Flipboard Teams with BlueFocus to Target the Chinese Luxury Market
It’s one thing for companies selling branded luxury goods and premium products ranging from jewelry to clothing, cars, and alcohol to target the emerging wealthy, but it’s certainly a confirmation point when magazines and apps start to target that market for advertising dollars alongside those luxury goods and services. We see this move by Flipboard as just that for our Emerging Wealthy investment theme.
Flipboard, to further its appeal among users in China, has established a separate business unit in the Asian country called aptly Flipboard China. The new entity is a joint venture with communication group BlueFocus and will result in a standalone product — essentially becoming its own startup.
Another reason to establish a more formal beachhead in the country is to tap into its luxury, or high-end, advertising market. This has been the modus operandi of Flipboard for years: “Brands want to go where there’s high-quality content. They don’t want to be next to a diet ad or a picture of you in a bar.
When you have a long-tail of advertisers that number in the millions, you can’t create that type of experience,” company CEO Mike McCue once opined. BlueFocus was chosen because it can help Flipboard tap into the luxury market with its marquee brands and focus on premium products. “BlueFocus works with top brands in the country and they’re looking for a high-quality platform,” Zhao said.
