Best China Marketing Campaigns: Singles' Day to Labubu

The best China marketing campaigns include Alibaba's Singles' Day (2009), Anta's guochao rise past Nike, Luckin Coffee's Moutai latte (2023) and Pop Mart's Labubu (2024), plus Dolce & Gabbana's 2018 backlash as the lesson in what to avoid. Singles' Day grew from 27 merchants to RMB 268.4 billion in 2019, and Luckin sold 5.42 million Moutai lattes on day one.

By the Everything-PR Editorial Team
Published October 30, 2026. Last updated October 30, 2026.

1. The five cases at a glance
2. How reliable the figures are
3. Alibaba Singles' Day
4. Anta and guochao
5. Luckin Coffee and Moutai
6. Pop Mart and Labubu
7. Dolce & Gabbana's 2018 backlash
8. What the cases share
9. How brands can apply the lessons
10. More China coverage
11. Frequently asked questions

What is the quick summary of these China campaigns?

• Singles' Day began on November 11, 2009 with 27 merchants and reached RMB 268.4 billion (US$38.4 billion) in 2019, according to Alibaba.
• Anta now leads China's sportswear market at roughly 23%, ahead of Nike at about 20.7%, according to EPR's coverage of Bernstein and Euromonitor estimates.
• Luckin Coffee sold 5.42 million Moutai lattes and more than RMB 100 million in one day in September 2023, according to Reuters.
• Pop Mart grew revenue 107% to RMB 13.04 billion in 2024, then 185% to RMB 37.12 billion in 2025, according to its annual results as reported by Reuters.
• Dolce & Gabbana lost a Shanghai show and its place on major e-commerce platforms within days in November 2018, according to ANSA.

Which are the best China marketing campaigns?

The five cases below were chosen for a documented date, a named brand and a result reported by the company or a news outlet. The order is chronological, not a ranking, and the Dolce & Gabbana case is included as a warning.

How reliable are the figures behind these China campaigns?

The figures behind these China campaigns come from four different kinds of source, and they should not be weighed equally. Alibaba's Singles' Day totals are unaudited company numbers, Anta's market shares are analyst estimates, Luckin's day-one sales were reported by Reuters from the company's launch figures, and Pop Mart's revenue comes from its published annual results.

The table below shows what each number can and cannot support. Readers comparing campaigns should compare like with like: a company-reported peak is evidence of attention, while a market-share estimate is evidence of position.

How did Alibaba turn Singles' Day into a shopping festival?

Alibaba turned Singles' Day into a shopping festival by creating a retail event on November 11, a date written 11.11, and giving merchants a reason to discount on it. Tmall, then called Taobao Mall, first ran it in 2009 with only 27 participating merchants, according to Quartz's ten-year history.

The first event delivered 260,000 packages and generated about $7.8 million in sales, according to YourStory's account of the festival. By 2016 sales passed RMB 100 billion for the first time. In 2019 Alibaba reported RMB 268.4 billion (US$38.4 billion), up 26% on 2018, with more than 200,000 participating brands, in its 2019 11.11 results release. Those figures are unaudited company numbers.

The record run ended quietly. Alibaba reported RMB 540.3 billion for 2021, then in 2022 declined to publish a total for the first time, saying only that results were in line with the previous year, according to The Drum. Reuters reported in November 2025 that Alibaba and JD.com had not disclosed total Singles' Day sales for several years, and that data provider Syntun put the 2024 total across platforms at 1.44 trillion yuan.

The marketing lesson is that a date can be a product. Alibaba owned the occasion, so every brand that joined strengthened it. Once growth slowed, Alibaba shifted its message toward loyalty, and Reuters reported that it pledged 50 billion yuan in subsidies for its 53 million 88VIP members in 2025. An owned occasion needs a second act when the first one plateaus.

How did Anta use guochao to pass Nike in China?

Anta used guochao, the Chinese consumer preference for domestic brands as a matter of cultural pride, to move from budget alternative to market leader. EPR's coverage, which cites Bernstein and Euromonitor estimates, puts Anta at roughly 23% of China's sportswear market in 2026, up from about 14% in 2019, against Nike at about 20.7%. Read the full account in How Anta Overtook Nike in China's Sportswear Market.

The brands that were price alternatives a decade ago spent the 2020s investing in design, athlete partnerships and premium lines. These are analyst estimates, not audited figures, so treat the shares as directional.

The marketing lesson is that national pride is a positioning, not a tactic. A foreign brand cannot borrow it, and a domestic brand has to earn it with product quality. The Anta case also differs from the other four because it is a seven-year repositioning, not a single launch, so it is the one campaign in this list that a competitor cannot copy in a quarter.

Why did Luckin Coffee's Moutai latte sell 5.42 million cups in a day?

Luckin Coffee's Moutai latte sold 5.42 million cups in a day because it paired a mass-market coffee chain with China's most famous liquor brand at a launch discount. The 38 yuan "sauce-flavoured latte" was discounted to 19 yuan on day one, and sales topped RMB 100 million, a record for the chain, according to Reuters' launch report.

Reuters noted that the drink far outsold Luckin's earlier hits, including a cheese latte that sold 1.31 million cups on its launch day and a coconut cloud latte that sold 660,000. The companies said the alcohol content was below 0.5% by volume. The sales did not last. The Bamboo Works reported that sales slumped as the hype faded and the drink was gradually removed from stores.

The marketing lesson is that a co-brand can create a one-day event, but it is not a permanent menu item. The launch worked because two brands lent each other attention. The discount also did part of the work, since the day-one price was half the list price, so the 5.42 million figure measures a promotion as much as a product.

How did Pop Mart make Labubu a global collectible?

Pop Mart made Labubu a global collectible by selling it in sealed blind boxes, so fans did not know which version they had bought, and by benefiting from a celebrity moment. Blackpink's Lisa was spotted with a Labubu bag charm in April 2024, which set off a craze, according to Business Insider's report on Pop Mart's results.

Pop Mart reported 2024 revenue of RMB 13.04 billion ($1.8 billion), up 107%, with profit up 204%. Its "The Monsters" line, which includes Labubu, brought in RMB 3.04 billion, or 23% of the total, up 726.6%, according to the company's results as reported by Business Insider. The line is a character from a book series by the artist Kasing Lung, whom Pop Mart signed in 2019.

The growth continued in 2025. Pop Mart reported revenue of RMB 37.12 billion ($5.38 billion), up 185%, and profit attributable to owners of RMB 12.78 billion, according to Reuters' results report as published by RTE. Bloomberg reported that The Monsters generated about RMB 14.2 billion, roughly 40% of the total, up from 23% in 2024.

That concentration worried investors. Pop Mart shares closed 22.5% lower on the day of the results, according to the same Reuters report, and Bloomberg reported that resale premiums narrowed as supply increased and counterfeits spread. Chief executive Wang Ning said Pop Mart is more than Labubu and guided to growth of at least 20% in 2026.

The marketing lesson is scarcity plus surprise. Sealed boxes and limited supply turned buying into a game, and an unplanned celebrity moment multiplied it. The 2025 results add a second lesson: when one character supplies about 40% of revenue, the campaign's success becomes the brand's main risk.

What went wrong with Dolce & Gabbana's China campaign?

Dolce & Gabbana's "DG Loves China" campaign failed because its videos, which showed a Chinese model using chopsticks to eat Italian food, were widely criticized as stereotyped, and messages attributed to co-founder Stefano Gabbana's Instagram account deepened the anger. The brand said the accounts had been hacked. Its Shanghai show, planned for November 21, 2018, was called off hours before it was due to begin, according to ANSA's report on the e-commerce boycott.

Tmall, JD.com and Suning, along with cross-border and luxury platforms such as Kaola and Secoo, removed the brand's products, according to ANSA. CGTN reported that the hashtag #D&GRacism spread widely on Weibo. EPR's timeline of the Dolce & Gabbana backlash covers the five days in detail.

The marketing lesson is local review. A campaign for China needs Chinese-speaking creative and approval before it runs, and a brand's own social accounts need security and a crisis plan.

What do these China campaigns have in common?

The five cases share five traits that other brands can copy or avoid:

1. Owning an occasion or a cultural idea, as Alibaba did with 11.11 and Anta did with guochao.
2. Pairing two brands for attention, as Luckin and Moutai did.
3. Using scarcity and surprise, as Pop Mart's blind boxes did.
4. Building for Chinese platforms first, where hashtags and e-commerce listings decide a brand's fate in days.
5. Treating a spike as a spike. Luckin's latte faded, while Alibaba and Anta built repeatable systems.

A sixth pattern appears when the cases are read together. The campaigns that lasted, Singles' Day and Anta, were built on a system the brand controlled, while the ones that spiked relied on a discount, a partner or a celebrity moment the brand did not fully control.

How can brands apply the lessons from China's best campaigns?

Brands can apply these lessons by matching each campaign type to the risk it carries and planning for the day after the spike. The table pairs each case with a practical step drawn from what happened to it.

Each step comes from a documented outcome, not a forecast. A brand entering China can use the table as a checklist before a campaign is approved.

Where can you read more China PR and marketing coverage?

Everything-PR covers China from several angles. For agencies, see PR agencies in China and PR firms in Hong Kong. For Chinese brands selling abroad, see Chinese brands in the US. For the state side, see China's state media, and for more studies see EPR research.