We used the most credible media ever to communicate a message which may sound unbelievable to many. The state controlled Fujian Daily, whose inscription was even written by Chairman Mao, so it’s as official as you get. In China, public welfare messages are the domain of the state, so any brands claiming likewise would be swiftly censored. Not only did we convince them to go to print to support a good cause, they even made it front page news…literally

Sedrin is a local beer brand born and bred in Fujian, a coastal province in China. The brand needed a refresh to arrest 5 years of continuous sales decline in the face of big international brand competition entering their turf. These competitor brands enjoy the benefit of national scale and much larger marketing investments. We needed to reconnect with the Fujianers and rejuvenate the brand

We identified the annual Chinese new years holiday as the perfect time to strike. We couldn’t perform a miracle and stop time but we did the next best thing. We gave them an extra day off during Chinese New Year. But this sounded too good to be true. We needed to convince them it was legitimate.

Fujian is a province in China famous for its sense of community. Family circles, friend circles, even the houses are built in circles. So for Chinese New Year, the only chance Fujianers get to see loved ones each year, the official 7 days holiday is not enough to see their loved ones. So Sedrin, a local Fujian beer brand felt compelled to act to do some good for the people of Fujian

To get a day off all they had to do was scan a QR code & fill out our leave form to win a day’s salary. We plastered this news all around their commute to work in the subway, even at their work in office lifts. We also added a tear off slip on our outdoor media to scan at their convenience. On social, we targeted them on Wechat where they could click to apply. Even our beer can became a news channel.

This was the most successful campaign in Sedrins history. The first time sales grew in 5 years. Our story was picked up across all major news channels and spread like crazy across social becoming the #1 social buzz hashtag on Weibo in Fujian. It even spread to other provinces where they complained about not getting the extra day off. It became a movement even inspiring the government at the annual National People’s Congress to push for an extension to Chinese New Year

Riding on the hyper local positioning of Sedrin as a beer brand born and bred in Fujian, we leveraged a truly local Fujian insight. As the most community spirited province in China, where event housing communities are built in circles, the locals don’t have enough time to see all their loved ones during Chinese New Year holiday. Our communications strategy was hyper Fujian centric. The front page of the Fujian daily is the most official media possible, and was supported by local Fujian TV and radio stations to convince them it was legitimate, when normally public welfare messages on these media channels are exclusively the domain of the state. We also targeted the busiest commute routes for our outdoor strategy.