Fashion + NFTs = Game

French fashion house Louis Vuitton dipped its toes into the world of mobile games earlier this month by releasing Louis the Game in a move that's interesting from a few different angles.

The game, which offers the story of the company's origin from the eyes of its mascot while also offering 30 free NFTs, was downloaded more than a million times in its first two weeks.

According to our estimates, 85% of downloads came from China. The reason? The game had a very strong launch campaign to back it up. Louis Vuitton released a WeChat sticker pack as part of the campaign, and the game was fully localized into Chinese, giving it social-share appeal.

Although downloads have subsided quickly, there are two interesting insights here:

Big in China. Louis Vuitton, a French company, released a game in English and Chinese. That says a lot about where it's looking for new buyers. China's market, which has become much more accessible via mobile apps, expands the pool that used to only include the U.S.

We see it with games, shopping, and fashion. But... Operating in China isn't as simple as building once and deploying globally. Cultural differences and different laws and regulations require building for China. The numbers are there, so I fully expect to see more companies vying for this new market to build separately for China.

Chasing the trend. NFTs and digital art are all the rage these days, so it's no surprise brands are trying to ride the wave. But the speed at which this came together is what's interesting here. Just a few years ago, things moved much slower. Campaigns took longer to set, and new trends weren't adopted very quickly.

Today it's NFTs, next month it could be something else. As life slowly moves into the metaverse, the brands who follow the trends most quickly will be the ones to win.