How are brands having fun with Squid Game? Plus, how to stand out in Asia this 11.11 and Vietnamese Tet New Year

How brands are reacting to Netflix’s Squid Game craze on social media

“Squid Game has officially reached 111 million fans – making it our biggest series launch ever!” tweeted Netflix. The dystopian South Korean series is currently the most-watched show in over 90 countries. Naturally, brands jumped on the bandwagon and got creative on social media. Here are some of our favourites from the region. Invitations were given out by Domino's Pizza Malaysia and Nandos Singapore. The Dalgona Candy game, where each player has to carefully carve out a shape pressed onto the delicate piece of honeycomb, is also a theme taken on by Hong Kong Airlines and Circles.Life. Millennium Hotels and Resorts’ M Social Singapore took it to the next level with a Telegram competition chatbot, inspired by Squid Game that was so wildly popular, they had to divert some users to play on the web. When done correctly, trendjacking can help to garner brand awareness and foster engagement with audiences quickly. Viral news cycles are fast, they can go out of date in a week, so don’t wait too long to be part of a cultural moment.  

Indian online shoppers spend more than two hours on social commerce

The pandemic has increased e-commerce adoption in India. Online shoppers are also trying at least two new e-commerce shopping sites and apps in the past year.

According to a report by GIPSI, Tonic Worldwide’s HI+AI (Human Intelligence + Artificial Intelligence) division, approximately 620,000 searches take place for social commerce, increasing month-on-month, and the average Indian today spends about 2.25 hours on social media.  More notably, the preference for ‘Instagram shopping’ is the most popular, followed by Facebook, YouTube and Pinterest. Furthermore, the ‘creator economy’ is booming with a 1447% increase in conversations, with 3x the positive sentiment and a further 25,000 conversations on reviews and recommendations.

Google shares the top 3 tips to prepare for Vietnamese Tết New Year

With Tết 2022 expected to be celebrated online, Google shares the latest consumer insights to engage with Vietnam audiences. Tết, short for Tết Nguyên Đán, Spring Festival, Lunar New Year, or Vietnamese Lunar New Year is the most important celebration in Vietnamese culture.

A recent survey showed that 70% of people looked online to find new ways to celebrate the holiday period at home. Searches for “xem gì hôm nay” (what to watch today) rose 200% YoY and search interest for (New Year’s Eve) “countdown” increased by 38% in the same period. People also started doing more festive shopping online, accounting for a 20 to 25% increase in online sales revenue right before Tết 2021, compared to the same period in 2020.

According to Google, YouTube searches for live shows from connected televisions spiked 12X compared to non-Tết periods, and music content hit a 54% peak viewership level. With so many people tuning in to YouTube, plan your Tết campaign to reach them on their Connected TV.

Next, there’s no one-size-fits-all approach for a culturally and linguistically diverse market like Vietnam. So, to connect with audiences before, during, and after Tết, tap regional insights to localize creatives and messaging for scale. Lastly, consumers in Vietnam are also turning to e-commerce to fulfill Tết traditions of refreshing themselves, their homes, and gift-giving. In summary, the three ways to ensure your marketing strategy is ready for Tết 2022 are: Add Connected TV to your media mix, localise your campaign, and have Shoppable YouTube formats.

Alibaba urged online shoppers and content creators to start ‘planting grass’

Singles' Day has become one of the world’s largest online shopping festivals. E-commerce giant Alibaba urged online shoppers and content creators to start 'planting grass' ahead of Alibaba’s Zhongcao campaign for Singles’ Day 11.11. Zhongcao means to ‘plant grass’ and describes the effect when someone sees something owned by a friend or family member, or an advertisement for a product, and wants it. The effect is like planting a seed in their mind. A Zhong Cao machine is another word to describe a key opinion leader. It refers to someone who holds the power to sway the public’s fashion preferences.

The 40-day, content-heavy campaign rolled out since the 1st of October across Taobao’s different channels, including live-streaming platform Taobao Live, to bolster Alibaba’s sales initiatives in a highly competitive market. Last year, approximately 300 million Taobao users watched live streams during the 11.11 sales period from November 1st through November 11th, and 33 live streaming channels achieved over 100 million RMB ($15 million USD) in sales. The initiative shows how China’s e-commerce market is now enhanced with a mix of promotions, social media content, and live-streaming sessions.