Cueing Off Annual Holiday, Playful Promotions Urge Consumers To Embrace Their "Inner Child"#
China celebrated Children's Day on Saturday, and brands were able to join the festivities through marketing to adults and children alike. The holiday, officially established by the State Council in 1949 with the title of "June 1 International Children's Day" (六一国际儿童节), provided online magazines with the opportunity to teach women to tap into their inner child through fashion, while many hotels held parent-child events, one of which saw a very familiar reference to Hong Kong's infamous rubber duck that accompanied Art Basel a few weeks earlier.
"In the blink of an eye June 1 has arrived… young fashionistas who left childhood a long time ago are growing restless! They don't want to go along with mainstream trends or become drowned out by the crowd, so it's timely to wear polka-dots in a nod to children's style!" read a Children's Day polka dot fashion slideshow on Rayli.com, featuring polka dot shirts, skirts, leggings, and more.
One of Rayli's polka dot outfits for Children's Day. (Rayli.com)
Meanwhile, Vogue China showed its Children's Day spirit with a slideshow dedicated to fashionable cartoon-heavy products, including a pair of Mickey Mouse-eared Louboutins, brightly colored cartoonish dresses by Moschino Cheap and Chic and Tsumori Chisato, and a pearl-encrusted Mickey Mouse hat. "If you just keep a childish spirit, every day can be Children's Day," said the article.
A slide from Vogue China's Children's Day Slideshow. (Vogue China)
A slide from Vogue China's Children's Day Slideshow. (Vogue China)
A slide from Vogue China's Children's Day Slideshow. (Vogue China)
In non-fashion-related marketing for the holiday, several hotels took to Weibo to advertise special events that actually included children. The Four Seasons Hotel Shanghai in Puxi advertised on Weibo its children's playground and free buffet for children under six years old accompanying their parents to the hotel's coffee bar. Meanwhile, the Guangzhou China hotel, operated by Marriott, held a Children's Day pool party complete with a Hong Kong-style giant rubber duck, and the Nantong Oasis Holiday Inn held a chef presentation and food preparation lesson for children.
The pool party at the Guangzhou China Hotel, which was advertised on Weibo. (Guangzhou China Hotel)
The Nantong Oasis Holiday Inn Hotel advertises its Children's Day event. (Nantong Oasis Holiday Inn)