How we created a children’s storybook for Chinese New Year - powered entirely by AI.

The Thinking

We wanted to do something special to celebrate this Chinese New Year. Officially the year of the rabbit, this new year coincided with the unveiling of the awesome power of Chat-GPT, suggesting it could well be the year of AI too. We were excited to see what other generative-AI platforms were capable of, and decided to combine them to show our clients that, as B2B tech experts, we don’t just write about tech, we use it to power our social content. Which is how we got the idea for an AI-powered children’s storybook.

The Making

We combined tradition with cutting-edge technology, letting our creative team loose on a range of AI tools to create a children’s storybook starring the animals of the Chinese zodiac. We used AI to produce every element of the work, with the script written by Chat GPT, the visuals by MidJourney AI, Murbert AI composing the music, and Narakeet AI narrating the story. We even used our very own AI tool voundry to distribute the content to our clients. The result is a visually captivating immersive journey through the customs and celebrations of the Chinese New Year.

The Blowing Up

We used our own AI-powered video personalisation engine voundry to personalise and distribute the storybook to all our clients and wider networks as a digital greeting card. We also shared the storybook on our website and social channels, with our industry partners, and with the trade press. Naturally we wrote the press release using ChatGPT.

The Positive Impact

News of our storybook travelled fast, and was picked up by numerous online media and marketing publications including the Drum, Adobo, Campaign Asia, Campaign Brief Asia and Roastbrief, generating new business leads, and showcasing how distillery is embracing an AI-powered future.

Keeping Chinese New Year traditions alive during the pandemic

The Thinking

Chinese New Year, also known as Lunar New Year, is the largest and most important celebration among the Chinese people in Asia. However, in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic, large traditional gatherings to celebrate this occasion had to be cancelled, and as people were only allowed to meet in small groups. Even then, people had to distance themselves socially. 

Keeping that in mind, the distillery team saw an opportunity to honour a longstanding Chinese New Year tradition in 2021 – the giving of hong bao – in a socially safe way.

Hong bao is a red envelope with cash inside. It is a form of well wishes that’s given to family members and close friends during Chinese New Year. The giving of hong bao is a familiar ritual across East and South-East Asian cultures. With social distancing in mind, distillery came up with a simple, fun idea: to create a long hong bao that would ensure safe distancing, while keeping to tradition.

The Making

We created 88 one metre-long red envelopes for people to give out while keeping a safe distance from one another during Chinese New Year festivities. Since the hong baos were to be given out in Singapore, we designed the envelopes with the precise measurement of one metre, the legal requirement for social distancing in Singapore. To celebrate the year of the Ox, we also designed the envelope with the artwork of an Ox, stretching its long horns from end to end.

The Blowing Up

Apart from the physical hong baos that were made, we also created a Chinese New Year greeting in the form of a comical video featuring the hong bao packet. A QR code on the red envelope directed people to watch the video. 

Although we sent the majority of the red packets to clients, we also made sure there were enough available to anyone who wanted this unique memorabilia. The unique concept was even picked up and featured on Campaign Asia, Adobo Magazine, and Campaign Brief.

The Positive Impact

Our goal for this project was simply to put a smile on the faces of our clients and their families during the pandemic, but the long hong baos went the extra mile. Well received by all our clients and potential clients, the hong baos brought new business opportunities and projects to distillery. And despite plans for distribution in Singapore only, people from around the world who had heard about this were requesting to get their hands on one.