Automobile brands, local Chow Tai Fook, Louis Vuitton, Chanel, and Dior top the list of most- searched for luxury brands in China
Digital Luxury Group (DLG), in partnership with Luxury Society community of luxury executives, unveiled the first ranking of the top 50 most-searched for luxury brands in China.
Covering over 400 brands within six key segments (fashion, beauty, jewelry, cars, watches, and hospitality) in ten key luxury markets, the World Luxury Index provides insights on the unbiased search inputs coming from global luxury consumers in the world’s top search engines (Google, Bing, Baidu, Yandex).
The ranking leaders are: Audi (#1), BMW (#2), Louis Vuitton (#3), Mercedes-Benz (#4), Chanel (#5), Lexus (#6), Estee Lauder (#7), Dior (#8), Porsche (#9), Lamborghini (#10).
Eighteen out of the top fifty most-searched for luxury brands (36%) in China are automobile brands. Audi is the most-searched, followed by BMW and Mercedes Benz. Audi has long held a privileged spot in China, it’s the official car of the Chinese government.
Chinese brand Chow Tai Fook is the most searched jewelry brand in China, far surpassing 2nd and 3rd ranked brands, Cartier and Swarovski. With a distribution network of over 1,500 locations across 320 cities in China, Hong Kong, and Macau, it’s no surprise that they lead. Cartier can be found in approximately 300 stores.
Unlike other parts of the world, Western brands in China often find that the public calls the brand something other than the official name. A look at Burberry shows that 76% of searches for the brand are done using the unofficial brand name (巴宝莉).
The top 3 most-searched fashion brands in the ranking, Louis Vuitton (#3), Chanel (#5), and Dior (#8) each lead through different segments. Interest for Dior is specifically related to beauty (and more specifically fragrance) over 80% of the time. For Chanel, beauty represents just fewer than 50%, and fashion and accessories at 40%, while it was noted 94% of searches are fashion/accessory-related for Louis Vuitton
The top ranking of brands unveiled some interesting results. Borghese, a beauty brand not particularly well-known in the US and Europe is fascinatingly strong in China and ranked #43, thanks to the cult-like following of their face masks. French outerwear brand, Moncler, ranks a surprisingly strong #42, surpassing long-established brands like Rolex and Ferragamo thanks to TV sponsorships.
