Today is the start of Chinese New Year, and this year more than ever before we are seeing brands sticking out their snouts to create activations that capture the fun of this festival. This year is the Year of the Pig, and as a Pig myself, I am delighted by the littering of brand activations and innovations that are pig-related, here are some of my piggy brand favourites:
Peppa Pig has become a staunch favourite of children everywhere, Peppa has grown her empire vastly from just the animated television series to backpacks, bicycles and even theme parks! Appropriately, as the pig is the symbol of wealth in Chinese culture, Peppa Pig’s revenue grew by 21% from 2017 to 2018, reaching nearly £85 million. With 95 million children under the age of 5 offering a huge potential market, China is at the heart of Peppa’s growth strategy.
This Chinese New Year, a full-length feature film called ‘Peppa Celebrates Chinese New Year’ will be released across the globe, incorporating many traditional customs into the storyline. The 5-minute trailer for the film went viral after its release on Chinese social media, with 300 million views and the Mandarin hashtag #WhatIsPeppa drew 1.6 billion views on Weibo!
From one beloved piggy character to another, M&S have released a limited-edition Percy Phizzy Tails for Chinese New Year as the perfect accompaniment to celebrations, with Percy’s iconic sweet and sour flavour spot on.
Adidas, meanwhile, have enlisted the help of chef, Eddie Huang, to bring together his passion for streetwear, culture and food for an exciting and modern celebration of the Chinese New Year. The limited edition UltraBoost includes a pig suede trainer tongue emblazoned with a panda, to reference Huang’s nickname, with touches of gold-plating. It is also printed with the Chinese character for good fortune. While the pig suede is a subtler piggy reference, Adidas have succeeded in taking an old tradition of buying a new outfit to welcome in the new year and making it feel relevant for all generations.
We are used to seeing brands do seasonal spins on products, but whether it is a film, phizzy sweet or food-meets-culture trainer collab, these piggy products have really captured the zeitgeist of a cultural moment to give consumers an accessible way to enjoy this occasion.
How can you use visual assets as a platform to reach new audiences, generationally and geographically?