Singles’ Day (also termed 11.11 Global Shopping Festival by Alibaba) is held annually on November 11 and is the largest global online shopping festival. In the lead-up to this year’s event, our Brand Journeys to Singles’ Day 2020 series profiles 11 brands that are participating in Singles’ Day, and we explore each brand’s journey on Alibaba’s cross-border e-commerce platform, Tmall Global.  In this report, we spotlight French Bull, a US home goods brand. 

French Bull: Brand Background

French Bull is a homeware brand that first launched in 2002. Founder and designer Jackie Shapiro claims to be inspired by pop culture, with a desire to create unique designs that are striking and vivid. This is reflected in the brand’s “Live vivid” slogan and Shapiro’s self-described “rebellious” approach to design. Beyond homeware, the brand has expanded to include a small range of women’s apparel items, tableware for kids, travel bags and pet products. The brand’s vibrant colors have garnered popularity across sales channels, from art stores and souvenir shops to the French Bull website and partner e-commerce platforms in the US.

Brand Spotlight

With established retail relationships in the US, French Bull is set to expand its retail presence in Asia to include China, through Alibaba’s Tmall Global sales platform. In terms of the retail market in Asia, the brand already operates in Indonesia, South Korea and Taiwan. Having joined Singles’ Day through Alibaba’s Go Global 11.11 Pitch Fest on September 15, 2020, the upcoming shopping event represents French Bull’s launch into the China market. During the Pitch Fest, Shapiro explained that the brands sees value in the China market not only for the substantial opportunity to expand its potential customer base but also as it believes its design aesthetic will resonate with Chinese consumers’ increasing demand for exclusivity. Targeting the China Market: Color and Millennials China’s homeware market has been steadily expanding, and the Covid-19 pandemic is likely to have accelerated this growth in 2020: Consumers were eating more at home amid restaurant closures and stay-at-home restrictions. French Bull has selected several of its bestselling products to promote on Tmall during the upcoming Singles’ Day event, including its colorful and “unbreakable” bowls, which come in two sizes. According to Shapiro, the popularity of the product in the US is likely to translate to the China market as it will meet pragmatic concerns of Chinese consumers, and the colors and patterns comprise a “universal language that transcends the differences” between US and Chinese consumers. French Bull is set to launch a special edition of its lazy Susan product on Tmall, with a design series that is inspired by elements of Chinese culture. The brand’s exclusive packaging features patterns that reflect the vibrancy of its products, and it plans to use this packaging in the China market to provide a consistent branding experience, as well as to stand out and create a sense of excitement among its customers. [caption id="attachment_118623" align="aligncenter" width="700"] French Bull offers vibrant homeware designs
Source: Company website [/caption]   French Bull is aiming to target Chinese millennials through Singles’ Day, a demographic that is typically active on the shopping holiday and, according to McKinsey, is largely willing to make purchases at higher price points for designer products. Independent designer brands, exclusive editions and customized products create huge consumer buzz among this young market segment. Shapiro said that French Bull is enthusiastic about carving out its share of the homeware market with its unique designs. The brand is well prepared to take advantage of marketing opportunities for its first Singles’ Day. French Bull plans to leverage livestreaming and social media to boost consumer engagement and direct traffic to its Tmall Global store. According to French Bull, it is also collaborating with local PR specialists in China to gain insights into promoting home decor and lifestyle campaigns in the market.