Hi there, this is Zsuzsa Kecsmar, 
CMO and Co-founder of Antavo. 
I'm here today with Joanne Yulan Jong, 
who is the founder of Yulan Creative, fashion strategy 
expert and the author of the "Fashion Switch" book. 
Hi there Joanne! 
Hi there! 
Really happy to be here, 
and thanks for reaching out. 
It's great to have you here. 
You're welcome. 
Business of Fashion and the McKinsey 
State of Fashion report this year mentioned the 
rise of the Asian markets, and that the 
globalised approach will not cut it anymore. 
So today we will talk about how European fashion 
brands, who are expanding to Asia, can build 
customer loyalty there. 
Joanne, what are your thoughts on the topic? 
Well, I think the very first fundamental thing 
to think about is our definition of brand 
loyalty in the first place. 
So brands that have been heritage brands from 
America, you know, and also from Europe of 
course, they approached brand 
loyalty over generations. But brand 
loyalty, you know Asian markets that people 
do say "oh they lack brand loyalty". 
Well it's actually a relatively new market. 
So they haven't had the experience of 
an exposure to these heritage brands. 
It's not a surprise that they are 
looking and finding their way. 
So fundamentally have to actually reframe what 
we believe brand loyalty is and how to 
build that in China, in Asia. 
I see that. So you think that they are in more 
of an experimentation phase? 
Absolutely. If you look at culturally, prosperity and 
this kind of openness to be buying 
into brands like these, 
it's happened relatively recently. 
I mean if you really look at China, 
for instance, the Cultural Revolution only ended 
in the 1970s. 
So as a nation they are really in this 
journey of experimentation and finding themselves. 
I think that they're really trying to 
define who they are. 
I see. 
I know that you brought four ideas, four
fundamental approaches to customer loyalty in Asia. 
Yes. So there's four key aspects 
to really conquering the Asian market. 
And the fundamental one as I said is to 
approach it understanding that they 
are new to this and they 
are in a journey of discovery. 
So, you know, they have to 
be taken along in that journey. 
It's a process of brand awareness. 
First of all. 
And being able to catch 
them in the journey of discovery. 
So that's number one. 
It is a journey and it's an early discovery. 
Number two is that they are absolutely digital 
in their mindset, how they discover brands 
how they purchase brands and how they 
communicate with each other about the brands 
that they buy. 
So absolutely digital approach. 
So brands who are not able to communicate 
and engage digitally just don't exist in Asia. 
The third is that they have an insatiable 
appetite for newness, freshness, modernity. 
It is part and parcel of this journey 
that they're on and they just have 
an insatiable appetite for 
the next best thing. 
So this kind of fickleness that we may 
experience when trying to market to the Asian 
market is just because they want to know 
everything. They are curious and 
they're looking to experiment and 
find what's right for them. 
The fourth really is that they are 
very discerning in the purchase cycle. 
They are one of the biggest sort of demographics 
for huge caution in terms of the trustability 
of the platform that they're 
on whether the goods are authentic. 
They need to have a trust in the brand and 
they need to know the authenticity and they do check.  
So you have to 
approach it with that in mind. 
Referring to this very last point. 
Do you think it means that for professional brands 
it's risky to go to the Asian market 
on their own, and instead they should 
approach the market through their retailer? 
Because a retailer, especially one that 
they know could be more trusted. 
Absolutely. So there are the biggest platforms 
obviously in China and in Asia, 
that some of them have become 
known for trustworthiness. 
And that's why they're so successful. So sure. 
I think the partnerships but specifically online,
it is the platforms that are driving 
business rather than just the boutiques. 
So it really is that outreach that 
that really massive outreach, the digital footprint 
basically with the right platform, not 
only for communicating but selling. 
Can you tell a good example of a 
European fashion brand 
successfully entering the Asian market 
and keeping its customers? 
Well, a fantastic example of course is Burberry. 
They are an amazing modern British brand but 
under the helm of Angela Ahrendts and 
Christopher Bailey as creative director, I mean 
they really did push the forefront of 
technology and use that in their outreach to 
the Asian market and it really did work. 
So I mean if you think about the example 
of going back to 2011, when they opened their 
amazing flagship store in Beijing. They did so 
in a complete omnichannel and very digital 
approach and they harness the power of the 
platform Weibo in conjunction with the store 
opening in Beijing. 
It's an amazing example of that they 
really knew how to harness that potential and 
lately they've actually they've had to 
sort of retract on their footprint of 
actual physical stores, because that really wasn't 
working in terms of the investment to 
push into all the stores. 
So they've sort of retracted a little 
bit on the physical stores. 
But they've really pushed on WeChat, which is 
a different platform but they've always been 
very digitally minded, and I think that is 
an absolutely brilliant success story for a 
British brand. 
There is also a smaller brand, 
which did it very well, entering the Asian 
market and keeping its customers. 
I mean smaller brands, 
like even Vivienne Westwood 
for instance, has been a historic brilliant 
maverick British fashion designer. 
You know, she's breaking into China as well, 
using a whole range of different platforms 
which have emerged in the last two years. 
Things are moving incredibly fast in China and 
Asia. And the three new platforms really 
that are notable in their kind of approach 
and their fast paced different business model. 
Is one called Kaola. It's a fantastic 
platform, its USP is authenticity 
basically of products. 
So they win hands down, because the customer can 
come to them and they know that the 
product is a genuine, not a fake or 
counterfeit. And they can also work flexibly with 
companies, so they can give them three types 
of different business models that they can 
enter in to relationships with them. So 
they're pretty flexible in that way. 
And it's been very successful. 
And the second, which is really 
interesting, is the Little Red Book. 
And that platform is edging even further 
into territory of customer retention through 
peer to peer reviews. 
It is absolutely a flurry of people recommending 
products and of course the peer to peer 
obviously between family and friends. 
But even more importantly through influencers. 
So those platforms, they're content generated 
platforms. And they are really looking 
to key opinion leaders which are called 
the key KOLs in China and Asia. 
And these celebrities and these influencers are 
also candidly reviewing products, but also 
telling stories about how it changed them, 
how it's benefited them, 
and that kind of influence through reviews 
is turning into a really huge success in Asia. 
And the third one which is pushing things 
even further is called the LOOK. 
And the LOOK is actually a platform purely for 
influencers, who not only potentially have their 
own product and own collections, but they mix 
and match in style with other brands like 
branded styles like Louis Vuitton and Gucci. 
So those platforms are our ways for European 
brands to enter the market and get that 
visibility fast. 
Excellent. Thank you so much for telling 
about these three platforms and the four 
fundamental approaches to build 
customer loyalty in Asia. 
You're welcome. 
Thank you so much. 
I think that does it for today. 
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Thank you so much Joanne for joining us today. 
You're welcome. 
Thank you. 
Thank you. 
Bye! 
Bye. 
