The Chinese Luxury goods market represented almost $55 billion in 2020 and grew by almost 50% in the same year. Moreover, the online luxury penetration grew by 153% in the same year. There are huge opportunities in this specific segment, and brands should know how to seduce this high demanding target. WeChat Mini Programs are often one of the best enablers for brand elevation or marketing campaigns in China.

This article introduces 9 Luxury brands that are using Mini Programs in different ways to attract these Chinese consumers: WeChat Moment Ad campaigns, customization, user-generated content, and many more.

Estee Lauder and WeChat Moment Ad Campaigns

Driving consumers to offline boutiques and increasing engagement can still be challenging for brands. The online-to-offline journey is an important strategy brand should create to trigger more sales. Targeting the right audience with good content is a hot topic to overcome, and some brands are learning how to do so using WeChat.

The leading cosmetics brand Estée Lauder started a WeChat Moment Ad campaign in 2017. The brand sent more than 18 advertisements on WeChat Moment including promotional videos. Using the previous advertising campaigns run on WeChat, they were able to retarget the most interesting audience.

Estée Lauder Mini Programs Moments Ads were designed to drive users towards advertisements related to products they were the most likely to buy. By launching this WeChat ad campaign, the brand reduced the customer acquisition cost by 60% and succeeded in driving more customers to their offline stores.

Sending content and creating products that best suit brands’ audience segments are challenges luxury brands can overcome on WeChat not only by retargeting audience but also by using product personalization and user-generated content.

YSL And Introducing New Product Lines

YSL (Yves Saint Laurent) also used WeChat Moments for delivering brand messages and launching their new line of lipstick during the 2019 Qixi Festival.

The Moments Ads were promoting different gift boxes and were designed to target couples only. YSL even reduced the segmentation by targeting only couples interested in luxury products.

This campaign was considered a success with more than 5,000 boxes sold in 2 hours, with a “like” rate above 71% and a “comment” rate 200% higher than the industry average.

Longchamp, When Users Are Creators

Brands can sometimes struggle with creating content and products for their different types of consumers. The best way to do it could be to let them create what they want.

With the Le Pliage bag, Longchamp offered its customers to entirely personalize their own bag. The customization was made possible using a Mini Program especially designed for this experience.

Going further, Longchamp also decided to launch a second Mini Program, dedicated to user-generated content to encourage users’ engagement even more. Happy buyers satisfied with their purchase could share pictures of their personalized bags, and discover and comment on others' designs.

Thanks to these two complementary Mini Programs, Longchamp offered an entirely personalized online experience to their customers.

Michael Kors And Its Membership Mini Program

WeChat Mini Programs are not only used to facilitate interesting online customer journeys but they can also be leveraged to enhance offline experiences.

Michael Kors has a Mini Program dedicated to offline journeys, where shoppers can enter their shopping details and review their store’s experience. This Mini Program is accessible to members only, offering them privileges such as special offers and a more intimate way to interact with the brand.

Using membership Mini Program when shopping offline, luxury brands can increase the sense of uniqueness of the brand and upgrade their users’ in-store experience.

Bottega Venetta Voice Letters

Special occasions are seen as opportunities for many luxury brands, and all of them are trying to create creative ways to reach their audience.

For their 2018 Qixi Festival Campaign (one of the main occasions for brands to leverage their Chinese audience in China), the Italian brand Bottega Venetta chose to create something different. When everyone is using visual designs, the brand launched a voice letters customized campaign. Friends and lovers could send personalized voice wishes with a personalized cover using the Bottega Venetta Mini Program.

Once users received the card, they were redirected to the Mini Program store to choose their gift.

Calvin Klein Lucky Draw Program

Earlier this year, Calvin Klein leveraged the powerful WeChat ecosystem and launched a lucky draw program to emotionally engage with their fans for the year of the Ox. Players are motivated to play at a lottery machine and get a chance to collect five different “fortune cards”. The cards can be exchanged for a ¥2,000 voucher or a “牛年”: Ox Year limited edition jean jacket and jeans.

Calvin Klein has created a fantastic gamification strategy to increase the awareness of the new limited edition product lines connected to Chinese New Years' traditions. It was an exclusive approach that increased customer involvement with brand awareness through social shopping, rewarding programs, and customized messages.

M.A.C. Partnering With Virtual KOL From Honor Of Kings

Focusing on the Gen Z’s perception and shopping behaviors, M.A.C. collaborated with the top MOBA game in China - “王者荣耀” - Honor of Kings from Tencent to give out a limited edition of lipsticks.

Customers can visit and try out different experiences of personalized greeting, VR interactions, and the chance of getting lipstick from the limited collection.

By leveraging the massive users of WeChat and Mini Programs’ potential, M.A.C. has delivered tailor-made experiences to customers and increased the engagement via a virtual makeup mirror which allows users to try different shades, tones, and colors of M.A.C. lipstick, successfully bringing the online journey to the actual offline experience.

Sergio Rossi’s Mini Program Educates Its Users

Sergio Rossi, an Italian luxury shoe brand, aimed at penetrating the various customer segments featuring a high density of customization by implementing WeChat as the core of a new campaign.

A customized Mini Program was launched in September 2018 with various digital functions including a demonstration of how to design heels, the adjustment of any elements from shape, material, color, and price, also the 360-degree preview feature, etc...

Through the Mini Program, Sergio Rossi has empowered and motivated customers to engage in the decision-making process.

Burberry’s Mascot Bobo the Deer

Burberry, a famous luxury fashion brand from England, introduced the TB Summer Monogram collection in July 2020 with the cute anthropomorphic character as a centerpiece of all marketing activities. His name is Bobo the Deer and users can actually “adopt” for their own through Burberry’s Mini Program.

Bobo the Deer can be dressed up and styled in very different ways upon user customization which can be redeemed through reward points. The reward point can be earned through mini-games, different engagement activities, or purchasing orders in offline stores. Realizing the potential of “ Bobo the Deer”, Burberry later on expanded the feature of letting the “transformation” of Bobo the Deer into various animals (like the Ox regarding CNY 2021).

Burberry has not just driven organic growth from customer traffic and engagement but also generated a “future retail” whereas WeChat and different digital initiatives such as Mini Program play as a centerpiece of the multidimensional approach.

What About your Mini Program Project? 

IT Consultis empowers the most ambitious brands on their digital transformation journeys across China and Asian markets. With a team of 60 experts in Shanghai, Singapore, and Ho Chi Minh City, we leverage Martech, E-commerce, and Omnichannel solutions to maximize our clients’ ROI.

IT Consultis helps you build excellence in your digital transformation strategy in China. Contact us to know more.