Traditional Chinese festive occasions like Mid-Autumn Festival represent an important opportunity for brands. But with consumer trends around Chinese festivals evolving, how can brands keep their marketing relevant?
Mid-Autumn Festival, which falls on 17 September this year, is one of many occasions in the Chinese calendar that brands need to keep an eye on. Beyond their cultural significance, national holidays are also important drivers of consumption, marking rises in spending on everything from snack foods to travel as consumers enjoy time off work and connect with family.
However, in recent years, the impact of the pandemic and the economic headwinds facing China have muted spending around festive occasions as consumers take a more pragmatic outlook.
For example, sales of mooncakes – the traditional pastry associated with Mid-Autumn Festival – have been declining in recent years, as consumers avoid excessive gifting. A rising level of health consciousness is also playing a role, as mooncakes are traditionally high in sugar and fat – although healthier versions are now widely available.
Nevertheless, many brands continue to produce limited-edition mooncake gift boxes, and these have the potential to go viral if the positioning and marketing is right. The most successful are usually a blend of recognisable branding, traditional Chinese elements and high-quality craftsmanship (whether that is in the packaging or the recipe for the mooncakes themselves). For example, Jing Daily highlights Prada’s 2024 Mid-Autumn Festival gift box, which comes with a wooden puzzle in the shape of the brand’s signature triangle that can be arranged to form moon rabbits, a mythical figure associated with the festival.
Ultimately, storytelling is key with products like mooncake gift boxes, and the goal should be to create something that feels authentic to a brand while also leveraging a sense of cultural belonging. As has been the case since the guochao trend rose to prominence in the past couple of years, products or campaigns that take a shallow approach to incorporating Chinese cultural elements will quickly be identified and criticised by Chinese consumers.
Limited-edition gift boxes are not the only opportunity for brands to make an impression during Chinese festivals.
The current generation of Chinese consumers is increasingly looking to spend on experiences rather than things during periods like Mid-Autumn Festival, with recent national holidays seeing a surge in travel (both domestic and outbound), tours and activity bookings.
According to the Global Times, online travel platform Fliggy reported double-digit growth in bookings for hotels, car hire and tickets compared with 2019 ahead of this year’s Mid-Autumn Festival, exceeding Dragon Boat Festival in June, despite both of them being a three-day holiday. Specifically, “moon watching” activities such as night cruises or nighttime visits to ancient towns are attracting large numbers of visitors, with Tongcheng Travel reporting that the search popularity of ancient town garden night tours has increased by 77% month-on-month in the past week, and the search popularity of night cruises has increased by 42% month-on-month.
Crucially, travel habits are becoming more granular and interest-based, with many Chinese travellers seeking out specific activities or experiences, such as wild camping, spa breaks or destination restaurants – an extension of hobbies they enjoy in their day-to-day lives. Platforms like Xiaohongshu are used to share detailed tips and itineraries for unusual or off-the-beaten-path getaways.
Travel brands are obviously well-placed to tap into this trend, but brands outside the travel industry can also take advantage by creating campaigns that resonate with interest-based subcultures or ‘consumer tribes’. This is by no means an easy process, but can be achieved by identifying subcultures that are authentically aligned with your brand, gathering insights on why consumers are interested in a particular subculture and working with creators and influencers within that subculture.
As China continues to evolve rapidly, staying up-to-date with to the latest consumer trends and understanding how consumption trends change throughout the year is more important than ever. To get the most out of traditional Chinese holidays like Mid-Autumn Festival, brands must combine a culturally-sensitive approach with an understanding of the latest consumer habits.
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