Social Media and the Chinese New Year
The Chinese New Year of the Horse kicks off in style all across the world this January. From Hong Kong, Beijing, across to Sydney and even London, people are preparing to celebrate. The largest festival outside of Asia takes place in London, starting on the 30th January and spanning 15 days. In the social media world, promotions and trends are increasing at quite a gallop. Many companies, such as Coca Cola and Tommy Hilfiger, have already taken advantage of the New Year, offering freebies to promote their brand. The Chinese festivity offers a huge opportunity for businesses to create alluring content that will direct consumers to your brand.
The festival is much more than novelty and tradition; Chinese authorities have predicted that close to 3.6 billion people will travel both within and outside of China during the festive season. Travel companies, especially those based in China, have jumped on this chance to increase their social media reach. This year BA China and Social@Ogilvy launched their first WeChat campaign to celebrate the New Year with their followers. WeChat is Chinas most popular messaging app, and the company strategically planned the launch in the festive period in order to lure its existing 350,000 or so followers onto the platform. The campaign was a huge success, partly thanks to the freebies offered by the company. The first 2014 followers to join the platform received red envelopes in the post containing vouchers to the value of around £30.
Furthermore, the tradition of 'red envelopes' - the giving of money in red envelopes each year, and the red symbolising good luck and prosperity - has flowed over into the social media sphere. WeChat has created a payment feature, allowing users to gift money to their friends and family. Dubbed the 'social media equivalent of Chinas traditional red envelopes', WeChat have grasped onto the festive tradition and used it to boost the users of their new feature.
Furthermore, the tradition of 'red envelopes' - the giving of money in red envelopes each year, and the red symbolising good luck and prosperity - has flowed over into the social media sphere. WeChat has created a payment feature, allowing users to gift money to their friends and family. Dubbed the 'social media equivalent of Chinas traditional red envelopes', WeChat have grasped onto the festive tradition and used it to boost the users of their new feature.
With just over one third of the worlds population celebrating the Chinese New Year, there is good reason to get involved. Even if your product is not entirely befitting to your brand identity, you can still get involved. There are a lot of public holidays, and those celebrating will be enjoying a bit of downtime. This means you'll have a lot of users online, browsing the net and looking for engaging things to read or share with friends. You can still adapt the theme of red (prosperity and good luck) and of horses to boost your brand and entice new followers to your social media platforms. Join the #ChineseNewYearCelebrations trend and get involved!
Charlotte Callaghan
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Social Media and the Chinese New Year
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