How TV Hit “Nothing But Thirty” Drives Fan Interest in Luxury Brands
Plus: Luxury amnesia, a love story in a teapot, and Bilibili's big gaming deal.
The biggest hit show of the summer has been the urban female drama “Nothing But Thirty” (三十而已, previously on CCI), which focuses on the challenges faced by a trio of women in Shanghai as they approach the critical age of thirty. The show, which aired on Dragon TV and is available for streaming on Tencent Video, racked up more than 5.6 billion views online between its July 17 release and August 11. The show has topped the daily charts for online dramas for more than three weeks, according to entertainment data provider Maoyan.
The unflinching narrative of diverse personalities grappling with careers and personal challenges has been praised for its high quality, and the pivotal role of fashion in the drama has also drawn a huge amount of viewer interest. The themes of wealth and status recur on the show, with luxury fashion often used as a key indicator of both — most prominently in a storyline about a character’s desperate efforts to obtain an Hermès handbag so that she could fit in with a group of wealthier socialites and help her husband’s business prospects.
Among the other luxury fashion brands receiving prominent placement on the series were international labels Dior, Roger Vivier, Max Mara, Tod’s, and Loro Piana as well as the domestic brands Ellassay and Icicle — all are seeing an increase in popularity on social media via fan discussions of the styles seen on the show.
Luxury brands can also profit from the show by employing a vivid yet realistic character or a “spokesperson” to help boost their images. For example, the Gu Jia character, although wealthy, also mixes in fast fashion from Uniqlo, making the character more relatable to fans eager to replicate her style.
Roger Vivier was in the spotlight thanks to a storyline involving another central character Wang Manni, a luxury sales clerk played by Jiang Shuying. According to “Nothing But Thirty” stylist Li Yikai, the shoes came from Jiang’s personal collection, and were used to show her social striving as she embarks on a relationship with a rich man. Li noted that her role as a stylist is to act as an intermediary to promote the relationship between brands and television shows, but that success relies heavily on the creation of compelling characters that can drive interest in the brands presented.
Inspired by the huge interest in luxury brands seen on the show, Alibaba’s Taobao Live recently hosted a two-day “Secondhand Luxury Bag Livestream” (二手真包现场), allowing fans of the show to purchase some of the same styles seen on “Nothing But Thirty.”
The first session, on August 5, offered Louis Vuitton products for RMB 1,000 ($144), while the second day’s theme was “Same Style as Gu Jia” (顾佳同款), after the wealthiest of the three main characters (the same one who sought out the Hermès handbag).
This event reportedly led to a 30% increase in purchases of secondhand luxury goods, including a Celine Box bag that was auctioned for RMB 12,500 ($1,803) within the first five minutes of the broadcast. Moving forward, Taobao Live plans to conduct similar events on a monthly basis, pushing its entertainment-linked e-commerce in a new direction.
Have you downloaded your free copy of CCI and Jing Daily’s white paper, “Next-Level Livestreaming”? Packed with best practices, case studies and much more, it’s a must-read for anyone interested in China’s booming livestreaming market. If you haven’t already, why not click below to get your copy today?
Mentioned in today’s newsletter: Alibaba, Balenciaga, Bilibili, Celine, Chanel, Dior, Dolce & Gabbana, Douyu, Dragon TV, Hermès, Huya, Kering, Loro Piana, Louis Vuitton, Max Mara, Roger Vivier, Taobao Live, Tencent, Tod’s, Twitch.
When Controversy Hits in China, Luxury Brands Bank on Short Attention Spans
One constant in the ever-changing China luxury market that has remained over the past decade is that global luxury brands will — and often do — put their collective foot in their collective mouth, creating or adapting marketing campaigns that either offend the sensibilities of a significant enough number of consumers or attract (for whatever reason) negative attention from government officials.
Time and time again, major global brands have issued highly publicized apologies for ad campaigns or products deemed culturally insensitive, whether that be due to overt or accidental racism (a seemingly regular occurrence for Dolce & Gabbana in China), straying into hot-button issues like the “three T’s,” or in some cases, just making an aesthetic choice that Chinese netizens simply don’t like. In some cases, brands just have the bad luck of hailing from a country with which China has a current beef — generally one or more of the following at any given time: the United States, South Korea, Japan, the U.K., or France.
It is the aesthetics flashpoint that remains the most nebulous and frustrating for major brands, which — in their attempts to create country-specific campaigns or collections (whether out of stated appreciation for the China market, or for the much-needed bump in revenue that a popular item can bring) — often see special edition items create controversy and attract a firestorm of bad press. For brands that often roll collections and campaigns out worldwide, it’s only a matter of time before offense is taken somewhere.
Most recently, it was Kering-owned French luxury brand Balenciaga’s time in the barrel in China, after the campaign promoting its collection of four limited-edition Qixi (Chinese Valentine’s Day) edition Hourglass handbags on its Tmall flagship store was savaged by some social media users.
Read the full article on Content Commerce Insider
Brand Film Pick: Taobao Maker Festival’s Storybook Teapot
Since its establishment in 2016, the Taobao Maker Festival, held annually in Alibaba’s hometown of Hangzhou, has become the tech firm’s hallmark celebration of young creatives and emerging brands. Taobao Maker Festival offers opportunities for entrepreneurs and small business owners to showcase ideas and products pertaining to street fashion, cultural heritage, technology, food and design.
Last summer, the festival featured over 1,000 new products exclusively available on Taobao. This year, in response to the epidemic, the event went on tour and ramped up efforts for its virtual fair, which took place from August 10 to 14. Online content, such as the brand film “Four Seas and Five Pots” (四海五壶), was pivotal for the promotion of select products.
“Four Seas and Five Pots” introduces a teapot of the same name that Taobao created specifically for this year’s festival. Both the film and the teapot were inspired by the true story of a couple — Shanshan and Paolo — separated by the epidemic. They had met in China, where Paolo was an expat, but he returned to Spain in late 2019 for work, and the lovers arranged to meet there for a Lunar New Year’s celebration. But following the sudden emergence of the coronavirus, Shanshan was unable to leave her home in Suzhou. By March, when China’s outbreak had receded, Spain was under lockdown. Altogether, the couple remained apart for more than half a year.
The teapot incorporates these themes of separation and love. The teapot's lid models a Jiangnan water village reminiscent of Suzhou; the strainer below is shaped like La Muralla Roja, a popular architectural attraction in the small town of Calpe, Spain. In the film that tells the product’s story, Shanshan’s character resides in the town depicted on the lid, while Paolo’s stands atop the towers of La Muralla Roja, waiting for his love. The architectural depictions not only add to the pot’s communicative value, but also accentuate the aesthetic details of the product design.
It is significant that “Four Seas and Five Pots” is set during the current epidemic. The story resonates with today’s consumers, who share Shanshan and Paolo’s frustration of being unable to see loved ones for much of the past year. By the film’s end, Shanshan and Paolo share a cup of tea as they watch a fireworks show, giving hope to others that they, too, may soon be reunited with friends and family.
While the physical limitations of this year’s festival may be temporary, virtual shopping trends are here to stay. As the biggest marketplace for Gen Z consumers, Taobao has made significant improvements to the online shopping experience, including the introduction of various digital tools to help online businesses connect with millions of Chinese consumers. As a substitute for in-person interaction, Taobao launched an immersive 3D simulation of this year’s maker festival on Taobao Life, its immersive virtual world that is integrated with shopping. Customers can use their own avatars to explore more than 150 featured merchant booths and engage virtual representations of celebrities. More than just a platform for e-commerce, Taobao has become a virtual community.
- by Ben Guggenheim, CCI Team
With New Deals, China's Game Streaming Platforms Show Global Ambitions
One area in which Bilibili is making massive strides is video game livestreaming, a sector dominated by Douyu (NASDAQ: DOYU) and Huya (NASDAQ: HUYA) — which Tencent, a major investor in both platforms, is in the midst of working to merge and thus create an esports super-platform. It’s no surprise why: game livestreaming is expected to become a $3.5 billion business this year, up from $1.87 billion just two years ago. Tencent, as perhaps the definitive Chinese gaming behemoth, has a vested interest in consolidating as much of the gaming and game livestreaming market as it can as it also goes global.
Already, the combined user bases of Douyu and Huya — estimated at roughly 315.8 million MAUs users as of the fourth quarter of last year — dwarf that of Amazon-backed Twitch, with roughly 140 million MAUs.
Although gaming is just one of its key areas of focus, Bilibili — like Douyu and Huya, backed by Tencent — is fast becoming an important gaming dealmaker, most recently signing a pivotal agreement with Riot Games. The deal, confirmed this week, gives Bilibili the exclusive broadcasting rights in China for the popular League of Legends ecosystem, starting with Worlds 2020 and continuing through the 2023 Mid-Season Invitational.
Where this deal becomes very interesting is in its content-commerce angle. The agreement is comprehensive, naturally encompassing livestreaming and VOD content for audiences in China, but also stipulates that Riot Games and Bilibili will collaborate on additional content. This extra content will include offline events, along with an official co-produced documentary made to commemorate the 10th anniversary of League of Legends, highlighting the work put in by Chinese teams to take part in this year’s World Championship and to be broadcast exclusively on Bilibili.
Read the full article on Content Commerce Insider
News in English
Video streaming platform iQiyi’s shares fell 18% after the company announced that it is under investigation by the Securities and Exchange Commission for fraud, months after a report from a short-selling firm detailed numerous allegations of inflated user numbers and revenues. CNBC
Vipshop is the latest U.S.-listed Chinese tech firm to mull a secondary listing in Hong Kong. Its share price has nearly tripled over the past year. Technode
User-generated content loops, in which a consumer’s brand experience inspires the creation of new content, are an important tool that brands can seed to create a flywheel effect. Parklu
Xiaomi founder Lei Jun released his first music video on Bilibili in the popular autotuned “ghost beast” style, drawing more than 4 million views. China Skinny
Western YouTubers are also flocking to Bilibili, which has established a support program to attract more foreign creators and influencers. SCMP
Douyin is moving away from its long-term affiliation with Alibaba’s Taobao as it develops independent e-commerce ambitions. WalktheChat
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