The challenges faced by international luxury brands have grown more pronounced in the last few years, emerging as a clear and pressing issue. A joint study, titled “Luxury Goods Worldwide Market Study,” conducted by Bain & Company in partnership with Altagamma, the Italian association of luxury goods manufacturers, predicts a reduction of 1% to 3% in the worldwide luxury market in the first quarter of 2024. In this environment, all regional markets are experiencing a slowdown in their growth rates. As a result, leading luxury brands are compelled to reassess their strategies, opting for measures such as price increases, the pursuit of new opportunities, and the adoption of fresh methods. The sector finds itself at a critical crossroads, with multiple directions for future growth.
To help luxury brands resolving the stalemate, Ocean Engine hosted the “Spark Creativity, Endless Exploration—2024 Douyin Luxury Industry Summit” on August 20th. The summit showcased Douyin’s comprehensive solutions for luxury brands, covering aspects from precise audience targeting and scientific content production to full-chain brand metrics. These solutions are designed to help luxury brands connect with emerging consumer needs, capture new marketing trends, and accelerate the enhancement of omnichannel experiences.
Locate industries and segment scene audiences through tags
Luxury companies face a challenge in connecting with the right audience, particularly in engaging Generation Z, a group synonymous with technological and cultural shifts. These demographic spans diverse cultural backgrounds, exhibits varied and ever-evolving personalities, and engages in social interaction and self-expression with a grounded and genuine approach. Hence, a more nuanced understanding of them is achievable through refined categorization.
Douyin employs a super-detailed tag insight system, encompassing over 2.3 million meticulously curated tags across dimensions like audience, product, content, touchpoint, and industry. Utilizing a more precise tagging methodology and refined audience segmentation, brands can pinpoint their desired consumer segments. For instance, by leveraging content insights, Douyin has crafted tailored communication strategies for brands looking to engage with various audiences, including subculture fashion enthusiasts, highly educated international students, and international travelers. This enables brands to more effectively connect with their targets, enhancing communication efficacy.
Members of Generation Z are deeply connected to advanced technological devices and digital communication platforms. They embrace innovative technologies wholeheartedly, surfing the tide of artificial intelligence. These individuals gladly commit their attention spans—which rival that of a goldfish, at just 8 seconds less—to engaging with high-tech experiences, thereby leveraging technology to enhance their lives. Consider the instance where Douyin’s sophisticated facial recognition and cutting-edge AR/VR tech enable users to share a frame with Van Gogh, transcending time. Additionally, precise haptic simulation technology animates advertisements, engaging in a tactile dialogue with users and bringing brand messages to life.
The user experience has been upgraded on Douyin
As the pinnacle event of the luxury fashion calendar, the prestigious international fashion weeks continue to captivate the industry’s audience on Douyin. Terms like “Paris Fashion Week” and “Milan Fashion Week” consistently dominate search trends, remaining in the spotlight for over two decades. On this platform, a dedicated content creation collective leverages global resources to craft compelling narratives live from the event venues, enabling users to experience the fashion week magic from the comfort of their own homes. With its robust showcasing ecosystem and powerful product capabilities, Douyin extends comprehensive partnership opportunities to brands, facilitating live show broadcasts. Take the “DOU Fashion Show” collaboration with DIOR’s 2024 Fall/Winter Ready-to-Wear collection, which pioneered a novel Douyin-centric viewing experience, surpassing 47 million views on the dedicated topic page. It’s evident that Douyin’s integration into the fashion week landscape is set to become a standard feature, solidifying its position as a staple in the fashion week schedule.
This year, Douyin’s innovative “OPUGC” (Occupationally Generated Content (OGC) – Professional Generated Content (PGC) – User Generated Content (UGC) ) interaction model has introduced new opportunities for luxury brands in content marketing. It deepens connections with users and transforms into an impactful marketing scene for luxury brands. Unlike traditional integrated marketing strategies, the “OPUGC” content integration approach focuses on content, enhancing its value through impact, coverage, and authenticity to drive consumer engagement and brand conversion.
In the first quarter of 2024, GUCCI collaborated with Douyin to launch the 2024 Spring/Summer colour trend—Ancora Red. GUCCI introduced Ancora Red through official Douyin content and engaged a celebrity network to generate buzz with the hashtag #AncoraRedSpreadingThroughoutTheEntertainmentIndustry. By leveraging influencers from various fields who visited Ancora Red spaces both online and offline, the campaign sparked spontaneous interactions from the public. The #AncoraRedCelebrityCityPhotoShootChallenge continuously generated a wealth of original and derivative content, resulting in a closely integrated online and offline brand trend-setting event.
The content marketing ecosystem for luxury brands is continuously evolving, shifting from a focus on direct visual presentation and sensory impact to a more integrated approach that incorporates social scenarios and enhances the perceived value of luxury goods.
Renewing GEN Z’s new online and offline luxury consumption posture on Douyin
In the field of e-commerce, Douyin’s luxury e-commerce has always maintained a steady growth trend. The live broadcast room is no longer just a single “321 link”. After the continuous optimization and development of the live broadcast format and content, new business scenarios are constantly being created. The current Douyin live broadcast room, from Lancome and Armani’s 1.0 makeup show to share trend content, to HUGO’s 2.0 outfit show, with performances + interviews + shows with catwalk stars, to Ralph Lauren’s 3.0 variety show combined with the “class flavor” hot spot, multi-scene live broadcast rooms with topics and catwalks have brought Ralph Lauren a +306% GMV explosion.
In the second half of the year, Douyin will also launch new ways to play autumn and winter e-commerce shows and create the first Douyin official fashion week. This 7-day fashion week will provide special support for big-name shows one track a day, with celebrities watching the shows and influencers walking on the catwalk, bringing an autumn and winter brand carnival.
The question that luxury brands have always been concerned about is, “How is the effect of my current wave of delivery?”, “What kind of content does my ‘TA’ like?”, rational and emotional marketing result measurement, how to measure the accumulated brand value of marketing actions? Douyin Yuntu system can take into account both short-term and long-term measurement and track long-term brand power.
At the same time, the new linkage of brand-owned groups and the efficiency tracking of third-party platforms will highlight Douyin’s ability to help brands achieve precision marketing.