Breaking Tradition: Innovative Marketing Strategies for Vietnam Tet 2025 |   18 Nov, 2024

One of the most significant cultural events for the Vietnamese, Tết Nguyên Đán, or the Vietnamese Lunar New Year, is almost here. Marking the beginning of spring, this time of year has, for generations, been a season for family gatherings, delicious feasts, and honoring ancestors. The week-long holiday witnesses the Vietnamese completely in their elements, with their party boots on, and the city lit up with sparkling lights and faces of absolute joy.

To maximize sales during the festive season, brands traditionally launch Tet-specific campaigns well in advance, tapping into the holiday’s deep emotional ties to nostalgia, family values, and reunions.

However, as brands prepare for Tet 2025, shifting Vietnamese sentiments can’t be ignored. Industry insiders report a 32% year-over-year dip in consumer engagement during Tet 2024, with discussions on traditional themes losing traction on social media. In this landscape, brands must rethink strategies to stay competitive.

Challenges Faced in Vietnam Tet 2024

As Vietnam Tet 2024 unfolded, brands faced unprecedented challenges in adapting to shifting consumer sentiments and evolving traditions, disrupting long-standing advertising strategies.

Growing Discontent with Holiday Demands

As discussed above, the year 2024 brought a flurry of changes in the way the Vietnamese public celebrated Tet. For instance, a change in the topic of discussion, with a growing discourse on the ‘tired of tret’ sentiment was witnessed in 2024.

Many consumers started expressing discontent with the pressures of holiday demands, with traditional themes such as cooking, gift-giving, and cleaning, no longer resonating with the consumers. This posed a significant challenge for the brands who are used to relying on tried-and-tested ad themes to reach their consumers.

Preference for Simpler Celebrations & Decline in Family Reunion

Consumers shifted towards simpler celebrations, focusing on relaxation rather than elaborate traditions. This shift in consumer sentiments extended to a change in attitude towards family reunions. While historically family reunions were the highlight of the event, giving brands a chance to emotionally anchor their messaging, discussions regarding it decreased by 77.5% in 2024. This change suggests a growing ambivalence towards family reunions due to reasons like financial pressure or the hassle of traditional preparations.

The rising cost of living and the fast-paced nature of modern life have contributed to this change. Instead of the elaborate rituals that once defined the season, many people are now prioritizing relaxation, simplicity, and emotional well-being over long-standing traditions. This presents a new challenge for brands that have historically relied on the nostalgic allure of Tet to drive their campaigns.

These shifts reflect a new challenge for brands that have long relied on nostalgia and tradition to drive their Tet campaigns. As Tet festival evolves to become more about convenience, comfort, and relaxation, brands must keep up with these changing trends to form deep connections with their audiences.

Strategies for Vietnam Tet 2025 Success

As we look forward to the next year, brands must adopt a fresh and innovative approach to stand out during Tet 2025. Let’s look at a few strategies that will maximize the impact of your Vietnam Tet ad campaigns.

1. Adapt to Shifting Consumer Sentiment

A key to having an effective advertising campaign is to keep up with the latest trends and customer needs. When it comes to Tet 2025 advertising campaigns, brands must move away from traditional themes of family reunions, nostalgia, and honoring traditions. As per research by Buzzmetric customers today are more responsive to ads that focus on simplicity, emotional connection, and relaxation.

2. Innovate Beyond Nostalgia

Nostalgia marketing has long been recognized as an important tool for targeting customers. This strategy involves using people’s positive memories of the past to promote products or services, by forming an emotional bond. While nostalgia remains a powerful strategy, it has become overused with time. In fact, as per industry research Vietnam Tet 2024 was marked by a significant decline in consumer interest, and brand investment, reflecting how reliance on nostalgia is no longer working for brands.

It has therefore become necessary to add a modern twist to this approach, to utilize its power of emotional resonance while keeping up with the latest needs for comfort, security, and humor.

To attain this and navigate the era of reduced enthusiasm around Tet, brands must adopt the NSFW (Nostalgia, Security, Funny, Worth) advertising method. By utilizing this approach, brands can foster emotional bonds through a modern and approachable interpretation of Tet, while reassuring consumers during uncertain times through humor and a focus on the perceived value of products over discounts.

3. Leverage AI-Powered Contextual Advertising

Traditional targeting tactics often lead to consumers being bombarded by advertisements, even at inopportune moments or unsafe contexts, resulting in waste of ad spending and ad fatigue. It is time to move beyond traditionally utilized programmatic keywords that rely on broader keyword targeting and third-party cookies. To stand out during Vietnam Tet 2025, brands must utilize the power of AI-powered contextual advertising that leads to precision targeting.

By using contextual intelligence brands can ensure that your brand’s ads are placed at the right place at a time when consumers are highly engaged. Not only that, by using AI-driven solutions brands can sync and adapt their ads with the most trending moments, ensuring they resonate with people in real time.

Conclusion

In a nutshell, as 2025 approaches, brands need to look into the past lessons from 2024 and adapt to the evolving consumer sentiments for the coming year. To effectively connect with consumers during Tet 2025, brands need to move away from the traditional themes of Tet and shift to newer, innovative themes that will resonate with modern consumers. By embracing innovative strategies of advertising such as NSFW and AI-powered contextual advertising, brands can successfully navigate the complex 2025 Vietnam Tet landscape, fostering meaningful connections and standing out in a competitive market.