Shaftesbury launches Chinese New Year campaign

By

Nigel TAYLOR

Published
Feb 12, 2021

A distinct lack of tourists in London to celebrate this year’s Chinese Lunar New Year hasn’t stopped landlord Shaftesbury from forging ahead with a related promotion.

For a fortnight from 13 February, the property giant is to celebrate the 'Year of the Ox', to “safely” support Chinatown London’s tenants. It includes a digital campaign, #StrongAsAnOx, in lieu of traditional festivities.

And it’s not just a London-centric event. For the first time, the capital’s Chinatown is also extending the digital celebrations worldwide by partnering with the Chinatowns in San Francisco, Johannesburg, and Melbourne.  

The related campaign aims to "generate excitement about this important cultural festival, while reflecting lockdown restrictions”. 

Activities will focus on “engaging with the destination’s audiences, showing them how to bring a taste of Chinatown-style celebratory feasting to their table at home, while also reinforcing the sense of community that Chinatown London is famous for”.

The campaign will run across a range of Western and Asian digital channels for a number of weeks, with activities including a virtual wish installation, building on the successful #LoveChinatown campaign from the first national lockdown.  

There will also be red envelope prize draws for the chance to win vouchers to be spent at Chinatown London when lockdown restrictions end. 

Karen Baines, head of Group Marketing and Communications at Shaftesbury, said: “The #StrongAsAnOx digital campaign has been created to reflect the very apt cultural significance of the Year of the Ox – strength and perseverance – and celebrate Chinatown London’s community by uniting with our tenants. 

"And, significantly, the collaboration with other leading Chinatowns around the world adds an important new dimension, helping to create even stronger connections between communities globally”.