Fashion House Enlists Hong Kong Designer William Tang And Actress Kelly Chen To Appeal To Mainland China Consumers
William Tang and Kelly Chen for Marc Cain
Though German luxury auto brands like Audi, Mercedes-Benz and BMW dominate in China, in the fashion market high-end German brands are constantly playing catch-up to their French and Italian counterparts. While Hugo Boss has been somewhat successful in the mainland, recently signing a joint venture agreement with Rainbow that should see around 20 new Chinese locations opening per year, and Escada has locations in more than 20 Chinese cities — even those off the beaten path, like Urumqi and Zhengzhou — success in China for smaller German luxury brands has naturally been more incremental.
Recently, the German fashion house Marc Cain decided to take a somewhat intrepid approach to entering the Chinese market, enlisting the talents of Hong Kong fashion designer William Tang for its 2010 fall/winter collection, and bringing Hong Kong actress Kelly Chen aboard as the “face” of the brand for its official launch. As Xinhua notes, the popularity of Tang and Chen in the Chinese mainland means their endorsement are likely to go further than any advertisement in promoting Marc Cain there.
Marc Cain’s China strategy brings up an interesting question for newer or smaller brands looking to crack the China market — particularly if their target consumers is female and between the ages of 30-50, as is the case with Marc Cain: what’s the most effective marketing tool? Digital outreach, print advertisements, or celebrity endorsements and localized designer collections?
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