Dyversity Communications: Issue 2 (2012)
(taken from www.dyversity.com)
This Week's South Asian Holi Reminds us of Brand Loyalty Potential of Recognizing
cultural Festivals
Written by:
Shetil Rastogi, Manager Market Strategies, Dyversity Communications (2012)
The fervour with which Hindus in South Asia will be celebrating Holi this week exemplifies the
importance of festivals to all South Asians. Indeed, festivals are of equal importance to the
Chinese and in fact to most cultures around the world. With the South Asian and Chinese
cultures in Canada, festivals have even more emotional meaning because of how much they
remind them of home. Brands that recognize this meaning not only build customer bonds and
generate goodwill but they also create a market opportunity for themselves. This piece provides
marketers with some top-of-mind suggestions when using festivals to reach Canada’s growing
Chinese and South Asian communities.
The main Chinese festivals, Chinese New Year (mid-January to early February)(1)
and the Mid-
Autumn or Moon Festival (mid-September to early October)(2)
,are derived from the agricultural
harvest season. Chinese New Year represents the beginning of spring and the aspiration of a
good harvest while the Mid-Autumn/Moon Festival expresses a celebration of and a gratitude for
the achievement of a good harvest. South Asian festivals, on the other hand, are more

religiously-oriented. While the origin and purpose of South Asia’s festivals vary, they are certain
to be elaborate, regardless of whether it’s Hindu Diwali, Sikh Baisakhi, or Muslim Eid.
Both the Chinese and South Asians will spend to celebrate. So, festivals can equate to
economic opportunity for brands that are mindful of the following, among others:
1. Be judicious. Festivals are special to all cultures and especially to the Chinese and South
Asian. As an overarching rule, brands need to use discretion to effectively capitalize on the
festival’s commercial side. Particular sensitivity must be shown to South Asians, whose deep-
seeded faith manifests itself most strongly during festival time. Work with your cultural agency
partner to ensure that the necessary sensitivities are shown without compromising the impact of
your brand’s message.
2. Speak their language. Cultural consumers, especially those that have immigrated to
Canada, long for the traditions of their homeland. One of these traditions is the warm greetings
that they exchange with one another during festival time. In festival-oriented communications,
speak their language wherever possible, but especially when conveying your good wishes. The
emotional impact will be deeper and your message more likely to be remembered. So, it’s more
about ‘Zhong Qiu Jie Kuai Le’ than ‘Happy Mid-Autumn Festival’ and ‘Eid Mubarak’ than ‘Happy
Eid.’ By the way, it is helpful to specify the target you are speaking with to reach them
effectively. Case in point: with the Chinese-Canadian community, be mindful that it now contains
more of a blend of mainland Chinese (who speak Mandarin and read simplified Chinese) than in
the past when it was dominated by Hong Kong people (who speak Cantonese and read

traditional Chinese).
3. Depending on brand strategy and objectives, consider skipping the ‘product sell.’
While festivals are times of commercial opportunity, depending on the target and the particular
festival, brands are advised to consider using a softer approach focused on the celebration as
opposed to a harder one focused on the product. Don’t worry; they’ll remember the brand that
conveyed the message. RBC is particularly known for conveying these wishes as a brand
without a specific product sell. While an ‘in your face’ product sell approach might not be
optimal, a healthy alternative may be a blend of festival well wishes and a product sell. Case in
point: Unilever’s Brooke Bond tea. In its 2011 Diwali campaign, Brooke Bond featured Diwali
diyas (candles) created from the tea stains of cups. The ad captured the essence of the festival
(light) and provided a link back to the product, capitalizing on the reality that when Hindus
congregate with family and friends, they often drink tea.
4. Where appropriate, sell the product. There are certain product categories that are naturally
consumed at festival time. During this time, Brands within those categories will incur an
opportunity cost if they don’t feature sell their products. Just as Cadbury does not miss the
opportunity to sell its Easter Eggs at Easter, Carnation should not miss Chinese New Year,
where its evaporated milk products add a richness to many cherished Chinese dishes. Nor
should Brooke Bond tea miss the Diwali and Eid opportunities, a time when South Asians
consume tea heavily. Assess your product category’s usage at festival time and adjust your
product sell accordingly.

.
5. Stick to the motifs and use them effectively. Pictures are worth a thousand words. To this
end, each festival has a set of symbols or motifs that are mnemonics for the festival. Your
agency should be aware of these motifs and know how to use them effectively. They can also
help you define the cultural boundaries for your messaging and imagery. During Chinese New
Year, the general use of the lion dance figure and the specific use of the zodiac animal of the
year (2012 is the dragon) is acceptable (e.g. the Tridel example below). In addition, RBC’s 2011
Baisakhi campaign adeptly applied grains of wheat as symbolic of the arrival of spring as
opposed to using the Sikh gurus (prophets) from whom the festival originated.

6. Understand the colours and use them generously. As Diwali is a festival of light, the use
of yellow is appropriate. For Eid, the use of dark green (symbolic of abundance and prosperity)
is acceptable as is red (celebration) and gold (wealth) for both Chinese festivals. Be generous in
using these colours (within brand guidelines and campaign themes) as both cultures are
inherently colourful. The vibrancy with which red, white and green is used at Christmas is a
good parallel. Case in point: Holi is a South Asian Hindu celebration of colour in which the use
of fluorescent pink, lime green, and fuchsia (among many, many others) is common. Rogers’
2010 ad respects this colourful celebration. Check in with your agency’s creative team to
ensure that your ads effectively leverage colour to stand out from the crowd.
7. Festivals are social congregations. Leverage the opportunity to generate multiple brand
impressions. By nature, both the Chinese and South Asian cultures are social, especially at
festival time. Aside from religious places (that have inconsistent rules on brand placement),
South Asians flock to banquet halls. Chinese malls are the destination of choice for the Chinese.
These venues provide lush opportunity for brands to generate impressions to large crowds,
newcomers and more tenured Chinese and South Asian Canadians alike. That both cultures are
known for relying on recommendations of more tenured members of their community makes it
particularly valuable to be top-of-mind at these events where this group can readily recall your
brands and discuss, even support, them with newcomers.
Chinese and South Asian Canadians view festivals as a link back to the land that they have left
behind. Festivals are also key events by which the first generation passes on its traditions to the
second generation. Becoming relevant to a current and future consumer base is yet another

reason, among many, that festival marketing is a wise investment for brands wishing to build
and sustain a presence within cultural markets.
2012 Chinese and South Asian Festival Calendar (major festivals)
(1
) January in the Chinese Lunar Calendar
(2)
August in the Chinese Lunar Calendar
(3)
As opposed to cultural consumers born in Canada (these are deemed 2nd generation cultural
consumers).
Culture Festival 2012 Date
Chinese Chinese New Year
Dragon Boat Festival
Mid-Autumn/Moon Festival
January 23
June 23
September 30
South Asian Holi (Hindu)
Diwali (Hindu)
Baisakhi (Sikh)
Guru Nanak Jayanti (Sikh)
Eid ul-Fitr (Islam)
Eid ul-Adha (Islam)
Easter Sunday (Christianity)
Christmas Day (Christianity)
March 7-8
November 13
April 14
November 28
August 19
October 26
April 8
December 25