In 2013, the growth rate of China's luxury goods market slowed to 3%, lower than the growth rate of the global luxury goods market, but still accounted for about 47% of global consumption (about 600 billion yuan). In anticipation, China's luxury goods market will gradually pick up in 2014, and this growth rate is benefited from the rapid growth of non-traditional luxury brands, especially the large-scale foreign high-end niche brands.
How to define a niche brand?
The niche brands we are talking about here are relative to the mass brand.
The so-called luxury brand in luxury goods can also be called traditional luxury brands, that is, brands with high brand recognition and large market coverage. Take the timepiece industry as an example, such as Patek Philippe, Vacheron Constantin, Jaeger-LeCoultre and other brands. They occupy a large market share in the entire luxury goods industry, and they are also strong in the promotion and promotion of new products. From major fashion weeks to the annual Basel Watch and Jewellery Show, high-end mass luxury brands also always occupy the best venues and media exposure. And those niche brands, because of the relatively small audience, the size of the company is limited, in the promotion and promotion often can only find another way.
For the Chinese market, although some niche brands are limited in scale, they are already well-known in Europe and the United States. With the increase in domestic fans, it will be the main force for the impact of high-end mass luxury goods in 2014. There is also a category of brands that have certain limitations in the spread of Europe and the United States, but the brand products have strong individualized elements. They believe that the current Chinese luxury goods market is more conducive to their own play - Chinese consumers are looking to luxury goods. Experts change, in addition to brand value, are still seeking to resonate with their own style, diversified niche luxury offers a more personalized choice, so there should be independent development space.
Personalization of niche brands
Niche brands have a common feature, they do not guide you how to wear, but use the personalization of the work to resonate with consumers.
In the Chinese consumer groups who love luxury goods, with the maturity of consumer psychology, the concept of consumption is quietly changing. Traditional luxury brands such as LouisVuitton and Chanel are regarded as “introductory†collections, and more single items are beginning to develop into diversified and personalized niche brands. At the same time, the "limited purchase order" rules followed by niche brands also satisfy the mindset of most buyers who "avoid a slap in the face and expect a unique style".
The niche brands are mostly designer brands in Europe and America. Their prices are not lower than traditional luxury brands, but the marketing concept is completely different.
In terms of design, although each brand has a chief designer, the product design is not all from the chief designer, but by a multi-person team. The niche brand emphasizes the designer's personal style, and the product concept remains unchanged for many years or remains in the core series. These designers do not rely on the obvious LOGO to highlight their own brand, but use their own personality design to "sign" on the product. For example, TOURNAIRE, a jewelry brand established in the town of Montbrison, France in 1984, has more than 60 world-famous cities in the “Architectural Seriesâ€. The distinctive design style and unique artistic treatment have made the brand successful. Personality logo. Brand founder Philippe Tournaire believes that architecture carries not only human civilization and history, but also human life and rich emotions. Therefore, he expects to be able to express and realize it through jewelry design.
Niche brands are also good at making a fuss about materials. In 2013, Richard Mille launched a limited edition of five sapphire crystal watches. Each part of the case, bezel, dial and bottom cover was honed from a single piece of sapphire crystal. Toscow, a jewellery brand based in Australia, is dedicated to the promotion of Opal. This colorful gemstone, also known as opal or color stone, is one of the six internationally recognized gemstones. Although opal has not been famous for many years, it is far less than diamonds and emeralds, but it is especially rare because it is scarce. Some opals have been formed after 120 million years, and it takes 5 million years to grow 1 cm thick. This gemstone with a strange color change effect has been famous for a long time in ancient Greece and Rome. However, it was not until the discovery of mineral deposits in Australia at the end of the 19th century that the opulent era of Opal really kicked off. Australia currently supplies 95% of the international market.
In the promotion and promotion, niche brands rely on word-of-mouth in the “small circle†with similar interests. Word of mouth is their best advertisement. In this long-term and fixed fan circle, buyers are looking for alternatives, uniqueness and individuality, and they are friends with each other. These brands are generally sold on a small scale only through boutiques such as Lane Crawford and Joyce. There are few counter sales. They think that the counters in the intensive business district are not private enough. From the boutiques, only the direct sales shops with uniform design styles will be selected.
The niche is not a new generation
Some people understand the niche brand as a new group that caters to the market, but it is not entirely true. This operating model has a long history in the European and American markets. In terms of time-based industries, there are more than one or two independent watchmaking workshops with a history of more than 100 years.
The Swiss watch brand Vulcain (Wu Lujian) was founded in 1858 by the Swiss watchmaking industry cradle Neuchatel. In a very short period of time, it is excellent in three-question time pocket watches, observatory clocks and chronographs. Timepieces have attracted attention, and they have become famous internationally in world fairs held in Chicago and Paris. Today, this brand with a history of more than 150 years produces 5,000 watches a year, and is known for its original mechanical alarm clocks and timepieces with enamel craftsmanship.
At the beginning of 2014, Vulcain opened the world's first flagship store, located in the center of Beijing, Macau. This is the biggest move since the executive vice president of the brand Daniel Wechsler took office in June 2013. Although the consumption power of China's luxury goods market is still recognized as the most noteworthy, the growth rate is far from about 30% around 2011. It chose to enter the Chinese market at this time and is the world's first flagship store. Vulcain The practice has been questioned by many people. Daniel Wechsler believes: "The Chinese market provides the largest sales space for today's timepiece industry, and our brand has not operated this market for many years, so there should be a lot of potential to play here, so I entered the company first. The matter is to develop this market. The timing is not necessarily the best, but being able to enter is the most important first step. At the same time, our first store choice in Beijing also marks our emphasis on the Chinese market, hope Use this store as a window to convey the brand concept."
Vulcain's "Cricket蟋蟀", launched in 1947, is an important milestone in the history of the brand, and this collection is hailed as the first truly practical alarm watch. When the watch was worn by a White House photographer, it caught the attention of American President Truman, and he bought a watch of the same type. Since then, many US presidents have purchased this series of watches, including Eisenhower, Nixon, Bush, etc., and Vulcain is known as the "Presidential Table."
When talking about the niche brand, Daniel Wechsler also mentioned: “We, like many similar brands, have their own characteristics and development models, focusing on their own watchmaking philosophy. The Cricket series is one of our most important products. In addition to our high-quality enamel series and diving series, the brand attracts customers in addition to function and quality, but also includes the brand concept we want to convey - Vulcain has sincere sincerity towards watchmaking, our products It can lead consumers to understand the watchmaking culture in depth. The brand produces about 5,000 watches every year, not taking the popular route, but each watch is of good quality. Like our original propaganda, our watch quality can adapt. Various extreme environments."
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