How This Chinese Brand Leveraged Looney Tunes for Digital Success

The Social Edition is a weekly special-focus Jing Daily newsletter, 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 addition, we deliver need-to-know news, updates, and best practices on navigating social media platforms in China within the luxury space. The below is an excerpt from The Social Edition newsletter. For weekly coverage, subscribe to the full newsletter here. In this week’s edition, we look at three campaigns: from Cartier’s exclusive launch on Tmall to Acqua di Parma's newly appointed global fragrance ambassador. CARTIER “TRINITY” COLLECTION PRODUCT LAUNCH BRAND Cartier CATEGORY Jewelry PLATFORMS WeChat, Weibo, Tmall, Little Red Book MEDIUM Short Video, Imagery OVERVIEW Cartier launched the newest edition of its “Trinity” collection exclusively on its Tmall flagship store as part of the brand’s “520” initiative. Customers who make orders during the presale period, from April 26 to May 13, will receive a complimentary eternity flower box with a gift card that allows customers to personalize wishes. Also, consumers can take advantage of a “buy now, pay later” credit feature without interest powered by AliPay Huabei. In addition to two short-videos showcasing the accessories, the campaign rolled out an additional two videos featuring actress and singer Song Qian and singer-songwriter Hua Chenyu on May 5 and 6, respectively. The brand also debuted its Little Red Book official channel with the campaign posts on April 29. FEATURED TALENT Song Qian (46.2M Weibo Followers) | Hua Chenyu (36.1M) NETIZEN REACTION In one day, the campaign videos featuring Song Qian and Hua Chenyu received 2.9 million and 3.7 million clicks respectively. So far, the campaign videos posted on the brand’s Little Red Book official channel have gone under the radar, with only single-digit engagement. VERDICT The French luxury jewelry house has shown its dedication to China’s digital landscape since it launched on Tmall’s Luxury Pavilion earlier this year. Through marketing tools such as “Tmall Super Brand Day” and “Heybox” as well as credit payment product Huabei, the brand has effectively reached a wider demographic of digital luxury shoppers in China. China-focused strategies — whether playing with Chinese elements, celebrating Chinese holidays, or a China-prioritized launch — have proven to be effective to engage local consumers. In Cartier’s case, releasing accessible versions of signature editions is a successful approach to target younger consumers from lower-tier cities who are in early stages of entering the luxury world. ACQUA DI PARMA'S NEW GLOBAL FRAGRANCE AMBASSADOR BRAND Acqua di Parma CATEGORY Luxury Lifestyle PLATFORMS WeChat, Weibo, Tmall, Little Red Book MEDIUM Short Video, Imagery, Livestream OVERVIEW Italian luxury fragrance and lifestyle label Acqua di Parma appointed Chinese actor Li Xian as its first global fragrance ambassador on April 16. Besides official announcements on social media channels – including Weibo, WeChat, and Little Red Book — the brand invited Li to interact with consumers on Taobao Live. The brand also kicked off a range of marketing initiatives on Tmall. Through a partnership with Tmall Club — the platform’s experiential marketing unit — the brand aims to encourage digital consumers to join its Tmall membership program with rewards benefits and prioritized logistical services. FEATURED TALENT Li Xian (21.9M Weibo Followers) NETIZEN REACTION The 40-second campaign video “Exploring Mediterranean Sea” has hit over 7.1 million views on Weibo and the video’s namesake Weibo hashtag has garnered almost 300 million engagements. With a humble personality and fresh look, Li Xian’s endorsement is highly favored by Chinese netizens. VERDICT Over the past two years, fragrance brands have seen increasing popularity among Chinese luxury shoppers. Boutique labels such as Byredo, Diptyque, and Atelier Cologne have successfully tapped the lucrative China market. Besides offline boutiques, these brands are striving for launching online stand-alone flagship stores. Likewise, as a strong player in the digital playground under the luxury conglomerate LVMH, Acqua di Parma looks to facilitate omni-channel experiences. Distinguishing itself from beauty brands that frequently collaborate with young male idols (dubbed “little fresh meat”) and mostly target females, Li Xian represents a more neutral persona that can resonate with both male and female customers. MO&Co. x LOONEY TUNES SUMMER EDITION BRAND MO&Co. CATEGORY Fashion PLATFORMS Weibo, Tmall, WeChat, Little Red Book MEDIUM Short Video, Imagery, Livestream OVERVIEW Homegrown fashion label MO&Co. first launched its collaboration with American animated series Looney Tunes in Winter 2019. The new summer edition continues to feature the iconic characters — including Bugs Bunny, Tweety, and Sylvester the Cat. To introduce the playful capsule series, MO&Co. invited brand ambassador Yang Mi to their livestream channels on WeChat and Tmall to share her outfits styled with items from the collection. In addition to the womenswear collection, certain products from the collection are available in the retailer’s childrenswear line, Little MO&Co. The campaign casts “mommy” fashion KOLs and their children to showcase the products. FEATURED TALENT Yang Mi (107M Weibo Followers) NETIZEN REACTION Through leveraging the celebrity power of Yang Mi, the “queen of driving sales” in China, MO&Co. successfully promotes the popular collaboration series to female consumers. The T-shirt worn by Yang tops its Tmall flagship store sales chart, with 1034 orders at the time of publishing. Meanwhile, the online traffic is driven by endorsements from other young female celebrities with massive followings like Cecilia Song, Lareina Song, and Ouyang Nana. VERDICT As one of the most successful womenswear brands in China, MO&Co. is an expert in digital marketing and holds wide brand recognition among Chinese millennials. Brand awareness has also skyrocketed since Yang Mi was appointed as its new face last December. In addition to celebrity endorsements, the label hosted an on-going project titled “MO&Co. Fitting Model” – featuring niche KOLs and KOCs (Key Opinion Consumers) to showcase products. KOCs are a relatively recent but powerful addition to China's digital marketing world. As everyday consumers whose review is based on their trustworthy nature, their appearances on livestreams and social posts can give a boost to the engagement of digital campaigns. This is an excerpt from The Social Edition newsletter. For full weekly coverage, subscribe to the newsletter here.

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How This Chinese Brand Leveraged Looney Tunes for Digital Success