By Han Peng
The Moon Festival, also known as the Mid-Autumn Festival, is fast approaching. As the second grandest festival in China after the Lunar New Year, it holds profound meaning for Chinese people worldwide.
For local Australian brands, the Moon Festival presents not only a chance to boost sales but also a vital opportunity to strengthen their presence within the local Chinese Australian community. So, how can you navigate this marketing battleground, avoid pitfalls, and truly stand out?
In this article, our Chinese marketing experts will provide insights on how to use this festival to strengthen connections with your Chinese Australian clients, partners and audience.
5 DON’Ts
To help navigate the complexities of this culturally rich festival, let’s first explore five don’ts to avoid that could impact your success in reaching and converting Chinese consumers.
1. “China Red”
One common mistake Western brands make about Chinese consumers is assuming they always prefer “China red”. This fiery red, deeply embedded in Chinese culture, symbolises prosperity, celebration, and joy. Yet, red is not a one-size-fits-all solution for your Chinese marketing; in fact, overusing it can lead to aesthetic fatigue.
To truly captivate Chinese communities, brands must thoughtfully use the colour red. Opting for more nuanced shades like gold, terra cotta, or red copper can lend a refreshing twist to traditional colour palettes, aligning with Chinese cultural preferences. Additionally, by incorporating red into premium textures, brands can elevate their offerings to evoke a sense of luxury and sophistication.
- Cultural Misunderstanding
When crafting Moon Festival marketing campaigns, brands should avoid falling into the trap of cultural misunderstanding and exercise caution with cultural symbols or idioms. Icons like mooncakes, the full moon, jade rabbits, and Chang’e are not just festive symbols; they hold deep cultural significance and emotional resonance.
Misusing these symbols can lead to misunderstandings or discomfort, potentially harming a brand’s image and market performance. That is why it is crucial for brands to prioritise cultural sensitivity, ensuring that the marketing elements they incorporate align with the local cultural background of their target audience.
- Language Errors
Language errors, ranging from minor spelling and grammar mistakes to mistranslations, present another challenge. Merely translating marketing materials from English to Chinese isn’t enough. Language and culture intertwine, and what works in one language may have a different impact when translated into another.
This can lead to confusing, inappropriate, or offensive messages, ultimately harming the brand’s credibility. Chinese consumers expect clear and effective communication, and linguistic errors can undermine trust.
- Sensitive Topics
For Western or international brands seeking to establish a positive presence in the Australian Chinese market, it is essential to be aware of China’s political landscape. Certain taboos, such as discussions about China’s territorial borders, political figures, and controversial historical events, should be avoided. Addressing these topics in your festival campaign can provoke negative reactions and damage your brand’s image.
- Lack of Sincerity
To capture a share of the Moon Festival revenue pie, many Australian businesses have launched marketing campaigns targeting Chinese consumers. However, achieving commercial success during the Moon Festival is not as simple as using specific colours or merely offering mooncakes. It requires a genuine empathy and deep understanding of this cultural celebration.
Without this, marketing efforts can remain superficial and may inadvertently offend Chinese consumers. What Chinese consumers truly expect from brands is sincere attention and commitment to their culture. It’s important to avoid any actions that appear to exploit the culture solely for commercial gain, and instead, focus on creating meaningful and respectful marketing campaigns.
5 DOs
Now that you’re familiar with the pitfalls to avoid, it’s time to explore five critical Dos for crafting a winning Moon Festival Marketing plan.
- Moon Festival Greetings
Similar to Chinese New Year, the Moon Festival is also an important occasion to greet your Chinese consumers, clients, and partners. CHIN’s customised Moon Festival cards, tailored specifically for businesses in Australia, have been widely appreciated by our clients. If you are interested in the 2024 design, feel free to send us an email, and we will share it with you before the official launch.
- Play with Mooncakes
Today, mooncakes have transcended their traditional role as essential food for the Mid-Autumn Festival, evolving into symbols of rich social significance. For brands, mooncakes offer a unique medium to connect with their Chinese audience, particularly the younger generation, catalysing brand image revitalisation.
Brands can leverage mooncake flavours and packaging as focal points in their Mid-Autumn Festival marketing campaigns. GODIVA, an early entrant into the Chinese mooncake market, exemplifies this approach. Traditionally, mooncakes feature flavours like five nuts, white lotus, or red beans. To stand out from competitors, this global luxury chocolate brand embraced innovation. For the 2023 Moon Festival, GODIVA introduced a chocolate mooncake gift box inspired by its signature chocolates, featuring exclusive flavours such as Black Truffle Apricot Dark Chocolate and Lychee Oolong Tea White Chocolate. Each flavour is a symphony of taste that unfolds with every bite, delighting chocolate lovers and leaving them craving more.
The packaging of this gift box was also meticulously designed with a painterly texture, combining artistic and collectible value. This innovative strategy seamlessly blended the cultural essence of mooncakes with GODIVA’s brand identity, strongly resonating with young Chinese Australians and sparking active engagement on social media.
- Align Brand Values with Chinese Consumers
The campaign concept is crucial to effective festival marketing planning. Drawing inspiration from traditional culture or broader social issues is a valid approach for brands, but the key lies in demonstrating a profound understanding of Chinese culture and context to resonate with consumer values truly.
Last year, on the eve of the Mid-Autumn Festival, the beloved Chinese tea cafe brand HEYTEA launched a new drink named “Moon Gazing (月观)”. The concept and packaging design were inspired by the moonlight and Su Shi’s famous poem, “水调歌头·明月几时有”. Accompanied by a smooth and gentle tasting experience and visually appealing moon-themed merchandise, HEYTEA also collaborated with a Chinese folk orchestra to produce a captivating video.
This video reimagined scenes from the Northern Song Dynasty when Su Shi celebrated the Mid-Autumn Festival, garnering 210,000 views across various online platforms upon release. HEYTEA’s marketing campaign successfully facilitated an emotional connection between consumers and traditional culture, reinforcing its alignment with consumer values and enhancing its marketing reach.
- Choose the Right Medium
Identifying the proper social media channels can significantly boost the effectiveness of your Moon Festival campaign. To truly stand out in the Chinese market, brands must carefully select the appropriate social media platforms and leverage their unique features. WeChat and, notably, RED (Little Red Book) have proven highly effective for engaging with Chinese consumers.
Official data from RED reveals an impressive 585,000 Chinese users residing in Australia. As a hub for beauty, fashion, and lifestyle content, RED simplifies reaching a young and trendy demographic. If your marketing content is visually appealing and targets young female users, RED is an ideal platform for engagement. Based on our experience, you can establish an official RED account for a long-term presence or launch a festival campaign on RED for immediate results.
WeChat, with its vast user base, is another essential social media application for your Moon Festival campaign. Its enclosed virtual ecosystem provides unique marketing opportunities through WeChat article posts or mini-programs. However, achieving a broader reach may require additional advertising expenses, as WeChat marketing typically relies on existing followers. Despite the peak popularity of WeChat Official Accounts having passed, high-quality content still significantly enhances brand visibility on the platform.
- Enhance Campaign Visibility via influencer Collaborations
Remember, a compelling festival campaign can still fall short without adequate participation. The most direct route to boosting campaign popularity is collaboration with Key Opinion Leaders (KOLs) and Key Opinion Consumers (KOCs). With the high credibility and strong engagement with their followers, these influencers are your ticket to spreading your brand’s message to a wider audience and driving conversions.
A prime example is the emerging Chinese fragrance brand To Summer, which conducted a Moon Festival event called “Turn into the Peace of Night (月下雅集)” in 2023. This event visualized Eastern culture and aesthetics, highlighting the brand’s deep respect for traditional values. By leveraging KOL and KOC promotions on RED, To Summer increased significantly brand awareness and participation.
For brands planning to market to the Chinese community during this Mid-Autumn Festival, it is wise to choose KOLs or KOCs whose followers align closely with your target demographic. This alignment will ensure that your message reaches the right audience and maximizes campaign effectiveness.
Ultimately, the key to successful Chinese festival marketing lies in truly understanding the Chinese community in Australia and appreciating its cultural nuances. Feeling inspired by these ideas? Contact our marketing team today for a tailored strategy for your business. Please email us at info@chincommunications.com.au or call 1300 792 446.