Five world leading designers 'designed for China' 

China's Leading Home Furnishing Brand Joins Forces with MUJI Art Director Kenya Hara

Kenya Hara, the famous designer known for having a unique understanding of the philosophy of the Asian lifestyle, is about to make an appearance in Shanghai, China, where he will endorse Red Star Macalline, the leading brand in China's home furnishing industry. Joining Hara will be the equally influential Japanese designer Kengo Kuma, the Danish designer for the royal household Christina Strand, heavyweight Italian designer Luca Nichetto, and leading Dutch designer Jurgen Bey. The news that the five international giants in design will be representing a Chinese brand spread quickly and caused quite a stir across the industry. Verawom (Verawom-Linked by Isobar), a subsidiary of global marketing agency Isobar, handled the planning and marketing of the event for Red Star Macalline. The marketing firm provided the overall planning, content creation, advance promotion for the campaign, event coordination and continuing strategic brand promotion, as well as social media creative and communication in tandem with the campaign.

The video, using a grand narrative technique, provides insight into the Chinese consumer's life at home and explains how Hara and the rest of the designers understand design. At the end of the video, the designers present products that are "Designed for China." The video's unique viewpoint, grand theme, storytelling approach, captivating scenery, and affecting music, together with actress Gao Yuanyuan's heart-warming narration, immediately made it a hot topic not only in the world of design, but even among the general public.

Three days prior to the release of the video, on June 2, Verawom joined forces with Red Star Macalline in launching a marketing campaign that featured an HTML5 online video. As a pre-promotion to the commercial, the video was available online in a "burn after reading" format. Two days later, Red Star Macalline launched an event marketing campaign with the longest in-cinema commercial in history, which was shown at 3:45pm on June 5 before the screening of X-Men at the Palace Cinema in the IAPM Mall (Shanghai, China). The main commercial, endorsed by several celebrities, was officially released on June 6 through WeChat, a Chinese social media platform. Within 12 hours of release, the commercial had garnered 6 million views on Weibo, China's largest social media platform, and was widely reposted on WeChat.

The marketing campaign, which was planned and executed during the company's 30th anniversary, highlights the rich history of the company while also looking forward to a promising future for the firm. The campaign took a close look at Red Star Macalline's history as well as hinted at what's in store for Chinese consumers, while encouraging initiatives that are groundbreaking and creative. As China's leading retailer in home furnishing, Red Star Macalline has always been compared by industry peers and the media to Europe's largest home furnishing retailer, IKEA, though they are positioned quite differently in the market. While the general public enjoyed the splash the campaign had created, industry peers were greatly surprised and are now wondering what will be Red Star Macalline's next move.

Verawom co-founder Zheng Lianda said, "It is only the beginning of the campaign, and it has already received tremendous attention. There is more in store for the campaign. We believe we will connect better with consumers with each step. Please keep a lookout for what is coming next. A leading brand in China's home furnishing industry, Red Star Macalline is already a household name among consumers and quite influential in the Chinese market. Verawom has worked with Red Star Macalline many times before and successfully created several campaigns that are now classics, among them, Love Wood, Bring On The Competition, and Love Is Near. The 'Designed For China' project further examines and illustrates Red Star Macalline's brand values. The strategy integrates online and offline communication, and we hope to give our customers a 30th anniversary that is like no other."

 (Source:chinamoneynetwork)