Chinese bloggers bridge the gap between brands and buyers

Chinese bloggers bridge the gap between brands and buyers

‘Key opinion leaders’ can sell luxury goods, but it costs labels dearly.

Fashion bloggers — a subset of what the industry calls key opinion leaders (KOLs) — are at the vanguard of luxury marketing. “Bloggers have filled a void on the internet in China, ahead of luxury fashion brands and publishers,” say analysts at Exane BNP Paribas, a French bank, which ranked Mr Bags third on its list of China’s top 10 fashion bloggers.Recognition of their influence has caused a rush for brands to recruit bloggers. “Fashion KOLs are just being hounded,” says Chloé Reuter, founder of Reuter Communications, which works with luxury companies in China, adding bloggers are “at the heart of the strategy we build for all our brands”. As a result, prices have soared, with some KOLs charging up to $100,000 for a campaign. That has led to claims that brands are wasting money. “I don’t think spending $20,000 for one post is doing anything in the long term,” adds Ms Reuter.As bloggers rise in influence, the lines between journalism and promotion have become blurred. Several top bloggers have their own stores on WeChat, where they sell products directly, taking a cut of the proceeds — the model used by Mr Tao for his Valentine’s promotion.

Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2019. All rights reserved.
https://www.ft.com/content/dfa1c90e-f82f-11e6-bd4e-68d53499ed71