Social media and luxury fashion brands in China: The case of Coach

Abstract

Luxury consumption in China reached US$37 billion in 2012, making it the world's second largest luxury goods market. Many luxury fashion brands, such as Louis Vuitton, Gucci, Chanel and Coach, are making huge digital marketing efforts in China to increase brand equity and sales. This paper uses Coach as an example to explore how luxury brands use social media to connect with middle-class customers in China. After briefly summarizing the development of social media platforms in China, the key components of Coach's social media marketing strategy are highlighted and analyzed. Then a discussion of Weibo users' responses to Coach's posts is presented. The lessons learned from this study will help luxury brand marketers to engage in social media with Chinese users and improve their social media strategy in China.