Bvlgari Fragrance relaunched its Bvlgari Pour Homme Cologne in China by opening a limited-time store at the Zhang Garden fairground in Shanghai. The company also launched an online campaign tagged #BvlgariFragranceMeetsAnotherMe on the popular Chinese social media platform, Weibo, with Chinese actor Yang Yang. The relaunch is timed to capture a share of the niche premium male fragrances market in China, which is forecast to surge at a 10% compound annual growth rate (CAGR) during 2023­–27^*, says GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company.

Bobby Verghese, Consumer Analyst at GlobalData, comments: “The Chinese fragrance market is dominated by female fragrances^*. However, akin to the trend in the male cosmetics space, consumer spending on male fragrances is rising rapidly^*. Within the male fragrances category, the premium segment is set to outpace the mass market segment^*. This is primarily due to increased gifting of premium, luxury, and prestige fragrance labels on special occasions, such as the Chinese New Year/Spring Festival and the Mid-Autumn Festival. Tmall’s Single’s Day and JD.com’s 618 shopping festivals have also played a pivotal role in accelerating sales of male fragrances.”

Kiki Wu, Consumer Business Development Manager at GlobalData China, adds: “Bvlgari is stepping up its marketing spend to catch up with the top brands in the Chinese male fragrances market: Chanel, Giorgio Armani, Dior, and Givenchy. The brand is leveraging a combination of experiential marketing and social media campaigns to maximize the impact of its new product launches. The Zhang Garden pop-up store is decked with art installations and a perfume sampling area to attract young, experience-seeking Millennials and Gen Z cohorts. The store can help the company in acquiring new consumers, given that 40% of Chinese male respondents in GlobalData’s consumer survey say that a positive sampling experience motivates them to try new scents and fragrances^**.

Verghese notes: “Social media campaigns on popular portals, such as WeChat and Douyin (TikTok), are proving to be an effective marketing strategy for male fragrances. Owing to the strong celebrity culture in China, celebrity influencers, such as Yang Yang, can garner record sales in a single live-streaming event. This resonates with GlobalData’s Q4 2022 consumer survey finding that 67% of Chinese consumers find celebrity endorsements a nice-to-have or essential feature they actively look for when purchasing a product or service^***. Moreover, customer reviews on e-commerce portals, including Tmall, JD.com, and Xiaohongshu, can attract 21% of Chinese consumers who want to try out new scents and flavors motivated by product reviews.”

Wu concludes: “With the government recalling the stringent Zero-COVID policy, consumers are returning to their workplaces, shopping hubs, and social hangouts. This will catalyze the use and gifting frequency of premium fragrance brands among aspirational and high-spending Chinese youth, who perceive them as status symbols. These consumers are seeking distinctive fragrances to express themselves and project their sophistication. By instilling authentic elements of Chinese culture and art into the product, packaging, and marketing activations, as in Bvlgari’s relaunch, multinational brands can leverage the “Guochao” nationalism/localism trend that appeals to the up-and-coming Gen Z cohort.”

* GlobalData Consumer Intelligence Center—Market Analyzers, accessed in March 2023

** GlobalData Q2 2022 Consumer Survey—China, with 521 respondents, published in June 2022

*** GlobalData Q4 2022 Consumer Survey—China, with 513 respondents, published in November 2022