Brands cashing in on Year of the Rat, 2020.

Brands cashing in on Year of the Rat, 2020.

by | Jan 6, 2020 | Chinese Marketing, Multicultural Marketing

 IDENTITY Communications previews some limited edition Year of the Rat goodies that could be yours in 2020.

The global luxury-goods market will grow to US$386 billion by 2025 and Chinese consumers will account for 44 percent of that market. It’s no wonder Western brands are looking to leverage every cultural occassion to turn them into profit.

There is no bigger cultural occassion for Chinese than their new year. A week long public holiday, sparking the world’s biggest human migration with over 3 billion trips taken in China. Last year, some 413 million people travelled by rail and 73 million passengers travelled by air.

Source: The Guardian

The year of the rat starts on 25 January 2020.

The rat is a cunning creature. To determine the order of the 12 Chinese zodiac animals, the Jade Emperor asked them to race. The Rat became the first animal in the zodiac by tricking the Ox into giving it a ride. Just as they arrived at the finish line, Rat jumped off and crossed first.

Rats are seen as a sign of wealth and surplus. Because of their reproduction rate, it’s a good year to pray for children.

But back to commerce. To celebrate the coming Year of the Rat, Western brands are releasing themed merchandise – some aren’t cheap.

This cool Chopard watch will set you back $US24,600. “Chopard is once again honouring Asian traditions by calling on the ancestral Japanese art of Urushi to create the dial of the L.U.C XP Urushi Year of the Rat timepiece. This work of art highlights the theme of the next zodiac sign in the traditional Chinese calendar: the Rat, renowned for its intelligence and perspicacity. Each of the watches in this refined and powerfully symbolic 88-piece limited edition crafted in 18k rose gold is powered by an ultra-thin movement produced in the Chopard Manufacture workshops: the L.U.C 96.17-L caliber”, according to their website.

Gucci collaborated with Disney for their Year of the Rat collection, headlined by Mickey Mouse. The Disney x Gucci GG Marmont medium shoulder bag could be yours for $US2,980.

These uber cool Gucci x Disney kickers can be had for a relatively more modest AU$1,370. Well, what are you waiting for?

Gucci Ace sneaker

 

Holy red and gold lanterns! For the man who has everything, how about a box of Davidoff Year of the Rat cigars? 

Davidoff Year of the Rat cigar

More affordable is a Swatch Rat watch that comes in a cheesy gold and red box (US$100).

Davidoff Year of the Rat cigar

While the Chinese market has been lucrative for many brands, recent times have seen some notable missteps, ranging from alleged cultural insensitivity (Dolce & Gabbana) to offending China’s sovereignty, particularly recognition of Taiwan (Versace, Swarovski, Coach, Calvin Klein, Audi, Marriott Hotels, Qantas, Air France, British Airways) and of course, being seen as supporting the current the Hong Kong protests (Tiffany & Co, NBA).

Lots of opportunties in China and some cultural pitfalls.

Thang Ngo is managing director or IDENTITY Communications,  Australia’s largest multicultural marketing agency.

 

 

SunRice brings cultures together in Chinese New Year campaign

SunRice brings cultures together in Chinese New Year campaign

by | Feb 8, 2019 | Uncategorized

Mumbrella, 5 February 2019

SunRice has launched a new campaign which attempts to bring different cultures together over rice.

The ad, which has been created for Chinese New Year, features a new migrant family hosting their neighbours for dinner. The long silence is broken with the SunRice is brought out.

Throughout the ad people are seen eating the rice in different ways, including with tomato sauce.

The ad was created by Identity Communications.

Andrew Jeffrey, head of marketing at SunRice, said in a statement: “Chinese New Year is the biggest cultural occasion for the community, and we wanted to be there to celebrate this special occasion with them.

“As a proud Australian brand, we want to show our Asian consumers that we understand the aspirations of modern Asian-Australian families. Our Asian family is proud of their heritage, but they are also eager to be part of the Australian community.”

Thang Ngo, managing director at Identity Communications, added: “here are around one million Chinese speakers in Australia, making this audience highly attractive for brands. Just using red and gold colours or number 8’s in creative doesn’t cut-through anymore.

“It’s not new, doesn’t stand out and doesn’t demonstrate an understanding beyond cultural clichés. Brands need to demonstrate more sophistication and deeper understanding if they want to build an authentic connection with this valuable audience.”

The campaign is rolling out on SBS TV and Chinese and Vietnamese channels including Pay TV, digital, print and online.

Credits

Client: SunRice

  • Head of Marketing & Insights: Andrew Jeffrey
  • Senior Marketing Manager: Shannon Cumberlidge
  • Brand Manager: Peta Thomas

Agency: Identity Communications

  • Managing Director: Thang Ngo
  • Head of Studio: Tobias Young
  • Creative Director: Yasmin Quemard
  • Art Director: Rachel Liang
  • Writers: Yasmin Quemard, Brenda Leung and Sean Zhu
  • Translation Management: Brenda Leung, Albert Han
  • Designer: Rachel Liang
  • Head of Strategy: Thang Ngo
  • Client Services Director: Angelica Naranjo
  • Production Coordinator: Murray Wallace
  • Lead Developer: Dipak Sadaul
  • Production Company: Clockwork Film
SunRice recreates modern migration experience in cultural campaign

SunRice recreates modern migration experience in cultural campaign

by | Feb 8, 2019 | Chinese Marketing, Multicultural Marketing

AdNews, 4 February 2019

SunRice is discarding the usual cultural clichés this Chinese New Year with a new campaign that aims to create a more authentic portrayal of an Asian-Australian family.

The campaign depicts a new-migrant experience – hosting their Australian neighbours for dinner for the first time. The initial dinner table awkwardness is immediately overcome when a bowl of Sunrice arrives.

The spot positions SunRice as the ideal cultural “rice breaker” in the situation, launching to coincide with Chinese New Year.

“Chinese New Year is the biggest cultural occasion for the community, and we wanted to be there to celebrate this special occasion with them,” SunRice head of marketing Andrew Jeffrey said.

“As a proud Australian brand, we want to show our Asian consumers that we understand the aspirations of modern Asian-Australian families. Our Asian family is proud of their heritage, but they are also eager to be part of the Australian community”.

The campaign creative was developed by multicultural communications agency, Identity.

Identity MD Thang Ngo said: “There are around one million Chinese speakers in Australia, making this audience highly attractive for brands.

“Just using red and gold colours or number 8’s in creative doesn’t cut-through anymore. It’s not new, doesn’t stand out and doesn’t demonstrate an understanding beyond cultural clichés.

“Brands need to demonstrate more sophistication and deeper understanding if they want to build an authentic connection with this valuable audience”.

The campaign will be rolled out on SBS TV and Chinese and Vietnamese channels including pay TV, digital, print, Weibo and WeChat social media and bi-lingual out of home.

IPG’s Identity Breaks Stereotypes With SunRice Chinese New Year Campaign

IPG’s Identity Breaks Stereotypes With SunRice Chinese New Year Campaign

by | Feb 4, 2019 | Chinese Marketing, Multicultural Marketing

B&T Magazine, 4 February 2019

One of Australia’s most successful food companies, SunRice, is discarding the usual cultural clichés this Chinese New Year for a more authentic portrayal of an Asian-Australian family.

SunRice is launching a national campaign depicting a new-migrant experience – hosting their Australian neighbours for dinner for the first time.

The initial dinner table awkwardness is immediately overcome when a steaming bowl of SunRice arrives, proving that SunRice is the ideal cultural ‘rice breaker’.

SunRice head of marketing Andrew Jeffrey said: “Chinese New Year is the biggest cultural occasion for the community, and we wanted to be there to celebrate this special occasion with them.

“As a proud Australian brand, we want to show our Asian consumers that we understand the aspirations of modern Asian-Australian families.

“Our Asian family is proud of their heritage, but they are also eager to be part of the Australian community”.

The campaign creative was developed by multicultural communications agency, Identity.

Identity Communications managing director Thang Ngo:  “There are around one million Chinese speakers in Australia, making this audience highly attractive for brands.

“Just using red and gold colours or number 8’s in creative doesn’t cut-through anymore.

“It’s not new, doesn’t stand out and doesn’t demonstrate an understanding beyond cultural clichés.

“Brands need to demonstrate more sophistication and deeper understanding if they want to build an authentic connection with this valuable audience”.

The campaign will be rolled out on SBS TV and Chinese and Vietnamese channels including Pay TV, digital, print, Weibo and WeChat social media and bi-lingual out of home.

 

CREDITS:

Client: SunRice

Head of Marketing & Insights: Andrew Jeffrey

Senior Marketing Manager: Shannon Cumberlidge

Brand Manager: Peta Thomas

Agency: Identity Communications

Managing Director: Thang Ngo

Head of Studio: Tobias Young

Creative Director: Yasmin Quemard

Art Director: Rachel Liang

Writers: Yasmin Quemard, Brenda Leung and Sean Zhu

Translation Management: Brenda Leung, Albert Han

Designer: Rachel Liang

Head of Strategy: Thang Ngo

Client Services Director: Angelica Naranjo

Production Coordinator: Murray Wallace

Lead Developer: Dipak Sadaula

Eat your way to a good fortune in the Year of the Pig

Eat your way to a good fortune in the Year of the Pig

by | Feb 1, 2019 | Uncategorized

The team at IDENTITY Communications, Australia’s largest multicultural marketing agency, has a few delicious suggestions for a lucky Year of the Pig in 2019.

the most important festival across Asia, Lunar New Year is celebrated in China, Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan, Vietnam, Korea and thanks to the large Chinese diaspora, just about any Chinatown across the globe.

It’s a week-long public holiday in In China, when people head back to their home town to celebrate with family and friends, sparking the largest annual mass migration on Earth, some 385 million Chinese are expected travel during this period (below: image credit IBTimes UK).

via GIPHY

The festival has many names, Chinese New Year, Lunar New Year, Spring Festival and Tet (Vietnam). Based on the lunar calendar, new year falls on a different day each year. The coming Year of the Pig starts on Tuesday, 5 February 2019.

Naturally, the New Year is about family and looking forward. It can be a time of great superstition, people act, eat and observe traditions to maximise luck, personally and professionally, for the coming year.  Dragon and lion dancing and fire crackers are popular for a good reason – the noise and vigorous movement are intended to ward off evil and bad luck.

Anything that happens during the first days of the new year will be repeated for the rest of the year. So naturally, the house is spotless before the first day of the year, quarrelling is avoided and given of gifts including money in red packets to younger generations is encouraged.

Everyone wants good luck in the new year in the three main areas of health, wealth and happiness – a common greeting for the New Year. 

LUNAR OR CHINESE NEW YEAR GREETINGS

  • Mandarin: gōng xǐ fā cái is the most common greeting “respectful wishes for your prosperity”
  • Cantonese: gong hey fat choy is the Cantonese equivalent
  • Vietnamese: chúc mừng năm mới
  • Korean: Saehae bok mani badeuseyo

FOOD TO BRING GOOD LUCK IN THE LUNAR NEW YEAR

For good luck in the new year, maybe you should try these 8 lucky foods:

  • Spring rolls, dumplings: are all about wealth, in addition to being delicious, their shapes resemble ancient Chinese gold ingots.
  • Fish: represents prosperity, as it sounds like “abundance” in Chinese, eat whole fish for wealth all year ’round.
  • Noodles: if you want long life, choose dishes with long strands of noodles, don’t cut them before you eat them otherwise you risk cutting short your life!
  • Whole chicken: including head and feet: is symbolic of family reunion, togetherness and happiness. Make sure the chicken is as “whole” as possible, including head and feet.
  • Tangerines, oranges: brings wealth as tangerine sounds like “luck” in Chinese, while orange sounds like “gold”.
  • Mut (candied fruit): is popular with Vietnamese, their sweetness brings a sweet life and candied seeds such as lotus bring family happiness through more children (“mut” is a Vietnamese word).
  • Watermelon: Vietnamese believe good luck comes to the household if a watermelon is cut during New Year and the inside is red, the darker the red, the greater the prosperity.
  • Ddukguk: this rice cake soup is traditionally served on New Year’s Day in Korea. Lunar New Year is a time when everyone has their birthday. Eating this soup celebrates getting a year older in Korean culture.

Wishing you a happy and successful Year of the Pig from the IDENTITY Communications team.