Celine Dion, Yang Lan Set to Make Diamonds a (Chinese) Girl's Best Friend

Celine Dion, Yang Lan Set to Make Diamonds a (Chinese) Girl's Best Friend

BEIJING, Aug. 30 /PRNewswire/ -- Her Village Media Co. Ltd - Feelings Productions Inc., and Her Village Inc., owned respectively by international, pop-music, superstar Celine Dion and famed, Chinese journalist and multi-media host Yang Lan have announced that they have joined forces to create a new line of diamond engagement rings, personal jewelry and exclusive women's accessories to be sold under the corporate name HV Love.

In a recent interview, Yang Lan said that she and Celine Dion will cater to China's urban female consumer, through leveraging China's growing love-affair with diamond jewelry. With the Chinese diamond and precious stone market reaching $20.8 billion (USD) in 2006 - one third of which represented diamond sales alone - and gift and accessories sales reaching $13.1 billion, the new company will combine the extensive multi-media penetration of Sun Media with the mass-popularity of Yang Lan and Celine Dion in China to rapidly establish customer awareness for HV Love. "Our goal is to create a stellar brand under the unified theme of "The Power of Love" and apply the brand to draw customers not just for diamond jewelry, but also associated gift and accessories; all at highly competitive prices" said Ms. Yang.

With an integrated online and offline operational strategy, HV Love plans to grow the business on both a 'bricks and clicks' retailing model. But, in order to immediately capture the potential sales benefits afforded by the upcoming, Beijing Olympics, the new company will begin marketing its jewelry products via an exclusive Internet site at www.HVLove.com. The E-Commerce site will feature a wide selection of diamond engagement rings, associated jewelry products and accessories, personally selected and endorsed by Yang Lan and Celine Dion.

Speaking from the Colosseum at Caesar's Palace in Las Vegas, where she is in the final days of her record breaking, 5 year, sell-out show, 'A New Day', Celine Dion remarked that HV Love would be offering an exclusive collection of jewelry and related accessories, designed to reflect "the most wonderful, human emotion of all - love. Jewelry has the unique ability to convey the power of love in a way that no other item can come close to duplicating. It is at once beautiful to behold, and precious to possess. There is a sense of joy and intimacy about fine jewelry, and we intend to capture those feelings in the creativity and elegance of our collections. Each item is, essentially, a precious work of art, that never loses its meaning. It captures the heart and only grows in personal value as time passes. Our goal is to create a collection of diamond and other fine jewelry and accessories that place elegance of design ahead of price. HV Love has unique advantages to achieve that goal in China."

The company intends to develop its brand equity through establishing a sizable network of company-owned and select, retail storefront partners in key, urban markets, with a projected total number of stores reaching over 200 outlets by 2010. "You cannot build an image of superior quality and design at highly competitive prices without allowing consumers the option of viewing our exclusive products in a store environment," claims Yang Lan. "Consumers want to touch and examine the jewelry in a store-setting before developing an opinion about the craftsmanship, creativity and high standards of quality which the HV Love brand intends to establish. Knowing that the company really exists and that the consumer will always have the option of making their purchase in a real-world, store-setting considerably strengthens consumer trust in the company's claims about their products. Jewelry, most especially something as important as the selection of an engagement ring, is a very significant, personal, purchase-decision. Through offering our customers the dual options of either a store-retailing environment or an e-retailing environment, we intend to establish HV Love as the leading retailer of high quality, diamond engagement rings, jewelry and associated gifts and accessories in China."

Consumer awareness for HV Love will receive a considerable boost from both the extreme popularity of Celine Dion's music in China and by Yang Lan's hugely successful Her Village internet site; the world's largest women's multimedia community with over 40 million on-line visitors per month. Combined with Yang Lan's popular TV news and talk shows her combined audience reach is estimated at over 180 million monthly viewers. As spokespersons with very high consumer loyalty and established reputations for credibility and expertise, both Yang Lan and Celine Dion will play key roles in the design and selection of the jewelry and accessories that the company will offer. Their personal endorsement and promotion of the products sold by HV Love will add a very high level of credibility to the company. With the extensive media capabilities of Sun Media, and an aggressive growth plan for storefronts, the new company anticipates both rapid awareness and sales growth for HV Love within 18 months.

Source: Her Village Media Co. Ltd

CONTACT: Nicholas Topjian, topjian@MERedrock.com, PRC: +86 135 1107 3895
US: +1-201-467-5610

Web site:

http://www.hvlove.com/

-------
Profile: intent