The Social Edition is our weekly deep dives series which analyzes luxury initiatives in China’s social media landscape. Every week, we highlight brand campaigns distributed on Chinese digital platforms — WeChat, Weibo, Tmall, Douyin, and beyond.

Our coverage spotlights global luxury and beauty as well as local Chinese brands. It sheds light on some of the country’s most successful campaigns, which often come from local players, and are outside of the beauty and fashion space.

In this week’s roundup, we look at three campaigns: Nike’s collab with French designer brand Jacquemus, Berluti’s branding campaign in China, and C-beauty brand Perfect Diary’s take on the history of Chinese makeup.

Nike x Jacquemus Rides Hype In China

BRAND Nike, Jacquemus CATEGORY Sportswear, Luxury PLATFORMS WeChat, Weibo, Xiaohongshu MEDIUM Image, Offline Pop-up

OVERVIEW The much-anticipated Nike x Jacquemus collection finally dropped in China last week. On July 11, the collaboration between the sportswear giant and French designer label debuted on Nike’s official site, brand app, and in selected offline stores. Ahead of the official launch, the collection was released in Beijing SKP-S shopping mall and a pop-up shop at multi-brand store Soulgoods in Chengdu. Featuring a combination of designer Simon Porte Jacquemus’ iconic minimal Parisian style and Nike’s vintage ACG pieces, the collab amounts to 15 pieces, including sports bras, cropped polo shirts, bike shorts, hoodies, bucket hats, T-shirt dresses, and two colorways of the Nike Humara sneaker.

NETIZEN REACTION The Nike x Jacquemus collection has been one of the most popular team-ups released this month among the mainland’s fashionistas. Over 170 users on Xiaohongshu shared their product reviews and looks styled using the collection within one week, but many others complained about the limited amount of the drop. Outside of the pop-up store in Chengdu, shoppers queued up to purchase the collection.

VERDICT Though Jacquemus does not have any official presence on domestic social media platforms and has no stand-alone boutiques of its own, its brand awareness does exist here. Indeed, thanks to its exaggeratedly tiny “Le Chiquito” handbag, the French designer is already very popular with local fashion KOLs and celebrities. This partnership with Nike means the house can further expand on this recognition and pave the way for future development in the Chinese market.

Berluti Bids For China’s Lucrative Luxury Menswear Market

BRAND Berluti CATEGORY Luxury PLATFORMS  WeChat, Weibo, Xiaohongshu, Douyin MEDIUM Short Video FEATURED TALENTS Mark Chao (12.8M Weibo Followers) | Ma Qingyun (342.4K) | Xu Zhiyuan (912K) | Cai Bin (4.5M) | Zhou Dawei (133K) | Zhang Haotian (1.2M)

OVERVIEW LVMH-owned Berluti launched a video campaign centering the brand’s slogan “Live Iconic” in collaboration with media powerhouse GQ China. Starring actor Mark Chao, architect Ma Qingyun, writer Xu Zhiyuan, Olympic champion Cai Bin, art collector Zhou Dawei, and piano artist Zhang Haotian, the video spotlights six men of different ages and professions. Looking back at their representative works, the celebrities share the story of their careers and discuss what it means to “Live Iconic.”

NETIZEN REACTION Among the six personalities featured in the campaign, Mark Chao garnered the highest impression on social platforms due to his substantial fan base. These VIPs have gained followers mostly because of what they do, rather than what they look like. As such, the casting aligns with the label’s target consumers who are relatively mature and experienced.

VERDICT According to a report by data analysis firm iiMedia Research, the Chinese menswear industry was worth $113 billion (768.8 billion RMB) in 2020 and expected with substantial growth in the next five years. In light of this huge market potential — and the radical transformation of masculinity in the mainland — the Parisian menswear brand is among the luxury players capitalizing on the rising buying power of men in China. More importantly, the legacy house found the right spokesmen to deliver the message to its target audiences.

Perfect Diary Explores The History Of Chinese Makeup

BRAND Perfect Diary CATEGORY Beauty PLATFORMS WeChat, Weibo, Xiaohongshu MEDIUM Image, Short Video

OVERVIEW Perfect Diary partnered with Discovery Channel China to release a short film depicting the history of Chinese women’s makeup. Featuring moving collage, the video visualizes the revolution of foundation products in various dynasties throughout the country’s history. At the end of the film, the brand spotlights its signature “loose powder” product, made for beauty diversity in today’s world.

NETIZEN REACTION The campaign has impressed local audiences, receiving 8,800 views on Weibo. Many Xiaohongshu and Weibo users commented that the idea of tracing the history of makeup was extremely creative. Another suggested that the label could incorporate elements of ancient Chinese culture into the packaging’s design.

VERDICT With its digitally native direct-to-customer business model, Perfect Diary was the unicorn of C-beauty makeup. However, its marketing campaigns in the last year have tended towards sameness. Its Valentine’s Day launches, for instance, all featured similar concepts. With the release of this collaborative short that taps the nation’s past, the company attempts to bring newness to beauty shoppers — a response to the fact that its popularity among young consumers is being threatened by competitors.

Berluti, c-beauty, jacquemus, nike, Perfect Dairy, The Social Edition

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