A new generation of "Chinese New Year managers" learn about Chinese New Year on Xiaohongshu

With the development of the Internet and the changes in the mainstream population, new definitions have emerged in the meaning of the Spring Festival and New Year's goods, which will also trigger a series of new trends worthy of attention during the Spring Festival. This article will closely follow the development of New Year's food trends to better find what suits the tastes of the contemporary public, thereby providing a strong reference for the Spring Festival marketing strategies of various brands, and looking forward to a more festive Spring Festival, full of hope and fresh consumer experience.

With the changes in the people celebrating the New Year, there are new definitions of the New Year atmosphere, the significance of the New Year, New Year goods, and New Year customs.

Insights into public sentiment and behavior and observations of consumer decision-making links will also become key reference factors for Spring Festival marketing to break through the circle. So, what new trends are worth paying attention to this year?

From the perspective of the festive atmosphere, Foodaily recently learned that the "Xiaohongshu 2024CNY Industry Trends" released by Xiaohongshu Commercialization and research consulting company Ruicong on November 21 mentioned that in 2024, the revival of the "New Year flavor" will be a major theme of this year's Spring Festival. In the past few years, "the New Year flavor has faded" has been mentioned repeatedly, and this year, when "uncertainty" began to become a global consensus, people increasingly hoped to gain energy and a "sense of hope" from the collective and grand transitional ceremony of "New Year".

Therefore, "having a more festive New Year" will become the theme of mass consumption during the Spring Festival.

From the perspective of the Spring Festival consumption decision-making chain, Foodaily believes that in addition to the traditional word-of-mouth, the trend of "Spring Festival strategy online" is becoming more and more obvious, especially on social platforms represented by Xiaohongshu. While inheriting the experience of the elders, the proportion of people who use the experience of netizens as a reference for food, clothing, housing and transportation during the Spring Festival to help themselves complete their Spring Festival shopping is increasing. Therefore, the needs and behavior trends presented by consumers on social media will become an important reference for brands' Spring Festival marketing.

The research and insights on the food and beverage industry conducted by Xiaohongshu Commercialization and Ipsos show that among many platforms, Xiaohongshu is becoming the first choice for consumers to obtain food and beverage related content, thanks to its high-quality user base that loves life and sharing, the community atmosphere of real sharing, and the strong desire to plant seeds for high-quality content. At the same time, it is also the source of many food and beverage trends. Trends such as morning C and evening A, and cooking tea around the stove for workers all occur here, driving waves of new food and beverage trends on the consumer side.

Therefore, Xiaohongshu is becoming the "first stop for Chinese New Year shopping". Next, let's take a look at how food brands can use Xiaohongshu to understand the eight trends, find the right marketing points, achieve effective shopping and conversion, and win the Spring Festival marketing battle?

1. New groups: the succession of the New Year's managers and the re-deconstruction of the New Year's atmosphere

Trend: Parents, please pass on the throne to me - young Chinese New Year managers break the intergenerational "catering barriers"

As those born in the 1990s grow up and start families, the younger generation has begun to take over the role of being in charge of the New Year celebrations, becoming the main force in purchasing New Year goods and creating a new "New Year flavor" for contemporary people.

Influenced by daily search habits, the new generation of New Year planners will also use Xiaohongshu as a reference for Spring Festival strategies and discover new ways to celebrate the New Year.

Taking the New Year’s Eve dinner scene as an example, the proportion of young people participating in the preparation of the New Year’s Eve dinner has increased. They will not only make some fresh dishes for their parents, but also take the initiative to find some hidden ways of eating on Xiaohongshu, adding new fun to the Spring Festival diet.

The growth of young people's demand for experiential consumption has promoted new dietary trends. For example, the trend of convenience store cocktails and home coffee drinks that emerged on Xiaohongshu has driven the popularity of products such as sugar-free oolong tea and thick coconut milk. Consumers are often naturally curious about new ways of eating and new combinations. Brands can rely on the user mindset of "Xiaohongshu can discover new ways of playing" and use the content such as New Year's Eve dinner landscaping and new recipe development, supplemented by the precise delivery of relevant topic words, to break the intergenerational "catering barriers" with the help of CNY scenes and create new possibilities for cross-circle marketing.

2. New emotions: Take advantage of the Chinese New Year to give your emotions a break

"Emotion" is an important part of the Chinese New Year atmosphere. Under the influence of the festive atmosphere, some emotional trends of the public will also be amplified, such as temporarily breaking away from self-discipline and indulging the senses, temporarily breaking away from maturity and returning to innocence, and food often plays an important role as an emotional fuel during festivals.

1. Trend: It doesn’t matter, the New Year will forgive you – the Spring Festival provides a legitimate reason for indulgent eating

After a whole year of hardship, people hope to "reasonably indulge" during the Chinese New Year. Eating is one of the outlets for indulging emotions. The need to indulge emotions is reflected in New Year's goods, which has led to one of the "three new New Year's goods" - "dopamine" New Year's goods.

Snacks are an important source of positive emotions. Snacks that are rich in "dopamine" and provide a richer eating experience may also become the new favorite New Year snacks, such as chocolate crisps, nut crisps, meat jerky crisps, etc. They have a "crunchy" taste and the more you eat, the more addictive they become. In the #New Year's must-buy list, the total search volume for "crunchy" increased by 1467.57% year-on-year; some food combination snacks, such as almond crisps containing nuts + biscuits, have rich taste and flavor, and a strong sense of satisfaction; spicy snacks such as spicy strips are spicy and stimulating, and their stress-relieving function is deeply rooted in the hearts of the people; snack gift packs are rich in variety, and the food and beverage industry research insights conducted by Xiaohongshu Commercialization and Ipsos show that 53% of users like to buy snack combinations in "gift packs"... These snacks are expected to become popular choices.

Wine is also a typical emotional drink. During the Chinese New Year, wine is not only a drink for self-pleasure, but also a drink that creates an atmosphere for gatherings and visiting relatives and friends. In particular, organic, low-alcohol wines, low-alcohol liquors, and staple wines that have a soft taste, are friendly to women, and are beneficial to health when consumed in moderation are becoming the "new best choice" for gifts and reunion drinks.

Young people are also relatively indulgent in their consumption. For example, during the Spring Festival, some consumers will buy expensive fruits such as cherries that they would not normally eat to reward themselves, and they will also buy more expensive but better quality organic and natural foods for their parents.

From the above phenomenon, we can see that in marketing, brands can cater to consumers' indulgent emotions; in product selection, they can focus on the ultimate and rich taste experience; in terms of placement, they can combine hot words such as #过年零食 to increase exposure.

2. Trend: Childhood memories return for a limited time - nostalgic flavors are the anchor point of New Year memories

In the discussion of "What is the flavor of the New Year", there is often a view that the flavor of the New Year is inseparable from childhood experiences, and some elements full of childhood memories not only do not appear outdated, but can evoke fond memories of the New Year.

On the one hand, people will buy some "reserved items" for the New Year, such as Xu Fuji Crispy Candy, Want Want Gift Packs and other familiar old brand products and products that "reminisce the taste of childhood". The hot entries on Xiaohongshu also show consumers' interest in childhood nostalgic snacks, such as #Memories of childhood snacks, which has been read 370 million times, and #When I was a child, New Year, which has been read 120 million times.

On the other hand, developing new products based on nostalgic elements can not only bring new vitality to classic products and brands, but also give old users a refreshing experience. For example, Ovaltine has developed a series of new products such as biscuits, cake rolls, sandwich croissants, and exploding mochi based on the classic chocolate drink flavor.

This year, traditional domestic brands have regained more attention. On Xiaohongshu, searches for #oldbrands increased by 553.28% month-on-month and 1012.25% year-on-year. Using hot words such as #Celebrating the New Year when I was a kid#retrosnacks#childhood flavor#old brand in the delivery of Spring Festival content can also help brands reach users more effectively.

3. New Culture: Use Food to Send Blessings to “You” and “Me”

During the Spring Festival, food carries good wishes for people. For oneself, it is for good luck, and for relatives and friends, it is for health. This affects the choice of Spring Festival gifts. Auspicious food and healthy gifts are gradually becoming a new trend.

1. Trend: Everything that happens will be good for me - Bless yourself with auspicious food

Using food to seek good luck is part of the traditional food culture of the Spring Festival. Faced with the uncertainty of the future, the younger generation will be more active in "seeking good luck" during the Spring Festival.

Many Spring Festival marketing campaigns revolve around "seeking good luck". Auspicious "homophonic copywriting" is a basic method of play, with relatively light creativity, high public acceptance, simple and easy to remember, and often able to create popular cases, such as Want Want's "If you want to be prosperous, buy Want Want", Yuanqi Forest and talk show actor Niao Niao jointly created "Good luck will come to you"...

Purchasing auspicious "equipment" for self-protection is also a blessing to oneself, such as amulets, lucky beads and red strings, etc. The total number of readings of #电子功德#祥瑞# bracelets on Xiaohongshu reached 2.8 billion. This year, beaded handles and wooden fish also appeared in the gifts of many brands.

In addition to dressing products in red for the New Year to add festive atmosphere, the food industry can also start with the copywriting, incorporating auspicious words to give the products New Year blessings, or start with peripherals and gifts, and implant elements such as "good luck", "good fortune", and "transfer" to meet consumers' emotional appeal for auspiciousness.

2. Trend: 100 small things to do to make up for the loss during the Chinese New Year - health gifts become a new trend in gift giving among young people

After the epidemic, the public is more eager to socialize and reunite, and has established a higher awareness of health. Therefore, the scene of giving healthy gifts to relatives and friends during the Spring Festival should be on the rise. In the minds of many consumers, "health" is the first keyword for buying New Year's goods, and "caring New Year's goods" have officially become one of the new three New Year's goods.

From the perspective of product categories, organic milk and other dairy products, bird's nests, donkey-hide gelatin, nutritional supplements and other healthy and nourishing products are deeply rooted in people's minds and are more in line with the needs of healthy gift-giving scenarios.

In addition, gift giving also depends on the specific health needs of the recipient. Taking dairy products as an example, consumers will take the initiative to understand the effects and impacts of dairy ingredients and choose products based on their needs. The real sharing on Xiaohongshu can help consumers understand product information more intuitively and choose suitable products.

In response to the social demand for "caring for New Year's goods", the food industry can pay attention to the more refined health needs of people who give New Year's goods as gifts, and improve the efficiency of precise grass-planting through detailed interpretation of product ingredients, popular science on health and nutrition, real-person reviews, and links to hot words such as #New Year's Goods Gift Guide#Spring Festival Recovery.

4. New Experience: "Going Out" and "Come In", "Foreign Land" also has a new experience of the New Year

With the changes in lifestyles and concepts, consumers’ experience of the Chinese New Year is no longer limited to the traditional “hometown”.

In terms of food, with the development of online shopping and the improvement of production technology in the food industry, local specialties can be reproduced with the help of the food industry, and consumers can experience "exotic" delicacies from all over the world while sitting at home.

In terms of space, the Chinese New Year is no longer limited to the land of "hometown". "On the road" is becoming a new scene, and "people on the road" are forming a new consumer group during the Spring Festival.

1. Trend: Awakening of blood on the tip of the tongue - hometown delicacies cross provinces, bringing a new food experience for the Spring Festival

Consumers’ growing sense of cultural identity has made regional specialties and products of origin attract more attention.

When people return home during the Spring Festival, their recognition of local cuisine takes the following two forms.

First, hometown specialties are re-regarded as representative of the New Year atmosphere. On Xiaohongshu, the topic #Show off your hometown specialties has 63.897 million views, and #Capture the New Year atmosphere around you has 110 million views. The city's special New Year snacks and local time-honored delicacies remain as attractive as ever.

Second, specialties from all over the world are "meeting". New Year's goods are not only the taste of hometown, but also the "flavor of foreign lands" can add a fresh experience. Netizens may bring back specialties from "leaders" from all over the country, or the specialties purchased online may have arrived at home before they get home.

For food brands, in addition to local consumption, "regional boutique" foods and drinks such as Dandong strawberries and Jinhua ham are more popular among consumers. Brands can also create "hometown-flavored New Year's goods" through "OG replicas" of local time-honored brands and collaborations with local treasure stores.

2. Trend: Randomly generate New Year's pairings - the dietary needs of people on the road should be paid attention to

"Xiaohongshu 2024CNY Industry Trends" predicts that the number of people planning to travel during the Spring Festival will increase, and the sense of ritual of "eating" will not be missed during the New Year's Eve.

"On-the-go eating" involves multiple food categories such as instant foods, snacks, baked goods, alcoholic beverages, dairy products, etc. Factors affecting the experience will be taken into consideration, such as whether the product is portable, whether it can be eaten right after opening the bag, whether it is easy to rehydrate and heat, whether it is closer to the taste of freshly made products, whether it is easy to store at room temperature, whether it is easy to store after opening, and whether there is no waste. Convenience, deliciousness, and diversity must all be taken into account.

In terms of content, brands can combine high-reading keywords such as #Where to go during the Spring Festival#Travel snacks#Picnic snacks#Snacks for going out#Camping snacks to highlight the product's scenario advantages and provide reference and recommendations for people on the go.

3. Trend: Chinese New Year is not about ostentation - how can food be integrated into Chinese ritual culture?

As the public pays more attention to traditional folk customs and collective culture, some traditional Spring Festival activities have been revived, bringing a new sense of ritual to the Spring Festival and new inspiration for food marketing during the Spring Festival.

In terms of food itself, China has no shortage of luxurious dishes. Especially with the improvement of pre-prepared food technology, luxurious dishes such as Buddha Jumps Over the Wall and Hot Pot, which feature exquisite ingredients and complex craftsmanship, can also be replicated as pre-packaged foods and delivered to thousands of households through an increasingly improved cold chain system.

From the perspective of cross-category products and overseas products, the grand occasion can be replicated through packaging and modeling. For example, the Christmas limited edition of a cosmetics brand often uses fireworks elements. Dolls, animals, decorative elements from traditional New Year activities such as fish lanterns and koi, as well as the zodiac sign "Dragon New Year's goods" can also be integrated into the product concept and packaging to echo the New Year's rituals.

5. New strategy: Xiaohongshu marketing strategy guidance + CNY marketing IP matrix helps brands break through the circle

After grasping the new trends during the Chinese New Year, it is equally important to choose the right marketing strategy.

To assist brands with their CNY marketing, Xiaohongshu provides suggestions from multiple aspects including target groups, marketing strategies, delivery nodes, and marketing IP, so that brands can grasp a more reasonable marketing delivery rhythm and leverage points.

In terms of the crowd, Xiaohongshu has summarized eight CNY special interest groups to help brands conduct refined communication with the crowd. Through Lingxi big data, brands can explore the market's popular brands and SPU, search rankings, hot topics, product word-of-mouth words and other trends, capture key trend points, find more accurate crowds, and then use the core crowd as an anchor point to break through the circle layer by layer to the interest group and the general crowd through the crowd reverse funnel.

In terms of rhythm, brands can start planning in advance from the end of the year and launch in three stages.

Before the Chinese New Year, brands can use the KFS content marketing combination strategy to target people who have started preparations for the Chinese New Year, such as people who have a sense of ritual during the Chinese New Year, people who are nostalgic for the New Year, and people who give gifts for the New Year. They can also test the interested groups through targeted information flow to find the core groups. In terms of content, they can seize the awareness through the content related to pain points such as how to celebrate, where to celebrate, and what to buy. At the same time, they can start content testing from the heat accumulation period before the Chinese New Year to reserve high-quality content for more efficient holiday promotion. In addition, brands can also expand the blue ocean of promotion through holiday scene word packages.

During the Chinese New Year, consumers begin to experience real scenes. Brands can penetrate into segmented scenes such as the crowds enjoying New Year's food, the crowds celebrating folk customs, the crowds gathering with friends and relatives, and the crowd praying for New Year's blessings. Online, brands can combine New Year's goods marketing scenes such as [Red Book New Year's Goods Collection], and offline, combine festival atmosphere marketing + major New Year events, and achieve a hit through online and offline linkage of themed marketing.

After the Chinese New Year, brands can focus on people with post-holiday interests, such as those who celebrate the New Year with experience, those who want to lose weight, those who have dinner together after work, those who return to work, and those who suffer from post-holiday syndrome. By leveraging hot topics such as travel and returning to work, brands can break the circle through targeted promotion of content that interests these people, and continue to expand the brand's audience.

Through data insights and content research, Xiaohongshu has also locked in on several important scenarios such as buying New Year’s goods/eating delicious food/and exploring the New Year’s atmosphere, and launched the CNY marketing IP matrix.

Among them, the [Sweet Potato New Year Goods Fair] targets the New Year goods purchasing scenarios, through the online [Sweet Potato New Year Goods Store] [New Year Goods List], as well as the offline [Sweet Potato New Year Goods Fair], to achieve in-depth promotion in multiple scenarios.

[Super Delicious New Year Goods Festival] empowers channels through trending content on the one hand, and provides food and beverage experience marketing through celebrity tables, blogger stalls, etc. on the other hand, providing platform users with inspirational food menus while increasing brand online exposure. After online exposure, Xiaohongshu will also undertake offline product experience and sales through a closed-loop channel cooperation model, achieving a win-win situation for the platform IP, brand, and offline channels.

【Longdongqiang New Year Revival Plan】focuses on "fun", takes the cultural elements of the Year of the Dragon as the entry point, combines the brand communication mentality, creates a brand-exclusive New Year theme, integrates products into New Year scenes, and interprets brand concepts and lifestyles in various scenes of the Spring Festival. At the same time, through the linkage of community content scenes, in-depth content co-creation by celebrities, KOLs, and multi-form matrix communication, etc., CNY platform events are detonated to help the brand's New Year marketing momentum.

VI. Summary

Kantar’s research shows that more and more users choose to check out Xiaohongshu during the Chinese New Year. Xiaohongshu has become the top social media platform used most during the Chinese New Year, the top social media platform leading the Chinese New Year trends, and the top social media platform that is trustworthy for Chinese New Year recommendations.

For users, social media platforms represented by Xiaohongshu are not only a platform for daily expression, sharing and connection, but also because the content ecology shared by users actually affects their consumption behavior. As the end of the year approaches, Xiaohongshu will continue to provide users with references for Spring Festival consumption.

For brands, Xiaohongshu is becoming an indispensable platform for brand marketing insights and marketing investment. Combined with a more scientific approach and marketing IP matrix, Xiaohongshu will become an important boost to the 2024 Spring Festival marketing.

In the future, Foodaily will continue to pay attention to what new ways and opportunities Xiaohongshu will bring to the industry for Spring Festival marketing, and observe and analyze how the Xiaohongshu platform works with the industry to create explosive marketing cases.

By Giselle Yin

Source: WeChat public account Foodaily Daily Food (ID: foodaily)