If you are a Chinese football fan then February will be a great month as there will be two big events for those to celebrate and enjoy.
With Superbowl XLIX set for Feb 1, the excitement and anticipation can be heard and seen all over sports radio and television. Last year’s Superbowl game/event was the most watched television event in US history attracting an audience of over 111 million. The final two teams will be determined this Sunday January 17th with the big game set to play two weeks after on Feb 1.
This two week window is a time in media where sports broadcasters debate endlessly on who will win the big game and entertainment talk shows trying to provide viewers with a glimpse of what to expect from Katy Perry, who will be performing at this year’s half time.
As anxiously anticipated as the big game itself are the countless new commercials that viewers will be entertained with. Surveys indicate that 40% of the total audience watch the Superbowl for the commercials which are typically aired only on Superbowl Sunday. It is quite remarkable how many millions of dollars are spent on production and airtime for one day. Airtime alone for one:30 second spot costs a cool $4 million dollars.
The event is also a real boom for retailers as million’s of football fans will use these two week to plan their Superbowl parties stocking up on cases beer, nachos chips, guacamole, salsa, big screen TV’s, more beer…
The Chinese Lunar New Year, which begins on Feb 19th this year celebrating the Year of the Goat, reminds me a lot of the Superbowl event but in reverse fashion. Rather than a big lead up to the big event like Superbowl, the Lunar New Year celebration begins on the eve and continues for 2 weeks. In China, the Chinese Lunar New Year pretty much shuts down the country and brings forth the largest human migration in the world, with an estimated 3.6 billion trips made during the 40 day period surrounding the holiday. Travelling home to celebrate the most important holiday in the Chinese calendar with the family is not an option in almost all cases.
Like Superbowl, this period is also a boom for retailers as Chinese are out shopping for items and groceries to cook a special Chinese New Year dinner for their family. During this time, Chinese are in a celebratory mood and are out visiting friends, eating out and shopping.
Media also plays a big role as there are many shows produced to celebrate this special holiday. Newspapers print special supplements that include that include the very popular horoscope. This is the one time of the year where likely more Chinese media is consumed because of content that surround the celebratory festivities. With a higher media consumption rate during this time, Chinese Lunar New Year is a fantastic time to market to the Chinese community.
Superbowl and Chinese Lunar New Year in the same month…this February is going to be an exciting one for me.
– Stewart
