Luxury wool products promoted for Goddess Day in China

Famous actress Chun Xia was the face of the campaign and starred in a short film and the imagery accompanying the campaign.

Timed to coincide with the major ‘Goddess Day’ shopping festival across China, AWI’s marketing arm The Woolmark Company partnered with two leading fashion e-commerce platforms to promote Australian Merino wool.

Related to International Women’s Day on 8 March, Goddess Day in China has become established during recent years as a time for shopping, with many Chinese men buying gifts for their female relatives, and women (female employees get a half-day holiday) rewarding their inner “goddess” by shopping online.

For Goddess Day this year, The Woolmark Company partnered with e-commerce retailers Net-a-Porter and Farfetch, as well as local and international fashion brands, to promote a large range of womenswear apparel products suitable for spring and summer.

The aim of the campaign was, firstly, to build awareness of Merino wool’s versatility amongst digitally savvy shoppers and, secondly, to increase consumers’ intent to purchase Merino wool products.

Initial reports from the campaign have shown that consumers have significantly increased their association of Merino wool with the attributes “suitable for spring and summer”, “breathable” and “soft and light”. Meanwhile 55% of consumers said that, having viewed the campaign, they are now significantly more likely to purchase apparel made from Merino wool; this rating is higher than industry averages.

Consumers were encouraged to purchase the featured Merino wool. Pictured is a shot from Weibo, one of the largest social media platforms in China.

While the marketing campaign was a response to the growing demand for high-quality products in the Chinese retail market, it was especially well timed due to the current strength of the Chinese market while many other retail markets across the world are still unsettled due to COVID-19. Furthermore, China is the world’s largest e-commerce market and online sales have grown even larger since the pandemic hit. Online sales in China were valued at US$1.17 trillion in 2020.

Actress Chun Xia (whose name literally and very aptly means Spring Summer in English) was the face of The Woolmark Company’s marketing campaign and featured in promotional imagery and a short fashion film Spring & Summer Action, in which the lightness, breathability and superior quality of Merino wool garments were highlighted.

As part of the campaign, Net-a-Porter offered wool styling suggestions through its T-mall store and presented gifts to consumers who purchased wool products from brands including Altuzarra, Vince, JW Anderson and Ganni. Farfetch, together with brands including AMI Paris, Comme des Garçons, Alexander McQueen, Isabel Marant, Etro, Theory and Zegna, showcased spring/summer collections of wool apparel on the Farfetch China app, where stylists also provided live personal shopping services. Local premium womenswear fashion brands ICICLE, JNBY, Edition and MEILLEUR MOMENT also took part in the campaign.

The consumer marketing campaign increased awareness of the Merino wool as a fibre suitable for spring/summer apparel, plus it drove purchases of apparel from a range of Chinese and international brands.

“Soft, breathable and environmentally friendly, Merino wool is the fibre of choice of luxury fashion brands and designers,” said AWI Country Manager for Greater China, Jeff Ma. “We are very honoured to have Miss Chun Xia as our ambassador, and we thank Net-a-Porter and Farfetch for their support in helping us reach a wider audience through their platforms.”

This spring/summer campaign followed on from the successful marketing campaign held by The Woolmark Company in China six months ago. That campaign promoted Australian Merino wool products on China’s popular e-commerce platform T-mall during the autumn/winter retail season.

This article appeared in the June 2021 edition of AWI’s Beyond the Bale magazine. Reproduction of the article is encouraged, however prior permission must be obtained from the Editor.