The start of the Year of the Horse was a critical moment for luxury brands. 2026’s Lunar New Year (LNY) coincides with promising outlooks for the Chinese luxury market. In the sea of campaigns tied to the event, it takes community-minded strategies to grab audience attention.
To learn more, we used Explore+ to examine Lunar New Year-related mentions of 10 major luxury fashion houses — Dior, Tod’s, Prada, Bvlgari, Bottega Veneta, Miu Miu, Celine, Valentino, D&G, and Fendi — across social, online media, and broadcast sources in English and Chinese (Simplified and Traditional).
From January 1 through March 3, Lunar New Year campaigns from these brands generated 3.4 million mentions and 24 million engagement actions. For context, the Winter Olympics generated 3.84 million mentions, placing LNY luxury campaigns on a comparable conversational scale to one of the world’s largest global sporting events.
The data shows that while celebrity star power drove campaign visibility for multiple brands, participatory social moments helped Prada stand out from the herd.
Celebrities and Milan Fashion Week Drove Visibility
Celebrity brand ambassadors anchored luxury LNY campaigns on Sina Weibo (96% of mentions) and Douyin (50% of engagement), drawing the eyes (and clicks) of devoted fans. Though global luxury brands have gotten more sophisticated in designing their LNY collections and campaigns, big names and familiar faces overshadowed creative details and concepts.
For example, Dior dominated conversation volume, generating 70% share of voice (SOV). About 29% of those mentions centered on its brand ambassador, Chinese actor Deng Wei.
Meanwhile, 38% of Valentino’s total engagement related to its LNY campaign came from a single Sina Weibo post from actor and singer Tan Jianci, also known as JC-T. The Valentino Beauty ambassador’s post promoting the limited-edition Lucky Blue makeup collection clearly resonated with his fanbase. It proved to be a more active point of audience engagement with the brand over other campaign elements like media features and in-person events.
This Sina Weibo post from Tan Jianci generated over a third of Lunar New Year-related engagement for Valentino.
Finally, Tod’s global brand ambassador Xiao Zhan drove 96% of both mentions and engagement for the Italian luxury brand. In particular, the actor and singer’s prominent seating at the Tod’s runway show for Milan Fashion Week created a surge of cross-market attention, effectively linking the brand’s Asia-focused Year of the Horse campaign to one of European fashion’s biggest stages.
Overall, Milan Fashion Week drove 86% of mentions and 60% of engagement for Tod’s, which wasn’t the only brand to seize the crossover opportunity in Milan Fashion Week’s LNY overlap. Many brands’ posts documenting their activations in Italy referenced LNY limited editions or incorporated the #马年 (Year of the Horse) hashtag. As a result, Milan became a key talking point in LNY luxury campaign conversations.
For Prada, Milan accounted for 67% of total LNY campaign mentions and 49.5% of related engagement. This was largely driven by Su Xinhao and Zuo Hang, members of the Chinese boy band T.O.P. 登陸少年組合, walking in the brand’s official runway show.
One Hashtag Helped Prada Generate Outsized Engagement
While numerous brands used high-production creative assets to spark LNY conversation, a hashtag and custom Douyin filter helped Prada distinguish online. Despite only having 8% SOV, the brand captured 51% of the engagement. This was largely thanks to the #马年一起Prada啪哒 hashtag (roughly meaning “Prada! Together in the Year of the Horse") which generated over 90% of the brand’s likes, comments, shares, and reposts.
This Douyin post featuring Ma Long using Prada’s fire horse prism filter generated over 713,000 engagement actions from January 28 to March 3.
Highly engaged Douyin posts from figures like table tennis champion Ma Long and boy band TOP登陸少年組合 using a custom Prada Year of the Horse filter encouraged UGC. By creating a moment that fans could actively participate in, the brand realigned its campaign with the holiday’s foundations in community and togetherness.
The combination of star power with audience involvement paid off big in terms of advertising value equivalent, or AVE, the estimated monetary value of earned media exposure). During LNY celebrations from February 17 to March 3, Prada generated $8.4 million in AVE despite only having 8% SOV. By comparison, Tod’s, which had 50% SOV, generated about half of Prada’s AVE at $4.3 million.
The takeaway here is that conversation volume is only one aspect of determining a campaign’s success. Brands need to consider engagement efficiency, i.e. how effectively a brand converts SOV into share of engagement, to truly understand whether or not campaign content is resonating with target audiences.
Final thoughts
For luxury brands planning future campaigns around cultural celebrations, three lessons stand out from LNY 2026:
- Celebrity alignment can make or break a campaign. One highly resonant brand ambassador can outperform broad chatter.
- Use calendar overlaps as multiplier effects. Coinciding cultural events don’t have to compete against each other. Use them as opportunities to target your audience’s overlapping interests, extending your campaigns’ reach and relevance in the process.
- Engagement efficiency beats SOV. Prada’s campaign proves that converting attention into interaction is what ultimately drives media value. Simple tools like hashtags and custom filters can go a long way in encouraging audience engagement.
In the Year of the Horse and beyond, luxury brands that can turn cultural moments into shared experiences will be the ones that stand out. Pairing the right faces with the right formats, all backed with data-driven insights, will be key to transforming seasonal impact into success in the long term.
Frequently Asked Questions: Luxury Brand Performance During Lunar New Year 2026
What was the overall scale of luxury brand conversation during Lunar New Year 2026?
According to Meltwater, luxury brand campaigns for the Year of the Horse generated 3.4 million mentions and 24 million engagements between January 1 and March 3, 2026. To put this in perspective, this volume is comparable to the Winter Olympics, which generated 3.84 million mentions, illustrating the massive cultural and commercial scale of the holiday for the fashion industry.
Which social media platforms were most effective for luxury brands during Lunar New Year 2026?
Meltwater’s analysis reveals a clear split between visibility and interaction: Sina Weibo dominated conversation volume with 96% of mentions, while Douyin drove 50% of total engagement. This indicates that while Weibo is essential for broad reach, Douyin is the primary platform for active consumer participation.
How did celebrity ambassadors influence Lunar New Year 2026 campaign results?
Meltwater identifies celebrity talent as the primary amplification lever for these campaigns. For example, Xiao Zhan accounted for 96% of both mentions and engagement for Tod’s, while a single post from Tan Jianci drove 38% of Valentino’s total engagement. Similarly, Dior’s partnership with Deng Wei accounted for approximately 29% of its total mentions.
How did Milan Fashion Week impact Lunar New Year 2026 marketing?
Meltwater analysis highlights that Milan Fashion Week acted as a global visibility multiplier because it overlapped with the core holiday celebration window. For Tod’s, Milan-related activity drove 86% of its mentions and 60% of its engagement, while Prada leveraged the event to showcase next-generation idols like Su Xinhao and Zuo Hang, accounting for 67% of its LNY-related mentions.
What role did User-Generated Content (UGC) play in Prada’s Lunar New Year 2026 success?
Meltwater analysis credits Prada’s outsized engagement to its focus on community participation rather than just "hero" content. The #马年一起Prada啪哒 hashtag alone accounted for over 90% of the brand’s total engagement, while the “Red Horse Welcomes Spring” interactive filters encouraged users to transform from passive viewers into active content creators.
Which brand generated the highest media value during Lunar New Year 2026 celebrations?
Meltwater found that Prada generated the highest Advertising Value Equivalent (AVE) at $8.4 million, nearly double the $4.3 million generated by Tod’s. The analysis suggests this was due to Prada's high engagement efficiency and its strategic investment in Gen Z-driven cultural capital.
