Hong Kong Market taps into Kowloon Walled City nostalgia in new campaign

Leveraging the popularity of the recent local film "Twilight of the Warriors: Walled In" (九龍城寨之圍城), Hong Kong Market has revitalised its Kowloon City-themed wet market at Yat Tung in Tung Chung and invited cast members from the film to promote its Father’s Day campaign.

This comes as the film has generated a lot of buzz in the city that, it has grossed over HK$80m at the box office and ranks second in the history of Chinese language films total box office in Hong Kong.

Meanwhile, in 2016, Hong Kong Market redesigned Yat Tung Street Market to emulate a traditional local street market, using the nostalgic atmosphere of 1970s to 80s Kowloon Walled City as design inspiration to recreate the Hong Kong cultural ambience.

In a conversation with MARKETING-INTERACTIVE, Agnes Lung, executive director and group chief marketing and digital officer, Uni-China Group, said the campaign aims to showcase innovative concepts in fresh market operations and design, providing a unique and innovative shopping experience for customers.

"The campaign celebrates Father's Day with Kowloon Walled City-themed decor at Hong Kong Market (Yat Tung). It also launches a series of promotions to recognise and appreciate fathers as unsung heroes across all Hong Kong Markets," Lung added.

Alongside enhancing the Kowloon City-themed elements within the Yat Tung Market, Hong Kong Market has also leveraged the popularity of the film by inviting two of the cast members, German Cheung, who played the role of 四仔, and child actor 王尹菁, who portrayed 魚蛋妹 - to help promote its latest Father's Day campaign.

As part of the campaign, Hong Kong Market has invited Swack Team, a martial arts group founded by Cheung, to conduct a martial arts performance at Yat Tung Street Market on Father's Day (16 June). This aims to recreate the iconic action scenes from the film. 

To stir up the atmosphere, on Father's Day, Hong Kong Market will offer traditional Kowloon Walled City-themed nostalgic snacks at prices reflecting the 1970s and 1980s era. This includes selling potato cakes for HK$1 each and white sugar sponge cakes for HK$2 each. Customers who take a photo of the Yat Tung Street Market will also receive a free skewer of fish balls.

According to Lung, the campaign is promoted through various channels, including in-store point of sale materials (POSM), Hong Kong Market's official Facebook and Instagram pages, media pitching and PR coverage, as well as collaborations with KOLs and micro-influencers.

Designed based on the "Kowloon Walled City" concept, the interior and exterior decoration of the Yat Tung Street Market include establishments such as large aircraft flying low over the city, hair salons, movie theaters, herbal tea shops, pawn shops, and neon signages.

Don’t miss: Hong Kong Market and Bossini embrace HK culture via Cantonese wordplay

Back in April, Hong Kong Market and Bossini collaborated to launch a brand promotion campaign named "Eat word collection” (食字文化), embracing the spirit of Hong Kong culture through Cantonese wordplay.

Created in collaboration with creative agency Hardchi Creative, the campaign included a one-day exclusive pop-up store at Maritime Market (青衣市場). It featured eight styles of "Eat word collection" t-shirts, in collaboration with local illustrator Milktealogy (奶茶通俗學). The t-shirts are adorned with Cantonese puns such as "咪當我水魚", "扮曬蟹", and "花生友食花生", accompanied by related cartoons.

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