With Lunar New Year approaching next month, we look at the opportunities on the horizon for advertisers, as well as the challenges these bring about. As the holiday approaches, what should advertisers consider? 

In just over three weeks, China’s Spring Festival, or Lunar New Year (LNY) celebrations will begin for more than a billion people across the APAC region. It’s one of the global calendar’s biggest holidays of heightened spending, with consumers directing money towards travel and gifts.  

"The upcoming year of the Fire Horse is associated with energy, passion, and transformation. Like horses, brands should focus on consistency over quick wins, optimising to run a long race over a fast, one-off race."

Ci En Lee, Publicis Media

Last year, the figures saw a serious expansion, with Chinese consumers hitting a new spending record for the season.

Over 500 million trips were made within China during last year’s eight-day travel season, according to the country’s Ministry of Culture and Tourism, an increase of almost 6% from the previous year: in total, tourism spending surged by 7%.  

Consumers worldwide continue to face financial headwinds, but it looks like this year’s spending could break records again. Insights collected indicate a positive outlook for consumer spending during the period in many APAC regions. 

Over half of Thai consumers and 62% of Vietnamese expect to spend more this year. Singaporeans appear to be taking a more cautious approach to spending around the holiday, with only 31% planning to increase spend. However, almost six in ten still expect to spend about the same amount as last year. 

Tapping into the opportunities 

The holiday creates a number of clear opportunities for advertisers. First and foremost, it’s a time of heightened spending for consumers in the region; people are already on the lookout to make an increased number of purchases. 

While they are browsing in preparation to make, and finally making those purchases, they will be spending more time online, where they can be exposed to more ads through all online channels, from social media to the open web. 

Big Tech has already been going big on its efforts to reel in consumers. Tencent Holdings and Baidu committed a combined 1.5bn yuan (£157m) to their digital red envelope campaigns.

Tencent, alongside Alibaba, are also preparing to use China’s Lunar New Year gala broadcasts, which are among the country’s most watched TV events, to broadcast their latest AI apps to a sea of consumers. 

Ci En Lee, senior media strategist at Publicis Media Singapore, shares some insight:

"The world’s largest human migration has begun, with billions returning home to reunite with their families across Greater China, Korea, Southeast Asia, and beyond. Brands are 'migrating' as well, lifting the tide of the 'Red Ocean' with ads featuring red envelopes, firecrackers, zodiac animals, and often cliché narratives around family reunions.

The key challenge for brands is standing out in the sea of sameness, where it’s easy for brands to look the same, sound the same, and pump out the same message in different clothes. Marketers should not be distracted by capturing attention, but seek to earn attention, as voluntary ad views are more powerful than forced views. In other words, we should be creating experiences or ads that people actually want to watch or engage with – instead of merely adding to the noise.

The upcoming year of the Fire Horse is associated with energy, passion, and transformation. Like horses, brands should focus on consistency over quick wins, optimising to run a long race over a fast, one-off race. This means planning beyond the Spring Festival, and earning the attention and relevance of consumers throughout the year."

The challenges 

But what are the challenges when it comes to planning and executing ad campaigns around the holiday? 

Firstly, the holiday can bring about timing challenges, with celebrations falling on a different date each year. This can compress timelines for advertisers, who may often work to a very structured calendar plan, forcing deadlines forward and requiring campaigns to be ready earlier some years than others. This should be kept in mind for media booking windows and production schedules. 

Consumers often make purchasing decisions weeks in advance, so executing campaigns on time could make all the difference. 

Advertisers can encounter challenges with cost, too. Media costs spike, given the high demand for ad space during the holiday in many Asian markets. This is the case particularly for TV and social platforms. This is also something that should be considered in advance, when planning budgets for the following year. 

When it comes to targeting, there’s a lot to consider. There are diverse demographics celebrating the Lunar New Year, from ages, diasporas, communities, to urban versus rural consumers. Like with most types of ad campaigns, a single message will rarely resonate with all. The ever-present task of knowing your audience is important here.