These are intriguing times for China's lingerie market: Sales are robust, foreign gamers are making inroads and regional favorites are improving their offerings and branding.
Aimer tapped store branding firm Creative Capital Shanghai for the Valentine's occasion in Beijing. Guy who entered their partner's proper bra size into a mobile app won a bra provided by a sophisticated cupid.
While a campaign including guys thinking bra sizes could quickly turn tacky, the outcome was sweet, fixating the question of how well individuals understand the ones they like. About 3 million people watched an online video of the occasion, that included other games for couples to check their understanding of each other. (Watch a video of the event here.).
When Aimer introduced in 1992, lingerie wasn't a huge thing, and females typically wore practical underthings. 20-somethings prowl high-end shopping centers with substantial lingerie offerings.
The No. 1 gamer in China is either Beijing Aimer (by Mintel's count) or mass-market regional brand Cosmo Lady China Holdings Co. (according to Euromonitor). In any case, the market is extremely fragmented, with the leader holding 3% to 4% at a lot of. Foreign brand names in the leading 10 are Japan's Wacoal Holdings Corp. and Germany's Triumph International AG.
U.S. huge Victoria's Secret opened its very first 9 shops on the mainland in January, offering beauty products and devices. The business hasn't explained the lack of bras. There's speculation it wants time to observe local tastes and sizing choices.
" If you share a full-blown lingerie offering, ladies might buy it when and feel uneasy if it does not fit," stated Torsten Stocker, Hong Kong-based partner at management consulting company A.T. Kearney. "And then it's very hard to return into the game if you have a track record as a brand name that looks glamorous but is not comfy to use.".
Aimer has a research study center with the Beijing Institute of Fashion Technology dedicated to collecting information on Chinese females's measurements. (The center states cup sizes have increased considering that the 1990s in China, as they have in other places, due to the fact that of changes in diet and standard of lives, according to a recent China Daily post.).
The independently held business has actually made waves lately in architecture blogs for a sensational new school in Beijing that showcases its ambitions as a major style brand. Aimer likewise offers in a number of Asian places outside mainland China, and North Americans can buy it online.
Its positioning is a U-turn from Victoria's Secret. "Aimer" is French for "to love," however the brand name says that does not always correspond to romance. "Love is also about family love, friends, society," stated Concon Dou, marketing supervisor of Aimer's main brand. And it's about caring yourself too, she stated. (While Chinese women prefer underwire bras that plump up their chests, she stated, Aimer is trying to persuade them to try more comfortable and natural styles.).
" They've produced this really cool lifestyle concept around love and caring," said Louis Houdart, who established Creative Capital Shanghai, the company behind the Valentine's project. That positioning is assisting Aimer branch off, he stated. Now there's Aimer Kids and Aimer Home-- principles that attractive Victoria's Secret might have problem managing.