|
|
THE MONEY OF COLOUR GIVES RISE TO A STYLISH RENAISSANCE
Of the 44,000 paint finishes on offer when you buy a new Rolls-Royce, one -
a distinctive shade of blue - has a special provenance.
This colour, which the upmarket vehicle maker owned by Germany's BMW
refused to name, was first brought to Rolls-Royce's attention two years ago by a
Chinese customer who insisted on his new Phantom was painted in the colour.
It took Rolls-Royce and BASF, the Germany chemicals company, months to
devise a paint exactly the right shade, but afterwards, Rolls-Royce was so
pleased with the result they added it to the palette it offers to customers
worldwide.
That example, while minor, highlights how Chinese consumers are exerting
their purchasing power to influence global style and taste, particularly in the
luxury goods market.
Retail sales in China have been growing at a rate of about 14 per cent
annually and reached $983bn last year, according to government statistics.
The luxury market is still a relatively small portion of that, with
consultancy OC&C estimating the size of the market will grow to $12bn next
year, but it is expected to grow at a fast pace. This is driven partly by the
fact that China is home to an increasing number of wealthy individuals.
The number of US dollar billionaires in China grew to 106 this year from
just 14 last year, according to the Hurun rich list. Merrill Lynch and
consultancy Capgemini estimate that China has the second-largest number of
$1m-plus net worth individuals in Asia Pacific, behind Japan.
"Influence is starting at the super-luxury level," says Rupert Hoogewerf,
who compiles the Hurun China Rich List and tracks the spending habits of China's
rich.
"People have their own specific style and taste, and at the super-premium
and luxury level, they want to always be different and they are willing to pay
for that difference."
Many foreign luxury brands keen to cater to this growing market, have long
localised their products and established research and development centres within
China. Now, such Chinese-influenced designs are increasingly finding their way
to consumers in other regions.
LeSportsac, the US bag maker, for example, will soon start selling a bag by
Hong Kong designer Barney Cheng. Mr Cheng's collaboration with LeSportsac was
part of a programme partnering 10 Hong Kong designers with brands such as
Salvatore Ferragamo, Georg Jensen and Herman Miller.
Chinese companies that have gone global are also increasingly exporting
Chinese aesthetics to the world.
TCL Multimedia, the world's third-biggest maker of television sets, employs
27 designers in the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen, and 17 in Paris. TCL -
which bought the TV and DVD division of France's Thomson and the mobile phone
unit of Alcatel several years ago - now sells half its TVs outside China. The
company recently prototyped a flat-screen TV that is held upright by folding its
attached side speakers inwards rather than by a separate stand. The model, named
Wings, was created by TCL's Shenzhen design team drawing inspiration from
traditional Chinese doors.
"A European could never design something like that," says Gerard Vergneau,
TCL's worldwide design general manager. Even if the design were not specifically
influenced by Chinese style, he adds, consumer insights from the Chinese market
experience can sometimes be translated to and used in other markets.
TCL's Aboria model - a minimalist flatscreen TV that does away with spare
parts like the stand - was "the cheapest product we have ever made" says Mr
Vergneau. Designed by TCL's Paris team, it was originally intended only for the
China market "because in China, you need very democratic designs [that people
can afford]", Mr Vergneau adds.
Soon, however, retailers in Russia and other regions started asking for the
model. "China had a hole in the history of design [during the early communist
era], but they are now catching up very quickly," says Mr Vergneau. "Such
Chinese designs would not have been possible 10 years ago."
The idea of a Chinese company buying the rights to a 90-year-old Italian
brand would likewise have been unheard of a decade ago, but last year China
Dongxiang, a sports apparel group founded in 2002, bought the ownership rights
to Kappa, the Italian sportswear brand, in mainland China.
Chen Yihong, China Dongxiang's chairman and a member of Kappa's global
board, has repositioned the brand within China from pure sportswear into a mix
of both sportswear and fashion, to avoid direct competition with groups such as
Nike and Adidas.
Where Kappa in Europe sponsors football clubs such as Italy's Brescia and
Denmark's FC Copenahgen, Mr Chen sought out a celebrity football team to sponsor
in China.
While Kappa hasn't quite followed in taking the brand in this direction in
Europe, admits Mr Chen, "our influence is more noticeable in Kappa's strategy
for other countries in Asia".
|
|
发表于 2016-7-10 16:58:22