Coca-Cola Lunar New Year 2026 Campaign Bridges Southeast Asia’s Celebrations with Unified Design and Local Creative Spark

Coca‑Cola® is bringing a fresh approach to cultural marketing with a multi‑market Lunar New Year (LNY)/Tet 2026 campaign that blends regional consistency with deep local relevance across Vietnam, Singapore, and Malaysia.

This year’s Lunar New Year campaign successfully carries a single cohesive festive design used across the region, while co-created with local market teams to give each country the flexibility to celebrate and create its own culturally relevant narrative – addressing a shared challenge for the holiday: connecting tradition‑minded older generations with Gen Z’s refreshing and uplifting appetite for modern, participatory experiences.

“Our ambition with Lunar New Year this 2026 was to create a regional campaign that honours shared traditions while celebrating the unique cultural stories of each market. A single festive design unites the region visually, but every market – guided by local teams and experts – brings its own personality. From reimagining symbolic Tet traditions in Vietnam, to creating a Lunar New Year music track that bridges communities and generations across Singapore and Malaysia, our campaign celebrates the local stories and upholds each country’s traditions with the goal of providing an uplifting new year experience to everyone. That way, people everywhere can not only just enjoy the celebrations, but co‑create them, shaping their own moments of happiness,” says Ying Ling Poh, Marketing Director for Coca‑Cola Meals in ASEAN & South Pacific.

The Regional Blueprint: A Festive Design Identity

At the centre of the regional strategy is a new Lunar New Year visual identity, created in partnership with global design consultancy Elmwood. Seen on cans, packaging, retail displays, and digital touchpoints, the system unifies all three markets with a recognisable look and feel.

• Celebration in Every Detail: Fireworks – universal symbols of joy and new beginnings – are reimagined through the lens of Asian craftsmanship. The design incorporates textural details developed with cultural inspiration from Chinese embroidery, Vietnamese brocade, and Peranakan beadwork, creating a modern, inclusive style that reflects regional diversity and artistry.

• Standout Shelf Presence: Anchored by the auspicious Golden Swallows in flight alongside peach/apricot blossoms and lucky red money envelopes to symbolise and encourage family connection (in Vietnam), and limited-edition can designs featuring bold, spirit horses charging alongside  flowers, ingots, oriental fans, and bamboo – each a symbol of fortune, longevity, and success (in Singapore Malaysia) – the designs make every Coca-Cola pack a collectible festive keepsake.

“Our ambition was to create an identity that feels universally festive yet deeply local. For example, brocade isn’t just textile, it’s storytelling that celebrates and unites the 54 diverse ethnic groups in Vietnam,” said Lisa Balm, Executive Creative Director, Elmwood Asia. “The embroidery and weaving technique evoke intricate detail and richness, creating a culturally layered aesthetic that feels both intimate and celebratory. By focusing on shared symbols and reimagining them through the artistry and cultural depth of Asian craftsmanship, we created a single visual language that successfully translates across Tet and Lunar New Year.”

Locally focused Creative Platforms in Action

Vietnam: ‘Weaving a New Tet’

In Vietnam’s fast emerging, tech savvy market, the campaign theme “Dệt Nên Tết Mới” (“Weave a New Tet”) encourages Gen Z to create new traditions with their families.

• Products Designed for Participation: For Gen Z, TET meals often feel predictable. Noting this, Coca-Cola is shaking things up with innovations that inspire interaction, creativity and co-creations.
  • The Coke Half-Half Tablecloth transforms the dining table into a festive centerpiece, visually dividing the table into two halves: one for honouring beloved TET classics and the other for showcasing modern global flavours Gen Z craves. To inspire creativity, Coca‑Cola will release a curated collection of Half-Half table ideas, blending traditional dishes with bold twists like sushi rolls, tacos, and fusion sliders.
  • Coke Drinkable Pháo, inspired by the crackle of firecrackers, adds a playful layer of interaction. The iconic Coke can pop becomes part of the celebration—transforming into vibrant can decorations. Featuring Coke’s firecracker designs, it encourages Gen Z and elders to co-create festive home décor, sparking social-media-friendly moments together.
• Reimagined Red Envelopes as Social Currency: For Gen Z, the age-old Lì Xì tradition often feels like a draining ritual, reduced to “being an ATM” every Tet.  
  • AI features add interactive, shareable experienced to traditional Lì Xì rituals for Gen Z by shifting it from cash to “Lì Xì from the heart” – meaningful heartfelt gifts like handwritten promises, personalised digital art or cherished memory photos that celebrate connection, creativity and care.

Singapore & Malaysia: A Cross‑Border LNY Anthem

In Singapore and Malaysia, where festive music powers connection across generations, the theme “Grab a Coke, Co-create an Uplifting Lunar New Year Togetherl” centers on an original Lunar New Year Anthem, 可口可樂，共創好年”.

• Music for All Generations: The song blends festive orchestration with contemporary Pop and Rap, performed by 3P (Malaysia) and Mayiduo (Singapore), and was developed hand‑in‑hand with local teams to reflect cross‑border festive traditions. From decorating homes with modernised calligraphy scrolls to gifting blind boxes in place of traditional angpaos, the music video showcases generations for all ages coming together, bridged through meaningful co-created experiences led by Gen Z.
• Immersive On Ground Experiences: In the bustling hearts of Singapore and Malaysia, vibrant experiential activations come to life, inviting families to enjoy and immerse themselves in a rich tapestry of uplifting activities such as calligraphy, fortune telling, and creating their own version of the Lunar New Year anthem.

From Buzz to Checkout

The campaign rolls out in three phases, engaging consumers at key points in the season and making it easy to purchase in‑store or online. Partnerships with Grab, leading e‑commerce platforms, supermarkets, and convenience stores make joining the celebrations simple while enjoying special Coca‑Cola festive offers.

By combining a shared regional identity with culturally specific creative ideas in each market, Coca-Cola® has created a regional Lunar New Year/Tet campaign that connects meaningfully at both the local and regional level — and offers a model for future Southeast Asian brand activations.

Source: Elmwood

  Advertising, Campaign, Coca‑Cola, Elmwood, Elmwood Asia, Lunar New Year, Marketing