The Bling Dynasty: Why the Reign of Chinese Luxury Shoppers Has Only Just Begun

The Bling Dynasty: Why the Reign of Chinese Luxury Shoppers Has Only Just Begun

by Erwan Rambourg
Released October 2014
Publisher(s): Wiley
ISBN: 9781118950296

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Book description

Why the luxury market's fate rests in Chinese wallets

The media has negatively focused on the Chinese political administration clamping down on gifting. Observers have come to doubt the strength of Chinese consumption as the key driver for luxury. The Bling Dynasty illustrates how doubts about Chinese consumption are ill-founded and Chinese luxury demand is on the cusp of becoming dominant.

This book contains the research and expert views companies need to understand and address the new challenges posed by this dominance. Each chapter brings a different perspective, covering complex aspects of luxury consumption, with illustrations and real-world examples that support the research. Readers will gain insights through interviews with brand executives, retailers, experts, and consumers.

As an economic heavyweight, China is fast realizing its role in the luxury market. Chinese consumers should be accounting for more than a third of the global luxury market today, and half, if not more, in ten year's time. The Bling Dynasty runs counter to the conventional wisdom that expanding sectors become more global. Luxury is actually becoming over-dependent on Chinese sales.

Readers will:

  • Understand how Western brands developed in Asia and the challenges they are met with, notably ubiquity

  • Learn why Chinese are purchasing luxury items abroad and what it means for the future of the sector

  • Gain insights on why there are no Chinese luxury brands challenging Western models

  • Realize that Chinese consumers are becoming similar to their American peers and that luxury competition goes way beyond pre-conceptions

    • China's big spenders are increasingly mobile and this is affecting key markets. The Bling Dynasty provides new research and a comprehensive look at the booming business of luxury and the Chinese wallet.

    Table of contents

    1. Acknowledgments
    2. About the Author
    3. List of Terms
    4. Foreword
    5. Introduction: The New Silk Road
      1. Chinese Luxury Avatars
      2. The Middle-Class Kingdom
      3. Who Am I to Tell You about This?
      4. Bling Is Dead? Long Live Bling!
      5. Notes
    6. Part 1: West Goes East
      1. Chapter 1: Eastern Promises, Delivered
        1. Don't Believe the Hype? Come to Hong Kong
        2. Guys, Guanxi, Gifting
        3. The Future Is Female
        4. Summary
        5. Notes
      2. Chapter 2: The Only Way Is Up
        1. From Japanese to Chinese Dominated: Exit Single Parasites, Enter Multi-facetted Shoppers
        2. The Only Way Is Up: ‘Premiumisation'
        3. Starbucks and KFC: Everyday Premium in China
        4. Summary
        5. Notes
      3. Chapter 3: Another French Paradox
        1. Combatting Ubiquity
        2. Chinese Luxury Consumer Pool about to Balloon
        3. With So Many Consumers, Is This Still Luxury?
        4. Too Much Cash
        5. M&A as a Weapon to Overcome Ubiquity
        6. Summary
        7. Notes
      4. Chapter 4: Deconstructing the Myth
        1. The Art of Storytelling
        2. Insights over Brands: The Japanese Show the Way
        3. Everything Has a Price: Don't Push It
        4. Korean Brands: Leather Like Vodka, Anyone's Game
        5. Louis Vuitton, Gucci in the Middle: Rejecting Mainstream
        6. The Cost of Leadership
        7. ‘Going Lifestyle'
        8. Summary
        9. Notes
    7. Part 2: East Goes West
      1. Chapter 5: The Trouble with Travel
        1. Travel's Role in the ‘Education' Process
        2. Natural Penetration of Luxury: From CO-J-A-C to Korea
        3. Summary
        4. Notes
      2. Chapter 6: Why Chinese Travel and Where To
        1. From France's Popular Front to China's Popular Pastime: Governments Supporting Travel
        2. The T-R-A-V-E-L Equation: Why Chinese Are Buying Luxury Abroad
        3. Asia over Europe for Now? And the United States Tomorrow?
        4. Summary
        5. Notes
    8. Part 3: East Meets East
      1. Chapter 7: Are Chinese Brands a Threat to Western Models?
        1. Here's Where I Get My Kit From . . .
        2. Consumerama: Areas of Non-Compete and Battlegrounds between Chinese and Imported Brands
        3. Brand Building: Answering ‘Why' Instead of ‘What'
        4. Summary
        5. Notes
    9. Part 4: The World Meets
      1. Chapter 8: Pop Culture, Value for Money and Globalisation
        1. Globalisation and Status Seeking in Everyday Life
        2. How Americans Are Becoming More Chinese
        3. How Chinese Are Becoming More American
        4. Summary
        5. Notes
      2. Chapter 9: The Chinese Luxury Empire
        1. Chinese, Not China
        2. Chinese Go Unchallenged
        3. Summary
        4. Notes
      3. Chapter 10: All In: Coach, Apple and the Cosmetic Surgeon
        1. Budget Competition
        2. Faster-Moving Consumers
        3. Summary
        4. Notes
    10. Conclusion: The Bling Supremacy
    11. Epilogue: What Is True Luxury?
      1. Simplicity: The Banana Leaf Parable
    12. Appendix A: Luxury Goods Basics
      1. Multi-Brand Groups
      2. Mono-Brand Companies
    13. Appendix B: China Statistics
    14. Index
    15. End User License Agreement

    Product information

    • Title: The Bling Dynasty: Why the Reign of Chinese Luxury Shoppers Has Only Just Begun
    • Author(s): Erwan Rambourg
    • Release date: October 2014
    • Publisher(s): Wiley
    • ISBN: 9781118950296