The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Co. has launched a new Chinese website as well as a page on Sina Weibo, the first Mandarin-language social media channel for the brand.
These moves follow a year of Chinese consumer research by Ritz-Carlton. One study was an online pathways project to understand how affluent Chinese consumers felt about the brand’s digital presence and that of its competitors. Another piece of research focused on website designs, content structure, website navigation, digital assets, photographs, page layouts and social conversation.
The research process in China helped us to make subtle changes to design that would resonate,” said Ed French, Ritz-Carlton’s chief sales and marketing officer. “We learned that the color blue is associated with immortality and wisdom, and so the shade of blue used was chosen for its richness and is sampled from the blue found in Chinese porcelain. Another significant finding was the high level of customers’ appreciation for The Ritz-Carlton traditions, history and heritage. There was great desire for our digital channels to reflect that tradition, while also demonstrating that we understand the online preferences in China, and that we are speaking to the audience in a way that is culturally relevant.”
Ritz-Carlton also expects to launch a Chinese mobile site by year-end, and there are plans to double the inventory of Ritz-Carlton hotels in China from eight to 16 within the next three years.