THE TOP 50 MOST-SEARCHED FOR LUXURY BRANDS IN CHINA

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World Luxury Index China – Top 50 Most-Searched For Luxury Brands in China

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Luxury Society and Digital Luxury Group are pleased to launch the World Luxury Index, an international ranking and analysis of the most searched-for brands within the luxury industry.

Created as a way to provide luxury brands with a standardised way of measuring brand interest at an international level, Digital Luxury Group, in partnership with Luxury Society, is pleased to announce the launch of The World Luxury Index, an on-going international ranking and analysis of the most searched-for brands within the luxury industry.

Covering over 400 brands within six key segments (fashion, beauty, jewellery, cars, watches, and hospitality) in ten key luxury markets, the World Luxury Index provides insights on the unbiased search inputs coming from global luxury consumers in the world’s top search engines (Google, Bing, Baidu, Yandex). The result is a one-of-a-kind benchmark of the luxury brands capturing the attention of luxury-minded consumers around the world.

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“ The World Luxury Index provides insights on the unbiased search inputs coming from global luxury consumers in the world’s top search engines ”

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“This is actually the first time that such powerful, yet seemingly basic, information is being made available,” explains Philippe Barnet, Managing Director, Luxury Society. “But we are excited about the prospect of regularly informing luxury brand executives about the desirability of their brands online, across various categories, geographical markets and even by specific product.”

“For the World Luxury Index China, we’ve looked at over 150 million consumer searches performed in China’s leading search engines, Baidu and Google, and analysed the findings to identify the most-searched luxury brands. In the process we uncovered some fascinating insights,” confirms David Sadigh, CEO and founder of Digital Luxury Group.

Conducting the report…

With new statistics on the luxury industry in China being shared each day, the time is right for a uniform benchmark. Using DLG’s proprietary technology, DemandTracker™, the World Luxury Index has been created to provide luxury brands with a standardised solution to measure brand interest at an international level.

Our key findings include…

Eighteen out of the top fifty most-searched for luxury brands (36%) in China are automobile brands. Audi is the most-searched, followed by BMW and Mercedes Benz. Audi has long held a privileged spot in China, it’s the official car of the Chinese government.

Chinese brand Chow Tai Fook is the most searched jewellery brand in China, far surpassing 2nd and 3rd ranked brands, Cartier and Swarovski. With a distribution network of over 1,500 locations across 320 cities in China, Hong Kong, and Macau, it’s no surprise that they lead. Cartier can be found in approximately 300 stores.

The top 3 most-searched fashion brands in the ranking, Louis Vuitton (#3), Chanel (#5), and Dior (#8) each lead through different segments. Interest for Dior is specifically related to beauty (and more specifically fragrance) over 80% of the time. For Chanel, beauty represents just fewer than 50%, and fashion and accessories at 40%, while it was noted 94% of searches are fashion/accessory-related for Louis Vuitton

“ Unlike the other parts of the world, Western brands in China often find that the public calls the brand something other than the official name ”

Unlike the other parts of the world, Western brands in China often find that the public calls the brand something other than the official name. This is illustrated by looking at the names used when Chinese search for Burberry:

– 76% by unofficial Chinese name
– 15% by official Chinese name
– 9% by English name

Some brands are more recognized for shortened versions of their official names, where 63% of searches for Louis Vuitton were made using “LV” instead of “Louis Vuitton”.

Other brands have adapted their names to paraphrases instead of using a literal translation of their brand name, to resonate more closely with Chinese consumers. For example, Hermès in Chinese [爱马仕] means “an elegant man who loves horsing” and Land Rover [路虎] means “a tiger on the road.”

Most surprisingly we found…

The World Luxury Index China revealed several luxury brand success stories. Take Moncler for example, the French fashion brand has been generating a surprisingly high level of interest in China thanks to its sponsorship of a widely watched television program in which the main characters all wore Moncler. This shows how important and influential TV in China can be.

Another really interesting example is Borghese, a beauty brand not particularly well known in the US and Europe is fascinatingly strong in China. Ranked #43, Borghese surpasses other notable beauty brands Benefit and Guerlain. Thanks to its highly regarded facemasks, Borghese, has been the talk of beauty forums and blogs even long before the brand’s official entry into the Chinese market. Here the impact of cult products and beauty forums and blogs is at work.

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The full report is available online at: http://www.dlgr.com/chinarank. More detailed data and analysis on a particular segment or brand is available upon request.

For any further enquiries regarding the index or research, please contact Tamar Koifman of Digital Luxury Group, tkoifman@digital-luxury.com.

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Digital Luxury Group is the first international company dedicated exclusively to the design and implementation of digital communication strategies for luxury brands, with offices in New York, Geneva and Shanghai.

Luxury Society is the world’s most influential online community of top luxury executives. Based in Paris, with members in more than 150 countries, Luxury Society informs and connects CEOs, managers, journalists, consultants, designers and analysts from across the luxury industry.

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© Luxury Society, The Top 50 Most-Searched for Luxury Brands in China, 25 April 2012, by Sophie Duran.

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Live the life!

LUXURY, FULLY CUSTOMISABLE IN 2012

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Coach’s Year of the Dragon collection, developed in collaboration with Chinese artist Zhang Lan.

As luxury consumers become more diverse and discerning, we investigate how brands are approaching an increasingly fragmented international market.

I would be happy to argue that luxury has become one of the most globalised industries in the world. Rapid and aggressive expansion by super brands like Louis Vuitton, Rolls Royce, Rolex and Four Seasons, backed by powerful super conglomerates like LVMH, Richemont and PPR, has seen luxury permeate areas of the earth once better known for human rights conflicts than seven-star hotels.

At the risk of oversimplifying the situation, luxury has never been bigger – nor has it ever had larger levels of retailers, consumers, publicity and services. As the game moves at a breakneck pace, success in this industry has become driven by Darwinian thinking, where brands must quite literally, adapt or die.

Whether it be conforming to the consumer driven digital revolution, selling goods on the internet or responding to the need for personalisation of iconic products, it has been those brands quickest to embrace change that have remained the most agile and best positioned to absorb the effects of economic instability.

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“ For me bespoke is exactly what luxury should be. Old-fashioned luxury is about having something especially made for you – Anya Hindmarch ”

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Difficult when you consider that luxury is unique, in that the customer and the Maison are always right. Keeping a brand “luxury” is just as much about dictating what that brand is and what it stands for, as much as it is about bending over backwards to give a client what they want. But in saying this, in 2012 it feels like the pendulum of favour may be swinging toward consumers. Brands seem to have conceded the need to deliver outside their traditional value charter – whether that is a Facebook page or Hermès Sari.

The fruits of such logic are ever apparent when one looks at the products luxury brands will be taking with them into 2012 – products that are not only regionally and culturally thoughtful, but often made-to-order and sometimes designed entirely by the customer. Whilst 2011 was an active year for the launch of bespoke initiatives for brands, I can’t help but think it was just a taste of what’s to come. Vanessa Friedman often muses that three times makes a trend – if that is the case, expect to see a veritable avalanche of bespoke
options in the coming twelve months.

Anya Hindmarch and an example of a made-to-order product from her Bespoke boutique.

Mass Customisation

Customisation is nothing new – it is if anything, a founding principle of luxury – but it certainly is something incredibly popular in fashion and accessories. And in an era where luxury has penetrated the mass market and something afforded by the middle class, what could be more appropriate? The only thing more luxurious than a signature Burberry trench, is a signature Burberry trench made entirely to your specifications, which technology has now made a reality on a global scale.

Burberry’s Bespoke service allows clients to choose fabrics, patterns, designs, cuts and even colours. In addition, they can to scroll through various options in collar styles, cuff straps and mink linings, among others. The completed product is be delivered within four to eight weeks.

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“ In an era where luxury has penetrated the mass market and become a status symbol of the middle class, what could be more appropriate? ”

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UK accessories brand Anya Hindmarch, established a dedicated bespoke retail space in London over two years ago, most recently launching online. Speaking with The Telegraph, the designer mused that “old-fashioned luxury is about having something especially made for you. It’s something that has a story.” Her Knightsbridge boutique has an on-site craftsman, developing an array of leather goods as diverse as £75 bookmarks, through made-to-measure wallets, to Hindmarch’s £15,000 crocodile-leather Ebury bags.

And as luxury menswear becomes more and more important to the landscape, it is unsurprising to learn that Louis Vuitton and Bally now both offer made-to-order shoes – and in the case of Vuitton, made-to-order handbags for women. Prada launched customisable eyewear and accessories options last year, Gucci moved into made-to-measure suits and shoes. Brioni recently revealed that 40% of its sales are derived from its bespoke products, stitched by hand in the Southern Italian town of Penne.

Blancpain’s “Chinese Dragon” Caruso, limited to a run of only 50 units worldwide, retailing for approximately $220,000.

Regional Customisation

Regional influence has extended well beyond local inventory management and appropriate
communications strategies. Today geography not only exudes overt influence on product design but seeks to compliment – or should I say capitalise – on local culture and religion. 2012 will make an example out of China, with the significant number of products designed by luxury brands, celebrating the Year of the Dragon.

Just this week, Vertu has launched a luxury dragon-themed mobile phone based on its Signature collection, with prices hovering above $20,000. Coach has collaborated with Chinese artist Zhang Lan on an accessories collection, adorning the brand’s signature designs and mahogany colour scheme with golden dragons rendered in a style reminiscent of traditional Chinese ink painting (Jing Daily).

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“ How far can brands travel in their quest to please consumers before they lose their own specific defining values and cultural heritage? ”

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Piaget threw an elaborate gala in Beijing to launch its Dragon and Phoenix collections, Shanghai Tang collaborated with Nespresso for its Dragon collection and Rolls Royce has released a limited edition Phantom for the occasion – unsurprising when they now claim to sell more cars in China than they do in the West.

Swarovski lauded the event with a jewellery and timepiece collection whilst Versace designed a collection of flashy accessories starting at $5000, for distribution exclusively in the Asia Pacific region. Blancpain debuted its “Chinese Dragon” Caruso, priced at 1.4 million Yuan (approximately $220,000), limited to a run of only 50 units worldwide.

Louis Vuitton’s 2010 celebration of Diwali, which included a collaboration with Indian artist Rajeev Sethi, whose window concepts were installed from Beirut to Shanghai and from Johannesburg to Oslo.

Many of these sentiments were evident in India 2011, when Hermès produced a range of Saris and Bottega Veneta its ‘Knot India’ collection, coinciding with its exhibition in Mumbai. Louis Vuitton was characteristically ahead of the curve back in 2010, when they feted Diwali, the Indian Festival of Lights, on a global scale.

Whilst pursuing these types of strategies is neither a surprising move nor a new one – particularly when you consider the fanfare that is Christmas – an increasingly diverse customer base is forcing brands into new territories and cultures that are not there own, as we have seen with the Year of the Dragon. But to remain successful, history suggests they must also stay true to their luxury positioning, the specialities and strengths of their own native soil and essentially, retain tight control their of brand image – easily achieved
by controlling the products on the market.

The question remains, how far can brands travel in their quest to please consumers before they lose their own specific defining values and cultural heritage? Does a Sari made in France by Hermès, hold real significance to an Indian consumer? How will products change again with the emerging strength of Brazil and continued prosperity in Russia?

With any luck 2012 will answer some of these questions, but as always, we invite our members to join the discussion below.

For more in our Bulletin series, please see our most recent editions as follows:

• The Mixed Performance of Luxury in 2011
• The Complexities of Ethically Sourced Precious Stones
• A New Wave of Opportunity for Luxury Brands in India?

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© Luxury Society, Luxury, Fully Customisable in 2012, by Sophie Doran.

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Live the life!