Chengdu IFS - Innovation in Brand Development

Company: Chengdu International Finance Square (Chengdu IFS), Chengdu, China
Category: Award for Innovation in Brand Development

Nomination Title: CDIFS “Himalayas” – unlocking Tibet with art and fashion

Essay:

OPPORTUNITY

Tibet Autonomous Region holds a wealth of fashion consumers but no shopping malls. Chengdu is the closest top-tier city for accessing imported, trendy products. The coming high-speed railway will cut travel time by 3/4, likely bringing steep growth of Tibetan customers to Chengdu.

CHALLENGES
1) Leadership - China recorded a record number of mall openings in 2019. A top-ten mall in China, Chengdu IFS (CDIFS) must protect its market share and leadership as the hub of fashion. Therefore, it pioneers competition by looking further to unlock the sales potential of Tibet.
2) Market Expansion - Tibet is geographically remote and speaks a different language, CDIFS could not leverage current marketing Chengdu investment or activities and had plan from scratch.
3) Multi-level Targets – Tibet is a closed market due to political reasons, therefore CDIFS had to earn the government’s blessing (G2G) and embrace local fashion professionals (B2B) before tapping fashion-savvy, affluent Tibetans (B2C).

OBJECTIVES
1) Be the top-of-mind premium shopping mall for Tibetans by enhancing visibility and brand power of CDIFS. KPI: Brand exposure & mentions among Tibetans
2) Locate a new customer base of wealthy fashion shoppers for future affluent clientele from Tibet. KPI: An aggressive 25% growth in Tibetan spenders.
3) Increase sales in luxury sectors by attracting big Tibetan spenders in Tibet & Chengdu. KPI: 8% growth in luxury sales, despite luxury market already posting 20% growth in 2018 and only a 2.8% predicted real-term growth in bricks-&-mortar sales in 2019.

STRATEGY
CDIFS partnered with Chengdu government for a year-round campaign to promote Chengdu as a fashion/art paradise via cultural exchange to create high commercial value, to earn trust of Tibetan government in opening the market for international fashion. The Chengdu-Tibet initiative is a bold move – a remote market with uncertainty, thus most commercial entities would tread cautiously rather than engaging in a high-profile campaign.

Execution Please see attached video.

Results

OVERWHELMING MEDIA COVERAGE
Reported by approx. 1,000 media including nearly all Tibetan media. Agglomerated search results of campaign earned mentions in over 5 million web pages in Baidu (China’s search engine). “Chengdu: Discover Himalaya” is the top search of the month in Chengdu with near 300,000 articles!

TREMENDOUS RESPONSE FROM TIBETANS & CUSTOMERS
11 top-tier Tibetan government officials attended events and gave speeches, which is another breakthrough for them in endorsing a commercial brand like CDIFS. The art exhibition in Chengdu attracted 200,000 visitors, which also benefited the growth of total store visitors in 2019. 400 among Tibet’s big-spender group attended the catwalk and pop-up store in Tibet.

SURGE IN SALES & VIP MEMBERS
Number of VIP Tibetan members has grown by 350%; 14 times the target! Bonus point redemption by Tibetan members also shows a 177% growth, way better than the market average of 2% redemption rate. Sales contribution by Tibetans represented triple growth, especially among the Tibetan-popular categories: 142% in sports & outdoor, 133% in jewelry & watches, and 126% in luxury, compared to just 2.8% in physical sales growth in 2019 as predicted by Jones Lang Lassalle.

EFFICENCY ON ROI
When the industry’s average rebate on consumers acquisition via discount & bonus is 5% of sales, CDIFS invested in experience and controlled the rebate down to just 1% – 1/5 of industry norm.

EXCEPTIONAL MERIT
Where once shopping mall’s marketing was limited to the four walls of a mall, CDIFS has made the first game-changing initiative in transforming the relationship of two of China’s regions, and will boost tourism & consumption, and foster cultural ties & commercial opportunities for both. Received high recognition from international marketing awards like the Stevie International Business Awards and The Small-Budget Marketing Campaign of the Year Awards.

Links:
http://www.cdifs.cn/en/front-page

Videos:
https://youtu.be/uSOYP33YKcg
https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/v3UVFa067loX1B0NckhITA
https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/QOTIR4IgD8CWBENwhsUOzA
https://m.weibo.cn/3176699795/4364193039288006
https://m.weibo.cn/3176699795/4367095095556428
https://m.weibo.cn/3176699795/4359121119145365