Chinese New Year is one of the few moments in the year when marketing is about getting the timing right.
It is a season shaped by preparation, reunion, gifting, and routines people repeat every year.
That makes it powerful, but also unforgiving. When brands get it wrong, campaigns feel rushed or out of place. When they get it right, the work feels familiar, expected, and welcome.
The strongest Chinese New Year campaigns rarely rely on novelty alone. They understand how people actually prepare, spend, and celebrate during this period. They fit into existing behaviour instead of trying to change it.
Below are five campaign ideas, drawn from trending Chinese New Year activations, that show how brands have successfully done exactly that.
1. Offer Limited Edition Festive Products
Nike’s Chinese New Year collections work because they are not treated as a one off idea. They are part of a long running rhythm people have learned to expect.
For years, Nike has released zodiac inspired collections around Chinese New Year, each one tied loosely to themes like discipline, renewal, or personal strength. The designs change, but the pattern does not. A limited drop, once a year, then gone.
That consistency matters. Consumers are not just reacting to a product. They are responding to a ritual. They know when it appears, they know it will be limited, and they know it will not return in the same form.
Because Nike does this year after year, the collection becomes something people look out for rather than discover by accident. Missing a release feels like missing a moment, not just missing a shoe.
Why this works
By returning every year without overextending the idea, Nike turns scarcity into habit. The product becomes part of the Chinese New Year cycle itself, which keeps demand high without needing to shout louder each year.
2. Festive Packaging
Coca-Cola’s Chinese New Year packaging does not try to introduce something new. It tries to make something familiar feel special again.
For its Year of the Horse campaign, Coca-Cola refreshed its cans and bottles with festive elements while keeping the core brand unmistakable. The goal was not to change behaviour, but to reframe a product people already buy as part of the celebration.
What made the campaign effective was how the packaging sat within a much larger festive ecosystem. Beyond the cans themselves, Coca-Cola layered in interactive promotions, lucky draws, citywide activations, and large scale gathering experiences that brought people together physically.
Why this works
When that packaging connects to experiences, rewards, and shared moments, it stops being decorative and starts feeling purposeful. Coca-Cola succeeds by making the familiar feel festive again, then extending that feeling across multiple touchpoints.
3. Festive Storytelling
Apple’s Chinese New Year film, Little Garlic, in 2024 worked because it understood what the season represents emotionally, not just culturally.
Chinese New Year is built around reunion, reflection, and family expectations. Apple leaned into that emotional space with a story about self acceptance, generational understanding, and the pressure of growing up online. The shapeshifting element added visual interest, but the core story stayed grounded and human.
The product was never the hero of the plot, yet it was never absent. By shooting the entire film on an iPhone, Apple demonstrated the camera’s capability through moments that felt intimate and real. Viewers experienced the product through emotion, not specification.
Crucially, the campaign did not stop at storytelling. Behind the scenes content showed how the film was made, and direct purchase paths allowed viewers to move from inspiration to action without breaking the experience.
Why this works
Audiences are more open to reflection and sentiment during this period. Apple used that openness to tell a story that felt relevant to the moment, while quietly proving product value. The result was cultural impact that translated into measurable commercial outcomes.
4. Collaborate With Influencers
Chinese New Year is not only about celebration. For many households, it is also about getting the home ready.
COURTS Singapore understood this shift and leaned into it. Instead of positioning its Chinese New Year campaign as a sale, it framed it around preparation. New sofas before reunion dinners. Larger TVs for family movie nights. Appliances replaced before guests arrive.
Influencers played a practical role in this campaign. Rather than presenting polished endorsements, influencers documented their own shopping moments. The content felt like planning in progress rather than advertising.
This approach helped bridge online attention and offline action. People watching were not just inspired. They were mentally mapping what they needed to buy and when to visit the store.
Why this works
By anchoring promotions in real preparation moments, COURTS made its campaign feel timely and useful. Influencers added context, helping people visualise purchases in their own homes, which naturally supported in-store visits and larger basket sizes.
5. Festive Bundle Sets
Gifting during Chinese New Year often happens at scale with multiple visits, households and expectations.
Starbucks responded with a limited edition Year of the Horse collection designed to make gifting easier. Instead of pushing a single festive item, the brand released a coordinated range of drinkware and accessories that could be bundled naturally.
Tumblers, cold cups, ceramic mugs, and a Bearista keychain all carried subtle zodiac cues tied to the rare Fire Horse, which appears only once every sixty years. The designs were playful but restrained, which meant the items still felt usable long after the holiday ended.
What made the collection effective was how easily it turned into a gift. Pair a mug with a drink voucher. Add a charm to a tumbler. The products already felt complete, which removed the need for extra decisions or elaborate wrapping.
Why this works
Bundled collections reduce decision fatigue while encouraging higher value purchases. By designing products that work together visually and functionally, Starbucks turned everyday items into gifts that felt intentional, seasonal, and practical all at once.
What These Campaigns Get Right
The ideas themselves are different, but the thinking behind them is consistent. Each brand understood the role it was playing in the season.
None of these campaigns tried to overpower Chinese New Year, but worked within it.
If influencer marketing is part of your annual marketing calendar, AtisfyReach can help bring clarity to planning and consistency to execution, especially when influencer collaborations and multi-channel campaigns are involved.
Talk to us to see how AtisfyReach can support your festive campaigns and beyond.
