Chinese Specialty E-Platform Aomaijia signs on new Aussie brands

A Chinese e-commerce player focusing solely on foreign brands continues its push to develop markets for more Australian products after signing five new supplier agreements today. With its consumer-facing website Aomygod.com (in Mandarin), Aomaijia has more than 30 million registered users and has grown exponentially since it was founded in Guandong in 2015.

Read the complete article by Matt Ogg at Business News Australia.

Luxury European department stores open in China, target ‘refined’ millennials and their spending power

Doormen wear top hats and cerulean ties, gloved waiters wander through tea rooms carrying aloft silver trays of cucumber sandwiches and buttery scones, while the Alice-in-Wonderland-like basement is an upper-crust foodie heaven that regularly delivers boxes of tea, jam and marmalade to nearby Buckingham Palace.

Read the complete article by Carolyn Cummins at Sydney Morning Herald.

Weibo’s Instagram Knockoff Copies South Korean Firm’s Logo, and Is Taken Down

Just days after releasing an invitation-only version of an Instagram-like app, Weibo has quietly taken it down amid criticism of plagiarism. A user on China’s microblog platform Weibo on Wednesday pointed out that the app — called Oasis, or Lüzhou in Chinese — featured a logo that looked extremely similar to an image created by a South Korean design studio.

Read the complete article by Zhao Runhua at Caixin Global.

Chaumet’s New “Mulan” Approach in China

From creating crowns for Napoleon to being the only jeweler on display in the Louvre, the French jeweler Chaumet has enjoyed over 230 years of impressive history. “But if Chaumet just belongs to the past, nobody today will be interested,” says Jean-Marc Mansvelt, CEO of Chaumet. “The brand aspires to connect with the present and tell its rich stories to the young generation.”

Read the complete article by Lin Wang at Jing Daily.

Online adspend in China shifts from search to content

China’s brand owners are shifting from search advertising to paid content that spurs impulse purchases from comparing products, according to Newrank and CTR. Research from the social data analytics business points to content on social media platforms, rather than search engine optimisation, bringing higher marketing returns in China.

Read the complete article by staff at WARC.

The world’s largest beauty company sees China as its digital ‘laboratory’

China is “a great laboratory” for beauty giant L’Oreal in terms of how it tries out new technology, according to its chief digital officer. It is the “most digitalized” country in the world, Lubomira Rochet told CNBC’s Julianna Tatelbaum.

Read the complete article by Lucy Handley at CNBC.

Exclusive Interview: Bvlgari CEO Jean-Christophe Babin

Italian luxury brand Bvlgari has spent the last 15 years steadily developing a strong foothold and consumer awareness in both Hong Kong and mainland China. And now that it has dozens of boutiques firmly planted across the Greater China region, the brand soon expects mainland China to supplant Japan as its top individual market, with Greater China, of course, being its largest overall market.

Read the complete article by Avery Booker at Jing Daily.