A fresh start with the Chinese New Year
The Malaysian Ministry of Agriculture believed the approaching holiday could be an opportunity to connect its struggling commitment to locally produced foods to the most culturally significant celebration of the year for Chinese Malaysians - but how could a simple seasonal greeting communicate so much?
The challenge
The historic election of the Pakatan Harapan party in May 2018, ousting the rule of the six decade incumbent, marked a demand for change from the Malaysian populace - and the Ministry of Agriculture (MoA) aimed to deliver on the populace’s expectations. Increasing stagnant local production of food staples, such as rice, and decreasing dependence on imports were key to its manifesto’s goal of improving food security.
Yet by January 2020, little progress had been made. A monopoly control on rice imports, seen by many rice growers as incentivizing an increase in cheap imports, had yet to be broken up. Further, demand for western imports had continued to rise, while demand for local food products lagged. The MoA’s 2020 theme of “fresh, safe, local produce” seemed not only like an empty promise, but also disconnected from the daily lives of many constituents.
With the Chinese New Year fast approaching, the MoA believed that its annual seasonal greetings could also serve as a powerful communications tool to repair trust and reaffirm commitment to the 2020 theme. My team stepped in to tackle the dual challenge of reaching the entire demographic of Chinese Malaysians on a governmental budget and writing and designing a greeting both celebratory and reassuring
The insight
Through client interviews, we designed our goal as threefold. First, the greetings needed to deliver on being sincere and joyous - these were, afterall, well wishes for the most important holiday for Chinese Malaysians.
Second, they needed to anchor the MoA’s theme of “fresh, safe, local produce” into daily life. My team immediately saw the powerful connection between locally produced food and the Chinese New Year’s reunion dinner - widely viewed as the most important shared meal of the year. If we could convince recipients that local foods enriched their celebrations, we would be well on our way to re-establishing trust that the MoA’s goals were relevant and important.
Third, the MoA’s shoestring budget would require a social media heavy distribution strategy. We knew a social campaign - in particular a social campaign from a governmental ministry - would only realistically receive seconds of our audience’s attention. The visuals would have to be stunning; and the copy short and sweet.
The solve
”Chi hao, hao chi!”
My verbal team’s concise, mirrored copy is made of two common phrases: chi hao meaning to “eat well, diligently, or in consideration of health”, and hao chi meaning “tasty” or “delicious”. Juxtaposed, the two beautifully encompassed the core concepts of the MoA’s brief - that healthy, local food is also delicious, and should be welcome at any family’s reunion dinner. These powerful four words underpinned my team’s approach to the MoA’s seasonal greetings.
Our visual team enhanced the messaging with a design that wove imagery of indigenous Malaysian agriculture with culturally significant Chinese symbolism. Photography of local produce was presented within a circular layout, a nod to the circle’s symbolism of unity, fulfillment, and of course the Lunar New Year’s moon. The circular design became the primary visual graphic across all media, with some media including educational copy on lesser known indigenous foods.
All together, we produced a short video, corresponding GIF, digital banners, billboards, and physical postcards that were distributed to the Chinese Malaysian demographic through mail, social media, and Whatsapp. With no social ad spend, the campaign received over 10,000+ views on Facebook, and 20,000+ active forwards on Whatsapp, 50,000 direct mail recipients, and 300K+ eyeballs on two strategically placed billboards.
