Discover the most important holiday for the Chinese community across the globe: Spring Festival
The Spring Festival, also known as Chinese New Year or Lunar New Year, is the most important traditional holiday in China and Pan-Chinese communities across the world. It marks the beginning of the lunar new year on the Lunar Calendar and usually falls between January 21 and February 20.
The Chinese character "年" (nián) refers to “year” in English. The original meaning comes from agriculture. In ancient times, people called the growth cycle of grains as "years". This character depicted a person carrying a bundle of harvested crops on their back, symbolizing the completion of a farming cycle and the passage of time in its earlier form. Now the character underwent simplifications, but its fundamental meaning remained connected to the cyclical and recurring nature of years.
(Image source: https://food-fantasy.fandom.com/wiki/Nian?file=FA-Nian.png)
The most influential television show during the Chinese New Year holiday: The Spring Festival Galas
In modern days, a new tradition has been developed to celebrate the achievements of the past whole year and family reunion: watching the Spring Festival Galas. The Spring Festival Galas was first produced in 1983 by CCTV (the former CMG), which is an annual televised variety show broadcast on the eve of the Chinese New Year, and has become a cultural phenomenon, attracting a massive viewership in China and among overseas Chinese communities.
As reported by Global Times, the Spring Festival Galas 2023 hosted by China Media Group's (CMG) recorded the number of audiences through new media platforms hit 655 million, while the total number of viewers of the vertical screen broadcast reached 179 million. Outside of China, through the China Global Television Network, an international division of CMG, more than 1,000 media outlets from 170+ countries and regions around the world simultaneously broadcast or reported on the Spring Festival Galas in 68 languages. The Spring Festival Galas has become an important avenue through which the Chinese New Year story is told to the world
(Image Source: https://english.cctv.com/2022/12/22/ARTID0RapFDaBGultSYH7SDO221222.shtml)
Why do audiences love Spring Festival Galas and what’s on it?
The CMG’s gala typically features a diverse range of performances, including comedy sketches, music and dance performances, magic shows, and other entertaining segments. It has evolved over the years to reflect contemporary themes and trends while maintaining a connection to traditional Chinese culture.
Besides, local TVs also produce regional spring festival galas emphasizing local cultural elements, traditions, and talents and the performances and content may be more region-specific, showcasing the unique characteristics of the area. For example, Liaoning Local TV have more regional language programs, while Zhejiang Local TV's Spring Festival Gala will have more content related to Yue Opera because it was originated in Zhejiang. What’s more, the Spring Festival Gala of local TV may be more inclined to local enterprises and advertisers, and the scale of sponsorship is relatively small.
(Image Source: https://news.cgtn.com/news/2023-01-21/2023-Spring-Festival-Gala-A-heartfelt-gathering-in-Year-of-the-Rabbit-1gMoSD0Kl20/index.html)
What does the rise of the Spring Festival Gala mean for marketers and the advertising industry?
The Spring Festival Galas not only becomes audiences’ New Year tradition, but it also provides a perfect opportunity for brands to connect with them and the title sponsorship is known as the most powerful way. Record shows that in the first decade (1984-1993), the title sponsors of the Spring Festival Galas were dominated by the watch industry. (“手表/钟表” means watch）Later on, the liquor and some enterprises joined the competition. From 2003, the home appliance brand, Midea Group, took over the title sponsorship for another decade. The brand’s logo was featured on the New Year countdown clock.
In recent years, audiences have been obsessed with discussing celebrities’ appearances on the galas. The outfits they dress in and the accessories they wear have all become internet topics. For example, lipsticks Tong Liya wore in 2020 became a top seller after the gala aired.
How can brands leverage the significant event in North America?
As revealed by CCTV advertising agencies, the cost of directly sponsoring the CCTV Spring Festival Gala is notably high, typically exceeding 40 million yuan. To provide a more accessible solution, iTalkBB Media offers affordable sponsor packages that allow brands to connect with the 2.6 million Chinese population in North America. With the exclusive advertising rights to iTalk TV Platforms that license CMG’s and local Spring Festival Galas, iTalkBB Media can help brands join the largest annual celebration of the Chinese community.
In 2022, iTalkBB Media delivered over 450k TVC impressions from all the Spring Festival Galas in just 7 days. In addition, the packages combined general ad campaign delivered over 2 million impressions during the holiday season.
The 2024 Spring Festival Galas sponsorships are now available! Contact us today to learn more about the packages and be ready to join the Lunar New Year celebration with us!
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iTalk TV Platforms are the largest licensed Chinese-language television and streaming service in North America. iTalk TV Platforms are boutique ad-supported video-on-demand (AVOD) platforms with options of free and subscription tiers offering various Chinese streaming content through their Set-Top-Box platform and digital platforms on the web and mobile app versions. By reaching 2 million users, the services entertain audiences with a curated collection of movies, TV shows, and original content, in addition to 30+ live-streaming channels.
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