Guide
Chinese New Year advertising and Lunar New Year marketing campaign ideas
Are you ready to reach shoppers this Lunar New Year? See more in our complete guide to holiday marketing and advertising.
The holiday season continues into 2023 with Lunar New Year and Chinese New Year. These events are on the retail holiday calendar in January and February, and in 2023, celebrations start on Sunday, January 22. Lunar New Year, an annual two-week festival that marks the end of winter and the start of spring, is celebrated in multiple Asian countries, including China, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, and Vietnam. Lunar New Year is more broadly celebrated, while Chinese New Year is a China-specific holiday, also known as Spring Festival. There are additional Lunar New Year celebrations that are specific to location, too, such as Tết in Vietnam, Seollal in South Korea, and Losar in Tibet.
Why is it important to advertise around Chinese New Year and Lunar New Year?
Advertising around Chinese New Year and Lunar New Year is important in order to make the most of holiday seasonality and the potential increase in shopping interest. Creating a holistic marketing strategy, analyzing retail event insights, crafting social media ads, and other holiday marketing ideas are ideal places for you to get started.
When should I start advertising for Chinese New Year and Lunar New Year?
We recommend you start advertising as soon as possible before Lunar New Year. The earlier you can provide information on your bargains, holiday deals, or social media campaigns to your customers, the more likely you can be top of mind for your customers during the Lunar New Year season. However, it’s never too late to begin a last-minute holiday marketing strategy.
Though the holiday season unofficially starts globally in October, shopping continues for several months. In a 2021 Kantar and Amazon Ads survey, 67% of respondents said they planned to complete their holiday gift shopping after Black Friday and Cyber Monday.1 Since holiday shopping increases in November and December, it’s a great time to address the growing interest of customers and start creating Lunar New Year campaigns.
FAQs
Chinese New Year and Lunar New Year follow the lunar calendar and typically occur in January or February, on the second new moon after the winter solstice. Though the date changes, Chinese New Year always occurs between January 21 and February 20.3
Chinese New Year lasts 16 days, and in 2023, it ends with the Lantern Festival on February 5. The first seven days are a public holiday, from January 22 to 28.4
Lunar New Year is a festival celebrated in many Asian countries, and Chinese New Year is one of these celebrations. Lunar New Year is celebrated more broadly, while Chinese New Year is specific to China.5
Nations that celebrate Lunar New Year include China, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, the US, and Vietnam.
People celebrate Lunar New Year with decorations, festive meals, gift exchanges, and get-togethers with family and friends. Celebrations vary by culture, but one common practice is giving out red envelopes filled with money.
In 2023, the Lunar New Year zodiac animal is the rabbit. It follows the Year of the Tiger, the zodiac animal in 2022.6
1 Kantar Quickfire survey, US. 500 participants who have shopped during the Q4 2019/2020 holiday season and plan to do so in 2021.
2-3 britannica.com/topic/Lunar-New-Year.
4 https://chinesenewyear.net.
5 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lunar_New_Year.
6 https://www.history.com/topics/holidays/chinese-new-year.