520 Luxury Campaigns White Paper

When is Valentine’s Day in China? There's no one correct answer, but more like three. People in China celebrate the Western February 14th Valentine's Day, but there are a few more on the calendar: 520 (along with 521) and Qixi 七夕节. (And there is a saying that, when you’re in love, the 14th of every month is Valentine's Day!)

May 20th, however, has a modern origin. The Chinese pronunciation of 520, wu er ling五二零, sounds similar to how you say I love you, wo ai ni 我爱你. Because of the similar pronunciations, 520 became internet slang for "I love you.” Sending 520 to someone online is akin to confessing your love for them, leading to May 20th became a holiday to confess to your “crush.” It tends to focus on giving gifts to women.

In this whitepaper, we'll dive into what best practices and innovative techniques we can learn from some of the top luxury 520 campaigns of 2021 from brands like Gucci and Pandora – insights that might prove useful for the upcoming Qixi holiday!

2021's 520 campaigns have seen a heavy reliance on KOLs, lots of limited-edition collections, and somewhat of a shift away from "confessing" love towards a celebration of love in many different forms. While some of the campaigns promoted more traditional gift-giving, others sought to inspire buying for oneself as a personal expression of the celebration of love.

Brands used hashtags, Mini Program games, ever-popular comments-based giveaways, 3D and AR/VR features, e-commerce Mini Program integration, and collaborations to engage their audiences and increase conversions. WeChat's capacity for interaction, like touch-responsive post features and mini-game integration, means that brands must design campaigns to be something people want to participate in, outshining the hundreds of brands vying for attention. With WeChat being the ubiquitous social platform of choice, creating a meaningful experience pays off big-time as users share them with their friends, giving brands more organic reach and a fan base with a higher loyalty.

Brands featured in this report:

Valentino, Gucci, Moncler, Bvlgari, Tiffany & Co., Pandora