P1.cn : a Chinese Social Media for Luxury Brands

Owing to its great potential of billionaires, millionaires etc…(see Bain 2010), China has developed some huge communities and clubs for wealthy digital members who want to improve their brand culture. Copycats of Facebook, Twitter, You Tube or Flickr are also available of course, but luxury brands do use some far more competitive tools to catch the Chinese wealthy people’s attention, the young ones in particular who have been pointed out as those who today are buying luxury goods instead of putting their money aside.

P1.cn is quite typical of these digital networks which seem mostly creative concerning the recruiting of their members (let us specify that, as they do not save any money, when these young people have 1,500 Euros, they spend each month 500 Euros to make a living in any chinese big city and have 1,000 Euros left for extra money).
In March 2010, after a year and a half lifetime, this social network for Chinese yuppies counted already 633,000 members. Though the admission to this club is more selective than any other occidental membership. To become a member you must have had your picture taken in some big city of the chinese west coast (Beijing, Shanghai, Guangshou or Shenzen) and this by one of the platform photographers who reign in the fashionable streets surrounding the shopping malls as well as in the high society’s parties. Their target: the twenty-two to fourty years old young people dressed in top designers clothes or the most typical trendsetters; a community that can be recognized at a glance.

P1.cn, exactly as “asmallworld”, is a true social network with its profiles, its connected members, its blogs, its privileged loyalty cards, its groups, its events and its weekly newsletter about luxury… Pleasures which are overused by the P1.cn “beautiful members”. It does look as if this audience thinks of nothing else than letting off steam, celebrating, shopping and showing their fashionable look. Here there is no business networking but exclusively fun and fun again. A visit on the site will tell you more about this gilded youth’s hobbies and the emptiness of their motivations.

P1.cn is a great communication tool for luxury brands and their internet community managers. The site has already been chosen byLamborghini, Versace, Max Mara, Richard Miles and BMW for their brand promotion: newsletters to spread the brand culture, invitations to their events etc… A good way to save on the public relations budget while improving effectiveness.

P1.cn is not the only club for luxury brands; some others exist directed at older and wealthier circles; but P1.cn must be awarded the best prize for its recruiting creativeness and its flexibility, for they are here always ready to adapt their policy to any brand request.
With our best wishes for a long life to P1.ccn!