April 17, 2013
Gucci, Tiffany & Co., Audi, Estée Lauder, Louis Vuitton and Burberry are among the top 10 brands that are showing digital dominance in Japan, according to a new report from L2 Think Tank.
The Digital IQ Index: Japan found that luxury marketers across multiple categories are creating effective digital marketing strategies in this area of the world. Since Japan is the second largest global luxury market and very mobile-savvy, luxury marketers should look to keep up their digital and mobile marketing efforts within the country.
“In Japan, mobile is not an accessory, but part of the foundation of any luxury brand’s digital strategy,” said Danielle Bailey, research lead at L2 Think Tank, New York.
“Social-mobile applications are on the rise – a trend throughout Asia – with social-mobile app Line garnering three times as many users in Japan than Facebook,” she said. “Brands like Esteé Lauder have smartly started to use the app to drive traffic to their mobile commerce sites.
“Visibility on the mobile versions of Google.jp and Yahoo.jp are also critical.”
The Digital IQ Index: Japan ranked the digital competence of 100 global brands in Japan that were analyzed on more than 500 data points and then ranked and examined.
Rankings are determined 25 percent on mobile, 30 percent on site, 25 percent on social media and 20 percent on digital marketing.
Big in Japan
The brands that ranked highest on the Digital IQ Index: Japan were those that maintained ecommerce-enabled sites, kept up with mobile marketing efforts and effectively engaged and communicated with their consumers digitally.
Overall, Gucci was given the No.1 spot due to its Gucci Style mobile app in the Japanese iTunes store and its social media campaigns such as the collaboration with Japanese cartoonist for the “Magna Style” effort.
Tiffany was ranked No. 3 because of the Japanese version of its Engagement Ring Finder app, the “Dream Maker” video that helped extend its Facebook face base by 3,000 in one week and the Facebook post announcing the Blue Book 2013 collection preview via a custom Facebook tab that received 13,852 likes and 1,658 fans in three days.
Engagement ring finder app
Also, Audi ranked No. 4 because of its streamlined digital configuration that gives consumers price estimates, dealer locations and the ability to share it via social media. It has a strong social media presence and its “Sapporo Snow Festival” video received almost 45,000 views on YouTube in two weeks.
At No. 8 is Estée Lauder which offers consumers strong email campaigns, the ability to scan QR codes to follow the brand’s social platform Line and a mobile-optimized Web site that streamlines the shopping experience.
English mobile site
Louis Vuitton came in at No. 9 for its Live Chat offerings on its ecommerce site, its experiments with blogging platform Ameblo to promote in-store events and outfitting popular video game character Hatsune Miku in the spring/summer collection for her upcoming virtual 3D tour.
Lastly, Burberry was ranked No. 10 due to its large Twitter fanbase of 33,721 followers in Japan, its offering of Japanese-only Burberry Black and Blue Label Web sites and its experiments with social platform Sumally, where it has 900 followers since the launch in February 2013.
Digital culture
Even though Japan is a highly mobile and digitally-driven culture, many luxury marketers have not yet added mobile commerce or ecommerce features to their Japanese sites.
“Although a quarter of Japanese ecommerce is conducted via mobile, less than half of luxury brands have a mobile-optimized Japanese Web site and less than one-quarter support mobile commerce,” Ms. Bailey said.
Since China has recently passed Japan as the largest global luxury market in the world, many luxury marketers have not increased their efforts in Japan.
“Luxury brands have de-prioritized Japan,” Ms. Bailey said. “More luxury brands today maintain Web sites in China than they do in Japan and less than half of the luxury brands we examined are currently ecommerce enabled in Japan.”
Now, the question is whether Japan will be able to keep up the momentum to continue to be a target for luxury marketers in the future.
“Luxury brands have historically put all their eggs in one basket, rushing to open stores in the latest hot market,” Ms. Bailey said. “The new world order suggests that luxury brands are increasingly global portfolio managers using digital to tailor strategy to each market to maximize its value.
“Despite an aging population, economic stagnation and natural disasters, Japan's luxury market has persevered,” she said. “The sources of growth in Japan, most notably twenty-somethings and men, are mobile and social.
“Brands must engage digitally in order to appeal to them and cultivate their business.”
Final take
Erin Shea, editorial assistant on Luxury Daily, New York
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