How Brands Gear Up For This Year's Holiday Season In China?

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: from Tiffany's holiday campaign to Dior's relaunch of the Essential collection. C-Beauty Disruptor Florasis Taps Chinese Ceramics To Resonate With Han Culture Enthusiast BRAND Florasis (Huaxizi) CATEGORY Beauty PLATFORMS Weibo, Tmall MEDIUM Imagery, Livestream OVERVIEW On the heels of their Miao ethnic culture inspired collection launch, C-beauty brand Florasis (named Huaxizi in Chinese) releases a special edition of Chinese ceramics for this year’s holiday season. The brand posted a Weibo article sharing the product development process which can be dated back to November 2018. The collection drew inspiration from Song dynasty ceramics and is decorated with a cloud-shaped relief and made in collaboration with ceramic-making factories in Jingdezhen, known as the “Porcelain Capital” in China. In addition to a Porcelain Lipstick, according to the brand’s announcement, a more extensive list of products from the collection can be expected in the future. NETIZEN REACTION Weibo users were impressed by the porcelain look of the lipstick and the packaging of the giftbox. They also spontaneously shared the upcoming livestream session featuring the product debut with others via comments below the brand’s campaign post. Some repeat buyers were expecting replica products with zodiac reliefs launched last year. According to the comments, most followers are loyal customers of the brand and show appreciation of the unique oriental aesthetics represented by Florasis. VERDICT Without an A-list celebrity and influencer endorsement or blockbuster video production, Florasis’s campaign was still relevant to its customers. Though images with words are the most straightforward medium in the digital marketing arena, the format can clearly explain the brand’s in-depth campaign information for the lowest cost. In Florasis’ case, instead of showcasing the color and effect of the lipsticks, the campaign emphasized the cultural inspiration embedded in the product and the brand’s commitment to revisualizing the legacy of traditional Chinese porcelain. Moreover, a livestream session on Li Jiaqi’s channel was simultaneously leveraged to facilitate sales conversion. Tiffany Leveraged Celebrity Power to Celebrate This Year’s Holiday Season BRAND Tiffany CATEGORY Luxury PLATFORMS Weibo, WeChat MEDIUM Imagery, Short Video FEATURED TALENTS Li Yuchun (13M Weibo Followers) | Yu Menglong (26M) | Sheng Yilun (10M) | Xu Yan @深夜徐老师 (10.7M) | gogoboi (10M) | Dipsy迪西 (7M) OVERVIEW Tiffany rolled out the “My Favorite Tiffany” campaign on November 16 to celebrate this year’s holiday season, featuring Tiffany T and Hardware collections that target young consumers. On November 27, the jeweler partnered with singer Li Yuchun to launch the 2020 Christmas lighting ceremony at the brand’s flagship store at Shanghai Hong Kong Plaza. Meanwhile, the brand started the “Time for T___” initiative, which features each day a celebrity’s words with the initial of “T” since November 30. NETIZEN REACTION The brand’s campaign post sharing Li Yuchun attending the 2020 Christmas lighting event has garnered 11,600 comments and 84,700 reposts. The campaign hashtag #MyFavoriteTiffany has generated over 170 million engagement on Weibo thanks to endorsements from celebrities and fashion KOLs such as Xu Yan (@深夜徐老师), @Dipsy迪西 and @gogoboi. The “Time for T___” casting Yu Menglong and Sheng Yilun has respectively received 10,500 and 10,100 comments as of publication. VERDICT Luxury houses are striving for online and offline traffic for this year’s holiday season, which is expected to become one of the most significant sales periods in the post-pandemic Chinese market. Tiffany kicked off the campaign with the annual ceremony of lighting the Christmas tree in front of its flagship store at Shanghai Hong Kong Plaza with Li Yuchun. And then the brand tapped its brand ambassador Jackson Yee’s birthday to further drive social presence of the campaign. Through teaming up with celebrities and influencers in the social arena, Tiffany bonds the brand image with the concept of gifting during the holiday season for local luxury shoppers. Dior Relaunch Targets Male Shoppers With Notable KOLs BRAND Dior CATEGORY Luxury PLATFORMS Weibo, WeChat MEDIUM Imagery, WeChat Mini Program FEATURED TALENTS Lang Lang (17M Weibo Followers) | Wen Muye (461K) | Lin Yi (4M) | Shen Wei | Feng Delun (2M) | Yu Wenbo @JackeyLoveasdzz (2M) | Wang Lingchen (2909) | Zhang Yadong (3M) | Zhou Dawei (133K) | Feng Shaofeng (25M) OVERVIEW Dior re-launched its Essential collection — featuring the brand’s iconic CD monogram, Oblique prints, and signature silhouette — on December 2. As a way to promote the release, the luxury house collaborated with ten male celebrities and influencers who are prominent figures in their respective areas, including directors, actors, entrepreneurs, artists, and e-sports players. Black-and-white photos of the influencers gave a sophisticated look to the campaign. The collection is available through the brand’s official website and WeChat boutique. NETIZEN REACTION Among the ten casted celebrities and influencers, young actor Lin Yi and League of Legends e-sports player Yu Wenbo have generated the most engagements on Weibo, receiving 5,300 and 1,200 comments below their respective social posts. The other influencers, most of whom are middle-aged, have smaller social followings and, therefore, drove less traffic. But users left comments to show appreciation for their talents and contributions to their respective fields. VERDICT Dior sought a wider range of figures this year than they did for last year’s Essentials collection campaign and found opinion leaders of various ages and types. The house has been discerning for campaigns aimed at the promising Chinese male consumer market. But which older male celebrities and KOLs influence this target group will make a difference in connecting with this segmented market. As such, brands must optimize their digital customer relationship management systems to better understand the nuances of the target group’s buying behavior.

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How Brands Gear Up For This Year's Holiday Season In China?