Editor's note: A version of this post originally appeared on Luxury Society, a website dedicated to the luxury industry created by the experts at Digital Luxury Group with the aim to inspire and inform through specially crafted content, curated news, conferences and leader interviews.
Since launching in early January 2017, WeChat mini programs offer brands an alternate avenue to develop advanced functionalities, whether it’s making purchases, finding up-to-the-minute information, or editing photos. Conceptually similar to Google’s instant apps, WeChat mini programs take away the barrier to download additional apps from an app store, and instead allow brands to offer users new and additional functionalities without having to leave the WeChat ecosystem. While it may not be relevant to serve all purposes, Swarovski is the first watch and jewelry brand to find a way to leverage the technology of mini programs and complement both their social and retail activities.
To celebrate Mother’s Day, Swarovski launched a social media campaign on May 5, that speaks to all sons and daughters to celebrate their mother’s eternal beauty and share with them well wishes to continue living youthfully and differently. A vivid and beautiful garden design features Key Opinion Leaders’ (KOLs) wishes to their mothers and brilliant Swarovski products to inspire gift ideas among online audiences.
Taking this occasion, Swarovski sought to build further on the social media campaign in a new way by capturing interested audiences at just the right moment to connect them directly to a point of purchase, narrowing that last step of the consumer experience, seamlessly.
“The Swarovski brand spirit of ‘Daring & Irresistible’ is not only reflected in the design of our products, but also ingrained in our marketing strategy,” said Donna Pang, managing director of Swarovski China. Pang continues to say that, “social media continuously evolves quickly, so it is important to us that we find new and innovative ways to use new technology and functionality to improve the consumer experience with Swarovski, from brand awareness to aspiration, to purchase.”
Working together with Tencent and DLG China, Swarovski launched a mini program that serves as a 1-click solution to purchase the campaign’s featured Mother’s Day gift ideas, directly through their official WeChat account. "Working with Swarovski, a brand that embodies love and beauty, launching the ‘Swarovski’s Brilliant Gifts (施华洛世奇璀璨馈赠)’ mini program for Mother’s Day created a smooth experience for users to express themselves on the occasion,” said Juliet Zhu, head of marketing at WeChat.
The mini program can be shared like a contact and pinned like a chat, keeping consistent with native WeChat behaviors. Staying within WeChat means that users can also pay with their WeChat Pay for a complete consumer journey. Zhu elaborates that “thinking about the user experience at every step is a top priority. We are continuously striving to develop connections between brand products and services with users.”
Additionally, leveraging their vast retail footprint in China, Swarovski stores are supporting the launch by driving foot traffic with key visuals featuring the scannable mini program QR code in stores.
In the future, Swarovski plans to leverage further on its WeChat mini program and make it a sustainable component of the brand’s social media strategy. For WeChat, Zhu says they “hope to take this successful collaboration encourages more brands to leverage WeChat mini programs in their brand activities.”
In a state where some luxury brands are still wondering how to take advantage of mini programs, this definitely represents an case that could inspire others as Pablo Mauron, managing director and partner, DLG China, says, “this project jointly developed with Tencent and Swarovski, demonstrates how mini programs can be developed in the right way to optimize the offering from brands and experience for users.”