Creative Execution

The result was a K-pop style music video featuring five of China’s Internet starlets as the “Recess Princess”. The group became an overnight sensation with their hit song “Recess for the Mind” that debuted online on Youku. Along with Wallie, our brand mascot, the group danced and sang to the tune of easier exams with a brain boost from walnuts. Study tips were also shared on our official channel, where the Internet starlets also doubled as student’s study buddies to help them ace their exams.

The video reached the top 3 spot in Youku, China’s largest video sharing site, with over 3.5 million views from over 180 countries, 18,000 likes, comments and interactions, 25,000 reposts / retweets, and 13,194,647 Weibo page views during campaign period. Purchase intent for our client’s product increased to 98% from just over 5% in 2014, while consumer recall rate for California Walnuts rose from 7% in 2014 to 63% today. 70% of Chinese consumers were interested in engaging with CWC online compared to just 25% in 2014.

To talk to Chinese students about the most stressful event of their young lives, we went for content they would watch to get a load off their minds – a cheerful, K-pop-style music video, and created the first ever edu-pop-tainment video. Five local Internet starlets were transformed into China’s overnight pop sensation – a girl group known as “Recess Princess”. Along with Wallie, California Walnut’s mascot, the group sings and dances to our original song – “Recess for the Mind” to give students a break from reality, yet at the same time talk to them about studying. The music video introduced walnuts as a healthier snacking alternative – one that improves their memory and helps them do better in exams. Study tips and snacking recipes were shared on our official Weibo channel linked from the music video on Youku, China’s largest video sharing site, turning the Internet starlets into student study buddies.