Chow Yun-Fat is Hugo Boss' first Asian celebrity brand ambassador

This marks the first time the brand has used an Asian person, and the first time it has used a celebrity, as a brand ambassador. 

Chow is a household name among both Chinese and Western audiences thanks to movies such as Anna and the King, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and A Better Tomorrow.

A Hugo Boss spokesperson pointed out that Chow's appointment reflects the growing importance of Greater China and the Asian market to the brand. The brand endorsement contract is for 2012 and 2013.

Chow will appear in an advertising campaign presenting a number of both formal and casual looks from the BOSS Selection Autumn/Winter 2012 collection, which is the high-end men's collection targeting the 40-something year-old consumers.

The campaign was created by Hugo Boss’ German crew in Europe. They travelled to Hong Kong in March for a photoshoot on a hotel rooftop in the Tsim Sha Tsui district, with the skycrapers of Central as the backdrop.

Hugo Boss celebrated its 25th anniversary in Hong Kong, Singapore and Taiwan, and its 30th in Asia-Pacific.

Gerrit Ruetzel, president and CEO of Hugo Boss Asia-Pacific remarked, “we are most honoured to have Chow Yun-Fat as the first Asian testimonial in the history of Hugo Boss. He possesses not only immaculate style and class, but also the confidence and charisma of a man of distinction. He is the true embodiment of the spirit of the brand.”

MPG is the media agency partner for the brand in China.The print and OOH campaign will be out this August in Asia. 

A spokesperson for Hugo Boss Hong Kong pointed out that Chow’s appointment signals the growing importance of the Asian market for luxury brands, and because of this, there is now growing competition amongst many international brands for Asian celebrities, sports stars and artists to be signed up as brand ambassadors.

Recent examples include Taiwanese/Japanese actor Takeshi Kaneshiro featuring in Emporio Armani's S/S 2012 ad campaign, which also uses Hong Kong's cityscape as its backdrop.

Well-known Chinese actress Zhou Xun is now brand ambassador for Chanel.