Louis Vuitton, Chanel, Gucci, and Burberry are testing the Chinese microblogging service Weibo to research their most promising market of the future from the inside.

The platform, which grows at 10 million users per month, has been attracting an elite of Western luxe brands over the past month, testing ideas for campaigns or other projects directly on their Chinese audience.

“You can immediately see how the market and your following will respond to something if you want to do research” said Leaf Greener, fashion editor of Elle China.

Just like Twitter, Weibo lets its users post updates of up to 140 characters, “which in Mandarin Chinese is substantial, allowing for more detailed expression,” BoF states.

Thanks to more sophisticated features that resemble those on Facebook, the internet portal is well mapped-out to serve as a marketing testing tool for international fashion brands.

Sources: AFPrelaxnews – The Business of Fashion