Logo beats quality in Asia

Picture: Asian shoppers queuing up a Bally shop in downtown Sydney on Boxer Day.

This Friday I had a very interesting discussion with a well-traveled British designer and Asia expert. We talked about that most luxury companies today, now actually mega-conglomerates, focus much more on branding than on quality in order to serve the booming Asian markets.

My friend pointed out to me that in Asia, that is mostly lacking a tradition of quality and relying on copying, brands are a status-beacon and are more important than quality. Whereas European consumers still are quality-focused coming from a tradition of fashion and would bring a faulty bag back to a shop, Asian often cannot be bothered. 

This complements my recent observations in Sydney where I saw thousands of lously dressed (and mostly young) Asians queuing up in front of Bally in order to hunt a bargain. What struck me most was how cheaply and poorly they were dressed (flip-flops, cheap t-shirts etc.) but were still buying luxury goods.

Comments

[laetitia]

Interesting observations, especially as the opposite is true in the jewelery industry. Asian customers care first and foremost about the quality and value of the jewelry they purchase before the design (for ex. they mostly purchase only diamond jewelry of good quality rather than jewelry made with semi-precious stones). In Europe, customers don't seem to be so concerned about the types of stones they have and wether or not the stones have been treated or enhanced artificially. They want first and foremost something that "looks good" and is stylish.