Remember when Lunar New Year celebrations meant parents busy shopping for holiday goods while television commercials for home appliances played on loop? Brands like Xoceco TVs and Frestech refrigerators dominated Spring Festival advertising. But times have changed. Today's Lunar New Year is no longer dominated by appliance manufacturers - internet and tech giants have taken center stage.
The Battlefield of Digital Red Packets
The Lunar New Year holiday, as China's peak traffic period, has become prime time for internet companies to acquire new users. From BAT (Baidu, Alibaba, Tencent) to rising unicorns, every player wants to maximize user acquisition during this special season. Digital red packets remain the most direct and effective tool.
Since WeChat introduced digital red packets in 2014 and popularized them during the 2015 Spring Festival Gala, they've become standard practice. This year's competition intensified with each platform deploying unique strategies:
- Baidu: Invested 1 billion yuan in red packets, focusing on interactive activities during the CCTV Spring Festival Gala. Official data showed 20.8 billion interactions during the broadcast.
- Alipay: Continued its "Collect Five Blessings" campaign, attracting over 450 million participants - a 40% increase from last year.
- ByteDance: Deployed a multi-app strategy across Toutiao, Douyin and Duoshan, distributing 1.6 billion yuan in red packets.
- Tencent: Focused on gamification through Weishi's "Red Packet Rain" and QQ's "Lucky Bag" mini-games.
Beyond Red Packets: The Service Revolution
While red packets attract temporary users, companies increasingly recognize that service-based engagement creates lasting loyalty. Platforms that provide practical solutions during the holiday season see better retention rates.
Baidu's approach exemplifies this shift. Beyond red packets, it launched three service-oriented initiatives through its smart mini-programs:
- Ticket Calendar: Solved Spring Festival travel challenges by integrating train ticket booking directly into the Baidu app.
- New Year Shopping Festival: Created a one-stop shopping experience by aggregating products from major e-commerce platforms.
- Content Festival: Offered free access to premium movies, novels and comics from partner platforms.
Smart Mini-Programs: The "Super Interface" Strategy
Baidu's smart mini-programs represent more than just holiday services - they're building an open ecosystem. The platform has formed an open-source alliance with major apps including iQiyi, Bilibili, Kuaishou and Ctrip, breaking down barriers between standalone applications.
This strategy positions smart mini-programs as universal interfaces that could eventually reduce smartphone dependence. As IoT and AI technologies advance, these interfaces may operate across smart home devices and other connected technologies.
Lunar New Year as Industry Barometer
The Spring Festival serves as an annual indicator of tech industry trends. While early years saw companies competing through cash incentives, the current focus on service integration reflects the internet industry's maturation - shifting from user acquisition to retention, from scale expansion to deep service optimization.
As the seven-day holiday concludes, companies will evaluate whether their campaigns created lasting value or merely temporary engagement. The next phase of competition won't be about who spends more, but who delivers superior services that genuinely solve user needs.