The best Lunar New Year campaign ideas build on what the festival is really about: family, a fresh start and wishing each other luck. A digital red envelope with a small gift, a zodiac personality test, a lantern riddle or a 15-day countdown calendar gives customers a warm reason to play and sign up. Plan six to eight weeks ahead, ask people from the community to check your ideas, and keep the tone generous rather than pushy.
Lunar New Year is the biggest holiday of the year in China, Korea and Vietnam, and a major celebration in Singapore, Malaysia and diaspora communities worldwide. It's a chance to show customers you know the moments that matter to them, and a festival where clumsy marketing gets noticed fast. Below you'll find what the festival is, when it falls in 2027 and 2028, a planning timeline, 9 Lunar New Year marketing ideas with the right game format for each, plus prizes, consent and local rules.
What Is Lunar New Year?
Lunar New Year marks the start of the year in the traditional lunisolar calendar. In China it's called the Spring Festival (春节, Chūnjié), in Korea Seollal (설날) and in Vietnam Tết. Customs differ between countries and families, but some are widely shared:
- Family reunion. People travel home, often over long distances, for a reunion dinner on New Year's Eve.
- Red envelopes. Elders give younger relatives money in red envelopes (hongbao in Mandarin, lai see in Cantonese). Red stands for luck and happiness.
- A clean start. Homes are cleaned and decorated with red couplets and lanterns.
- Food with meaning. Dumplings, fish, rice cakes, mandarins and oranges stand for wealth, abundance and luck. Korean families eat tteokguk (rice cake soup).
- The zodiac. Each year belongs to one of 12 animals. 2027 is the Year of the Goat (sometimes translated as Sheep), and 2028 is the Year of the Monkey.
- Lantern Festival. The celebrations end on the 15th day with lanterns and lantern riddles.
"Chinese New Year" and "Lunar New Year" are both common. If your customers are Korean or Vietnamese as well as Chinese, "Lunar New Year" includes everyone. Use the term your audience uses.
When Is Lunar New Year 2027 and 2028?
The date moves because the traditional calendar follows both the moon and the sun. Months start at the new moon, and the new year usually begins on the second new moon after the winter solstice. That puts it between 21 January and 20 February.
| 2027 | 2028 | |
|---|---|---|
| New Year's Eve (reunion dinner) | Friday 5 February | Tuesday 25 January |
| Lunar New Year's Day | Saturday 6 February | Wednesday 26 January |
| Zodiac animal | Goat | Monkey |
| Lantern Festival (15th day) | Saturday 20 February | Wednesday 9 February |
Sources: the Hong Kong government's 2027 holiday list and the Hong Kong Observatory's 2028 calendar table. The length of the public holiday varies by country. In mainland China, the government announces the exact days off each autumn for the following year.
Two overlaps to plan around in 2027: Valentine's Day (14 February) falls inside the 15 days, and Ramadan is expected to begin around 8 February. If your customers celebrate different festivals, give each its own moment instead of one mixed message. Our free marketing calendar helps you see the whole season at once, and our Ramadan and Eid campaign ideas cover the other festival.
Who This Is For, and Where Campaigns Run
Inside mainland China, campaigns usually run on local platforms and apps, such as super-apps, marketplaces and short-video platforms. Scratcher doesn't integrate with those, and we won't pretend otherwise.
Scratcher fits everywhere else you reach people who celebrate: your website and webshop, your newsletter and SMS list, QR codes in shops, restaurants and at events, and the social media you already use. That covers global brands with customers in Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Korea and Vietnam, European brands with diaspora customers, travel and hospitality, and cross-border e-commerce.
Lunar New Year Planning Timeline
| When | What to do |
|---|---|
| 8 weeks before | Pick the goal and one main idea. Talk to colleagues, customers or partners from the community about it. Check shipping cut-offs: many factories, warehouses and carriers in Asia slow down or close around the holiday. |
| 6 weeks before | Build the game, write texts in the languages your customers use, set prizes and odds. Draft the terms. |
| 4 weeks before | Connect your email tool or CRM. Ask a native speaker to check every text and visual. |
| 2 weeks before | Tease the campaign. Print QR codes for shops. |
| New Year's Eve to Lantern Festival | Go live. Change the daily prize or riddle if you run a calendar. |
| After the Lantern Festival | Draw winners, send results, follow up with everyone who signed up. |
9 Lunar New Year Campaign Ideas
1. A digital red envelope
What it is: Players pick one of several red envelopes and open it to reveal a prize: a discount code, free shipping, a gift with purchase or an entry to the main draw. Avoid prize amounts with the number 4, which sounds like the word for death in Chinese, and feel free to use 8, which is linked to prosperity.
Channel: Newsletter, SMS and website.
Format: Gift surprise or mystery box
2. Zodiac personality test
What it is: "Which zodiac animal matches your style?" Each result links to a product or collection, and people get a personal code by email. It works well for beauty, fashion and homeware. Keep it light and accurate: describe the traits people associate with each animal, not stereotypes about people.
Channel: Social media and website.
Format: Personality test
3. A 15-day countdown calendar
What it is: One door a day from New Year's Day to the Lantern Festival, each with a small game and a new prize. It gives you a reason to email for two weeks without repeating yourself.
Channel: Newsletter, SMS and app.
Format: Campaign calendar
4. Lantern riddles
What it is: Guessing riddles written on lanterns is a real Lantern Festival custom. Post one riddle a day, let people guess the word, and enter everyone who solves it into a draw. Riddles about your products work as well as classic ones.
Channel: Social media and newsletter.
Format: Guess the word
5. Spin for a lucky start
What it is: A wheel of fortune in red and gold with prizes for the new year. Make every slice a win, from a small code to the main prize.
Channel: Website pop-up and in-store QR codes.
Format: Spin the wheel
6. Reunion dinner photo competition
What it is: People share a photo of their reunion dinner, a family dish or their decorations, and the community votes. Ask for permission to reuse the photos in your terms.
Channel: Social media and website.
Format: Photo competition
7. Visiting-family gift finder
What it is: People bring gifts when they visit relatives over the holiday. A few questions (who it's for, budget, taste) lead to a suggestion from your range and a code by email.
Channel: Search, social ads and website.
Format: Product finder
8. Lunar New Year around Asia quiz
What it is: Five questions on how the new year is celebrated in China, Korea and Vietnam: food, greetings, customs. Have someone from each community check the answers. It suits travel, food and media brands.
Channel: Newsletter and social media.
Format: Quiz
9. In-store scratch card
What it is: A QR code at the till or in the window opens a scratch card with a prize to use the same day. It works for shops and restaurants in areas where many customers celebrate. Make the codes with our QR code generator and read QR codes in store for set-up tips.
Channel: Shops, restaurants and events.
Format: Scratch card
Want more ideas for your industry? Try the free competition idea generator.
Getting the Tone Right
Lunar New Year is a family festival with deep meaning. A few rules keep you on the right side of it:
- Involve people from the community. Ask colleagues, customers or an agency who celebrate to review the idea, texts and visuals before launch.
- Get the details right. The correct zodiac animal, correct characters, a correct greeting. A wrong animal or a machine-translated slogan is the fastest way to lose trust.
- Skip the clichés. No mock "oriental" fonts, no gongs and no caricatures. Red, gold and the zodiac animal are enough.
- Lead with giving, not discounting. "Our new year gift to you" fits the festival better than "Huge Lunar New Year sale!".
- Be careful with gift taboos. Clocks, for example, are an unlucky gift in Chinese tradition, so don't offer one as a prize.
Prize Ideas
Prizes from your own range attract people who want your products. Ideas that suit the festival:
- A gift box or hamper to take to family
- Many small instant prizes: discount codes, free shipping, a gift with purchase
- Dinner for a family at a restaurant, or a trip home, in travel and hospitality
- A gift card as the main prize in a draw
Instant win fits a red envelope; a draw suits one big prize (see instant win vs prize draw). Set the number of prizes with the prize odds calculator, and make unique codes with the discount code generator.
Collecting Sign-ups and Consent
Ask for the email before people open the envelope or see the result, and keep the form short.
- Consent: A clear, unticked checkbox for marketing. The consent text generator helps you word it.
- Language: You write all campaign texts yourself, so you can run in English and your customers' language side by side. Ask a native speaker to write or check them.
- Fair play: One entry per email address or phone number, and throwaway email addresses blocked.
- Terms: The competition terms generator gives you a draft.
- Follow-up: A welcome email the same day, ideally with a new year greeting.
Check Local Rules
Prize promotions are regulated differently in each country. Mainland China, for example, has its own rules: the 2020 Interim Provisions on Regulating Promotional Activities cap the top prize in a lottery-style prize promotion at ¥50,000 and require you to publish the prizes, odds or quantities and how to claim before you start. China revised its Anti-Unfair Competition Law in 2025, so check with a local lawyer which rules apply today. In Europe, read competitions and GDPR and our guide on how to run an online competition. This article is general information, not legal advice.
What to Measure
Track visitors and where they came from (tag links with the UTM builder), the conversion rate from visit to sign-up, new marketing permissions by market or language, code redemptions during the festival and purchases from new subscribers in the following months. The campaign ROI calculator turns these into cost per lead and return.
FAQ
When is Lunar New Year 2027?
Lunar New Year's Day is Saturday 6 February 2027, the start of the Year of the Goat. The celebrations end with the Lantern Festival on Saturday 20 February 2027. In 2028, the new year falls on Wednesday 26 January (Year of the Monkey).
Is it Chinese New Year or Lunar New Year?
Both are used. "Chinese New Year" refers to the festival in China and Chinese communities. "Lunar New Year" also includes Korean Seollal and Vietnamese Tết. Use the term your customers use.
What should brands avoid at Lunar New Year?
Wrong zodiac animals, machine-translated texts, stereotypes, unlucky numbers like 4 and gifts like clocks. Ask people from the community to check your campaign first.
How early should I start planning?
Six to eight weeks before New Year's Day. For 2027, that means mid-December 2026, before your Christmas rush peaks.
Plan Your Lunar New Year Campaign
Lunar New Year sits right after the Christmas and New Year season, so it pays to have the campaign ready before the holidays. Our new year campaign ideas cover the 1 January start, and the Mid-Autumn Festival is the next big family festival in the same calendar.
Scratcher has 40+ game formats and 150+ templates, and Rex, our AI assistant, builds a campaign design from your website in minutes. Start your free 14-day trial (no credit card needed) or book a meeting and we'll help you plan it.
