChuanQi (@川崎). “The gift bag this time was way too generous. I haven’t even fully unpacked it and I can already feel the sincerity!! Honor of Kings, I’m gonna love you forever!” The Jing Take: In-game integration, offline pop-ups reinforce messaging International beauty companies are experimenting with alternative ways to maintain relevance in a market where growth has become harder to sustain. As competition intensifies and discount fatigue sets in, cultural collaborations are emerging as a new lever for engagement. They allow brands to reach younger consumers without relying entirely on price cuts, or high-cost influencer campaigns. Estée Lauder’s collaboration with Honor of Kings represents an attempt to balance the short-term necessity of promotions with longer-term brand storytelling and audience diversification. The campaign extends across online and offline touchpoints. In-game, Estée Lauder incorporated “skin fountain” storylines referencing its overnight repair positioning, aligning with Honor of Kings’ “return to base” move. The action transports the character back to their home base, where their health and abilities are rapidly restored before re-entering battle. It’s a familiar mechanic for players, symbolizing recovery and regaining strength. Offline, pop-up installations feature themed skincare experiences, product trials, and opportunities to win concert tickets. Related hashtags such as “Born a King Made to Master Youth” (#生来王者制胜年轻) generated broad engagement on Weibo and Xiaohongshu (also known as RedNote), indicating that the campaign reached beyond traditional skincare audiences. Collaboration helps stabilize demand amid heavy discounting Estée Lauder has achieved strong sales during this year’s Double 11 shopping bonanza. According to QY Intelligence, the brand’s Douyin flagship store saw daily sales rebound above 10 million RMB ($1.4 million) midway through the festival, following a slower start. The collaboration appeared to support steady consumer interest despite intense competition from local and international peers. The campaign coincided with improving corporate performance. In its fiscal 2026 first quarter (July–September 2025), Estée Lauder reported its first organic sales growth in three years, up 3% year-on-year. Total net sales rose 4% to $3.48 billion, and operating income returned to profit at $169 million after a $121 million loss in the prior year. Mainland China was a key driver, posting 9% organic growth across categories. Entertainment IP partnerships test new engagement model Still, questions remain about the sustainability of this momentum. Analysts such as Jacques Roizen, managing director at Digital Luxury Group, a strategy partner for luxury and beauty brands, tells Jing Daily that much of the beauty sector’s recent online growth may have been supported by platform subsidies. “It’s unclear how much of that revenue reflects actual consumer spending versus platform-financed promotions,” he says. That’s why partnerships like the Honor of Kings project matter. They test new models of engagement beyond discounts. While it did not abandon price promotions, Estée Lauder’s collaboration shows a potential new path to gain relevance during Double 11: balancing transactional sales with cultural relevance in a market increasingly defined by both. 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.

Beyond discounts: Estée Lauder turns to ‘Honor of Kings’ to win Double 11

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Beyond discounts: Estée Lauder turns to ‘Honor of Kings’ to win Double 11