Made in Hong Kong

Those of us of a certain age will remember the 'made in Hong Kong' tag which was marketing shorthand for 'cheap, plastic, shoddy.'

Of course the economic and political landscape has changed over a generation such that Hong Kong and China now occupy a very different place in global marketing. Such easy, lazy disparagement has as much place these days as Britain's car industry leading the world. While it went into reverse, the Chinese hit the accelerator pedals but consider the journey rather than just the destination these days.

All of this comes from an article I read in WARC News this morning. It was entitled 'China set for luxury boom' and details the growth of the luxury goods market in that country including such brands as Louis Vuitton and China's own up and coming luxury brands.

According to the researchers, CLSA, China could account for 44% of total premium products and travel sales by 2020. It's only 15% at the moment. Interestingly, though still male-dominated, spending by female consumers is increasing so global brands such as Gucci and Prada stand to benefit in the short and longer term.

It may once have been a slow boat to and from China but not anymore, now it's a speedboat - and made in Hong Kong.