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L’Oréal x Palace of Versailles Limited Collection Launch on Douyin eCommerce

Shilin Song

On April 14th, L’Oréal officially kickstarted its Super Brand Day on Douyin eCommerce. L’Oréal launched a limited collection in collaboration with the Palace of Versailles, with young musician Ouyang Nana as Brand Ambassador.

The Super Brand Day event will last from the 14th to the 20th of April. The limited collection includes two products: a facial cream (319 RMB / 60g) and a serum (329 RMB / 30ml). (source: L’Oréal Weibo & Douyin account)

L’Oréal leverages internet slang to resonate with Chinese females on Douyin

In China, the word “Versailles” (in Chinese, “凡尔赛”) stands for not only the French Palace. It is one of the most trendy internet slang among young Netizens. It’s similar to “humblebrag” in English but with little negative meaning. 

Thanks to famous CCTV host Benny Sa (撒贝宁), the slang soon went viral on the Internet and in real-life communication. While Chinese people study day and night to enter the top universities and to work in megacities such as Beijing and Shanghai, Benny Sa is an “exception”. He stated on a talk show: “I didn’t choose to go to Beijing. I got recommended to Peking University without attending the Colleague Entry Examination. I hesitated because it’s too far from home, but Peking University is just alright.” (See video clip here)

Another typical Versailles sentence would be: “I own so many apartments that I don’t have enough money to renovate all of them. Such a struggle!”  

L’Oréal used this cultural context in its slogan “you deserve to be Versailles (humblebrag).” This shows support to Chinese young females’ desire to be independent, confident, and pretty.  

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Douyin eCommerce Super Brand Day becomes a major shopping festival

Douyin has become an essential social eCommerce platform. Its Super Brand Day keeps attracting many domestic and international brands to participate. 
In 2020, the Chinese leading smartphone brand OPPO successfully held Super Brand Day on Douyin. By leveraging Douyin KOL and KOC seeding, users generated fun video content and created a buzz. OPPO did multiple live streamings collaborating with top-tier influencers like Luo Yonghao and Lamu Yangzi) and other offline pop-up activities. As a result, OPPO Douyin account attracted 510k new followers, 400 million total impressions on Douyin platform, and 21.74 million total views in live streamings. (Source: ChinaDaily)

In 2021, C-beauty leader Perfect Diary, smartphone giant Huawei, and F&B leader Wufangzhai took part in Douyin Super Brand Day. 

Besides, German kitchen utility brand Zwilling also joined Douyin Super Brand Day in collaboration with Chinese celebrity Xiao Zhan. The GMV reached 102 million CNY (~15.7 million USD) in 24 hours, overachieving the sales target by 204% (source: China Daily)

Douyin helped the 209-year-old brand reconnect with young audiences and attracted young followers through celebrity marketing and KOL collaboration.

Is Douyin becoming the next Tmall?

A few years ago, Tmall invented “Super Brand Day” as the ultimate event aiming to push signature collections and launch new products. It is often combined with celebrity collaboration or any other IP collaboration. 

Tmall Super Brand Day is still going, but Douyin picked up with the trend and started Douyin Super Brand Day. 

The shopping experience for Gen-Z customers is more interconnected with seeding and customized interests than ever. On Douyin, the system customizes the feed based on users’ interests, behavior, and other interactions shown on social media. So it’s a perfect channel to reach potential young customers interested in your brand.

Douyin has created a full-funnel ecosystem from seeding to conversion. It also has its own culture and vibe, thus needs tailored marketing strategies to succeed. With the joint force of celebrity and Douyin KOLs, eCommerce posts real challenges to traditional eCommerce platforms such as Tmall.

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