The Dentsu Creative CMO Report 2024 shows that 88% of CMOs agree it is more important than ever for brands to be a part of culture
Local tourism’s recent breakthroughs prove why: fresh, meme-ready spin—not traditional ads—is what pushes cultural phenomena across audience borders, turning heritage into talkable, shareable momentum.
01
From Museum Cabinets to Pocket‑Sized Icons
While global brands like Jellycat continue to sell strongly, Chinese‑designed products show that culturally rooted design resonates. More than ten domestic museums have produced over 100 interactive cultural items, and viral moments in places such as Wuhan, Xi’an, Gansu, Suzhou and Tianjin have turned them into a hit across audiences.
SUAN NIAO
“Suan Niao, Suan Niao — don’t sweat it.” Feeling tense? Give the little garlic‑topped bird a squeeze and let it work its charm.
Created by E’ren Culture, the plush went viral on a Wuhan‑dialect punchline meaning “let it go,” selling over 200,000 units and earning the nickname “Wuhan Peace Bird.” Now it even pops up in transit announcements—a bona fide city mascot.
Image: Suan Niao, Hubei Provincial Department of Culture and Tourism
ROMOMO
ROMOMO — the plush “Chinese hamburger” from Xi’an Daxiang Cultural Museum — debuted in June 2024 and sold nearly 100,000 units in six months. The toy’s split‑apart meat and bun, plus collectible side dishes, let fans recreate the beloved Xi’an snack; shopkeepers “assemble” each order in Shaanxi dialect, turning the souvenir into a living slice of local culture.
Image: Rong Momomo, Daxiang Cultural Museum
02
Official Travel Playbooks
Skip the endless scrolling. Local tourism offices are now act as your personal trip curator. They can package culture into playful theme routes (think craft workshops + treasure hunts or Hanfu shoots + archaeology role‑play) and even plan the best morning/afternoon/evening flow so you get the most out of your day.
HARBIN: WHERE WINTER BECOMES WONDER.
What used to keep visitors away—bone‑deep cold—has become Harbin’s biggest draw. The city welcomed 26.26 million travelers and saw 33.65 billion yuan in visitor spending this year (gains of 18.3% and 23.8%).
Harbin’s secret? Re‑stage the winter: roll out carpets on Central Avenue, invite mascots and animal shows, serve frozen pears with eight petals and even visitor friendly portions of their famed dish guobaorou. With bespoke guide maps and snow sculptures of beloved IPs, ordinary cold turns into unforgettable moments.
03
Rituals of Fandom
Rooted in ACGN culture, seichi junrei elevates fandom into a collective ritual: followers retrace fictional journeys in the physical world, enact scenes, and gather in shared spaces.
These pilgrimages become powerful acts of identity and communal expression, and the resulting gatherings bring sustained visitation, commerce and cultural exchange—binding narrative worlds to regional traditions and economic life.
“BLACK MYTH: WUKONG” — SHANXI PILGRIMAGE TOUR
When pixels meet peaks, myth breathes anew. Black Myth: Wukong’s fantastical architecture sent players hunting for its real‑world echoes—and Shanxi answered. With ancient temples and city walls doubling as game backdrops, fans traverse mountain paths once only imagined onscreen.
The province—home to 27 of the game’s 36 locations—saw nearly 4 million such pilgrim visits in 2024, bringing both cultural attention and some 77.85 million yuan in ticket revenue.
For many travelers, collecting the “tour completion credential” is a ritual: a small, physical keepsake of an imagined journey made real.
Image: Black Myth: Wukong Shanxi check‑in route, Jinchen Municipal Government website
WHAT IT MEANS FOR BUSINESSES & BRANDS…
Buzzworthy creative tourism can move culture out of niche tribes and into mainstream conversation, giving brands a repeatable blueprint for cross‑category partnerships.
Begin by mining authentic cultural signals—dialects, local cuisines, regional rituals—and distill their core into shareable concepts. Translate those concepts into social currency—viral hooks, playful merch (e.g., Suan Niao, ROMOMO)—and design participation to be simple and inviting. Layer immersive programming and attentive service around the hooks to convert online curiosity into real‑world visits and commerce. When brands are genuinely embedded in daily local life, culture and commercial value rise together.
Rooted in the dentsu Sports & Entertainment Trends Report 2025: China Focus, this article presents insights from the Greater North Asia team, who help brands translate these shifts into actionable strategies to navigate the fragmented media landscape and create impactful entertainment assets—turning cultural insights into meaningful connections with China’s 1.4 billion consumers.
ABOUT DENTSU SPORTS & ENTERTAINMENT
Dentsu Sports & Entertainment stands as the world’s only fully integrated global network dedicated to bringing brands closer to fans at this pivotal intersection. With 1,200 industry experts across 21 markets serving nearly 1,300 clients, dentsu blends rich cultural wisdom with proprietary fan data to create authentic, impactful brand experiences. Our unique strength lies in an integrated approach spanning the entire value chain—IP investment and development, a locally fluent global network, cross-platform expertise, and data-driven cultural insights.
In Greater North Asia, we help brands dive deeply into a vibrant mosaic of sectors—film, TV variety, music, gaming, animation, sports, celebrity, and local culture. Fusing creativity and technology, we create immersive narrative spaces and distinctive sports and entertainment experiences, building meaningful emotional connections between brands and their audiences.
Contact the dentsu Sports & Entertainment Greater North Asia team: EntertainmentGNA@dentsu.com
Article by: dentsu Sports & Entertainment Greater North Asia team
