Will Reality TV Idol Become A New Darling Of Luxury Brands In China? Will This Happen For A Long Time?

"Everyone can be a celebrity for 15 minutes." In China, the reality TV show on the two stars has made Chinese young people more and more close to "15 minutes becoming famous".

"Everyone can be a celebrity for 15 minutes."

Andy Warhol's famous prophetic motto published in 1968 has now become the reality of the "social media generation" in all parts of the world today. In China, the reality TV show on the two stars has made Chinese young people more and more close to "15 minutes becoming famous".

"Idol trainee" and "creation 101" are the hottest topics in Chinese social media in recent months. When the program was broadcast, they got more than 1 billion hits on micro-blog. Similar to the popular Americal Idol (American Idol) in the US, it is also a direct copy of the reality TV show in Korea. But its goal is to create a super idol group. "Idol trainee" is to create the top men's group in China, while the goal of creating 101 is to create the top female group.

Add fresh faces to classic brands

"Idols" and "creation 101" have attracted a lot of attention from social media. The names of the most popular contestants often appear on micro-blog hot topics. In June 8th, the British media The Gaurdian even published a report on Wang Ju. Wang Ju is one of the 101 most famous trainees to create, and the guardian compares her influence to China with Beyonc.

Seeing the amazing influence of these shows and the fast traffic related to these players, many luxury brands have begun to try to cooperate with them.

For example, Fendi, a luxury magnate in Italy, invited Wang Jiaer, the instructor of the idols, to make the theme song for the 2018-2019 autumn winter men's series released by the brand. The song called "Fendiman" was proved to be very popular in the younger generation. According to a report by Women s Wear Daily in May 30th, since its launch in May 26th, its ranking in iTunes has consistently surpassed the US charts and pop charts. Wang Jiaer also sang this song last week at a flash shop in Fendi, Shanghai.

In the early June of this year, Spanish luxury brand Loewe invited Fan Cheng Cheng, also an idol trainee, to publicize the "Paula 's Ibiza" summer capsule series in its latest publicity campaign. Similarly, Chanel's beauty brand Coco Chanel5 invited 5 girls from 101 to visit their new flash store in Shanghai on 18 April.

Should luxury brands adopt reality show stars?

It is understandable that luxury brands see the benefits of working with the Internet, and the importance of social media as a marketing tool aimed at millennial and Z generation consumers is also growing. However, experts warn that brands should be aware that as celebrities in the game of fame, these stars may lack the credibility required by luxury brands, and may also bring a higher reputation risk.

"Games and consumer technology industry The difference is that the target customers in these industries value the immediacy, but the target customers of luxury brands are more likely to be attracted by the more reliable information of enduring, authenticity and consistency, "said Jonathan Schenker, a bookmark entertainment executive. Bookmark entertainment is a celebrity recruitment company based in Asia.

Louis Houdart, founder and chief executive of Creative Capital, a marketing and brand agency, also believes that luxury brands should consider this cooperation wisely.

"Working with them in the short term is good for sales. They can catch the millennial generation and other young viewers who are ready to spend," Houndart said. "In the long run, it can be bidirectional: the best case is that when celebrities become a real superstar, this will become a great early investment; the second case is that they will soon disappear, and this is acceptable."

The worst case, according to Houdart, is when the rapidly rising celebrities are in a scandal. A recent case is the collaboration of Est e Lauder and Chinese rap singer PG One, which gained popularity in last year's hip hop in China. In January, it was involved in a drug scandal and was banned by the Chinese government from the public. The brand has also been severely criticized by netizens for its collaboration with a poor celebrity.

With regard to how luxury brands can best utilize the Internet while reducing potential reputational risks, bookmark Entertainment's Schenker recommendation, "use the power of the network to conduct short-term, targeted activities, and select veteran speakers (or other well-known celebrities) as the first choice when choosing speakers or speakers."