2024 February Industry Insights & Best Practices
In February top luxury brands focused on the following key theme: continues to deepen cultural relevancy during Chinese New Year.
Overview
Curio Eye™ Brand Index: Top 10 best performing brands
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The Top 3 best-performing brands in February were GUCCI, DIOR and LOUIS VUITTON.
Brand ambassadors Xiao Zhan attending Gucci FW24 Show in Milan drove great attention on social platforms. Gucci’s SS24 women collection also received great attention due to celebrities’ effect.
Dior Paris debut of its FW24 Womenswear. Louis Vuitton February traffic was driven mostly through new product launches (bags and speaker), as well as its Chinese New Year film short film.
VERSACE, BALLY, and LANVIN popped up in the Top 10 in February. VERSACE announced new brand ambassador Yizhuo Ning, together with Rosy Zhao put the brand under spotlight in February.
Luxury Industry Trends
1. RED：Building the Luxury Industry Voice
Red is becoming the dominant influencing platform in fashion and lifestyle category in general. Early February this year, Red and Vogue Business collaboratively curated a “2024 Luxury Trends Salon”, inviting top influencing female speakers from the luxury industry, including actors, influencers, industry professional, media, etc. The gesture shows Red future strategic planning and dedication of its leading voice in luxury industry.
2. Luxury Brands for Chinese New Year: Cultural Relevancy in Creative Production
Cultural relevancy is the key word of luxury brands marketing for 2024 Chinese New Year. Getting further localized in CNY content, and deeper connected with Chinese audience, luxury brands are going all-in this dragon year with their brand content production, in collaboration with Chinese directors, artists, craftsman, etc. Short films are becoming a trendy format in the delivery.
Image Source: Songhua Lake Resort Official WeChat and DESCENT RED
3. Luxury Brands for Chinese New Year: Digital Activation
WeChat mini-program gamification engagement were still well-received by the digital audience. This year more advanced technology was applied to the game experience that refreshed the users eyes. Versace’s Runway game utilized visual capture technology to detect player’s eye blink.
Image Source: Balenciaga Official WeChat and Mini-P
Curiosity Spotlight
RED: Building It’s Luxury Industry Voice
The action shows RED’s ambition in taking on the luxury lifestyle role in the future.
Red is becoming one of the most important communication channels for luxury brands in China. It is crucial for brands to understand the platform, to create the strategic and efficient content with their targeted audience.
Cultural Relevancy in Creative Production
When culture relevancy is “trendy“, luxury brands go all-in with premium production levels, collaborate with Chinese artisans, and collaborate on collections.
It will be interesting to see more diversity in the culture-related creatives in the coming year.
Digital Technology in Communication
Gamification is still a great tactic to engage with audience. Versace this year definitely shows how to incorporate more advance technology into the interaction.
Will AI be sooner used for luxury brands communication? Will Vision Pro be the next platform or medium for luxury communication? There is a lot to imagine.
Campaign Best Practices
Lululemon Wing Chun Campaign ft. Michelle Yeoh
Not exactly a “luxury” brand case, but the Lululemon x Michelle Yeoh Lunar New Year Capsule collection campaign went viral in both sports and fashion industry. Through a cinematic short film-exploring the idea of wellbeing, the campaign perfectly fit Michelle’s martial arts background of Wing Chun into the Spring Festival season through the lens of Eastern culture.
Overview
The brand campaign key message of “welcoming new spring” perfectly aligns with the martial art Wing Chun and the CNY season.
Michelle Yeoh’s appearance in the campaign only enhances the message, which is why the audience takeaway of the campaign is brand message in stead of the brand ambassador.
Curiosity Spotlight
“Organic“ Cultural Relevancy
The campaign showcased the story telling insights that aligns with brand, products, culture, and audience.
The use of celebrity and the culture story are both fitting the the brand overarching story and the product benefits.
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