Topshop is celebrating Chinese New Year with the launch of a short film that ties together its British brand and its growing international consumer base.
The Lanterns, as it’s called, sees two models captured in front of London’s Houses of Parliament and Big Ben, with Chinese lanterns floating above them. It is set to a cover of This Little Light of Mine by Berend Dubbe and Gwen Thomas, and ends with copy that wishes the viewer a prosperous New Year in both English and traditional Chinese characters.
“We wanted to create something fun that represented the spirit of the Topshop girl whilst capturing the energy of this special time of celebration and giving,” said Topshop’s CMO, Justin Cooke.
Importantly, the film was released on Topshop’s Chinese social media networks, including Weibo where it has over 10 million followers. It also launched on YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, Google+, Pinterest and Instagram.
Topshop will open its first store in Hong Kong in May, but this film is as much about reaching Chinese consumers worldwide as it is within China itself. According to stats from Topshop, Chinese travellers took over 70 million trips abroad last year, and 150,000 headed to London.
Cooke said: “Not only do we have a huge following in Asia but there are also enormous numbers of Chinese tourists and Chinese communities based in cities all over the world – for example Los Angeles, where we open a store on February 14, we know that there is a very strong Chinese community there… I think it’s really important as a global brand that we speak to and understand the things that really matter to them, this is a significant time of year and it’s also a very personal one where people get together and thank the people they love.”
Even the length of the film is culturally considerate. At 58 seconds it coincides with Chinese superstitions of numerology; five and eight are both lucky numbers, symbolising wealth and prosperity.
Topshop has also created limited edition lucky red gift cards and envelopes to note the Chinese tradition to gift ‘Lucky Money’ as a wish of prosperity. They are available in its flagship stores and online globally.
You might also like:
Kate Bosworth sings in Topshop’s Christmas film, revealed as face behind #whosthatgirl teasers
Topshop connects physical and digital worlds with #trickortweet Halloween campaign
Topshop #LFW show to offer customisable, instantly shoppable looks online
