00:00Jacques Rosen is Managing Director of China Consulting at the Digital Luxury Group.
00:05He's been explaining what LaPou's recent success tells us about the gold market in China.
00:11First of all, they've aligned themselves perfectly to benefit from the perception of gold as a good investment,
00:21which is a historical perception in China, but has only been reinforced recently with the appreciation of gold.
00:31Chinese consumers today are looking to make good investments.
00:35And in the current environment, they don't have a lot of good investments to make, so gold is very reassuring to them.
00:41That's the first thing that LaPou Gold is benefiting from.
00:45The second thing is they're really tapping into this national pride.
00:49When you think about their design, it borrows a lot from the Chinese mythology, good luck, talismans, good fortune, good health.
01:01And so, you know, that resonates culturally very much.
01:05And on top of it, they've been anchoring themselves in traditional craftsmanship.
01:11And when I say traditional, I really mean traditional because we're talking about 2,000 years old techniques.
01:18So that's also a key to their success.
01:22It's interesting.
01:23They've clearly made a real splash in China.
01:27A year ago, they launched on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.
01:31We've seen the shares, I think, go up tenfold.
01:35And we're also hearing they're about to open a store in Singapore.
01:38Realistically, though, could they ever compete with the likes of Tiffany and Cartier?
01:44I think what you're raising is, you know, are they a gold jeweler or are they a luxury brand?
01:52And I think today they're taking market shares from both the international luxury brands and the local gold brands.
02:01And on top of it, the Chinese consumer is no longer looking at international brands with the assumption that it means because you're international that you are superior.
02:13And they're not looking at local brands thinking of them as lesser brands.
02:18So to some extent, they may have found a way to carve a successful spot in between luxury and gold jewelers.
02:28And I think that's very interesting.
02:29If you look at Cartier, they're doing really well in their jewelry at the moment.
02:34And I'm wondering if this is a good opportunity for Laopu Gold to go global.
02:40Do you think that's the intention?
02:43I think, you know, today Laopu Gold has 37 stores.
02:48If you compare them to Chotaifu, they have 7000 stores.
02:51And so Laopu Gold is more likely to maximize its market share, its revenue and its profitability in China, which is a market where they know that their recipe works before they start going abroad.
03:09And when they do, they're more likely to go, you know, in Asia before they expand to Europe or North America.
Comments