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Fresh marketing ideas inspired by the Mooncake Festival

Last Minute Campaign Idea: Mooncake Festival on 29th of Sept.

So, this year on the 29th of September, the mooncake festival is taking place. We stumbled over this amazing marketing campaign idea already 2 years ago. We loved how some of the bigger and smaller brands are infusing their marketing with it (nope, not just digital today! mostly physical! 😉 and would like to share the inspiration for any creative marketer.

Why not let your brand communication be inspired by how some global high-quality brands handle this?


[pic from here – most of it will be explained soon – will there be an explanation for the groggy rabbit?]

So – first things first – what is it?

The Mooncake Festival is a mid-autumn festival in China.

It is celebrated to

worship the moon and celebrate the harvest

These are the main facts you need to know:

  • it is a celebration of the full moon in September (so this year it is on 29th of September)
  • after dinner, you would gaze at the moon while eating so-called “mooncakes” – some sommelier platforms recommend accompanying it with a nice glass of bubbles (well, of course! a nice champagne goes with pretty much everything!) ;))
  • build in: wonder at the magic of life
  • it is rooted in Chinese culture, but is celebrated throughout Asia, including Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, Singapore, and Vietnam.
  • of course, there is a mystic tale behind it involving love and heroism. Roughly, it goes like this: A guy saved the mortal world when 10 suns unexpectedly rose over the sky one year. Over the course of the events, the love of his life dies, choosing to live the after-death life on the moon – and therefore, the moon gets gazed at when it is considered to be at its fullest
  • and… for some reason, a cute rabbit lives with her on the moon (‘cos… why not? ;))
  • Chinese people have a 3-day public holiday from September 19th to 21st – it is the 2nd important holiday in China after New Year, after all. So, in a way, this is what easter is vs Xmas here in Europe. For context: Here in Germany, according to an acquaintance of mine who manages the supermarket in a village nearby, Easter is the #1 turnover day of the year. So this should get the business savvy thinkers among us thinking. 😉
  • Though it is mostly a full moon holiday, sometimes, according to “China Highlights” “in some years, the full moon is on the festival day, while in other years, the full moon occurs the day after the festival.”
  • the mooncakes themselves are characterized by pretty fancy though varied fillings (this seems to be vastly regional)
  • Chinese people celebrate it by gathering for dinners, worshipping the moon, lighting paper lanterns, eating mooncakes, etc.

Interesting fun fact:

A similar celebration is happening in India as told by our designer Krupa.

In this case, there is special milk involved that is cooked with saffron and other spices. The milk will be set in a char outside – and once the moonlight falls into it, it is shared by the whole family. One sits together, and sips the milk sharing stories. Quite lovely, too!

Mooncakes in themselves and how they are presented have become quite some works of art. As symbols of abundance,

mooncakes gifts have become an important part of brand builders’ narrative in Asia.

Here are some examples we especially love – starting with no one less than DIOR:


[Picture by Little Red Book]

I personally love the Belgian old-school brand Delvaux – and this here is definitely a ‘direct mailing’ that – should you be one of the lucky recipients – clearly is a talk about.

Interesting is also where the comments about it ended up: It is the Chinese platform Xiaohongshu – which, as a digital marketer, you should put into your little black book by now. http://www.xiaohongshu.com/

Sustainability has arrived in Mooncake Festival campaigns, too…

leading to lots of reusable (and super charming) ideas… such as these lovely tiffin boxes by Changhosek:

We also LOVE the idea of the cranes:

The emerald-coloured containers come printed with motifs of Tsuru (Japanese cranes), a symbol of hope and resilience that’s aptly suited for these unprecedented times.

Found at: https://thesmartlocal.com/read/mooncake-box-2021-singapore/

I personally fell head over heels for this mooncake + stylish bag set by The Marmalade Pantry:

Could it get any better?

Admittedly, I HAVE tried to order the set in their online shop… however (and not surprisingly ;)) they seem not to provide shipping to Europe.

What will a plane ticket to Singapore cost these days? *trailingoff* 😉

In the meanwhile, you are probably wondering

what the Mercedes Benz of Mooncakes is…

it seems to be Ding Mooncakes.

Ahem, well, that seems to be to the point: 😉 #soldout

Talking about a trusted brand and lots of impressive trust signals on the shop page here….

There are more ‘hands-on’ versions, of course.

If you look up “Mooncakes” on Alibaba, everything points towards the fact that they seem to be pretty much in demand:

Ok, so for the

Take-Aways for Avid Marketers:

How to infuse your marketing 2023 with the stylish and poetic Mooncake Festival Spirit

  • Moongazing in itself… what a poetic activity!
    This a) reminds us of life’s magic itself, which is great, and
    b) it reminds us that MAGIC, instilling magic into our brands, is just what it is about
  • Campaigns by Dior or Delvaux might remind us that a high-quality direct mailing can really make an enormous positive impression. Mooncake Festival with all its built-in poetry, might be just right for a creative direct mailing to your most cherished clients and customers (think Delvaux level up here ;))
  • Be ready for it next year. Why not schedule it in your marketing campaigns calendar NOW – next year it will be on the 10th of September. A great back-to-school timing – and a much more interesting idea than just “back to school” 😉

And those cranes…?


Well, I guess, they deserve a design and marketing ideas post in itself, don’t they?

#noted #contentcalendar #nextup

Links and Resources about the Mooncake Festival

Not quite related, but sth. this reminded me, and I’d like to share:

[Reviewed, edited and updated on 14th of August, 2023]

Kristin Reinbach

As the owner of agency „OVERW8“ and building on more than 20 years experience in marketing, Kristin is consistently thinking along the terms of ‚customer value‘, ‚brand value‘ as well as business models. Consistently meaning when she’s out for dinner, sitting in a cosy ski hut as well as having a sundowner wine at a vineyard. Like this, it’s simple logic that her primary job now is to support entrepreneurs and entrepreneurial teams with this know-how to create more brand value, more customer value and thus more company value. She’s sharing some of these nuggets here on OVERW8’s blog.

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