Happy Lunar New Year from the #TIATeam!
Lunar New Year, also known as Spring Festival, is celebrated widely around the world by many East Asian communities as a time to honour traditions and wish for good fortune in the year to come. The 15-day festival falls sometime between January 21st and February 20th each year, depending on the first new moon in the lunar calendar.
With the East Asian community making up a significant portion of the North American population, many brands have recognized this as an important holiday and built Lunar New Year campaigns around limited-edition product launches and collaborations.
Here are our favourite Lunar New Year marketing campaigns that brought these brands new fans and great fortune!
Tommy Hilfiger x Miffy | 2023
While wearing rabbit prints isn’t typically deemed ultra-fashionable, Tommy Hilfiger and Miffy, pop-culture’s most adorable rabbit, totally changed the game in 2023.
To celebrate the Lunar New Year and the Year of the Rabbit, they released a TOMMY X MIFFY collection that comprised 50 womenswear, menswear, and kidswear pieces. They featured Miffy on Tommy Hilfiger’s iconic sweatshirts, reversible varsity jackets, oversized cardigans, denim jackets, bags, hats, and trainers.
With its youthful, playful, sporty, and preppy chic vibes, the collection upheld Miffy’s positivity and adventurous spirit—something definitely worth taking notes from as you enter a new year. Thanks to these designs, anyone could wear the luckiness of a cute rabbit on their sleeve….and jeans, hat, bag—pretty much on everything.
Sephora Lunar New Year Marketing Campaign | 2022
Sephora has done an inspiring job over the past few years with its Lunar New Year marketing strategy, with many makeup and beauty brands carried at the retailer offering limited edition product lines in celebration of the holiday.
The company makes a point to collaborate with East Asian influencers to promote the products, allowing them to tell the story of what the Lunar New Year means to them personally. They also released a beautiful video to accompany the campaign that struck just the right note in honouring traditions and inspiring hope for the East Asian community following the #StopAsianHate movement that gained momentum in 2021.
Nobis x Fête Chinoise | 2022
Nobis is a luxury Canadian outerwear brand that is now available in over 40 countries.
For their 2022 Lunar New Year Marketing Campaign, they partnered with Fête Chinoise—a Chinese-Canadian cultural platform—to design a special edition print and collection celebrating bravery and courage, which are key themes for the Year of the Tiger.
The brand also enlisted the talent of renowned Canadian director and photographer, Justin Wu, to capture the capsule collection, which included a bucket hat and two jackets.
Barbie x Guo Pei | 2022
Image source: Instagram
Mattel’s iconic doll received an auspicious Lunar New Year makeover in collaboration with Guo Pei, China’s first and only officially recognized couturier.
The special edition Barbie highlighted traditional Chinese culture wonderfully. It was outfitted in a stunning red and gold number that thoughtfully honoured the new year: a golden phoenix symbolizing grace and a water motif representing wealth and resilience.
With Mattel making the move to expand the Barbie collection to be more diverse and inclusive in recent years, this Guo Pei collaboration is a welcome addition and truly one of the best Lunar New Year campaigns we’ve seen.
Kiehl’s x Mojo Wang | 2022
Image source: Instagram
If you’re a skincare enthusiast, you’re likely familiar with Kiehl’s, an apothecary skincare brand that’s been around since 1851.
For their Lunar New Year marketing campaign in 2022, they released a collection of some of their most beloved products repackaged in colourful designs by Mojo Wang, an illustrator and comic artist based in NYC. The funky artwork added a quirky twist to Kiehl’s classics as they totally succeeded at embodying the festive season.
Lay’s #LNYwithLays Lunar New Year Marketing Campaign | 2022
Canada’s favourite potato chip brand brought a taste of Asia to North America with the introduction of two of China’s most popular Lay’s flavours to the Canadian market.
Cucumber as well as Chicken and Tomato were permanently added to the Lay’s lineup, providing the perfect snack to enjoy on Lunar New Year. The brand partnered with a handful of East Asian-Canadian creators for their Lunar New Year marketing campaign to share how the chips will play a role in their own celebrations and culinary traditions.
Aritzia x Debbie Tea | 2022
Image source: Instagram
Aritzia’s whimsical Lunar New Year collection included a selection of their iconic loungewear (in lucky red, of course), upgraded for the Year of the Tiger with illustrations by Debbie Tea.
The artist from Jakarta is a Tiger baby herself and pulled inspiration from memories of family, food, and celebration surrounding the holiday. Each traditional food type depicted in the collection holds importance to Lunar New Year, from dumplings symbolizing wealth to noodles representing longevity.
If you managed to snag one of the items, count yourself lucky—almost all of the pieces in the exclusive drop sold out instantly!
Adidas’ Lunar New Year Marketing Campaign | 2021
Designing a winning Lunar New Year campaign during peak COVID-19 pandemic times wasn’t easy, but somehow Adidas still managed to deliver.
Apart from releasing a stellar capsule collection, the brand leveraged the power of high-energy storytelling in a star-studded commercial featuring a cast of all ages that helped them reach a wide demographic. Celebrities like Jackson Yee, Eason Chan, Liu Yi Fei, Zhang Jun Ning, and Wang Sheng Di starred in the campaign that showed what it’s like when the modern generation comes back to their hometown for Chinese New Year celebrations.
To add gamification to their campaign, they rolled out physical and virtual lucky coins that consumers had the opportunity to win. They could then be entered into an in-app interactive game that granted wishes and prizes, which included offline workshops with some of the featured celebrities.
Nike’s The Great Chase | 2020
Lunar New Year in 2020 marked the first time ever that Nike released a themed campaign for the holiday—no beginners luck needed, apparently!
Amassing almost half a million views on YouTube, the ad called “The Great Chase” tapped into the red envelopes tradition and the tendency to politely decline them initially. The one-minute video features an endearing aunt and niece duo, with the former endlessly chasing the latter during the holidays to gift her with a red envelope.
The niece successfully runs away each time thanks to her trusty Nike sneakers. However, the ad then jumps ahead to being all grown up and ready to give her elderly aunt a red envelope—except now she has Nike shoes and is ready to run.
By blending significant elements of Chinese culture with a comedic yet heartfelt storyline, Nike produced one of the best Lunar New Year campaigns ever.
Prosperous Lunar New Year Marketing Campaigns and More by The Influence Agency
What makes these Lunar New Year marketing campaigns effective is the recurring theme that connects them: representation.
Each of these brands has collaborated with members of the East Asian community to create products that authentically represent Lunar New Year, allowing their voices to shine and stories to be told. It’s no secret that authentic storytelling is the way to connect with today’s savvy consumers, and these global brands have achieved just that.
Need help launching a product or brainstorming your company’s next successful marketing campaign? The Influence Agency can help your brand tell its story in a way that authentically connects with your audience and drives results.
Contact us today to get started on a new marketing strategy!
