Former Social@Ogilvy strategist opens new digital shop

Fenn (pictured), a native of Prato, Italy, was an early member of Social@Ogilvy APAC in 2010, and  helped launched digital strategies in China for luxury conglomerates like LVMH and Armani, Ermenegildo Zegna and Bulgari.

The new company has lined up a few top fashion brands, Fenn told Campaign Asia-Pacific. He intends to fill a gap in the China market, between big international agencies who do strategic work for big clients (and charge a lot for it, even more than in the West) and local agencies that are limited to tactical work.

With China set to make up 44 per cent of the global luxury market by 2020 and online luxury consumption doubling in the past 12 months, Fenn said he can help companies based in Europe to enter the China market. He said most of these companies are going through a rough patch with the economic crisis in Europe.

"I can retain the important part of strategy thinking for premium brands entering China and utilise my relationship with local production houses to keep the costs down, not just to build brand awareness through social media but also to enhance clients' ROI across China's digital marketing landscape." he said.

“There is a solid thread between digital and luxury anywhere in the world,”,Fenn continued, "even more so in China, where the average luxury consumer is young and digitally savvy, and where digital can bridge distances between the individual and the brand”.

Fenn noted that Chinese consumers buy luxury goods to show off, whereas for Italians, luxury is more subtle. He quoted Giorgio Armani, who once said that real elegance is not about being noticed, but about being remembered.

Italian-born but living in China since 2005,  Fenn has been keeping a watch on Chinese social media for more than five years, first as a university researcher with Dutch University Leiden in Shangdong working on social media research for Ford.