- Gordon Dumoulin
Do’s and Don’ts in Chinese New Year special edition promotions
Spring Festival, better known abroad as Chinese New Year presents a unique opportunity for businesses to connect with Chinese customers through celebrating and supporting cultural traditions.
By simply offering wishes or more engaged preparing promotions and special editions or services related to Chinese New Year, businesses can demonstrate their appreciation for their customers or relations, potentially building stronger relationships with them in the new year. It is one of the most important sales and relation-building seasons of the year.
On the other hand, the festival is also the most sensitive time for especially brands as Chinese New Year is a special time for Chinese people being a pause to the busy lives focused on family and tradition. Making and having a happy and meaningful time together in harmony is the sole purpose and anything disturbing this might be seriously harmful for brand reputation.
𝗗𝗼’𝘀 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗖𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗲𝘀𝗲 𝗡𝗲𝘄 𝗬𝗲𝗮𝗿 𝗯𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗱𝘀
Do understand and respect the Chinese culture and traditions of Chinese New Year
Do engage emotionally in your campaign about the ways that your products help people and families get the most out of the special quality family time together.
Do engage in quality and appearance, Chinese New Year is not the time for people searching endlessly for bargains and they want the best for their family, relatives and business relations. But naturally competitiveness remains as always in the market 😊
𝗗𝗼𝗻’𝘁𝘀 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗖𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗲𝘀𝗲 𝗡𝗲𝘄 𝗬𝗲𝗮𝗿 𝗯𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗱𝘀
Don’t touch perspectives other than family, tradition, culture and togetherness. Unless it has a strong positive bond resonating with one of the Chinese New Year emotion basics. Don’t raise attention to e.g. social perspectives, it is definitely not the time.
Don’t try to stand out without cultural and traditional consideration. Personalising to target segments is a necessity for the Chinese market to get consumer attention but still needs to fit in the overall emotion of Chinese New Year. A fine line…
Don’t stereotype just sticking Chinese cultural motifs on your products, seemingly out of touch. Chinese New Year designs should be an integration of the cultural emotions.
Don’t forget considering the countless cultural emotion nuances in colors, translation, design and most of all in the overall message. Definitely don’t ridicule cultural aspects as ‘harmless irony’, Chinese people are usually keen on ironic humor but with sensitivity.
Chinese New Year is a wonderful and unique time for the people and also for the business, if you are prepared for it.