Wall Street Journal plays catchup to FTChinese.com with launch of luxury section

Online at http://cn.WSJ.com/luxury, the new section features multimedia content on fashion, travel, cars, art, real estate, food and wine, in addition to translated lifestyle coverage from global editions of The Wall Street Journal.

Christine Brendle, managing director of Dow Jones & Company, told Campaign Asia-Pacific that this move is a natural evolution of WSJ's global content strategy to inform readers on other aspects of their lifestyles, especially high-profile, sophisticated females with purchasing power.

The new section has generated interest from Cartier, which has committed online advertisements until Christmas this year to target China’s growing community of business elites and affluent consumers.

According to a recent luxury survey conducted by Ruder Finn and Ipsos China, Cartier was ranked number eight in mainland China with a top-of-mind awareness of only two per cent without prompting.

It lagged other European big-name brands such as Louis Vuitton, Chanel, Gucci, Hermes, Christian Dior, Armani and Rolex.

Earlier in May, FTChinese.com launched a similar section called Lux Avenue, with BMW and Bank of Communications the initial advertisers.

When asked how the Journal will convince brands to invest their advertising dollars in its luxury section instead of in FTChinese's offering, Brendle pointed out that WSJ's luxury section is a "bigger site with a much more senior readership profile" than its competitor. "Our site attracts more than three million unique visitors a month, collectively generating 40 million page views. Web traffic is a good indicator for advertisers," she said.

WSJ.com launched its Chinese-language edition a decade ago in 2002. Li Yuan, managing editor of WSJ's Chinese online edition, said adding the luxury section is another way the WSJ is investing in its local-language offering in China and enhancing its coverage for Chinese readers.

Harry Winston, Burberry, Chanel, Mercedes Benz and Lexus are also in talks with WSJ to draw on the new advertising platform.