What could Chow Tai Fook (周大福) share with a cute, pink beaver? If you guessed a target market you’d be right. In their latest collaboration, the Hong Kong jewellery giant has released a new range of trinkets based off of Loopy, a South Korean children’s TV character.
Loopy is a part of a show called Pororo the Little Penguin, the premise of which is a group of animal friends embarking on various adventures in the fictional Porong Porong Forest. At first glance this is strange direction for the brand – one synonymous with high luxury, glamour, and not so much (you’d expect) cuteness or animal adventures. However, this isn’t the first time Chow Tai Fook’s taken this direction, just the latest.
In recent years, the brand has teamed up with everyone from Chiikawa to Disney and Black Myth Wukong to MCM. The range of collaborations hopes to attract a younger audience to the brand. On the basis that Loopy fans don’t have the money, or even agency, to buy jewellery, we can also assume they’re looking to establish brand loyalty with the aim of cashing it in when the young consumers come of age.
The Chow Tai Fook Loopy collaboration – and the collabs that preceded it – feature ranges of small trinkets that are more playful than outright luxurious. These products don’t come accompanied by hefty price tags, making Chow Tai Fook more accessible to first-time buyers. Regular readers of these pages will also understand the viral potential of a collaboration like this in a region where cute culture generates major engagement.
It’s a smart move in more ways than just the above. By partnering with a wide range of IPs, Chow Tai Fook also aligns with the times: Today’s consumers, and the consumers of tomorrow, want items that reflect their personal interests and identities. New generations of Chinese are growing more individualistic. The rise of individualism offers new and enormous streams of revenue. Chow Tai Fook clearly recognises that. They just need to make sure, in the face of stiff competition, they don’t water down their luxury image chasing it.
