20 May, or 520, has become an important occasion for brands in China to launch special love-themed campaigns. The festival has only come into existence recently due to the emergence of 520 as a way to express ‘I love you’ on the internet as the two sound similar in Chinese. 520 tends to focus on giving gifts to women, while 521, which is a loose homophone of the phrase ‘I am willing, has been added to the holiday and has a focus on men.
So, how did luxury brands fare this year? In a white paper published today, ChatLabs and Dao Insights have highlighted some of the key themes and best practices from this year’s 520 campaigns on WeChat.
We picked out some of the key points from the white paper:
- 2021’s 520 campaigns have seen a heavy reliance on KOLs and celebrities as in Pandora’s partnership with Zhang Zhehan, the star of popular TV show Word of Honor
- Many luxury brands launched limited-edition collections as with Gucci and Moncler
- A number of campaigns shifted away from a focus on romantic love between couples to positioning the festival as a celebration for family, friends, or alone
- In the same fashion, several campaigns encouraged consumers to buy for themselves as a personal expression of the celebration of love.
- Gamification was a popular strategy used by brands seeking to stand out from the crowd, such as Mini-Program games, and comments based giveaways.
- Hashtag campaigns, 3D and AR/VR features, e-commerce Mini-Program integration, and collaborations were also popular on WeChat.
While two of China’s love-themed festivals have now been and gone in 2021, there is still one more on the horizon, Qixi. People in China celebrate the Western February 14th Valentine’s Day, 520 (along with 521) and the traditional Qixi festival on the seventh day of the seventh lunar month.
Want to learn more?
Join Michel Tjoeng from Chatlabs and Arnold Ma in an interactive live stream on 27 May, 2pm BST to explore this year’s luxury 520 campaigns on WeChat.
Read more about 520:
