When a Brand Aiming at a New Market, Be Careful
It’s almost two months left for 2019 and we have already seen so many social media crises for all different brands this year.
Versace, a well known Italian luxury fashion company that was named and founded by designer Gianni Versace in 1978. During the protests period time in Hong Kong, Versace’s designed T-shirt caused controversial in the Chinese market that almost endangered their brand reputation and goes after the story of another luxury brand — Dolce & Gabbana.
What Happened?
The T-shirt designed by Versace listed the semi-autonomous regions of Hong Kong and Macao as individual countries on the world map, that sparked an angry backlash from Chinese consumers on social media platforms. Their design listed “ Hong Kong — Hong Kong” and “Macau — Macao” with countries like “Paris — France” or “Beijing — China”, which Chinese netizens say the design violates the “one China” policy since Hong Kong and Macao are legally semi-autonomous regions of China. The pictures of the outfits went viral over the weekend on social media platforms, such as Weibo, and millions of Chinese social media users have called for a boycott of the companies’ products.
I fell the timing, and the protests in Hong Kong have heightened political sensitivities of Chinese social media users, so it causes the outburst of anger towards Versace’s product particularly over China’s territorial claims and Hong Kong’s status. Even Versace’s spokesperson of the Chinese market also stoped the contract and activities with Versace for the future to boycott this brand.
How Did They React?
On the following Monday, Versace’s PR team noticed the situation then took the action and apologized to the Chinese market for producing t-shirts deemed to have infringed the sovereignty of China. Through Versace’s official accounts on the large social media platforms, like Weibo and Instagram, they posted the announcements that include their apology to the situation and they had made a mistake, also they stopped selling the item on 2019 July 24 and the rest of the t-shirts will be destroyed.
After the official clarification announcement, the designer of Versace also expressed her love for China and respect for Chinese customers.
My Point of View
The quick reaction of Versace’s PR team and their reasonable response and solutions gradually calmed the anger of Chinese netizens and stoped the further loss of the brand. The PR team saved the brand’s reputation and image, as well as the Chinese market.
However, the situation could totally be avoided at the beginning. As a large luxury company, their professional design team and marketing team need to conduct a strict review before the product is launched and analysis and understand the market to make sure there is no cultural and political conflict. This is a usual approach to managing risks and it is the responsibility of the marketing team to prevent this crisis from happening.
According to management consultancy Bain & Company, Chinese consumers are the biggest consumers of luxury goods accounting for at least a third of global sales and two-thirds of the industry’s growth.
Therefore, a lot of brands are trying to targeting the Chinese market to increase their sales volume and profits, but the pressure on foreign brands is also increasing because the big opportunity is also equal to the same big challenges they have to face. It is important and necessary for brands to learn the environment and local culture before entering the market.
In the digital world, marketing should prevent the social media crisis in advance and PR handles the problem when the situation happens. Good use of social media can save and boost a brand, but incorrect use may hurt the brand’s image and reputation.
