Asia

Maldives Marketing and PR Corporation (MMPRC) - l’Ente del Turismo delle Maldive, invita tutti a partecipare a un viaggio virtuale per celebrare e continuare a sognare le magnifiche isole dell’arcipelago maldiviano in attesa di poterci ritornare.

“Maldives, the sun will shine again” è un evento che si svolgerà in diretta sulla pagina Facebook di Visit Maldives l’8 giugno 2020 dalle 17:00 alle 20:00, ora italiana (20:00-23:00 ora delle Maldive). Un’iniziativa pensata per comunicare a tutti che le Maldive hanno intrapreso un processo di ripresa lento, ma deciso, con l’industria turistica che si sta preparando per accogliere nuovamente i visitatori e regalare loro the sunny side of life, come recita il claim di Visit Maldives.

L’evento condurrà i partecipanti tra il meglio di ciò che le Maldive offrono, oltre a scoprire come si stanno preparando gli operatori turistici per il ritorno dei viaggiatori. La diretta di tre ore permetterà di rivivere il sogno maldiviano comodamente da casa e vedrà la partecipazione di personaggi famosi, influencer, artisti, opinion leader e appassionati delle Maldive, oltra a key player dell’industria turistica e personalità iconiche maldiviane tra cui musicisti e talenti locali. Insieme mostreranno la loro passione per questo Paese, il loro augurio, ma anche messaggi per ricordare a tutti che “il sole tornerà a splendere” (the sun will shine again) sulle Maldive. Inoltre, l’evento affronterà aspetti diversi e sarà ricco di sorprese, tra cui l’opportunità di vincere un viaggio alle Maldive.

The explosion of the livestreaming industry in China has shown the world just how much consumers want to broadcast their daily lives on social media. Official statistics from the China Internet Information Center indicate that the number of live streaming viewers reached 325 million in 2016.

Most of the viewers are young – a fact that has significant implications for the luxury brands in China destined for the country’s nouveau riche millennials. Despite the favorable odds, live streaming has become so widespread that brands are having difficulty reaching their audience, and consumers are having a tough time finding quality streams.

In 2015, People’s Daily newspaper stated that a live streaming show on Douyu, a major service provider, for claiming to reach more than 1.3 billion online viewers for a broadcast, which is almost the equivalent of the population total in China.

The same year, a popular live streaming host publicly stated that the platform he worked for constantly falsified the number of viewers to attract investors. A number of third-party technology companies provide services to increase streams’ apparent popularity, similar to buying friends on Instagram or Weibo.

Taobao is a site that hosts stores that sell packages to people who want to ensure the popularity of their live streaming sessions. For example, for just one RMB, 100 spectators can be obtained. According to Chinese media reports, this gray market is growing rapidly to meet growing demand.

Luxury brands in China should remember that the number of live streaming viewers doesn’t mean they’re aligned with a target market.

Although there are many different types of people watching live streaming video, a general perception is that the people who follow them are either diaosi, slang for losers, or tuhao, which means something along the lines of sticky and newly rich. This specific breed of consumer in American English is known as a poser.

The meaning of the word diaosi has expanded in recent years to include people with bad taste in fashion. Despite this, Swiss luxury watchmaker Jaeger-LeCoultre still chose to use a live streaming KOL (Key Opinion Leader)  to play off of the public interest in bad taste.

The collaboration of the fashion brand with the character Papi Jiang has attracted criticism because although he was a well-known celebrity on the Internet, Papi was presumably too low brow and mainstream for luxury. But some have praised the partnership, arguing that Papi has proved sufficiently influential to send a branding message to an emerging group of young consumers with disposable income.

 Some believe that live streaming damages the sense of exclusivity that luxury brands exude.

 Jun Li, a 28-year-old financial analyst at a foreign investment bank in Beijing who follows luxury companies and regularly buys their products said he wants to feel like the luxury brands he favors are doing something special just for him.

“Live streaming has no boundaries – anyone can watch live streaming as long as they have internet,” he said. Live streaming platforms might not excite the wealthy Chinese in the same way that it does the general population.

The key to the mass success of luxury brands lies in the ability to create well-designed, exclusive products. For example, when Tory Burch streamed her New York Fashion Week show on her official WeChat account for followers in China, Curiosity China’s data indicated that the initiative boosted traffic to the brand’s entire WeChat account.

Can live streaming leverage fashion week? Throughout last month’s fashion weeks in New York, Milan, London, and Paris, livestreaming was omnipresent. It has become an effective channel for luxury fashion brands, advertisers, and influencers to bring exclusive fashion shows to enthusiastic global audiences.

In China, leading luxury brands such as Louis Vuitton, Bottega Veneta, Gucci, and Dior live streamed their fashion shows for Chinese consumers through their main social media accounts.

Some brands have decided to collaborate with Chinese celebrities to promote their live streaming sessions, while others have collaborated with leading fashion magazines, including Vogue, Elle, and Harper’s Bazaar to tap into their existing customer base.

Live streaming doesn’t just stimulate public engagement – it drives sales. Burberry has created entertainment videos for a wider audience than just its consumers, employing the “see now, buy now” model.

Gli iconici musei di Doha possono essere visitati anche da casa grazie a Qatar Museums che offre innumerevoli risorse digitali per esplorare le sue rinomate collezioni e per partecipare alle iniziative online. Mentre i musei al momento sono chiusi al pubblico, Qatar Museums mantiene la sua offerta digitale per continuare a compiere, anche se in modo virtuale, la sua missione di fornire spazi che siano oasi di istruzione e ispirazione.

Mathaf: Arab Museum of Islamic Art

Il Mathaf: Arab Museum of Modern Art può essere visitato grazie alla piattaforma di Google Arts & Culture e offre una panoramica unica e onnicomprensiva sull’arte araba moderna e contemporanea.

La Mathaf Encyclopedia of Modern Art and the Arab World mette gratuitamente a disposizione una serie dettagliata e accurata di saggi e biografie riguardanti artisti contemporanei del Nord Africa, dell’Asia e del Medio Oriente. Lanciata nel 2013, l’Enciclopedia comprende opere commissionate a docenti universitari, curatori e ricercatori indipendenti.

Museum of Islamic Art

È possibile avventurarsi in un tour a 360° del Museum of Islamic Art (MIA), capolavoro architettonico progettato dall’archistar I.M. Pei.

Disponibili online utilizzando Google Arts & Culture, anche le collezioni del Museum of Islamic Art, che coprono un arco temporale di 1.400 anni

Il museo offre anche una fitta agenda di attività didattiche e formative per bambini, famiglie e adulti sulle sue piattaforme social e sulla pagina web, tra cui MIA Storytime, giochi, rompicapi, arte per la didattica, video tour e progetti artistici e colorati da rifare a casa.

M7 – Il nuovo hub di Qatar Museums dedicato alle startup di moda, design e tecnologia

M7 offre sessioni di coaching online tenute da grandi esponenti del mondo della moda e del design con l’obiettivo di incoraggiare e consigliare gli aspiranti stilisti e designer qatarioti. Nonostante la pandemia di Covid-19 abbia costretto a posticipare l’inaugurazione di M7, queste sessioni online esclusive – in diretta ogni giovedì e sabato sul profilo Instagram di M7 @M7.qatar alle ore 18 (17 orario italiano) – potranno dare supporto e ispirazione continui. 

National Museum of Qatar

Con Google Arts & Culture è possibile esplorare le collezioni del National Museum of Qatar (NMoQ), il museo progettato dal celebre architetto Jean Nouvel, che comprendono una grande varietà di reperti storici e archeologici, come il famoso Pearl Carpet di Baroda, impreziosito da più di 1 milione e mezzo di perle del Golfo Persico di altissima qualità e cosparso di smeraldi, diamanti e zaffiri.

Il NMoQ torna a condividere il progetto “You Lived the Story” (#mystoryourmuseum) allestito l’anno scorso in occasione dell’inaugurazione del Museo.

I visitatori virtuali sono invitati a postare una propria rappresentazione di quest’icona architettonica o di qualsiasi altra struttura di Qatar Museums e a condividere le loro creazioni sui social media utilizzando gli hashtag #SketchatQM e #VisitQatar. Ogni lunedì, Qatar Museums ne sceglierà una tra le migliori e la condividerà sui propri canali social.

Qatar Children’s Museum

Il Qatar Children’s Museum (QCM), attualmente in fase di sviluppo da parte di Qatar Museums, ospita laboratori quotidiani in inglese e in arabo sul suo profilo Instagram (childrensmuseum.qa) a cui le famiglie possono prendere parte utilizzando oggetti di uso quotidiano facilmente reperibili in casa. Questi laboratori invitano le famiglie a incorporare il gioco e l’apprendimento nella routine di tutti i giorni insieme allo staff del museo che sarà presente per agevolare le lezioni in diretta.

Global luxury goods industry is improving and China has played a leading role in the growth of global luxury goods market. According to Deloitte, “in 2018, China spent $145.7 billion on luxury goods, accounting for a whopping 42% of the total global luxury goods market. China’s 2018 spending increased 7% over the previous year”. 

It’s expected that by 2025 Chinese consumers will purchase half of the globe’s luxury goods and lower tier cities will have a significant part to play. As underlined by Deloitte, “online sales of luxury goods are also growing rapidly in China. In 2018, luxury e-commerce  reached $5.3 billion in China, an increase of about 37% over 2017 and accounted for nearly 14% of the domestic luxury goods market”. 

According to data by the end of this year, luxury goods e-commerce experienced explosive growth, plus in 2019, online sales of luxury goods exceed $7.3 billion in China. Deloitte said how “the rapid growth in China’s luxury goods market is largely driven by new policies promoting the flow of luxury goods consumption back to China home market , by the emergence of new consumer groups and the continued rise in purchasing power in 4th- and 5th-tier cities, and by new technology enhancing user experience and precision marketing”.

First-tier cities have the lion’s share but lower-tier cities catch up fast. In terms of market scale, Beijing and Shanghai lead in luxury goods consumption in China, 2nd tier cities are following right behind. Accoridng to data First- and 2nd-tier cities account for 56% of luxury goods consumption, but 3rd-tier cities are the real surprise and have begun to demonstrate strong purchasing power, with Southwest and North China emerging as a force to reckon with. even greater development potential has appeared in 4th-tier cities. In 5th-tier cities, the proportion of luxury goods consumers has exceeded 20%.

What about these new wave of buyers? Online luxury goods consumers are mainly in East, Southwest and North parts of China, accounting for 63% of total population where the majority of online consumers in low-tier cities consist of young people under the age of 30, among whom males account for a relatively high proportion. These males prefer the classic luxury brands in terms of men’s clothing, 3C digital products and skin care products. However, despite the high proportion of males making purchasese, females are the major users.

Overall, the number of male consumers has surpassed female consumers in terms of online luxury goods consumption.

More than 50% of consumers are 18-30 of age. And the post-90s have become the main online consumers. But most consumers are married, followed by the unmarried (single) group. Smart youth, trendy fashion ladies and Business professionals are three representative types of luxury goods consumers in low-tier cities.

The most important factors affecting purchasing decisions are exquisite packaging, cost competitiveness, beautification effects and styling. Moreover, as reported by Deloittte, “by comparing the proportion of sales of luxury goods in different categories in all-tier cities, it can be found that online consumers in low-tier cities tend to spend more on categories such as men’s clothing, men’s shoes, 3C digital product and skin care product. As for consumers in first-tier cities, they prefer traditional luxury goods such as bags, watches, jewellery, women’s clothing and women’s shoes”.

Chinese love for luxury products together with an increasing purchasing power led to an extraordinary explosion of the luxury market in the PRC, which now accounts for one-third of the global spending

2018 has represented the year of China’s overtaking on the West. In particular, the Celestial Empire is powering the global market for luxury goods accounting for one-third of the worldwide consumption. When it comes to luxury consumption, Chinese have been ranking first for three years now with two-thirds of the purchases made outside Chinese boundaries, mainly in Europe and the United States.

In March, the global management consulting firm Bain & Company released a report revealing that Chinese spending on high-end consumer goods accounted for 33% of the annual global $294 billion-market in 2018, followed by the US and Europe whose contribute accounted for 22% and 18% respectively. But this kind of spending is not growing abroad only, the report shows the domestic market also grew in 2018. For the second year in a row, domestic luxury consumption reached $25 million last year, registering a 20% growth. It means that Chinese consumers made 27% of their high-end purchases in China in 2018, up from 23% in 2015, and this share is expected to increase to 50% by 2025.

China’s personal luxury goods market is projected to expand by 6% annually through 2024, and by then Chinese shoppers will contribute 40% of the worldwide sales driving 70% of the global luxury growth, according to Boston Consulting Group.

Multiple cuts on VAT, the expansion of China’s middle-class, as well as the emergence of young generations more inclined to spend on high-end goods, are what drove the country’s boom in the luxury consumption.

Last April, Beijing reduced the Value-Added Tax (VAT) on manufacturing products allowing big international luxury players to cut their prices in the Middle Kingdom. Announced in March, the tax cut aims at reducing the price gap between China and foreign countries in order to face the economic slowdown.

Some brands like Apple and Louis Vuitton are already reviewing their price lists but according to the local press, on the Chinese website of Apple, latest iPhone models are already sold with a discount of 500 yuan (about $74). In 2011, the luxury products sold outside China were about 68% cheaper than those same products sold in the country, but thanks to the measures taken over time, in 2017 the difference was reduced to 16%. Indeed, last summer, Beijing already lowered import duties by an average between 3 and 5%, with the goal of favoring purchases in the country.

Measures like tax reduction should encourage Chinese consumers, used to shopping abroad, to buy in local stores, thus fueling the domestic market by producing also first-time buyers of luxury goods.

Nevertheless, the constant expansion of a rich middle-class in China that aspires to establish its reputation through the purchase of high-end goods definitely drives the trend. Indeed, middle-class consumers will represent an estimated 65% of all Chinese households by 2027, according to research conducted by Bain & Company.

Moreover, Millennials and Generation Z – those born between 1995 and 2002 – represent today’s high-end buyers, who are destined to change the country’s consumption history in spite of the recent slowdown. Compared to their counterparts in other countries, these young customers have stronger spending power and are more willing to spend their money. They start purchasing luxury goods at an earlier age, around 10 years earlier than the Europeans and 20 years before those in the US. Plus, they also buy more frequently and freely compared to older generations, making them among the major contributors to the market growth.

According to reports, Millennials are the main customer base for luxury goods, accounting for 27% of luxury consumers, a figure that is expected to rise to 40% in the next 5 to 7 years. However, a study by research firm OC&C Strategy Consultants revealed China’s Generation Z accounts for 15% of their household’s spending compared with 4% in the US, spending much more money than their Millennial cousins.

Therefore, in order to attract young Chinese and expand in this fruitful market, big international players of the luxury industry started to engage with local celebrities and Key Opinion Leaders. British luxury fashion house Burberry, for instance, has appointed Kris Wu – one of the most popular Millennial idols in China – as its brand ambassador in 2017.

Nevertheless, another engine powering luxury sales in China is represented by digitalization. Although consumers in first and second-tier cities can immediately go to a local offline store to buy new products, for the Millennial or even Generation Z, the convenient e-commerce platform shopping experience is even more attractive than offline store shopping.

Like Amazon in the US, Chinese e-commerce giants are aggressively courting luxury brands. Both Alibaba and JD.com have recently launched dedicated all-in-one exclusive platforms with ultra-secure warehouses, invite-only loyalty programs, mobile e-commerce, and other services. And it’s working: Alibaba’s Tmall Luxury Pavilion now offers more than 80 brands, including Maserati, Valentino, and Burberry.

Chinese luxury shoppers have thus become more accustomed to purchasing expensive goods online. The big data of Alibaba’s Tmall shows that more than 100 million consumers have either browsed or purchased luxury products online over the past year. Moreover, more than half of luxury consumers in China use their mobile devices to research exclusive products.

In August 2017, Tmall even launched the Luxury Pavilion, which is an invite-only online platform for luxury brands addressed to a selected number of wealthy consumers. Similarly, JD.com also launched its first-ever luxury e-commerce platform called Toplife in October 2018. Moreover, the agreement between JD.com and Farftech, where the Dragon’s e-commerce giant has acquired over 20% of the European online luxury group, is an example of the Chinese digital supremacy at the service of the global luxury market.

Online high-end sales increased by 27% in 2018 to reach 10% of the total, but this growth is still driven by cosmetics, while online penetration in other categories remains very low. However, the digital world has become the one and most effective channel to talk to the younger generations.

During the ‘80s and ‘90s, since the start of economic reforms and the opening of the PRC, imported products entered the Chinese market attracting Chinese consumers, who were intrigued by these new products and by the Western lifestyle. Therefore, showing off international brands has become a way of expressing one’s personality and, in some cases, owning them is perceived as a real status symbol.

With the increase in awareness at the time of purchase together with the growth in purchasing power, since 2000 the Chinese have given greater importance to quality and safety, becoming more demanding customers.

When asked about their reasons for purchasing luxury goods, consumers in China say their tastes and improving quality of life are both important factors.

Therefore, considering the strong spending power of Chinese shoppers, luxury players have also stepped up their digital efforts, widened their product offerings, and re-adjusted their pricing strategies for Chinese customers in order to better suit local tastes and preferences.

In 2017 the luxury market has reached $55 billion and by 2025 estimates say that around 150 million Chinese people will buy high-end products.

However, in order to reach these figures, Beijing is expected to maintain its adjustment of import duties to encourage domestic consumption, as well as to reduce the VAT rate. The government also needs to continue imposing strict control over passengers at customs to more carefully supervise daigous who purchase overseas for local consumers. For their parts, brands that want to succeed in the Dragon must continue to narrow the price gap with overseas markets.

If everyone will do its job, the People’s Republic will not only account for the biggest percentage of global luxury spending but it will also dominate the market soon.