In a strategic move to amplify their campaign’s reach, Samyang Foods leveraged its established partnership with Douyin, orchestrating a dynamic 3D Branded Hashtag Challenge under the hashtag #ExplodeWithSamyangNoodles (#玩爆三养火鸡面 in Chinese).

As the leading short video app in China, Douyin provided an effective mix of marketing, advertising, and talent resources for Samyang Foods to create its viral campaign.

Influencer and creator collaboration

To kick off the 3D Branded Hashtag Challenge, Samyang Foods identified 14 lifestyle and dance influencers on Douyin whose content resonated with their brand philosophy and target audience.Leading up to the official launch of the campaign, the brand publicly announced the challenge and invited users to participate.

Simultaneously, they collaborated with the selected influencers to create custom dance videos featuring the brand’s product in a fun and energetic way, with these videos serving as a demonstration and inspiring Douyin users to participate and create their own content.

As part of rewarded video promotion, the brand also enticed other creators with cash rewards to post and share videos using custom 3D Branded Effect, which superimposed the brand’s dancing “Hochi” (a little chicken) in sync with the creator’s dance moves.

In addition to working with creators and selected influencers, Samyang Foods elevated the buzz surrounding their campaign by partnering with a popular idol group from South Korea.

This collaboration led to the unveiling of an original music video featuring the idol group dancing alongside an animated dancing chicken. The music video integrated the product’s “yummy, spicy, tasty” characteristics into the choreography, creating a captivating K-pop dance track exclusive to the brand.

This strategic move aimed to leverage the star power of the idol group to drive participation in the challenge. It was also strategically timed to coincide with the launch of the Douyin Hot Topic List in order to maximize exposure and engagement.

To ensure viral success, Samyang invested in both online advertising on Douyin and offline promotions in Shanghai.

Samyang’s 3D Branded Hashtag Challenge leveraged many of Douyin’s effective solutions. The brand took advantage of: Brand Mission, special 3D effect stickers, hashtag challenge page, KOLs, banners, Branding Search Ads, In-Feed Ads, and other resources to help them reach Douyin users through multiple touchpoints. By making the most of this powerful combination, they maximized their chances of achieving their core objectives and stimulating UGC interaction and participation.

In parallel, Samyang also held an offline promotional event in Shanghai, distributing advertisements on subway stations, bus exteriors, and at roadshows.