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Restaurant bookings for CNY reunion dinners are filling up fast, and the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) has encouraged Singaporeans to opt for e-hongbao this CNY in a bid to be more environmentally-friendly and complement COVID-19 safe management measures.
According to a study conducted by Marketing in Asia, Google has more CNY-related searches than any other holiday in Singapore (including Christmas), and the volume of CNY Google searches in Singapore is far greater than in neighbouring countries like Hong Kong, Taiwan and Malaysia.
CNY is all about homecoming, reconnecting with loved ones and having a good time. Since there’s such a strong, positive emotional association - many experts agree that CNY is an especially powerful moment for brands to build brand love and equity.
The emotional aspect is an important one - telling an engaging story is 22 times more memorable than using facts in your marketing creatives. If your marketing campaign has a CNY theme that strikes a chord with your audience, your content is more likely to go viral.
Singaporeans are 44% more likely to try out new products and brands during this period than at any time in the rest of the year, with a 43% increase in searches for e-commerce brands during CNY. In 2018, Singaporeans spent a total of 2 million hours on CNY-related content on YouTube (that’s a lot of watch time)! With these figures, it’s no surprise why the CNY sale season is such a big deal in Singapore.
In this article, we’ll be covering a few ideas and tips your brand can use to capitalize on the festivities during Phase 3.
You don’t have to produce a super flashy video ad - if you’re limited by time and budget, consider producing a simple video ad that focuses on being authentic instead.
Authenticity has become another factor to consider in your marketing campaigns. According to a study conducted by Cohn & Wolfe in 2014, 63% of consumers surveyed across 12 global markets would buy from a company that they considered to be authentic over and above its competitors. Furthermore, 60% said they would recommend an authentic business to family and friends.
With live streaming and podcasts becoming more mainstream, it’s become clear that there’s an audience that appreciates media that’s captured raw and “in-the-moment”.
This CNY, you can consider doing a simple live stream or behind the scenes (BTS) video of the office participating in the festivities - such as yusheng, putting up office CNY decor, short interviews or even an office pineapple tarts bake-off competition. This style of video is also great for showcasing your staff and company culture - giving your audience an opportunity to learn more about your brand.
A good example of a brand that does this well is Buzzfeed, who streamed a dance battle between staff members on Facebook, and had a live poll for the audience to vote on their favourite dance act - which was great for audience engagement and building their brand as an internet media company targeting a younger, millennial audience.
However, if you'd rather skip all the hassle of producing your own video and have some budget to spare, you can always consider hiring a professional video production company instead.
Of course, if you’ve got the budget - why not invest the money to produce a video commercial?
Generally speaking, there’s two routes you can take - either the comedic or the emotional approach. We’ll go more in-depth on this topic in a later article, but for now you can check out these two ad examples by Ikea Malaysia and China Central Television (CCTV).
Ikea Malaysia’s “Prepare For A Legendary CNY” Ad
CCTV’s “Father’s Journey” Ad
Another great way to get people into the CNY festive spirit is giving back to the community.
In 2013, McDonald’s Singapore launched their CNY Prosperity menu and pledged to donate 10 cents from the sale of each Prosperity meal to Movement for the Intellectually Disabled of Singapore (MINDS) Children’s Wing - with the goal of raising $60,000 to fund the children’s therapy, social and welfare needs.
Alongside this, McDonald’s staff volunteers also planned festive surprise visits to Orange Valley Homes where they spent time and gave gifts to the elderly, and got them into the CNY spirit with their own “Prosperity lion dance troupe”.
While it’s hard to reach the same scale as McDonald’s, what matters is the act of giving back and sending a positive message - which is more important than the amount of money being raised. Get in touch with a local charity organization and see how your brand can make a contribution!
You can also write a blog post on your website about CNY (much like the article you’re reading right now)!
You don’t have to write a long article post - short articles that are easy to read and with good user experience (UX) are highly favoured by Google’s search engine (remember, high search volume during the CNY period).
Find a topic that aligns your business with the festivities (i.e. CNY recipes if you’re an F&B business, CNY decor ideas if you’re an interior design business, etc) and include links in your article to products/services that your business offers. You can also link to other articles you’ve written to improve your search engine optimization (SEO).
If you’re looking for inspiration, go check out Giant Singapore’s blog, which has a variety of gift ideas and CNY tips in their catalogue.
Navigating the new media landscape posed by the new year and Phase 3 re-opening can be a tough journey. Here at Big 3 Media, we have a suite of services to market your business during these challenging times:
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