DLG (Digital Luxury Group)’s Partner & Managing Director China, Pablo Mauron, discussed the ever-evolving China digital landscape and opportunities that brands can leverage as social platforms grow more interconnected and multi-dimensional
EVENTS
[Video] LS Keynote Shanghai 2020: Leveraging the China Digital Ecosystem
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Over the last decade, collaborations between luxury brands and contemporary artists have gone beyond mere artistic partnerships towards a new kind of luxury branding.
PARIS – Art and fashion have always developed side by side, for fashion, like art, often gives visual expression to the cultural zeitgeist. During the 1920s, Salvador Dalí created dresses for Coco Chanel and Elsa Schiapparelli. In the 1930s, Ferragamo’s shoes commissioned designs for advertisements from Futurist painter Lucio Venna, while Gianni Versace commissioned works from artists such as Alighiero Boetti and Roy Lichtenstein for the launch of his collections. Yves Saint Laurent’s vast art collection, recently auctioned at Christie’s in Paris, testified to his great love of art and revealed the influence of a variety of artists on his own designs.
In the 1980s, relationships between luxury brands and artists were advanced when Alain Dominique Perrin created the Fondation Cartier. In the Fondation Cartier pour l’Art Contemporain, a book marking the foundation’s 20th anniversary, Perrin says he makes “a connection between all the different sorts of arts, and luxury goods are a kind of art. Luxury goods are handicrafts of art, applied art.”
The Fondation Cartier pour l’Art Contemparain building in Paris
DLG (Digital Luxury Group)’s Partner & Managing Director China, Pablo Mauron, discussed the ever-evolving China digital landscape and opportunities that brands can leverage as social platforms grow more interconnected and multi-dimensional
Back when China’s two main social platforms were Weibo and WeChat, their primary functions were not unlike Western platforms – to generate exposure and awareness. “The focus at that time was on content that engaged; it was all about resonance,” said Pablo Mauron, Partner & Managing Director China at DLG (Digital Luxury Group). “There was very little focus on sales, simply either because [brands] were not equipped to sell [online], or if [they] were selling, it was offline and it was difficult to reconcile that with digital marketing investments,” he added.
However, with the evolution of China’s digital platforms in recent years, the way consumers interact with brands online (and even offline) has shifted. As the market and its consumers grow in importance and sophistication, localised content has become absolutely necessary and repurposing global assets is no longer enough.
In addition, platforms have grown increasingly interconnected and multi-faceted, with e-commerce integrations and built-in payment solutions becoming commonplace. This opens up a host of new opportunities for brands. Coupled with the impact of COVID-19 on offline touchpoints, the possibilities have become ever more significant – and brands are going from focusing on “creating content that resonates, to content that sells,” said Mauron.
Mauron addresses all of this and more in his presentation at the Luxury Society Keynote in Shanghai. He also touches on content frameworks and marketing milestones in China, and offers examples of brands that have effectively leveraged platforms to drive brand objectives and ultimately, conversions.
Watch the video for his full session. A PDF version of his presentation is also available for download at the link below.
LS Keynote Shanghai 2020: Leveraging the China Digital Ecosystem
Editor, Luxury Society
Before joining Luxury Society, Alexander was a business journalist covering M&A, finance, technology and marketing strategy at Women’s Wear Daily. He contributed articles to Financial Times, T: The New York Times Style Magazine, WSJ. Magazine and other media regularly as well. Alexander is also Research Director at DLG China.
