Turning traditional symbols of prosperity into pixelated lucky charms to launch On's Cloudmonster Year of the Dragon edition in China
Ride On for Good Fortune
Chinese New Year is China's most competitive marketing moment, with a lot of CNY campaigns going up against each other. On, still a challenger, needed to launch the Cloudmonster Year of the Dragon edition without trying to outspend the category.
Young people wanted better luck, especially with economic uncertainty weighing on the year ahead. In Chinese Taoist and Buddhist belief, better luck comes from better energy, and better energy comes from movement. That gave us the idea: don't wait for fortune, run toward it.
That became 乘龙开运, Ride On For Good Fortune. We rebuilt traditional symbols of prosperity (the dragon, fire, a fortune slip, a gold ingot, fortune, an arrow, the runner) as pixelated lucky charms, using the shoe's own visual language instead of borrowing New Year imagery.
The idea turned into a retail system built to stand out during the busiest shopping moment of the year, and into community runs during Chinese New Year that invited people to unlock their own better luck through running at the start of the year. It moved from shoe box to building: key visuals, packaging, red envelopes and stamp sets, retail installations, and a curved digital pillar outside Shanghai's Xintiandi, with lucky charms hidden along the actual running routes for people to hunt down.
In 73 days, the edition sold 6,079 pairs at a 78% sell-through rate, e-commerce exceeding 100% on both colorways. 43 community activations brought in 1,270 participants, 40.6% new to On.
#乘龙开运 generated 766,000+ views, and PR and influencer activity delivered 574 million+ in reach.
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