Global Marketing News – 23rd August 2016
Naver to take on the US video market
The South Korean search leader Naver has confirmed that it has invested over 20 million US dollars its own video streaming service.
WAV Media was established in June this year in the US, and will target a Western audience, unlike Naver’s current ‘V’ platform which mostly targets Asia.
Naver spokesperson, Choi Seo-Hee, said that the move was “one of the many ideas” that the company has for making moves into the US, adding “the most effective content would be that localised for the US markets”.
Currently, with its ‘V’ video-platform, Naver offers live-streaming for a global customer base, but as this is mostly South Korean entertainment, WAV Media would have to find new content for the US market.
Naver founder, Lee Hae-Jin, said that “North America and Europe is where Naver’s ultimate challenges lie” and that the company planned to “make large-scale investments into new technology or services to aid the penetration into these markets”.
Over half of online Europeans bought clothes online in 2015
A report from yStats has shown that more than half of online shoppers in Europe bought clothes or sports goods online last year.
It was also found that the most popular online category in countries like the UK, Germany, France and Russia was clothing.
This increase in online fashion sales is also reflected in figures from the first six months of this year, which show that over 10% of all fashion sales in the UK took place online, with other Western countries following closely.
The research firm says that B2C ecommerce sales of clothing are steadily growing, even at double-digit rates in some countries.
Bricks-and-mortar based clothes shops have found ways to tackle the issue of not being able to try on clothes when buying online by offering free returns, whilst online stores have implemented virtual fitting and sizing technologies.
China introduces stricter rules for live online streaming
The Chinese internet regulator has introduced stricter rules surrounding live online streaming.
The new rules include a requirement for any site offering live streaming to monitor the content 24/7, due to concerns from the Ministry of Culture that some live streams “harm social morality”.
The announcement also comes one month after one of China’s most successful comedians and vloggers was warned by the government to curb her bad language, forcing her to promise to “correct” herself.
Live streaming is becoming increasingly popular in China, with one of country’s biggest streaming stars estimated to have earned around 700,000 US dollars last year.
Gucci incorporates gaming into app
The luxury fashion label Gucci has incorporated a gaming element into its mobile app on Android and iOS.
Whilst features such as lists of the brand’s recent collections remain, there has been a DIY feature added which acts as a memory game in which the user must remember patterns and designs found on Gucci products.
Gucci’s Creative Director, Alessandro Michele, has introduced a new style to the brand since his appointment and the new app reflects new designs in the company’s collections.
Industry expert, Parisa Durrani, said that “By integrating a gaming factor into the app, [the developer] can help keep users engaged beyond the first session”.
Durrani also added that Gucci had taken cues from WeChat’s gaming functions, and is “lessening the learning curve for users”.
Samsung dominates over Apple in China
And finally, Samsung has further increased its market position over Apple in China.
Figures from the second quarter of this year show that Samsung sold 32 million more units than Apple in the country, compared to 24 million more last year.
Whilst Apple may have seen an increase in sales in Africa and some other markets, the 26% drop in sales in China has allowed not just Samsung, but also budget brands like Xiaomi and Huawei to gain even more ground.
Meanwhile, total sales of smartphones in the country are up 4.3% since last year, with Oppo joining Samsung and Huawei as the big winners, after its sales grew by nearly 10 million phones to 18.5 million in the past 12 months.
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