中國農歷新年是中國最重要的傳統佳節。無論對于中國老百姓，還是時刻關注中國消費者的品牌來說，都是一個重要的消費時期。

為了深入了解消費者在春節期間與品牌之間的互動，我們在1月份調查了來自三個市場——中國大陸、香港和新加坡的1000位消費者，探討他們對于品牌在春節期間的營銷活動的看法和態度。

通過此次調查看出，品牌的春節營銷活動對于消費者來說，非常重要。春節是一年之中闔家團圓的寶貴日子，親朋好友之間的互動，如聚餐、送禮等非常普遍。大陸的被調查者反映，如果品牌推出搶眼的春節營銷活動，那么，他們很有可能推薦這些品牌給其他人（59%），嘗試新品牌（65%），或者加大對品牌的消費力度（64%）。

消費品公司具有獨特的優勢并善于利用春節與消費者進行溝通、構建品牌。這是因為在家庭成員于春節期間的聚餐和送禮活動中，消費品是其中重要的組成部分。如果品牌擁有持續性的好口碑，而且推出的產品很應節，春節期間銷售量會顯著飆升。消費品公司很擅長推出節假日特別包裝、捆綁促銷等活動來推進品牌的節日銷售。

很有趣的現象是，大部分被調查的中國消費者都認為中國品牌和國際品牌在春節營銷活動中的表現平分秋色。兩者都很會利用春節來積極構建品牌（41%的被調查者覺得平分秋色，34%覺得中國品牌做得更好，25%覺得國際品牌更好）。

一般來講，國際品牌已經被公認為更加擅長與中國消費者構建強烈的情感關聯。當被問到哪個中國或者國際品牌的營銷做得最好？可口可樂是被提及次數最多的品牌。它被提到的次數，比提及次數排名第一的中國本土品牌加多寶，數量要多四倍；也比排名第二的國際品牌——費列羅巧克力多三倍。

中國的消費者認為國際品牌的品牌構建，需要具備兩個特點：真情實感（49%的中國消費者認為國際品牌的春節促銷需要考慮真情實感的因素，新加坡22%，香港30%）和出人意料（中國大陸34%，新加坡17%，香港12%）。

有一個國際品牌的春節營銷活動在這兩個要素–真情實感和出人意料都獲得了最高的得分–聯合利華的衛寶（Lifebuoy）香皂。衛寶針對農歷新年特別設計了紅包，方便親朋好友在過年期間使用。紅包使用的材料是它們獨特的抗菌香皂包裝紙。此創新紅包，被送到了上海27萬個目標家庭，既可以用來發紅包，還可以隨時洗手。這個頗具創意的紅包營銷活動提升了衛寶在上海市場的品牌認知度，幅度高達17%，也為品牌帶來了價值等同于83萬美元的免費瀏覽量。

仔細觀察調查結果，我們還可以進一步提出兩個有趣的問題。第一，為什么非消費品類的公司不在名單上？這是因為大部分非消費品類公司都把春節當做普通促銷的機會之一。但從調查結果來看，消費者在春節期間期待比一般的促銷更多的驚喜。

有一個例外的非消費品類公司是海爾。這個中國家用電器品牌為了迎合消費者在春節期間的情感需求，打造了一個叫做“春節回家，陪伴父母”的活動。海爾與中國鐵路合作將車廂重新布置，添加了活動二維碼。搭乘火車急切返鄉的人們，可以掃描二維碼，觀賞一個有關團圓和父母無私的愛的短片。這個走心的短片很符合中國消費者的心理需求，消費者被深深地觸動。

第二個問題是，從這些善于利用春節進行營銷的消費品類公司可以學到什么？消費品公司充分認識到春節的戰略性作用，春節不只是提升短期銷售額的節假日，更是品牌長期構建的絕佳機會。

無論是中國本土的，還是國際品牌，都可以從我們此次調查結果中獲知，在中國市場接近中國消費者，可以考慮特別的營銷活動、促銷或者品牌故事等來給消費者帶來驚喜。但是無論哪種選擇，都必須和品牌屬性一致，講究真情實感。因為這是中國消費者愿意忠誠于某品牌的主要考慮。（財富中文網）

JayMilliken是品牌策略及市場咨詢顧問公司Prophet香港辦公室的高級合伙人。

Chinese New Year (CNY), as one of the most important festivals in the Chinese calendar, is an important holiday in China for both the Chinese people and the brands that wish to engage with them.

To find out more about how consumers engage with brands during CNY, Prophet surveyed 1,000 consumers across three markets in January - Mainland China, Hong Kong and Singapore - regarding their attitudes on how brands participate in CNY.

The surprising part of the survey is that mainland respondents indicated that they are more likely to recommend brands to others (59%), try new brands (65%), or buy more from brands (64%) if those brands participate in CNY. While it is to be expected that consumers would buy more from brands that participate in CNY, it is not necessarily expected that those brands would also get trials and recommendations from consumers as well.

Consumer packaged goods (CPG) companies have an inherent advantage in using CNY as a brand building opportunity. The prominent role of food and gifting during CNY puts such brands at the center of the family. CPG companies benefit from being high engagement categories. They also have ready-made tools in their marketing tool-kit to use at CNY, vs. non-consumer oriented categories.

It is interesting to note that the majority of Chinese consumers we surveyed feel that Chinese brands and foreign brands are equally good at taking advantage of the CNY holiday to build their brand (41% equal vs. 34% Chinese better vs. 25% foreign better).

Traditionally, foreign brands have proven to be more adept at building a stronger emotional connection with consumers. Coca-Cola was the most frequently mentioned brand in the survey when consumers were asked which brand (Chinese or foreign) does a great job with CNY. Coca-Cola was mentioned four times more frequently than any Chinese packaged goods company (Jia Duo Bao was the top Chinese brand) and was mentioned three times more frequently than the next foreign packaged goods company (Ferraro Rocher). Why is Coca-Cola so highly regarded? In addition to many of the advantages listed previously for packaged goods companies, Coca-cola also has a brand idea around happiness and sharing which is highly aligned with CNY, and they are able to ruthlessly execute against that idea.

Chinese consumers give foreign brands permission to be both authentic (49% of Chinese consumers think it is very important for non-Chinese brands to be authentic with CNY activities vs. 22% in Singapore and 30% in Hong Kong) and surprising (34% of Mainland Chinese consumers think it is very important for non-Chinese brands to be surprising with CNY activities vs. 17% in Singapore and 12% in Hong Kong).

An example of a company that scored big on both of these attributes in recent CNY activity was Unilever’s Lifebuoy soap. Lifebuoy developed hongbao or red packets, used by family members and friends to give and receive money at Chinese New Year, from its unique anti-bacterial soap paper. The novel New Year’s packets, which can be used to gift money and wash hands, were sent to 270,000 target households in Shanghai. The packets increased Lifebuoy’s brand awareness in the Shanghai market by 17%, or the equivalent of US$830,000 in free impressions

Looking at our survey results raised two interesting questions. First, why aren’t more non-packaged goods companies on the list? The answer is that most non-packaged goods companies treat CNY as just another promotional opportunity, but consumers are interested in more than just traditional promotions.

Once exception to this generalization is Haier. The Chinese appliance maker catered to consumers’ emotional needs this CNY with a campaign called “Be your parents’ companion during CNY.” Haier partnered with China Railway to decorate train compartments with QR codes. People taking the train home for family reunions could scan the QR code and watch a short video on the meaning of reunion and the unconditional love of parents. Chinese consumers related strongly to the video and were touched by it, but it remains unclear whether this executional idea had any long-term brand impact.

The second question prompted by our look at the survey results was, what can other companies learn from those CPG companies that use CNY well? CPG companies fundamentally understand that CNY is a long-term brand building opportunity, not simply an opportunity to increase short-term sales.

What all brands in China, non-Chinese as well as Chinese, can learn from our survey is that they must engage Chinese consumers in new and authentic ways, not just at CNY, but throughout the year. They need to take a bit more risk to surprise consumers with events, experiences and great storytelling, but do so in an authentic way that matches the essence of their brand. The benefits to brands that heed this advice is a great opportunity to build brand loyalty with both existing and new customers.

Jay Milliken is a Senior Partner in Hong Kong at Prophet, a strategic brand and marketing consultancy.