Mid-Autumn Festival is arriving soon and a great opportunity to build a deeper connection with Chinese customers. Falling on September 21, it’s not too late to think about a specialized campaign. Our Chinese Marketing experts Xin, Xinyue and Stella have provided their advice on how to leverage this day to strengthen relationships with your Chinese clientele.
What is Mid-Autumn Festival?
Marking the end of the autumn harvest, this holiday is usually celebrated with family gatherings, lanterns and mooncakes. It is the second most important festival in China after Chinese New Year and observed in many other Asian countries such as Singapore, Vietnam, Korea and Malaysia.
How to Celebrate with your Chinese clientele:
1. Create a Mid-Autumn Festival themed video (Xin)
This time of year focuses heavily on family gatherings. Your brand could create a video that highlights family reunion dinners or small parties among friends. The video below was created by Hennessy as part of their campaign to celebrate Mid-Autumn Festival. We understand that you might not have the time or budget to create something like this video campaign, so another simple idea is to post a family-inspired photo on WeChat. This lets your Chinese customers know that you’re thinking about them during this holiday.
2. Send your Chinese clients some mooncakes with your company logo on them (Xinyue)
Mooncakes are a very important part of this celebration. In fact, Mid-Autumn Festival is also known as Mooncake Festival! Sending some mooncakes is a wonderful way of maintaining your connections with your Chinese customers. Before you send them, take a picture and share it on your social platforms such as Weibo. You can also ask your clients to do the same once they’ve received them in their office, before they all get eaten!
3. Run a Promotion or Giveaway (Stella)
Any holiday is a great opportunity for a special promotion or giveaway. Actively engage and reward your Chinese audience during Mid-Autumn Festival by offering a special prize. With a simple call to action such as “Follow us on WeChat for your chance to win”, your brand can use this occasion to increase your online following. Make sure to also remember that this is a very joyful holiday, so try to keep your messaging fun and cheerful.
We hope that this article has inspired some strategies surrounding Mid-Autumn Festival. As always, it’s important to remember that marketing efforts focused on cultural holidays should be treated with care. Really understanding the history and nuances of these celebrations is the key to success. There’s no one-size-fits-all solution, contact us and our Chinese marketing team would be thrilled to help you come up with specific ideas based on your business’s goals.
