MIRROR's Anson Lo and Ian Chan spotlight HK's unexplored areas in new tourism push

Brands are flocking to collaborate with Hong Kong boyband MIRROR and several of its members to leverage their fame and popularity for branding and awareness. Next to bank on their celebrity power is Hong Kong Tourism Board.

Hong Kong Tourism board will be working with two of its members, Anson Lo (pictured right) and Ian Chan (pictured left) to spotlight local attractions around the city which might not be as well known to citizens. Chan, for example, recently introduced the Shek O area on Instagram which he lauded for its European vibe in Hong Kong. "In fact, if you explore carefully, there are a lot of places that exude an exotic ambience in Hong Kong," he wrote. He then proceeded to invite his fans to share their favourite attractions in Hong Kong. 

Fellow band member Lo introduced ONE Artlane located at Sai Ying Pun as his favourite place to relax and take a stroll. "The street that we are familiar with can offer you a new perspective if we explore it with a new composition of the image," he said. Lo too also invited his fans to tell him places that they want him to take good pictures. 

Members of MIRROR have been heavily featured in ads and marketing initiatives lately. For example, Chan starred in Octopus's latest campaign to encourage Hong Kong people to collect and spend the government consumption vouchers with Octopus, singing a catchy theme song performed with singer Eman Lam.  Meanwhile, Lo starred in McDonald's Hong Kong's campaign in April, introducing the upgraded app that allows mobile ordering and conducts payment. 

Hilariously, the fame of MIRROR has also led to a new Facebook group titled "My wife married MIRROR and left my marriage in ruins" created for distressed husbands who are married to fans of MIRROR. Founded on 3 July, members of the Facebook group claimed that the 12-member boyband has stolen the hearts of their wives and at times their sisters and mothers.

In a conversation with MARKETING-INTERACTIVE, Daniel Wu, general manager of Meology, said that it’s common for brands to flock to certain celebrities that are ‘hottest’ at the moment such as MIRROR and ERROR right now. Nonetheless brands must also “focus on how to leverage the celebrity to add value to the brand’s core messages or campaigns which ultimately match its business objectives,” he explained. 

Rudi Leung, director of Hungry Digital, believed that the rise of MIRROR and ERROR brings new hope to the city because they are immune to “political red lines at the moment”. “Hong Kong marketers have been struggling to identify celebrities to endorse their brands since the 2014 and 2019 social unrest. It is because there are growing invisible red lines everywhere. And in fact, most local marketers don't want their brands to associate with any political stand,” he said.

(Photo courtesy: Anson Lo and Ian Chan Instagram accounts)

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