"Parisian workers snap up Chinese shoes": How Shenzhen-based Chinese brands are doing DTC digital marketing!

Track Disassembly and Cleaning: Apparel Category - Footwear

Author: Xiao Chuang

I. Remarkable achievements in just three years

Shenzhen, Shenzhen, every day people in Shenzhen are on the road to success!

Another true story of a Shenzhen brand sweeping across the US apparel and accessories market in just a few years!

Founded in June 2020, VIVAIA sold over 1.2 million shoes in 2023, according to the official website of its parent company, Starlink.

It's hard to believe that this remarkable achievement comes from a brand that was only established in 2020.

Figure 1: Starlinke official website

You might think this is just another story of how domestic companies can use price to "win over" foreign competitors by leveraging excess domestic production capacity.

However, VIVAIA takes the route of a high-end fashion brand.

The cost of producing a pair of fashion flyknit shoes in a factory is typically between $15 and $20.

However, some VIVAIA products are priced as high as $190 in the European and American markets! Best-selling items start at least at $97.

Hollywood actresses Selena Gomez and Scarlett Johansson have both publicly expressed their love for VIVAIA, and VIVAIA has rapidly gained unparalleled brand image and awareness.

Figure 2: Network

VIVAIA's huge success in Europe and America is entirely due to its unique DTC digital marketing strategy.

Let's take a look at how VIVAIA does it.

According to SimilarWeb's 2023 "Digital 100" rankings, VIVAIA took the top spot in the US apparel and accessories category with a growth rate of 654.6%.

Figure 3: SimilarWeb's 2023 "Digital 100"

VIVAIA had a total traffic of 11.8M in 2023 and an average monthly unique visitor count of 633.7k, a figure that Musinsa could hardly match.

In just three years, VIVAIA achieved the fastest and highest growth rate globally in the apparel and accessories category in 2023.

VIVAIA's successful DTC brand digital marketing strategy is inseparable from its excellent brand localization and precise landing page marketing.

P.S.: If you are also considering international expansion in the home furnishing industry but are struggling to find practical experience and marketing data to refer to, you can contact Xiaochuang to obtain the " 2024 Apparel, Footwear and Accessories Category Research Report ", which contains market insights into sub-sectors and the latest industry trends.

II. VIVAIA's Unique Brand Localization Techniques

VIVAIA’s Unique Brand Localization Techniques

VIVAIA's brand localization efforts began even before its business website was established.

The word VIVAIA originates from Greek mythology, which not only gives the product cultural connotations but also makes overseas consumers feel familiar and comfortable on a cultural level.

At the same time, VIVAIA uses mainstream names commonly used by people in Europe and America when naming its products . I can only call the author of this idea a genius.

[Click to view larger image]

Figure 4: VIVAIA Official Website

When most domestic companies conduct B2B export websites or brand DTC digital marketing...

They often remain at a rudimentary stage, focusing on whether the website keywords are commonly used search terms by target users abroad and whether the copywriting aligns with the daily usage habits of the country where the brand is marketing.

As for how the website presents a sense of friendliness to users, it may simply be through the display or insertion of certain real-life images.

In addition to using keywords and copywriting that align with local customs and preferences, VIVAIA has truly forged a new path in presenting a friendly website through its unique product naming method.

III. Traffic - Landing Page for Conversion

Landing Page Precision Marketing

According to Ptengine, a partner of VIVAIA, VIVAIA chose a "personalized" traffic operation approach from the very beginning, and personalized the handling of each channel traffic through tiered management.

This method of setting up corresponding landing pages for different traffic channels not only allows brands to reduce advertising costs in the early stages, but also helps to deepen their understanding of the target audience from different sources, laying the foundation for subsequent refined operations.

Ptengine provides an example: Suppose there are five channels: A, B, C, D, and E, where channel A contains sub-channels such as A1, A2, and A3. The traditional approach might be to have a single landing page host multiple different campaigns.

Even with the best traffic optimization, adjusting only the ads without adjusting the corresponding landing pages will significantly reduce the effectiveness.

For example, the left image in the advertisement shown below primarily emphasizes color diversity.

When a user clicks to enter the landing page, the first banner displays a variety of colors, consistent with the advertising content.

Similarly, the ad image on the left highlights the product's comfort. Once users enter the landing page, the first banner immediately explains why the product is so comfortable, maintaining consistency with the ad content.

"Internally, comparative tests were also conducted, and it was found that the advertising conversion rate improved significantly after refined operations, and an internal standard operating procedure (SOP) was gradually formed. This means that from the beginning of creation, the content released externally must be highly consistent in order to achieve accurate understanding of the traffic audience."

What we can learn from VIVAIA here is to ensure that ad content is consistent with the landing page, allowing users to continuously see the content that initially caught their attention, thereby achieving better conversions.

IV. Epilogue's Thoughts

VIVAIA, relying on big data technology, has completed the brand transformation from "casting a wide net" to "refined marketing".

By analyzing and understanding user data, we have accumulated a profound understanding of the target user profile, enabling us to launch personalized product lines for customers from different countries, age groups, and professions. This caters to their unique needs for comfort and scenario matching, and has made us widely loved and welcomed by young women in Europe and America.

Meanwhile, Vivaia's success is inseparable from its localized strategy for successful brand communication in the local market. Chinese brands expanding their international trade need to deeply understand and respect local consumption habits in order to smoothly complete the elegant transformation from "Made in China" to "Intelligent Manufacturing in China".