Campaign visuals for the Lunar New Year and Mid-Autumn Festival: where to start
Peak seasons are when the entire industry invests heavily in advertising. Deeper discounts do not help accumulate budgets. A distinctive and consistent visual identity is what makes that possible.
Sinh Vũ creates a core key visual specifically for gifting, family reunions, or celebrations, and then consistently replicates it across KOLs, points of sale, and advertising. Tet and Mid-Autumn are two different occasions with distinct purchasing purposes, so two separate key visuals are needed, although the brand's visual language can be shared. Starting early is essential because the shopping window is short, and printing packaging and point-of-sale materials requires preparation time of several weeks.
- there are many channels and KOLs that need to be synchronized for Tet and Mid-Autumn Festival
- long-term brand building goals: choose the emotional direction of reunion, gratitude
- sales goals during the occasion: choose gift box direction, promotions, limited editions
- starting late, competing during peak times when everyone is advertising, high costs with low visibility
- each channel and KOL creates their own visuals, identity does not accumulate
The Tet and Mid-Autumn seasons are the most important sales windows of the year for the beverage and food industry. However, this is also when the entire market pours advertising money into a short period. In that environment, deeper discounts than competitors are not a sustainable advantage. What helps accumulate budgets and ensures consumers remember the right brand is distinctive assets. These are visual elements, colors, and motifs closely associated with the brand and the occasion, to the extent that they are instantly recognizable.
Tet and Mid-Autumn Festival: two occasions, two challenges
The most common mistake is combining two seasons into a single visual frame just because both are "traditional." In reality, the purchasing purpose and target audience are distinctly different.
Tet: The main purchasing occasion is for gifting adults, family reunions, and ceremonies. The decision-maker is usually an adult, prioritizing luxurious, meaningful products with neat packaging. The underlying emotions are gratitude, connection, and completeness.
Mid-Autumn Festival: A buying occasion associated with children, mooncake celebrations, and gifts for business partners. Purchase decisions are more dispersed, with both parents buying for their children and businesses placing bulk orders. The underlying emotion is joy, reunion, and relationship building.
Two occasions require two separate key visuals. However, the visual language, color palette, and brand motifs should remain consistent so that viewers recognize the same brand across both different occasions.
Establishing a core visual identity: occasion-driven, not just beautiful
A seasonal key visual is valuable not because it is beautiful but because it connects the brand to the exact moment when the buyer is considering a purchase. Ehrenberg-Bass refers to this as linking to purchase activation points: when, with whom, and for what purpose people buy during the season. The more moments it connects to and the stronger the connection, the easier it is for the brand to be remembered when the purchase decision occurs.
Sinh Vũ builds the core visual identity in three layers:
- Occasion layer: images that evoke the atmosphere of Tet or Mid-Autumn Festival, not just generic red and yellow but specific scenarios like family reunions, altars, lanterns, offerings, and gift wrapping.
- Product layer: products appear naturally in scenes, not isolated like catalog images, allowing viewers to associate the product with the occasion rather than just seeing a beautiful object.
- Brand layer: colors, typography, distinctive motifs of the brand must be prominently present so that when cut out for use on each channel, viewers still recognize them.
Distinctive identity assets need to be high on both axes: well-known enough for many to recognize, and exclusive enough to avoid confusion with other brands.
Jenni Romaniuk, Building Distinctive Brand Assets (Ehrenberg-Bass)
Replicating the core visual identity: one source, multiple touchpoints
The value of the core key visual lies in its ability to be consistently replicated. During peak seasons, beverage and food brands often need to cover multiple channels simultaneously: KOLs (social media influencers), POSM (point-of-sale materials, such as display shelves, standees, posters), short commercials, e-commerce platforms, and limited edition gift boxes. If each channel creates its own visuals, viewers will see many disjointed images, and the budget will not accumulate.
Sinh Vũ creates adaptation guidelines from the core key visual, clearly specifying which colors can be used, which motifs must be retained, logo proportions, and how to handle product images in each format. KOLs, printing agencies, and internal teams use the same set of guidelines for execution. As a result, even with many people involved, a consistent brand identity is maintained.
Common mistakes during the season
- Starting late: Jumping in during peak times when all brands are advertising increases costs and reduces visibility. Printing limited edition packaging and POSM needs to be scheduled weeks in advance.
- Changing style completely each season: A new direction each year means discarding the identity assets built from the previous season. Consumers need to see familiar elements to connect with the brand.
- Each channel creates its own visuals: KOLs design their own, sales points print their own, advertisements have a unique style. The result is a non-cumulative budget, and viewers do not recognize the same brand.
- Only showcasing beautiful products without linking to the occasion: Product images may be beautifully shot but are not placed in specific purchasing and usage contexts for the season. As a result, viewers have no reason to associate the brand with that occasion.
Sinh Vũ's viewpoint
Sinh Vũ provides creative direction for the Tet and Mid-Autumn seasons: establishing the core key visual, creating adaptation guidelines, and supporting execution across touchpoints. Sinh Vũ does not handle media booking and does not commit to campaign metrics because effectiveness depends on budget, channels, and the quality of execution by each team. The value Sinh Vũ brings lies in the consistency of the visuals and the early preparation to ensure packaging and POSM are ready in time.
The budget allocation principle referenced from Binet and Field (IPA) shows that peak seasons can lean more towards sales activation. However, a brand foundation is still necessary to avoid only competing on discounts. A brand without a recognizable identity must rebuild from scratch each season, which is more costly and less effective.
Decision checklist
Topic: Image campaign for Tet and Mid-Autumn Festival for beverages and food. Sinh Vũ guide, sinhvu.com
Tick each item that applies or that you can already answer, then print or save as PDF to take with you.
If you have marked most of the signs above, this is the time to discuss in more detail. Sinh Vũ can help you review and propose a direction.
References
Ehrenberg-Bass Institute for Marketing Science, Brands need distinctive assets; Jenni Romaniuk, Building Distinctive Brand Assets (Oxford University Press, 2018); Les Binet & Peter Field, The Long and the Short of It (IPA); System1 Group, Introducing Fluent Devices.
Frequently asked questions
Do Tet and Mid-Autumn Festival need separate core visuals or can we use the same set?
Two separate key visuals are needed because the purchasing purposes and target audiences are different. Tet is more about gifting, family reunions, and rituals. Mid-Autumn focuses on celebrations, children, and gifts for partners. However, the visual language, color palette, and brand motifs can remain consistent so that viewers recognize the same brand across both occasions.
How should you allocate a small budget for peak season?
Focus deeply on one or two channels during the occasion instead of spreading thinly everywhere. Prioritize the channels closest to the purchase decision point of the target consumers, usually the point of sale or social media where they are looking for gifts. Invest in a solid core key visual so that multiple people executing it still produce a cohesive identity, avoiding each channel creating its own visuals.
How long in advance is reasonable to start preparing?
Sinh Vũ recommends developing ideas and finalizing the core key visual at least eight to ten weeks before the occasion. This time is necessary to produce limited edition packaging, print POSM (point-of-sale materials), and deliver documents to KOLs. Starting later means significantly higher production costs and a greater risk of running out of stock at the point of sale during the peak week.
This article is for reference. The scope, pricing, and specific commitments of Sinh Vũ are detailed in the proposal and signed contract.