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Tag: airasia xt

  • How to be a successful KOL in China?

    How to be a successful KOL in China?

    Why luxury brands willing to expand in China seems to never get enough of  so-called KOLs (key opinion leaders) Tao Liang, nickname “Mr bags”, is a graduate of the University of Southern California and Columbia University. Although he is only 26-year-old, he has already become one of the most successful digital influencers in China, in terms of the ability to drive sales.

    People call him Mr Bags because Liang has an unapologetic love for handbags. So, he has worked on capsule collections with different luxury brands such as Givenchy, Longchamp and Montblanc, boasting a huge following on WeChat and Weibo, which are two of the largest social media networks in China. And he also knows how to sell them to his over 3.5 million readers on China’s biggest social media platform Weibo and more than 850,000 followers on WeChat, a microblogging messaging app.

    In just six minutes, Liang helped Tod’s sell 3.24 million RMB worth of handbags on his new Mini Program shop within WeChat, called “Baoshop.” The second collaboration between the Beijing-based fashion blogger and Tod’s, 500 pieces of the limited-edition “Wave” backpacks were created — double the amount from last year’s capsule collection.

    But how did Liang become a sort of “bag whisperer”? He says that when he was studying in the universities in Los Angeles and New York, he fell in love with luxury bags and loved going on shopping sprees with his friends. It didn’t take long for him to realize that he could turn his passion for handbags into a full-time job but even after he started getting some traction while still in the US, his parents were not entirely happy with his career choice. “Only after I started working with big brands and celebrities like Fan Bingbing they thought that perhaps this was a real business,” he says.

    One issue that often comes up with KOLs is authenticity. When you work with different brands, how do you maintain your integrity without alienating your fans, who trust your opinions to be genuine and unbiased? “This is key for me and I really try our best to maintain that,” says Liang. “One of my advantages is that until not long ago I was based in the US so I wasn’t exposed to all the brand partnerships and advertising that the KOLs were doing in China so my content was 100 per cent pure editorial, but then I started working with brands and get first hand information while also giving my followers the right information and guidance.”

    So how does Mr Bags, a young man with an innate fashion sense and an encyclopedic knowledge of handbags, guide his followers and win their trust? He only works with brands that his fans “naturally love” and turns down offers all the time. Liang’s fan base is mostly female, and he feels that being a man is not a hindrance. On the contrary, by virtue of being a guy, he is able to provide useful and unbiased advice.

    “My name is Mr Bags and lots of people find this name interesting but also confusing because generally bags are for women,” he says. “Normally when girls shop for a bag they don’t think too much and buy it right away, on impulse, so I help them think more rationally. For example, I categorize all the bags and tell them which ones are the classic pieces and the ones that have more staying power and the most iconic ones so I provide some logic behind their purchases. I think that as a guy I’m more objective and I can give them useful tips. I tell them that if you buy a bag that you can use in your life and enjoy it then you feel that your money is well spent and worth it.”

    Liang believes that his editorial work must come first.“Many people think that KOLs just have fancy lives and go everywhere for fun but in China we have so many channels, like WeChat and Weibo, so it’s really a lot,” he says. “I was just updating my channels on the way here. Editorial content is more important for me; 60 per cent of what we do is still editorial.”

    Achieving the right balance between authentic content and remunerative ad-driven projects is the key factor for being a successful KOL, something that is not always as easy as it seems but Liang has already mastered so far.

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  • MAHB’s record profits come at a cost to the Malaysian economy and tourism

    MAHB’s record profits come at a cost to the Malaysian economy and tourism

    Against a backdrop of a challenging economy and falling profitability in corporate Malaysia, Malaysia Airports Holdings Berhad (MAHB) won a major Malaysian award last week, topping billion ringgit companies for giving its shareholders the best three-year returns in its class.

    MAHB’s net profit more than tripled in 2017 to RM237 million from RM73 million in 2016 – itself nearly double from RM40 million in 2015 – and it is set to break yet another record this year.

    In the write-up that accompanied the award, the sharp increase in profits was attributed to two reasons: an increase in Passenger Service Charge (PSC) and growth in passenger numbers coming through its airports.

    The write-up unabashedly stated that MAHB owed its vastly improved performance to its structural dominance and described MAHB as a structural monopoly.

    Kudos to MAHB. But then, it is not difficult to keep showing such numbers when you are a monopoly.

    Nevertheless, unjustified price increases, such as the PSC hike imposed by MAHB, will lead to unintended consequences when its clients, who have no choice but to use its services, are eventually squeezed out of business. Then, everything will collapse – Malaysia’s tourism arrivals, billions in tourism receipts and revenues to MAHB’s own coffers (a fact it has failed to acknowledge).

    MAHB rewards itself with excessive monopoly profits, yet it provides the Malaysian public with embarrassingly low service levels.

    AirAsia X Malaysia CEO Benyamin Ismail said, “In addition to the RM50 PSC it already imposes, MAHB is now demanding an additional RM23 from each passenger travelling through klia2. The millions of passengers departing from klia2, more than 90 percent of whom fly with AirAsia, will attest to the long walks they have had to endure to reach their gates in what is a passenger-unfriendly airport with inferior facilities yet unjustified high charges.

    “Furthermore, since klia2 opened, there have been constant flight disruptions and cancellations due to major apron and runway defects, unscheduled closure of runways, ponding of water on the best of days and fuel pipeline ruptures.

    “We were sued after we refused to collect the extra RM23 that MAHB has imposed for the sole benefit of its shareholders. We will vigorously fight this suit. We will not be part of this scheme to burden the travelling public by making them pay more for below par services.”

    Benyamin added that while the operating results of klia2 itself were not immediately apparent, AirAsia estimates that MAHB’s returns on capital are well in excess of the level of the cost of capital set by regulators.

    AirAsia Malaysia CEO Riad Asmat said, “The overall tourism sector, one of Malaysia’s biggest revenue earners, and the interests of millions of Malaysians who have been able to fly because of the low fares pioneered by AirAsia, are being threatened by MAHB’s price hikes. We urge the regulators and policy makers to rebuff this unfair and unreasonable attempt by MAHB to use its monopoly to enrich itself further by revisiting and rescinding the decision to raise the PSC.

    “MAHB has argued it needs more profits to operate smaller loss-making airports on behalf of the government, but it is obvious from its exponential growth in profits over the last three years – even after taking into account losses in its Turkish operations – that this is not the case.

    “The additional RM23 to be collected will amount to more than RM100 million a year that will go straight to MAHB’s bottom line rather than to the government. MAHB will continue to be among the most profitable Malaysian companies for many years to come. But this will come at a cost to the wider Malaysian economy and at the expense of engines of growth such as AirAsia and AirAsia X.”

    Riad also referred to MAHB’s defence of its decision to charge the extra RM23 in PSC from each travelling passenger, saying it is “bound by Article 15 of the Chicago Convention of 1944.”

    “This would almost be laughable if it were not so serious. MAHB is falling back on a convention ratified in 1944, when Japan still ruled Malaya and when Frank Whittle was testing the jet engine and when only the well-heeled could fly.

    “For all these reasons, we shall not accede to MAHB’s demands and we will take our battle both to the people and to the court of law.”

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