How can marketing, and more specifically, celebrities, drive eCommerce sales?

Our recent paper – Double Eleven Brand Value Creation – outlined some key trends that are identified through the shifting strategies of luxury brands navigating the Double Eleven festival within the new China paradigm of slow growth.

One interesting lever that we omitted from the report was the use of celebrities.

Within luxury there is a defined set of celebrities that work their way around the luxury brands – from brand ambassadors to brand friends – tracking the comings and goings can be a complicated task in and of itself.

However, there are some stalwarts that appear to be able to generate interest and revenue no matter what.

The most notable of these is Xiao Zhan. In the past two years alone he has helped Gucci, TOD'S, and ZENITH Watches to drive significant uplifts of their revenues on e-commerce (and I am sure even more in offline outlets).

During Double Eleven it was the turn of Boucheron to partner up with Xiao Zhan. On the 7th of November he was announced as the global brand ambassador for the brand – the result:

🔑 More revenue on their TMall flagship on the day of the announcement that the previous 10 months combined.

🔑 A growth rate of over 1,400% versus last Double Eleven.

🔑 Nearly 6.5M UGC posts on Weibo about the brand in November so far, with 3.5M on the day of announcement (up from an average of around 300k in a typical month).

The timing of this was no doubt intentional. At a time when consumers have steely focused on shopping around, the brand was able to drive eyes to their store and products – coupled with their increased offering of 12-month interest free payments this highlights the top line growth potential of the right star, at the right time (the actual ROI is another story).

Another recent announcement that drew eyeballs and wallets to a brand was the announcement of Yang Zi as one of Valentino’s Chinese brand ambassadors on the 24th of November. The result:

🔑 Roughly similar sales on TMall on the 24th of November as the entire Double Eleven pre-sales period for Valentino.

🔑 New season products featured in the collaboration accounted for most of the top sellers on the day – exposure for new products is key to long-term success on eCommerce.

🔑 1.3M Weibo posts on the day from users with over 3.5M engagements on the brand teaser of her identity.

There are not many celebrities in China who can command these numbers, and they are well sought after – however we can see that they are able to drive sales for brands. Another strategic lever in your marketing/eCommerce playbook to consider.‍