Flowers for my (Chinese) Valentine. This Qixi, as a brand trying to innovate with love and couple themes and Chinese culture-inspired motifs, Meituan has been bold enough to say “Why not both”? With its New Chinese Style bouquet, Meituan brings together the Guochao 3.0 trend and flower bouquets from the traditional Valentine’s Day, launching a two-pronged campaign for its flower delivery service.
The first part features Meituan’s lifestyle ambassador, the Chinese American actress Liu Yifei. Meituan released a promotional video featuring The Tale of Rose star donning a New Chinese Style dress, holding a Meituan bouquet, introducing the traditional romantic elements and symbolism included in the design. From magpies that form the bridge for the two star-crossed lovers to locks and knot buttons. The bouquet incorporates many traditional love motifs but presents an overall modern look. An animated sequence shows flowers being given across the ages to today.
The second part of the Meituan Qixi campaign is a collaboration with Dunhuang Museum in Gansu Province. Meituan hosted an exhibition for its New Chinese Style bouquets at the museum, called “Treasures Never Displayed”. Another video was released showing the exhibition. With real love letters and actual order notes from flower deliveries to loved ones, the exhibition shows a Chinese-style romance and the flowers that represent it. The hidden treasure, of course, is the love shown in these exchanges.
On Weibo, China’s Twitter equivalent, the topic “How beautiful can museum-grade flowers be?” (#能进博物馆的花有多好看#) reached number 11 on the Hot Search list with 18.90 million views and the hashtag “Liu Yifei New Chinese Style Bouquet” hit number 12 with 12.51 million views. With this two-sided campaign, Meituan not only leveraged the star power of Liu but also the recent “museum fever”. It further establishes itself as more than just a food delivery platform but also a holistic local lifestyle site.
