Asia-Pacific Power List 2022: Jalin Wu, Uniqlo

Jalin Wu

Group SVP, Greater China chief marketing officer, and global digital marketing officer 
Uniqlo
China
New member  

Uniqlo continues its strong momentum in Greater China markets, especially in the mainland. According to Bloomberg, from 2018 to 2022, the brand remained one of top five retailers in the category of women’s clothing. As the only foreign brand that didn’t lose its standing, Uniqlo achieved this status by staying away from contentious political topics and a consistent social media presence. 

Leading the marketing team is Jalin Wu who focuses on branding. Wu believes that products and experiences are the key selling points for the brand and that Uniqlo should “keep innovating, keep improving”.

Prioritising technology over retail, Uniqlo differentiates itself from other fast-fashion brands through its high-tech garments such as HeatTech, AIRism, and UV Cut. The universal appeal and basic designs of their clothing also led to millions of impressions on Chinese social media platforms, such as Red(Xiaohongshu), with female users sharing their Uniqlo favourites, thereby amplifying word-of-mouth marketing. 

Uniqlo is also known to collaborate with various brands on special IPs such as Theory, +J, Ines de la Fressange Paris, Marni, Disney, and Snoopy. These design collaborations create large customer bases, especially through social media. The brand’s UT collection was derived from collaboration and has evolved into a more personalised service for younger consumers. 

Another factor that boosts Uniqlo is that the brand doesn’t merely sink in lower-tier markets in China but rather, creates seamless O+O experiences for consumers leveraging mobile apps such as WeChat and Tmall as well as brick-and-mortar stores. Based on data from its latest financial results, Greater China remains to be the largest overseas market in terms of revenue, contributing almost one quarter of its total global revenue. This is no wonder as Uniqlo is opening 80 to 100 stores in China every year, over half of which are located in third- and fourth-tier cities.

Under the leadership of Wu, the brand boosted its O+O retail model and continues to improve smart logistics in China. Wu also shares digital marketing learnings from Greater China with other global markets, after being titled the global digital marketing officer in 2019. Before joining Uniqlo in 2014, Wu worked for Unilever, Johnson & Johnson, and Coca-Cola in China.