Happy Lunar New Year! Tips to Engage Employees and Consumers During the Pandemic
Happy Lunar New Year!
It has been a challenging and unusual year for the world in 2020. Let’s look forward to a prosperous and empowering Year of the Golden Bull.
Lunar New Year, also known as the Spring Festival, is the biggest festival in East Asian culture, celebrated by over 1.5 billion people among Chinese, Korean and Vietnamese around the world. Like many major Asian festivals, Lunar New Year celebration can last 15 days. There are series of activities and customs observed and celebrated by individuals and businesses during this time.
Traditionally, families gather during the week-long festival to share reunion feasts, visit relatives and exchange gifts for the new Lunar Year. Younger generations pay respect to elders and parents in exchange for money gifted in a customary “red packet” made of red paper. Traditional foods are eaten to symbolize togetherness and prosperity, and consumers buy new clothes and wares for a fresh start to their new year.
This year, the lock downs and travel restrictions have prevented people from travelling and joining their families and friends to celebrate the Lunar New Year. The pandemic has also made a major impact on how we work, learn, communicate, access information, and shop.
Being one of the most tech-savvy consumer groups, many brands and businesses are smart riding on the emotional needs and opportunities to build brand affinity and engage their Asian audience online with cultural-appropriate greetings, activities, products and services.
As business leaders, don’t let this opportunity pass to celebrate diversity and inclusion with your employees and customers during this world’s most celebrated festival.
Here are a few ideas for consideration:
C-suite executives, please take this opportunity to send your employees Lunar New Year video greetings and words of encouragement. For Asian audience, words from the senior management carry a lot of weight. Working from home, being isolated or spending more time taking care of children and parents are not easy to juggle.
Invite your Asian affinity employee group or Asian PR agency to host a virtual staff gathering with festive performances and games, red packet prizes, festive cooking recipes, and engage both Asian staff and employees at large with celebration pictures or videos on Lunar New Year cultures and custom.
Be creative. Be genuine. Create a Lunar New Year program to better engage your customers and build brand affinity. It can be something as simple as virtual lucky red packet prizes or a limited edition product to celebrate the festival.
Awareness of subtle cultural nuances makes all the difference when it comes to diversity marketing. Deep-rooted in the Asian community, Focus Communications has been instrumental in developing and executing winning Lunar New Year campaigns for many clients over the years. Use of in-language, integrated communications, riding on customs and symbols of fortune, have delivered significant, measurable results in terms of enhanced brand awareness and equity as well as increased segment sales. See our work portfolios.
If you have not done anything this Lunar New Year or not sure how, talk to us and start the planning now for next year. Explore ideas from special edition packaging to product creation, and from audience-relevant e-greetings to cultural-appropriate virtual events that help engage the audience and build brand affinity and experience.
