Global Brands Launch Co-branded Products, Appeal to Chinese Millennials

by WWD

This article was initially published on WWD.


Brands such as Gentle Monster, Vans and Burberry have all launched co-branded lines over the past few months to cater to China’s influential cohort of Millennial consumers.

Such partnerships are not unheard of in the West, where luxury brands have partnered with sneaker brands to launch co-branded footwear collections. But China is taking co-branded partnerships to another level, with brands launching collections with influencers, bubble tea brands, and even media properties such as National Geographic.

These partnerships give brands the chance to connect with new customer segments, particularly among China’s emerging Millennial consumers. We take a look at some of these collaborations and how global brands can learn from them.

In China, luxury streetwear is the newest craze, and brands are flocking to hip-hop celebrities to help them appeal to Millennials, who are accounting for an increasingly large portion of luxury spending in the Middle Kingdom.

Gentle Monster, the new-concept Korean sunglasses brand known for its out-of-this-world retail installations, launched a co-branded collection with Chinese pop star Kris Wu, dubbed the “Gentle Wu” collection. The collection contains four different styles that reflect different aspects of the celebrity’s life.

Why Kris Wu? His image and fan base aligns with Gentle Monster’s target audience. Known as the dark, mysterious “bad boy” of hip-hop in China, Wu is highly popular among Chinese Millennials. Such a partnership can immediately bring the Gentle Monster brand to the attention of his more than 50 million fans on Weibo, one of China’s biggest social media platforms. Read the full article WWD