November 4th, 2009

A great idea that leaves a lot to be desired.

I am not sure what the internet experience is like in China, or what appeals to them visually when looking a web pages but I am rather confused about the recently launched cColbert.fr. The site created by the respected Comité Colbert in partnership with China’s biggest portal sina.com is intended as a 3D virtual tour of French luxury and “a China charm offensive” due to slumping sales on traditional luxury markets; the Asian country saw luxury goods growth this year of 12% (Bain & Company).
The tour consists of images and video clips from that seem a bit dated and the 3D experience rests on floating photos moving around the screen. An article reported that for the launch 3D glasses were distributed, but what is the viewer at home supposed to do?
The “users can watch a ballet performance, drool over patisseries, check out Paris hot spots and see the latest watches, perfumes and scarves;” promise fell short as I did not get the feeling I was seeing any new product or hot spots. The Portfolio section, where you are supposed to discover the brands fails to list them, the only way to find out which luxury names are involved is by clicking on random images arranged as a kaleidoscope. In my search for the different names that are part of this project I ended up seeing the same ones many times over. Boring.

Like I said, maybe this will have amazing appeal to the Chinese market ; perhaps this is the way to appeal a new consumer; maybe in the two years that it took to develop they decided to go with generic images. Nonetheless I am still very baffled about the project price tag: €250 000.
Laura Minquini

French luxury preens on website in China. AFP