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?
Holy red and gold lanterns! For the man who has everything, how about a box of Davidoff Year of the Rat cigars?
More affordable is a Swatch Rat watch that comes in a cheesy gold and red box (US$100).
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.
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
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).
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.
Just in time to welcome the Year of the Dog, Brenda Leung, Identity Communications Insights and Production Manager writes about New Year gift giving.
Gift giving plays an important role in Asian culture, especially during cultural festivals and special occasions. The Lunar New Year is the perfect time to prepare something special for your loved ones. It is essential to get something heartfelt, and at the same time meaningful with a good will message embedded in the gift. So choosing an appropriate and presentable New Year gift could be a headache; ranging from wines to food and tea, and to suit a variety of tastes for young and old.
Here are some quick ideas for the two most popular gift choices for you to consider.
Traditionally, Chinese and many other Asian cultures believe taking a precautionary approach is the most effective way to maintain good health conditions, and the most common practice to achieve this is through consumption of natural herbs or food with good nutritional values. For this reason, no other gifts can be better than any nourishing and nutritious herbs/food that can benefit one’s health with good nutritional value or natural remedies outcomes, especially if that gift is for the senior member in the family.
To make the process of getting the herb/natural food gifts easier, there are supplements of various brands available in supermarkets and pharmacist’s shops where you can find nutritious herbs and medicines such as various types of vitamins, fish oil, wolfberries, jujube dates, black sesame seeds, ginseng root and royal jelly. They’re stacked on shelves taking up the entire aisle, usually in gift boxes and are ready to give away as gifts. There are always the supplements that are suitable for certain age groups or one for the whole family.
Nowadays, supplements are the “modern form” of the traditional natural herbs and remedies, and can also make fantastic Lunar New Year gifts. They are particularly well received by people living in cities than those in rural areas, who are leading a busy life and are more likely to show others that they are always in the new trend.
Red Packets
For children, red packets with money inside are the most popular gifts during New Year. Who isn’t happy to get additional pocket money? Or for those parents who have long-run plans for the next generation, it is a good time to open a bank account and start the whole financial management journey for their children, with an educational purpose behind the whole idea.
No matter what gifts you are going to present to your family and friends, what’ most important is the loving thoughts – goodwill wishes of happiness, wellness and prosperity.
Where are all the Chinese New Year Festivals in Sydney?
This year, Chinese New Year, Tet, Lunar New Year falls on Friday, 16 February 2018.
While the City of Sydney’s “Chinese New Year” celebrations are the biggest – there are plenty of other festivals around town that also showcases the diverse Asian community in Australia who celebrate Lunar New Year, including Chinese, Vietnamese and Korean.
There are at least 13 celebrations all across Sydney – Parramatta, Cabramatta, Hurstville, Chatswood and more..
Dragon and lion dancing, visits by the god of wealth, art exhibitions, fireworks and of course, lots and lots of food – the video below, from an earlier Lunar New Year Celebration in Hurstville, gives you a sense of the excitement and colour (video credit: noodlies).
Sydney’s 2018 Lunar/Chinese New Year festivals.
Wednesday, 7 Feb 6pm – 7.30pm: Ashfield Town Hall, Uncommon Feast, Lunar New Year 2018, Inner West Council Usher in the Year of the Dog with a special literary event at Ashfield Town Hall. Join celebrated Asian-Australian writers Lachlan Brown, Wai Chim, Eileen Chong, Isabelle Li, and emcee Sheila Ngoc Pham, as they read from and discuss their work including themes of culture, identity and, of course, food. ‘The Uncommon Feast’ is a coming together to showcase writers who have intriguing commonalities and differences. The event will open with a live performance by Eugenia Teng playing the gu zheng (Chinese 26 string zither), and concludes with traditional Chinese tea and snacks, book sales and author signings. Free event, bookings essential.
Saturday, 10 Feb from 10am, Forrest Road, Lunar New Year Festival, Georges River Council With the Council merger the Kogarah and Hurstville festivals have been merged into one large event located in Hurstville. As in previous years, the event will commence at 10.00am and run until 4.00pm with a variety of stalls, activities and community performances on stage. For the first time, we will introduce an evening program at Hurstville which will start with a vibrant street parade on Forest Road and a free night-time concert, including a spectacular stage show with a professional headline performance.
Photo credit: City of Sydney
Saturday, 10 Feb 4pm – 9pm: Saigon Place, Bankstown, Lunar New Year Festival, Canterbury-Bankstown City The annual Lunar New Year Festival will transform Bankstown’s Saigon Place into a colourful centre of entertainment, in celebration of the Year of the Dog. Expect food, cultural exhibits and entertainment, eating competitions, dog tricks and best dressed dog competition, even fashion parades and of course, lion dancing.
Friday, 16 Feb, 4.30pm – 9:30pm: Centenary Square, Parramatta: Lunar New Year in Parramatta, Parramatta City Sit back and enjoy beautiful traditional and contemporary cultural performances from China, Vietnam and South Korea, take part in interactive activities and workshops in Lunar Land, including calligraphy, lantern making, and cooking classes, and enjoy a Lunar feast at one of the many delicious food stalls. The event also features the family friendly Lunar Lounge, Lantern Garden installation, firecracker display, dragon and lion dances, and a fireworks finale at 9pm.
Chang Lai Yuan Chinese Gardens in Nurragingy Reserve will be adorned with colour as we prepare to ring in the Year of the Dog. Grab your family, friends and picnic blanket and join us for an evening of live cultural stage entertainment, food and market stalls, Paw Patrol Kids Show and jumping castle, free kids craft- lantern making, fan decorating, calligraphy, origami, lion dance and fireworks.
Friday, 16 Feb – Sunday 4 Mar: Sydney Chinese New Year Festival, City of Sydney More than 1 million people will flock to 80 spectacular events in Sydney’s Chinese New Year Festival, making it one of the largest Lunar New Year celebrations outside China. Find your zodiac amongst the Lunar Lanterns popping up around the city and join the bustling crowds enjoying the flavours and sights of traditional celebrations in Chinatown. In 2018, Sydney will be illuminated by giant Lunar Lanterns representing the animal signs of the zodiac as we celebrate the Year of the Dog.
Saturdays, 17 Feb, 24 Feb, 3 Mar:Eastwood Plaza, Eastwood Ryde Lunar New Year Celebrations, City of Ryde In 2018, the celebration of Lunar New Year reaches its 10th Anniversary and the organising committee is planning a bigger and better celebration to mark this great milestone! Come along to three major events to celebrate the year of the Dog: Cooking competition is on Saturday 17 Feb from 10am, Lunar New Year Eastwood Night Markets is on Saturday 24 Feb from 4pm and Grand Celebration Day on 3 Mar from 11am.
Saturday, 17 Feb 4pm – 9pm: Dacey Gardens, Kingsford, Lunar New Year, Bayside Council The event is a free family-friendly event featuring music, food, dances, workshops, traditional lion dances and heritage celebrations inspired by Asian and Chinese cultures.
Saturday 17 Feb – Sunday, 4 Mar, Chinese New Year in Darling Harbour Celebrate Chinese New Year in Darling Harbour’s hidden pearl, the Chinese Garden of Friendship. There are over 3 weekends of performances, demonstrations, workshops and tours. Slow down in a tai chi class, or experience acrobatic lion dancing, said to bring you good luck and fortune. Learn the ancient art of laughing from deep down inside or observe a traditional tea ceremony in silence. The kids will be entranced by watercolour painting and taking The Emperor’s Quest around the garden. They can also get creative decorating their own lantern to take home. $6 for adults, $3 children.
Friday, 23 Feb – Sunday 25 Feb, Fairfield Showground, Smithfield Rd, Prairiewood, Tet/Lunar New Year Festival, Vietnamese Community (Adults $7, Children $5) Organised by the Vietnamese Community in Australia (VCA), this is an annual fundraiser for them and the largest Vietnamese celebration in the state, attracting over 60,000 visitors. This is the one to go to if you want to see how the Vietnamese celebrate new year (noodlies video round-up from the 2012 Festival below).
Friday, 23 Feb, 3.30pm – 6pm: Lane Cove Plaza, Lunar New Year in Lane Cove, Lane Cove Council Help bring in the Year of the Dog at this special Lunar New Year celebration. The event will include a host of live entertainment and activities including a Chinese lion dance, Japanese calligraphy performance, live music, creative workshops and more. Children will also receive their own lai see (lucky red envelope) for good luck.
Saturday 24 Feb, 10am – 5pm: Chatswood Mall, Chatswood Chinese New Year Festival, Willoughby Council Chatswood’s Chinese New Year Celebrations will be held on Saturday 24 February 2018 in Chatswood Mall and The Concourse to celebrate the Year of the Dog. This year’s entertainment program includes the traditional and very popular Lion and Dragon Dances, Chinese Kung Fu, magic show, acrobatics, folk dances and much more. The official opening will be held at 11am in Chatswood Mall. More than 30 specialty stalls selling Chinese products and food, information and services in Chatswood Mall and The Concourse offering great retail and promotional gifts.
Saturday, 3 Mar – Sunday 5 Mar, 9am – 4pm: Cabramatta Freedom Plaza, Lunar New Year Festival, Fairfield Council A lower-key event compared to the Council’s huge Moon Festival, this one has a Vietnamese flavour. The cultural festivities, held in the Cabramatta CBD, will feature the God of Fortune, Lion Dancing and loads of exciting entertainment for the whole family.
Enjoy!!!
The Identity Communications team wishes you all a happy, healthy and prosperous Year of the Dog.
PS. If you know of any other Festivals in Sydney, let us know!
