This year’s Earth Hour, where individuals and companies are encouraged to switch off lights for one hour, fell on 30 March 2019. While Earth Hour is a worldwide conservation event launched by WWF to raise awareness of climate change, it has become a marketing opportunity in recent years. Among the companies that took advantage of this thoughtful event this year was Gallo Family Vineyards.

Award-winning Gallo Family Vineyards is one of the ranges offered by the family-owned Gallo brand and is one of the top 10 best-selling wine brands in the USA.

To celebrate and in a show of support for Earth Hour 2019, Gallo Family Vineyards, in partnership with NDN Group, launched a campaign themed around “Happy Together.”

The objectives were to attract more WeChat followers, maintain fans’ loyalty and highlight Gallo’s core value – having good times with families.

A video was made for the campaign. It begins with a zooming-in on the planet Earth — from outer space down to one particular household where two friends are spending time together. Gallo Family Vineyards wines can be seen on the table and also in photos on the wall. The left bottom corner shows a clock, emphasizing the passing of time.  As the time rolls over from 08:29 to 08:30, which is when Earth Hour begins, candles are lit as the two friends clink glasses and continue having a good time, and lights in the city begin to go off. The clip ends with the company logo and the slogan “Happy Together on Earth. Connect to Earth,” echoing with the theme of Earth Hour this year and Gallo’s core value.

The campaign was a success, with the video garnering 3,000 views since its launch on WeChat and numerous positive comments.

Since 2017, NDN Group has been managing the WeChat accounts of Gallo Family Vineyards and Carlo Rossi for Gallo, and has boosted their number of followers by 8 and 17 times respectively.

Looking for creative ideas on your next campaign? Drop us a line and we’d be in touch soon.

WeChat Pay is already a part of everyday life in China, a popular payment gateway supported almost everywhere – taxis, supermarkets, hospitals and even as a way to facilitate communication between judges and litigants in court cases. Following the launch of the Chinese official website with UX/UI design for our client AJ Hackett in 2018, the international bungee jump business, we introduced WeChat Pay for their online ticket reservations in early May this year to streamline sales transactions for Chinese tourists.

Showcase

With abundant local knowledge about the app and the Chinese market, our team in Shanghai was invited to work closely with our Hong Kong team in this project, with the former responsible for setting up payment process and the latter for website interface and program design. Customers can now proceed to WeChat Pay from the booking page directly by simply scanning a QR code, achieving a seamless customer experience for Chinese tourists.

Why WeChat Pay?  

– Able to handle multiple payment methods including Quick Pay, QR code, In-App Web-Based or Native In-App payments

– Supports cross-border settlements in all major foreign currencies and is available in over 20 countries

– Allows foreign businesses to engage with customers in- and outside of China via their all-in-one services, reaching out to larger audiences

On-going development for AJ Jackett is underway to cater for the footprints from China, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Macau. The website will be further revamped to include JETCO pay (credit card payment) and improve search engine optimization (SEO).

Outlook on WeChat Pay

Today, there are reportedly more than 900 million active WeChat Pay users on a monthly basis; by 2021, it is estimated that the number of Chinese users will increase up to 675 million while WeChat’s penetration rate of smartphone users and messaging app users will rise up to 82% and 89% respectively, according to eMarketer. It’s impossible to neglect the growing business opportunities on WeChat.

Speak to our specialists today to learn more about WeChat marketing and e-Commerce landscape.

You have a product that is sure to sweep customers in China off their feet. Your Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter have always helped you reach out to customers everywhere else in the world, but if you think you can pull the same tricks again, think again. The social media market in China is a completely different digital landscape. To start with, Facebook, YouTube and Twitter are not available in the country. It is wise to equip yourself with the latest social media strategies in China before launching your product.

1. WeChat

WeChat is an all-in-one messaging app that is like a combination of Facebook, Whatsapp, Google News and more. Businesses can create accounts for promotions and implement CRM functionality. WeChat is so big in China that many businesses don’t even have traditional websites and choose to focus on maintaining their WeChat accounts only.

2. Sina Weibo

China’s answer to Twitter, Sina Weibo is a micro-blogging platform particularly popular among young white-collar workers and KOLs. Businesses can communicate directly with followers and can even sell their products through Weibo.

3. Tencent QQ

QQ is an instant messaging app particularly popular among the younger generation in 3rd and 4th tier cities. Businesses can pay to have marketing content created and published for them. QQ is great for businesses selling non-luxury products.

4. Youku Tudou

Dubbed Chinese Youtube, Youku offers an online viewing analytics tool, making it possible for businesses to identify audience by demographics, location, and other information. Paid advertisement is also available.

5. Baidu Tieba

Similar to Reddit, Baidu Tieba is a keyword-based discussion forum where discussions on any and every topic can be found. It makes a great social media marketing tool for new businesses.

6. Douban

Douban used to be a film and series rating platform like IMDB. As it scales, it has turned into an interest-oriented social networking platform expanding into paid learning content, podcast channel and more. Users use the platform for reviews, ratings and discussions, and for that very reason, it’s a great place for word-of-mouth marketing.

7. Zhihu

Quora-like question-and-answer site Zhihu often sees lengthy posts that cover very specific questions and has outstanding trust rankings on search engines. Businesses can raise brand awareness by answering questions and providing content on Zhihu.

8. Meituan-Dianping

Similar to Yelp, Meituan-Dianping provides a platform for users to share reviews of restaurants, except Meituan-Dianping reviews businesses like beauty salons, hotels, and gyms as well. Being the largest review service provider in China, Meituan-Dianping is an excellent channel to advertise and offer location-based promotions.

9. Momo

Seen as a clone of Tinder, Momo is the largest dating app in China that offers advanced targeting for its advertisers based on location, interest, demographics, etc.

10. Meitu

Meitu is an image-editing app and has recently announced its plan to become a social media platform as well. Currently, the new social media features are in beta and have been receiving encouraging responses. It is set to become a powerful advertising tool, especially for businesses with a focus on women.

Understand the social media tools available in China is crucial to building connections with your target customers. Our team based in Shanghai is ready to help if you need any advice for the mainland market. On a further note, some of our clients work closely with our Hong Kong team for China marketing service.