By Emily Qiu
马蹄先响，祥瑞照面，万象更新皆向好。
The sound of hooves heralds blessings, and everything begins anew for the better.
The 2026 Chinese New Year (aka Spring Festival) is just around the corner. On 17 February 2026, we will officially welcome the Year of the Horse. In Chinese culture, the horse symbolises speed, versatility, and optimism. For brands, the Year of the Horse carries particularly auspicious meanings: charging forward, achieving breakthroughs, and taking the lead.
If you have been waiting for the right moment to launch or upgrade your Chinese marketing strategy, the 2026 CNY campaign is the perfect opportunity. This zodiac year is ideal for bold ideas and building meaningful brand momentum.
But the question is, how can you ensure your marketing investment truly makes an impact, rather than fading away like a fleeting spark amid the festival bustle?
Keep reading.
Why the Traditional CNY Marketing Formula Is Failing
The issue is not effort; it is predictability.
The standard CNY playbook usually includes:
- Red-and-gold visuals paired with emotional family narratives
- Celebrity-led New Year greetings and hongbao promotions
- Zodiac-themed limited-edition packaging
- Generic greetings such as “新年快乐” (Happy Chinese New Year)
While these elements are culturally recognisable, they have become overused and interchangeable. As a result, most audiences will barely notice your brand, and you will miss crucial opportunities for high-impact exposure and long-term recall.
The core problem lies in a shallow understanding of what Chinese New Year truly represents. Many brands often focus only on decorations like gold, red, firecrackers, and zodiac animals, but miss the deeper cultural traditions. Campaigns designed this way inevitably fall flat.
What Successful Chinese New Year Campaigns Get Right
Brands that consistently succeed during Chinese New Year share a few core principles. These are not gimmicks, they are strategic foundations.
Insight – Unveil the “New Year Atmosphere” and Discover Real Human Insights
Every single year, hundreds of thousands of Chinese communities celebrate the Chinese New Year here in Australia. Beyond putting up couplets (the red calligraphy banners placed on doorways) and the “福” character on their gates, they are navigating complex emotions:
- Loneliness from being away from family
- Anxiety and emotional loss from not being able to return home
- Strong desire for self-expression
- The pressure of building a life alone overseas, coupled with hope for a fresh start
- Younger generations redefining “tradition” in a multicultural context
These shared emotions present a golden opportunity for brands. Those who authentically tap into these insights are the ones who truly succeed.
Strategy – Make Your Brand Join in the Celebrations
Rather than acting as a polite outsider offering distant greetings, brands can integrate into the celebration. Here are a few strategies that may give you some inspiration:
- Make your product look like a meaningful CNY gifting option by linking its unique features to cultural rituals
- Leverage culturally resonant food rituals to reinforce feelings of reunion, belonging, and pride during key reunion occasions
- Position the brand as an empathetic partner rather than simply stressing its functional benefits
- Use culturally relevant, shareable experiences to turn Chinese celebration moments into organic brand advocacy within the Chinese Australian community
Channel – Multi-Channel Approach
The Effective Frequency Theory (Krugman, 1972) suggests that consumers typically require two to three meaningful exposures before a brand moves from awareness to memory formation. Given that there are 1.4 million people living in Australia with Chinese ancestry, and this number is still growing (Cultural Atlas, 2025), a multi-channel approach is strongly recommended to build meaningful brand stickiness and awareness in this short yet highly valuable marketing period.
Speaking of this, RED and WeChat are the go-to platforms. Not only because of their large Chinese-speaking user base, but also due to their effective marketing ecosystems. An influencer campaign, a RED Ads campaign, or a WeChat ads campaign could give your brand a strong momentum and perfect head start.
Moreover, Meta platforms offer an effective way to reach your target audience. With Meta Business Manager, your ads can be precisely targeted to Chinese-speaking communities across Australia. All it takes is creating engaging Chinese copy that thoughtfully reflects cultural nuances, ensuring your message resonates authentically.
Red is Auspicious, but Red Lines is not
Even with years of engagement with the Chinese community, top-tier brands can still misstep with overused or wrongly used elements such as red colour, Asian-faced models, or zodiac motifs, which can easily backfire.
Also, perceptions shift quickly among Chinese-speaking audiences, and it’s crucial for brands to keep pace with them. For example, Prada’s Year of the Snake campaign was initially praised in China, but viewers joked that the snake illustration looked like a long queue of tourists waiting at a famous attraction, which was an unintended mocking association that Prada didn’t want.
Images: used for editorial purposes only; brands shown (Prada, Gucci, Bottega Veneta) are the property of their respective owners.
Navigate Your Big Opportunity with CHIN
Chinese New Year is a moment of heightened sensitivity. Small missteps are magnified, but so are meaningful connections. With strong cultural insights and great attention to language nuances, brands can turn this moment into long-term value.
That’s where CHIN comes in.
From cultural research and strategic planning to platform execution and performance optimisation, CHIN supports brands in navigating CNY campaigns with clarity, confidence, and impact—turning cultural understanding into measurable business results.
Contact us today to create a tailored strategy that connects authentically and performs effectively.
References
Cultural Atlas. (2025). Chinese Culture. Cultural Atlas. https://culturalatlas.sbs.com.au/chinese-culture/chinese-culture-population-statistics
Krugman, H. E. (1972). Why Three Exposures May Be Enough. Journal of Advertising Research, 12(6), 11–14. https://doi.org/10.1080/00218499.1972.12519370
