Every summer, during the Seventh Month of the Lunar Calendar, Taiwanese people hold the Hungry Ghost Festival. They buy a bountiful array of provisions – food, beverages, and all kinds of grocery items – and present them as offerings to ghosts who have journeyed far from the underworld to the land of the living.

For the retail industry, Hungry Ghost Festival generates 30 billion Taiwan dollars in revenue. It is the 2nd biggest sales period, trailing only the Chinese Lunar New Year.

During this fiercely competitive peak sales season, how could the supermarket chain PXMart launch a communication campaign from the perspective of the brand that would make more people willing to take part in Hungry Ghost Festival, and go to PXMart to buy their provisions?

To express the beautiful meaning of Hungry Ghost Festival, we created a series of groundbreaking “ghost interview” videos, in which ghosts from different eras spoke in front of the camera just like ordinary folks, expressing thanks for people’s hospitality.

In the midst of these touching scenes, we hid subtle visual clues that the protagonists were actually ghosts. Then we allowed viewers to discover the clues on their own. On their own initiative, they shared the true identity of the ghosts on social media, becoming powerful promoters of the videos. This triggered engagement between the brand content and viewers.

Hungry Ghost Festival is a custom in which people must enthusiastically extend help to the departed. But in Taiwanese society, people feel reluctant – or even afraid – to talk about ghosts. So we overturned people’s perceptions of ghosts, making them aware that ghosts are just like so many living people, who need our help and deserve our compassion. And when they receive help, they will be very grateful.

By encouraging people to express their inner respect and concern for the departed, we increased their participation in Hungry Ghost Festival, thus driving sales for PXMart.

We created a groundbreaking series of three “ghost interviews,” in which ghosts from different ethnic groups and eras spoke in front of the camera just like ordinary folks, expressing gratitude. Each film contained subtle visual clues that “they’re not people...they’re ghosts!”

1. An old refugee soldier from mainland China: His chair has a shadow, but he doesn’t.

2. A mother who speaks Japanese: She sits by a window but has no reflection.

3. A young Taiwanese intellectual: He is invisible in the mirror behind him.

The films’ characters exerted a strong affinity with Taiwanese people, and viewers experienced enjoyment and intrigue hunting for the clues.

We released the audiovisual content on television, along with Facebook, YouTube and Instagram, allowing people to discover the clues on their own. They became powerful promoters of the films, discussing and sharing them online. This organic engagement in turn generated considerable coverage on mainstream media.

1.In only 3 days, the films achieved sky-high performance and sparked passionate discussion:

-1,073,029 Views

-1392 facebook Share

-843Media Reports

-104,516 Post Engagements (facebook)

-402,549 Organic Reach (facebook)

-NT$57 million+ Earned Media

2. Sales revenue for the Hungry Ghost Festival period surpassed 100 million Taiwan dollars, a 10% increase over the previous year.

3. By revealing the gratitude of ghosts, we made them no longer seem frightening. We successfully leveraged people’s kindness to drive PXMart’s business. And we ensured that the spirit of giving will continue to thrive as a tradition.