In China, Becky Li's three million social media followers call her the "BuyBuyBuy" Goddess because her posts on fashion and luxury items have always been successful in triggering the impulse to buy. That quality has also been much valued by a wide range of brands including Rebecca Minkoff, Chanel, Dior, Hermes and, now, the automaker MINI.
On July 9, Becky Li's WeChat account, "Becky's Fantasy," exclusively announced her collaboration with the brand to introduce its special edition MINI YOURS in the color Caribbean Aqua. Followers of "Becky's Fantasy" also got first dibs at booking the cars online, beginning July 13.
This time, a limited number of 100 cars will be available to Chinese consumers. By the time of this publication, over 1000 people have made the reservations on MINI's official website and this number is still rapidly growing. On July 21, the first 100 consumers who have reserved cars and completed payment will get the cars.
MINI, the production line under the German luxury automobile brand BMW, has won the hearts of many female Chinese consumers for its chic appearance and bold design in recent years. At a time when international brands have frequently worked with online influencers to reach a wider customer base, MINI decided to work with Becky Li, whose female fans make up 90 percent of her total following.
Jing Daily had a chance to chat with Becky on this cross-industry cooperation, where she shared with us some of her interesting stories with MINI as well as the life of being one of the most valuable fashion bloggers in China.
As a fashion blogger, what made you decide to work with a car brand?#
This is actually not my first time working with an auto brand. I previously helped luxury carmakers including Maserati, Jaguar and Audi promote their products, and I will shoot a video for Lexus next week.
However, the collaboration with MINI is the most unique and in-depth one for me. The first car that I wanted to buy was a MINI, so it is like my dream car. The color of this special edition is also my favorite one—Caribbean Aqua.
I was wondering if many people are like me who feel like entering a small world of my own when sitting alone in my car. Sometimes, I like to stay within the car a little bit longer to enjoy the peaceful moments. Therefore, it is crucial for me to have a comfortable space in the car.
What do you think MINI is looking to get from collaborating with you?#
I did not specifically ask this question to the brand, but I guess they chose me because I cooperated with them to promote the COUNTRYMAN line on WeChat before. That collaboration has received positive feedback from readers and consumers. The article has been read more than 300,000 times and shared by over 2,500 WeChat users.
Apart from my massive number of social media followers and the great purchasing power of my fans, I think MINI also considers factors such as the fashion bloggers’ opinions and attitudes about life and design that speak about the core values of their blogging style.
When sharing tips on fashion and styling, I always encourage my readers to be more independent, love themselves more, and care less about others’ opinions. Perhaps what I stand for is in line with MINI’s brand philosophy.
You collaborated with Rebecca Minkoff before, how does that experience differ from your partnership with MINI?#
I was fully involved in every step of designing the bags when working with Rebecca Minkoff. That included deciding on the style and the leather to details on the cut. And that was also the first time RM worked with a fashion blogger.
But MINI has been preparing for the launch of this special edition for a while. It is the first time that it works with a blogger to release the product, and our release date was even earlier than the one on MINI’s official website.
How are you marketing the car toward your followers?#
In pretty much the same way I promote all products that I like since MINI is my dream car. I understand why girls like MINI's cars. The appearance of a car is very important to [Chinese] girls. And the color of Carribean Aqua (this time) is so pretty, so I don’t think it will be too hard to promote it.
When you decided to become a fashion blogger, did you expect to be where you are now?#
Actually not. I started my WeChat account due to my personal interest. I once told my ex-colleagues that I really wished I could watch the live fashion shows someday. I did not expect that my joke would quickly become true. I attended the shows of Hermes, Chanel, Dior, Burberry, and Gucci.
You were a journalist before, how does that professional experience affect what you do now?#
My journalism background has helped me a lot with my content creation, whether it is about finding the topics or capturing the trending ones. I have received the professional training from the editorial side, so I know how to work under pressure.
Furthermore, that experience has also made me remain highly committed to producing high-quality content. I am always joking that I am a fashion blogger who only cares about writing and delivering the best content. That’s because if you don’t pay enough attention to your writing, your readers will notice it. Even though the communication channel has been changed (from print to digital), the essence of my job is still about content creation, (as I believe) the good content always has the market.
I think our readers would be interested in knowing what a typical day for Becky Li is like. Can you describe it?#
Honestly, I still have not found a good balance between work and life. My passion has brought me to where I am standing right here.
Everyday I spend a lot of time on collecting and organizing information. When I am not on a business trip or do not need to shoot street photos, I usually work on writing social media posts until around 10:30pm. It is normal that I spend more than 10 hours on one post, and sometimes it takes me hours to find a perfect photo. After sending the post on WeChat, I will read readers’ comments and engage with them.
I have been traveling most of this month, but I still write posts either on the plane or when I go back to the hotel. During fashion weeks, my schedule is also pretty hectic and I have to deal with the jet lag. Thus it is possible that I send out articles around midnight.
I recently opened a new column on my WeChat account to share my personal dressing style, so I also have started to spend time selecting and matching clothes and taking photos.
In addition, I am currently preparing to launch my own brand. Every week, I take one day or two to have meetings with my team to work on that.