How WeChat Mini Programs Are Winning Fans

The Comité Colbert, an association of 81 French luxury brands, has taken to WeChat to immerse users in its beautiful world.

In their WeChat Mini Program (a mini app that sits inside the WeChat ecosystem), users explore the sights, scents, and tastes of France’s luxury. Users can take tours of Paris via videos and beautifully illustrated content and discover how different Cimité Colbert brands are part of a luxury lifestyle. The Mini Program is also especially interactive. Visitors play games, like running your avatar through streets avoiding obstacles or designing your own painting. They also points by playing games, reading content, and sharing the Mini Program link, or sharing your game results.  Points allow users to participate daily in a lucky draw (always a WeChat favorite!) The entire Mini Program itself is gamified, with users being able to track their progress in “My Footprint” as they earn badges for completing each section.

As travel slowly starts to reopen, the Comité Colbert does a fantastic job of enticing potential tourists. Plus, it brings Paris luxury to China – a smart move when many of the brands (like Boucheron) are already in WeChat stores just a few clicks away.

We’re always interested in how luxury brands use WeChat to form a community and build emotional connections. As WeChat is a chatting app and also a shopping platform (via mini-app stores that brands run), Calvin Klein has found a fantastic way to link these two elements: what it calls “social gold coins.”

Here’s how it works: A consumer earns “social gold coins” by uploading photos of their summer CALVIN KLEIN look to Calvin Klein’s WeChat mini-app called “To Wear.” Coins turn into shopping vouchers and gifts.

There are a few things that work well about this. First, CALVIN KLEIN gets to learn more about their consumers as more people become members. This data helps them to better customize communication to each user, an edge in the competition for attention on WeChat. It also builds a brand-controlled community and inspiration space within WeChat, where consumers already spend about an hour a day on average. The user-generated content becomes easily searchable, and CALVIN KLEIN can link the reviews to products, because when someone posts pictures, they tag the specific items they’re sporting, along with their overall style. Finally, with the “social gold coins” and corresponding discounts, CALVIN KLEIN provides tangible incentives for consumers to create content.

Do Chinese luxury consumers are aware of luxury brands in online gaming? And of those that are, do they care? The True-Luxury Global Consumer Insights  by BCG and Altagamma answers those two questions many, and yes.

Here’s what it had to say about Chinese luxury consumers and online gaming: Just over half of Chinese respondents were aware that luxury brands interact in online games, and 55 percent of those aware of the trend had played AND purchased in-game luxury items (global average). One might wonder if a luxury brand’s collaboration with online gaming is more for brand exposure, or if it truly results in sales. The report found that 99 percent of those who purchased in-game items already had (86 percent) or would want to (13 percent) buy the corresponding physical version (global)!

Digital finesse and personalization also factored high in consumers’ attention priorities. Omni-channel capabilities were most important to Chinese consumers out of the four global regions surveyed. Only 4 percent said it was “not important” for a brand to be multi-channel (compared to a 13 percent global average), and 55 percent of Chinese luxury consumers said it was “not negotiable” or “very important” for a brand to be multi-channel. 70 percent of luxury consumers highly appreciate in-store and online personalization (compared to 58 percent for exclusive access to events, for example). This preference is split nearly even between in-person and digital personalization. 46 percent of luxury consumers in China have bought luxury goods from a livestream event.

Hublot has crafted a gorgeous WeChat Mini Program to step up the party.

Tobias Bordal, Greater China Digital Director at Hublot, explains: “It's a great engagement tool for both new and existing followers and owners, and a fantastic pairing with our Big Bang E Euro Cup smart watch which we are selling online. You can follow the games in real time with your Big Bang E smart watch and bet on the games to win fabulous prizes in our Hublot Loves Football Mini Program all the way to the finals!”

The Mini Program also lets football fans:

• Earn more points to “wager” with by interacting with the app (bets are done with these points, not money).

• Listen to football podcasts with coach and player interviews.

• Download Euro Cup/Hublot WeChat stickers

Hublot’s Mini Program is spot-on for a few reasons. First, it really locks into Chinese gaming culture with “bets” on games. During Chinese New Year, WeChat proliferated with lucky draws, competitions, and branded games where a lucky few took home exciting prizes. It’s fun to see something outside of the holiday season as well. Second, players can always share the wagers you made with friends (see the card with the QR code) – so Hublot is maximizing the social nature of WeChat by making it easy and fun to ask your friends to join you. And in a smart move by the brand, non-watch owners can play and participate, great for deepening emotional bonds with prospective consumers.