Bottega Veneta Returns to Chinese Social Media After Two-year Hiatus
SHANGHAI — Bottega Veneta, which quietly left Weibo two years ago, returned to the Chinese social media platform just as quietly.
On Wednesday night, the Kering-owned luxury brand shared a teaser video of its upcoming fall 2023 collection, which garnered more than 2.53 million views.
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On Thursday, another moody 15-second video was posted to provide more clues to the show. The account gained more than 2,000 followers at the time of publication. A similar video was shared by Matthieu Blazy, the brand’s creative director, and @Newbottega, a fan account with more than 1.2 million followers, on Instagram.
A company representative declined to comment on the relaunch.
The Weibo resurrection signals a shift in social media strategy that could help the brand gain broader visibility in the Chinese luxury market. China follows different strategies in social media compared to the global market in terms of digital play, cultural references and relationships with brands, according to a recent Bain report.
During former creative director Daniel Lee‘s reign, Bottega Veneta abruptly went dark on all major social media platforms in January 2022, including Instagram, Twitter, Facebook and Weibo. At the time, the brand had more than 2.5 million followers on Instagram and 270,000 followers on Weibo.
“Regarding its digital communication strategy, it’s not disappearing from social networks — it’s merely using them differently,” Kering chairman and chief executive officer François-Henri Pinault explained at the time.
“Bottega has decided, in line with its positioning, to lean much more on its ambassadors and fans by giving them the material they need to talk about the brand through various social networks, by letting them speak for the brand rather than doing it itself,” Pinault added.
As far as social media exposure goes, the brand will be leveraging K-pop stars to drive online traffic.
South Korean boy band BTS’ Kim Namjoon, known by his stage name RM, will attend the brand’s fashion show in Milan on Saturday. Kim, who has almost 42 million followers on Instagram, is said to have signed on as the new face of Bottega Veneta. Recently, Kim’s bandmate Park Jimin signed on as a global ambassador at Dior, while Valentino secured Suga, or Min Yoongi, as a brand ambassador.
Amber Kuo, the Taiwanese singer and actress, will also attend the runway show. Kuo, who has more than 3 million followers on Weibo, is known for her performance in the Chinese film “Tiny Times,” a movie often dubbed as the mainland China version of “Crazy Rich Asians.”
Mika Hashizume, another frequent collaborator of the brand in the Chinese market, will be noticeably missing this season. Hashizume, the Japanese American heartthrob with more than 2.4 million followers on Weibo, gained popularity for competing in the Chinese singing survival show “Chuang2021.” He will be touring with his band Into1 in Suzhou this weekend.
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