Eight Lucky Tips For Australian Brands To Create Winning Lunar New Year Marketing

Eight Lucky Tips For Australian Brands To Create Winning Lunar New Year Marketing
B&T Magazine
Edited by B&T Magazine



This article was written by Katrina Hall, Head of Diversity and Inclusion at MultiConnnexions Group, Australia’s leading multicultural and diversity marketing and advertising agency.

Lunar New Year (or Chinese New Year, or Spring Festival) is upon us – a festival widely celebrated in China, Hong Kong, Macau, Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia, Taiwan, Vietnam, Korea, and their diaspora communities in Australia and around the world.

With over 1.5 million people in multicultural Australia celebrating Lunar New Year, it is a critical time for brands to target this huge audience – especially as many are stuck in Australia away from family due to COVID. There are lucrative opportunities for some sectors in particular:

  • food and beverage – Lunar New Year feasting is a major part of the festival
  • fashion – new clothes are a must-have to start the new year on a lucky step
  • finance and property – wealth building is in focus at this time of year
  • house and home – spikes in sales for cleaning products, new furniture and home improvements
  • health and beauty – with increased social gatherings, people want to look and feel their best
  • telecommunications – it is a peak period for calls, messages, and data usage as people call friends and family to wish them well

So how can a brand engage? Here are eight useful tips that Australian brands and organisations can implement to engage with Asian Australians celebrating Lunar New Year.

  1. Avoid stereotypes

Although cultural symbols are widely used during Lunar New Year and are an important part of the tradition, it is easy to overuse cultural symbols such as firecrackers, lanterns, red and gold etc. to the point of stereotyping. Looking too traditional can cause a brand to disappear into a sea of sameness. Do not be afraid to stand out from the crowd with a modern aesthetic that references tradition in a respectful and tasteful way. Being an authentic Australian brand joining in the celebrations is a good thing.

  1. Reach your audience on media they love

Platforms like WeChat and Weibo are hugely popular with Chinese and other Asian audiences in Australia. It is very easy and highly impactful to create an owned presence with your own brand’s social media platform or even leverage the power of third-party Australia-based media apps to reach your audience on platforms where they live and breathe. There are also a myriad of Chinese and other Asian-focussed websites that are hugely popular, and other types of media here in Australia that are an impactful way to target your audience.

  1. Harness the power of emotions

Just as we see with Australians celebrating Christmas, Lunar New Year tends to bring out lots of emotions in those celebrating. Positive emotional themes include family, togetherness, hope for a bright future and mending bridges. Your audience will tend to engage more with emotions, special offers and brand goodwill and well wishes rather than a hard-selling approach.

  1. Make the effort and be consistent

Our research shows that Asian Australians would like to see more Lunar New Year campaigns and promotions from Australian brands. Our research also indicates that Asian Australians are more likely to buy from brands that engage with them at Lunar New Year. Making the effort to be consistent with your audience makes it more likely that you will win hearts and minds.

  1. Employ cultural testing

It is not enough to have ‘the Chinese guy from the office’s’ views check your Lunar New Year campaign for you. From strategy to language nuances, imagery, media and more, there are a myriad of factors that impact the success (or failure) of your campaign and one person’s opinion – no matter how trustworthy – cannot provide the detail and level of rigour required. In many cases, the ‘token Chinese office guy’ is a second or third generation who is not representative of your audience. First generation and new migrants tend to be much more language dependent and culturally rooted. Cultural testing with a sample panel is an important step that can iron out any kinks in your campaign while still at the ideas stage.

  1. Keep your target audience at the core of your planning

Many multicultural media plans start from the premise that multicultural consumers are already exposed to the mass market media plan. This spill-over is sometimes real, however it glosses over a few important issues. Firstly, many Asian audiences are language dependent or may prefer to receive communications in their own language. Secondly, many mass market plans do not take into account cultural nuances and preferences and risk alienating (or offending!) the audience with a message that does not resonate.

  1. Decorate and celebrate

Local area marketing and in-store initiatives that feature decorative items such as lanterns, red envelopes and posters are a low-cost and impactful way to attract the attention of those celebrating Lunar New Year.

  1. Be inclusive

Chinese are not the only ones celebrating Lunar New Year. Including other audiences that celebrate is a great way to be inclusive and broaden your reach.




Please login with linkedin to comment

Lunar New Year

Latest News

Marc Collister: AI & Automation Set To Revolutionise Creativity In 2024
  • Opinion

Marc Collister: AI & Automation Set To Revolutionise Creativity In 2024

Marc Collister (pictured) of P2 Content Creators spills the beans on his 2024 predictions drawing from two decades of experience in the advertising, film and television industry. I’m certain it will come as no surprise that in 2024, we can expect our industry to move at breakneck speed again. With even more rapid shifts in […]

Opinion

by B&T Magazine

B&T Magazine
Reddit Recap Reveals That Aussies Went Nuts For The Tillies, Eurovision And, Erm, Finance
  • Technology

Reddit Recap Reveals That Aussies Went Nuts For The Tillies, Eurovision And, Erm, Finance

Reddit’s annual Recap report has revealed the issues and moments that captured Australia’s collective mind over 2023 with, naturally, the Matildas featuring high on the list. The inaugural Australia-hosted Women’s World Cup saw Aussies glued to the footy (or, indeed soccer) with one enterprising user capturing the moment that Cortnee Vine scored the winner against […]

Zeno Group Australia Bolsters Client Offerings With An Expanded Creative Services Portfolio & New Senior Leader
  • Marketing

Zeno Group Australia Bolsters Client Offerings With An Expanded Creative Services Portfolio & New Senior Leader

Zeno Australia has announced expanded creative design capabilities and the appointment of Jim Michell (lead image) to its senior leadership team. The new moves support strong growth in the region. Zeno Australia’s clients, including Abano Healthcare, Motorola and Yorkshire Tea, can now tap into a suite of creative design services to augment the agency’s work […]

Spikes Asia Announces Its 2024 Jury Line-Up
  • Marketing

Spikes Asia Announces Its 2024 Jury Line-Up

Spikes Asia, APAC’s most prestigious and sought-after Award for creativity and marketing effectiveness, has revealed its 2024 Jury line-up today. The 93 industry experts from across 18 markets represent APAC’s leading talent from a diverse range of disciplines. 2024 sees the highest representation from brands, including Budweiser, Procter & Gamble, Unilever and, for the first […]

Assembled Media Inks TikTok Creator Campaign for BIC
  • Campaigns

Assembled Media Inks TikTok Creator Campaign for BIC

Assembled Media, is drawing upon the creative power of TikTok Creator Marketplace to help generate unique, impactful content for iconic stationery brand, BIC. The social activation campaign titled ‘A Pen for Every Side of You’ promotes the flexibility of BIC’s 4 Colours pen and is active nationwide on the BIC Stationery TikTok account. The campaign […]

Big data and analytics visualization technology with scientist analyzing information structure on screen with machine learning to extract predictions for business, finance, internet of things
  • Media

IAB Launches Fourth Module In Its Marketing Measurement Innovation Series

IAB Australia has launched ‘Evolution in Market Mix Modelling’, the fourth module in its Marketing Measurement Innovation Series, which has been developed by IAB Australia’s Ad Effectiveness Council. The module explores what is driving the increased use of MMM and how the technique is evolving with advances in computing power and machine learning to provide […]

Aerial view of a coal fired power station with large cooling towers emitting co2 into the atmosphere. With its lights already turned on the power station is illuminated in moody twilight.
  • Media

Scope3 Expands Carbon Measurement Capabilities To Include DOOH Advertising

Scope3, the collaborative sustainability platform leading the decarbonisation of media and advertising,  announced the addition of digital out-of-home (DOOH) to its emissions measurement. With DOOH ad spending predicted to grow from $17B in 2023 to nearly $24B by 2028, measuring this channel brings us one step closer to understanding the total impact of digital advertising […]

January 14, 2023 - New York, New York, USA: 2023 NRF Big Show press conference with Composition 2024 NRF Singapore.    Photo by Ian Wagreich / © Ian Wagreich Photography
  • Marketing

Now Open For Registration – NRF 2024: Retail’s Big Show Asia Pacific

NRF 2024: Retail’s Big Show Asia Pacific, is now open for online registrations for the main conference. Jointly organized by the National Retail Federation and Comexposium, Retail’s Big Show Asia Pacific will take place from 11 – 13 June, 2024 at the Sands Expo and Convention Centre in Singapore and is expected to draw thousands […]

DBC2 Appoints Jason Fisher To Newly Created Role Of CEO
  • Marketing

DBC2 Appoints Jason Fisher To Newly Created Role Of CEO

Following a period of significant client growth, leading auto marketing agency, DBC2 has appointed Jason Fisher (lead image) to the newly created role of CEO. The appointment is part of DBC2’s long term growth strategy ahead of the agency announcing a brand refresh and expanded proposition in early-2024. As a new shareholder of the business, […]

Three New Hires At Amplify
  • Marketing

Three New Hires At Amplify

Extra pressure on Amplify's Nescafé Blend 43 catering tin today with the arrival of three new recruits.

Boomtown’s Final Masterclass Of 2023 Attended By Almost 100 Media Reps
  • Media

Boomtown’s Final Masterclass Of 2023 Attended By Almost 100 Media Reps

Don’t treat regional media as a charity, but a real growth opportunity: That’s the message from Boomtown’s final masterclass of 2023, attended by almost 100 media industry representatives from across the nation. The masterclass was part of a series of educational sessions, delivered by Boomtown, the media collective championing advertising in regional Australia. The sessions […]