Bentley assigns Deluxewords to publish new Chinese-language magazine

Like the Year of the Snake campaign Bentley launched last week, the introduction of the simplified-Chinese edition of the magazine underlines the market's importance for the brand. China currently has more than 6500 Bentley owners, and the Greater China Region (China, Taiwan and Hong Kong) is now Bentley’s second largest global market, with 2,253 deliveries in 2012, representing year-on-year growth of 23 per cent.

The new title will be produced in association with Bentley Motors China and co-published with FMS, the UK-based publisher of Bentley’s English-language magazine. 

Daniel Jeffreys, founder of Deluxewords, told Campaign Asia-Pacific that half of the new magazine’s content will be drawn from the English-language edition, but with considerable localization, while the rest of the content will be sourced from the brand’s calendar of events and launches in the Greater China region. 

The English-language edition currently includes Chopard, Ralph Lauren, Franck Muller and Breitling as brand partners. Existing advertisers like Breitling and St. Regis Group are most likely to be in the debut of the 100-page Bentley Chinese magazine, which will have an initial print run of 10,000. Advertising sales will be coordinated by the Deluxewords team in Hong Kong and Beijing.

The magazine will have its official launch at the 2013 Shanghai Motor Show on 20 April. Apart from distribution to Bentley owners in Greater China, the new magazine will also appear in Bentley dealerships throughout the country. The brand has 24 dealerships in Greater China, with 21 on the Mainland.

Till Scheer, managing director of Bentley Motors Greater China, said the brand has scheduled 12 new dealership openings in Greater China for March and April. 

According to Jeffreys, the prices of the standard Bentley models in China range from US$512,000 to US$992,000 (RMB 3.2 million to 6.2 million). Asked which brands Bentley competes with for affluent car buyers in China, Jeffreys cited Rolls Royce, Aston Martin and Maserati, but excluded Audi, BMW and Mercedes-Benz.