China's booming luxury market Go back »
2007-07-02 | Shanghai
China's booming luxury marketWith the European Chamber's recent move to one of the main shopping street of Shanghai, Huaihai Lu, we have yet again come to realize how fast the Chinese retail market is growing and the aspirations that people here have for the latest look, status and luxury items.
The fact that China is today already the third largest consumer of luxury items has manufacturers and retailers eager to get a foothold in the market. However, this is a new market and there are fresh challenges and certain cultural nuances that need to be accepted as companies aim at the Chinese consumers.
On Wednesday, July 18th the European Chamber arranged a seminar on the topic China's booming luxury market. Mr. Tom Doctoroff, CEO of Greater China & North East Asia Director of JWT, gave a presentation that started by shaping the scale of the luxury market, governed chiefly by the demographic of China's emerging wealthy class. He then continued by showing the subtleties of what luxury means in this culture and how this needs be accurately translated into brand positioning and consistent messages in advertising campaigns.
Mr. Doctoroff was followed by his colleague Mr. Jancu Koenig, who is JWT’s regional director on Rolex. Mr Koenig took much of theory from the first presentation and offered a case study on how Rolex has chosen to position itself in the China market. The presentations were followed by a lively Q&A session.
The event follows from a recent seminar on market research, held on May 17th, and leads nicely into an upcoming event on shopper trends in China to be held on August 9th. Increasing disposable income amongst Chinese consumers brings with it a boom in traffic through the shops and retail centers of China. This will no doubt inspire more questions and strategies on how this market, be it luxury or otherwise, can best be captured. The European Chamber will continue to provide relevant and focused events on the topic over the coming months.