01.30.08
Consumer report: Sunglasses, size zeroes, Bimmers, oh my!
Above: Promo spread for Oakley’s Asian Fit line of sunglasses
A few items about consumption in our demographic:
The Houston Chronicle reports on some designer brands that have released lines of sunglasses designed to fit Asian faces.
As Oakley’s eyewear brand manager says about the company’s Asian Fit, “This line fits higher on your face with a narrower and deepened bridge. This helps to lift the sunglasses off the face of a person with a shallower nose bridge and higher cheek bones.”
For more info, check out Oakley’s Asian Fit, along with Oliver Peoples and Gap’s petite line. (Gap supposedly carries sunglasses for Asians, but we couldn’t find ‘em — maybe you’ll have better luck.)
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PR Web reports that L.A.-based women’s fashion retailer Naturally Size 0, which exclusively carries clothes in the eponymous size, has launched an online store.
Why should you care? Well, the company acknowledges the Asian community as a huge market for its products. The APA demographic is growing fast, as the press release says, and “Nearly half of the Asian-American women wear size 6 or smaller, with a lesser percentage wearing size 0.”
“Although the demand is definitely there for size 0 clothing, many designers and manufacturers have not acknowledged it and continue providing mostly for the size 2 and up community,” the release reads.
The Web site features a considerable number of Asian models. To peruse the fashions available, visit the online store.
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Business Wire presents a study by research-based consultation group Strategic Vision that cites “a customer’s vehicle DNA” as a prime factor in his/her choice of car.
“Driver’s desires, needs and attribute priorities” are part of this code, says Alexander Edwards, president of Strategic Vision’s automotive division.
“When you understand the emotional payoff delivered by each vehicle attribute measured against the customer’s vehicle DNA, you will know why an African American views the Chrysler 300 as a vehicle of choice while an Asian American chooses an Acura MDX or BMW 3-Series (accounting for price),” says Edwards.
“This understanding can provide automotive manufacturers with the knowledge of how to create the right product and communicate the right messages that will sell more vehicles, build brand equity, increase customer advocacy and develop future loyalty and retention.”
According to Strategic Vision’s detailed (and thoroughly confusing) scale, Asian buyers look for the “complete package,” choosing cars that are “Pleasant yet Powerful, Easy Going yet Protective (sic).”
For more on Strategic Vision, visit the official Web site.
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Finally, AdWeek reports that a survey by a multicultural advertising firm has determined that Internet usage among Chinese Americans is sky-high: 88 percent of Chinese Americans who prefer non-Chinese media as news sources use the Internet.
Mingdi Yang, CEO of Chinese Media Net (which provided the users who were randomly selected for the survey), says the online Chinese American community is “ripe for all marketers to reach. We know that they are heavy users of Chinese content, but comfortable with consuming goods and services in a non-Chinese environment. All marketers need to do is invite them to their brand experience.”
mark_chang said,
January 30, 2008 at 1:52 pm
While this is initially “good” news in there is now an APA market presence, I think we’re heading into an undesirable territory in which products are designed and marketed to people based on race.