Luxury Products Aim At The Potential Of Chinese Market, And Star Endorsement Becomes A New Trend

"Watches are a versatile match. I always wear watches when I work, and now I can show my hands when I shoot some plays." Recently, Yang Mi, an artist who frequently appears in major TV dramas, appeared on the streets of Shanghai and talked about her feelings about watches. "I think girls wearing boyfriends' watches are very handsome, so I can try them."

Standing on the stage with curiosity, many people could not help standing on tiptoe. Onstage Yang Mi At the moment, he is not only a star, but also the spokesman of the Swiss watch brand Innag.

On the same day, the latest Versailles Star Diamond Limited Edition wristwatch of Innag was unveiled. This watch was launched to commemorate the upcoming 160th anniversary of the brand. The global limit is 160 sets, and No. 01 belongs to Yang Mi. Earlier this year, this Swiss watch brand invested more than one million Swiss francs (about 10 million yuan) to build its own exhibition hall in the world's top watch exhibition Basel Watch Exhibition, and built its internal space into a high-end private salon, redesigned posters and launched more exquisite product atlases.

When asked why he chose Yang Mi as the new spokesperson of the brand, Gao Dingguo, president of Greater China of Ingrid, Switzerland, told reporters: "Yang Mi has a sweet and lively appearance and knows how to enjoy life. Each of our watches is also changeable, with both fashionable design and practical functions. They have something in common."

In fact, "Chinese style" is still in its heyday Luxury industry The efforts of international watchmakers are self-evident. All major brands, including Swiss watches, have signed up Chinese spokesmen as one of their strategies to compete for the Chinese market.

　 Aim at the potential of the Chinese market

At present, the tacit understanding reached by luxury brands is that if there is no China luxury goods market The impact on the industry in the past two years may be unimaginable.

According to the latest survey results of Synovate market research company, rich people in Asia like to buy luxury brands with prominent signs and high popularity. Jill Telford, CEO of Synovate, said: "Chinese people are more inclined to let others know that they are buying genuine products rather than counterfeit products."

In this form of conscious culture, the market, brand marketing, momentum building, and the degree of activity in the minds of consumers become the key factors affecting purchase decisions. Brands are also increasingly aware that their brands need "Chinese face" more than just big cities, even more distant second and third tier cities.

"This is a very difficult process," said George Koutsolioutsos, chief executive officer of FOLLIFOLLIE Group. It is not easy to choose a Chinese spokesperson for the brand.

"She is always careful. In addition to looking at global popularity, she also needs to consider whether her own characteristics have something in common with the brand. For example, because she is international, Chinese, and grew up in the United States, she speaks English very well, and her style is obvious. For us, such endorsers are very professional." George Koutsolioutsos said.

Why does a Greek brand choose a Chinese face as its global image spokesperson? GeorgeKoutsolioutsos also answered frankly, "The target is the Chinese market. China is our largest and most potential market. Choosing a Chinese face as a spokesperson is conducive to the brand's market expansion."

In fact, from the current watch market, Omega and Longines, the top two watch brands in the Chinese market, both have several Chinese star spokesmen. GUCCI, which has never signed a contract with Chinese stars, also announced recently that it has signed a contract with Chinese actress Li Bingbing to endorse some products.

　 Big brands start with soft marketing

It may be the most direct and commonly used way to show the brand to find a celebrity to endorse it. Interestingly, in the era of endorsement, there are still some watch brands that don't buy it. "Vacheron Constantin", "Patek Philippe" and "Jijia" belong to this school.

Mr. Bai Shangwen, the managing director of Jiangshi Danton Asia Pacific, once described his customer group to reporters as follows: "They are engaged in all kinds of professions in all regions. They are a group of people with good taste and confidence. They will do their homework before buying, including the history, quality and service of the products, and will consider whether the investment is worth it. They will not start buying until they reach 100% confidence. In fact, they generally do not have only one watch, but many watches."

A watch collector explained to the reporter why such watches did not find a spokesperson: "Because no star can represent the noble temperament of the brand."

The above people believe that consumers' "choice" has become an "automatic" process because not everyone can afford the watches like Vacheron Constantin. "This driving force is beyond the reach of stars".

However, the difference of consumer groups does not mean that big name watches will not choose star endorsers to enter the Chinese market.

In fact, although these international first tier brands ostensibly claim not to sign any Chinese stars, they will invite Chinese stars as guests in various activities: either sponsor the star costumes of the film festival, or implant advertisements in the film, so that the audience can quietly accept without any vigilance to win better marketing effects.

This can be seen from the Cannes Film Festival, which closed this year. On the red carpet of the film festival, two Chinese male stars, Chen Kun and Qin Hao, both wore advanced watches from Dior. In addition, Zhou Xun and Chanel, Gong Li and LV, Liang Chaowei and Cartier - soft marketing has become one of the magic weapons of high-end watch brands in the Chinese market for a long time.

　　 Endorsement is a strategy

Fabrice Poch, president of Movanto Asia Pacific, told reporters, "The brand's image spokesperson is a guarantee of confidence for dealers. They will feel that the brand attaches importance to market expansion and has a good reason and perspective in daily promotional activities."

Under the guidance of this strategy, in July, Mofantuo held an unprecedented event to launch new products at Jiefangbei in Chongqing. Fabrice Poch told the reporter: "It is because of the presence of Sun Li, the brand spokesperson, that the scene is crowded and popular. This is an effective way to enhance popularity and sales."

In fact, this famous watch brand, which has the largest sales in the United States, spent 2.6 million yuan to invite Karen Mok, a famous movie star, to be the image spokesperson earlier, and carried more than 240 new high-end watches ranging from 3000 yuan to 1.6 million yuan, in an attempt to break into the Chinese market. However, after the expiration of the contract, the brand has not continued to sign a Chinese spokesperson, which is why the sales of the brand in the Chinese market has turned into a period of downturn.

This time, FabricePoch more directly attributed the spokesperson strategy to the key factor of its occupation of the Chinese market, and pointed out that it can improve the sales of the Chinese market through the spokesperson strategy.

"In addition to our product and price policy as the basis, I think the most critical factor is our successful image spokesperson strategy. We don't have much hope that star fans will soon become brand customers. Some people don't know MOVADO, but they know Sun Li, like Sun Li, love Wu, and are interested in MOVADO, which is our goal." FabricePoch said frankly.

Coincidentally, the Swiss wristwatch Remonway also signed a new Chinese spokesman. They have just incorporated director and actor Jiang Wen into their brand family. A brand personage who did not want to reveal his name told the reporter that Jiang Wen's endorsement played a certain role in the promotion of Raymond Way in the market. Although sales did not increase rapidly, more people knew Raymond Way through Jiang Wen.

In response, Mark Bishop, group director of Raymond Wei's Chinese agent Jebsen (China) Trading Co., Ltd., told reporters, "The value of an endorser is that when consumers enter the store, they will say, 'I want to buy the watch that Jiang Wen endorses'."

"For watch distributors, choosing a spokesperson shows confidence in the brand, and also conveys confidence in consumers and dealers," said Mark Bishop.