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Responses by Kit Koh, group executive creative director, Publicis Groupe Shanghai.

Background: Playfulness was part of China’s DNA for 5,000 years, but in modern China, the obsession with work and success is often imposed on kids from a young age, causing the loss of playfulness. As a brand championing playfulness, OREO, “the most playful cookie in the world”, wanted to bring play to the forefront of culture again via a platform called Art of Play.

We targeted kids, parents and young professionals via a national influencer campaign, while the toys together with OREO cookies were available at Tmall, one of China’s biggest e-commerce platforms. We also targeted educators by donating Art of Play toys to schools around the country.

Design thinking: There’s a natural connection between OREO’s playfulness and Chinese culture. It felt like the perfect time to bring back China’s playful heritage into the current context.

With the integrated Art of Play platform, we stirred up a social debate on China’s lost playfulness, brought back three iconic toys, and developed a strategy that incorporates OOH, branded toys, key partnerships, earned/paid media and engaging influencers. This led to widespread national support from parents, teachers and community leaders, all advocating for more playtime in China once again.

Challenges: The most challenging part was to redesign and modernize ancient toys. From more than one hundred classic toys, we worked with museum experts, culture masters and toy designers to introduce three redesigned toys. This included the 2,500-year-old Lu Ban Lock, designed to unlock the mind; the 1,800-year-old Kong Zhu that encourages agility; and the 1,000-year-old Tangram to provoke creativity.

Favorite details: Seeing the smiles on kids’ faces while they play with OREO’s “new old” toys when we donated them to schools and local communities. This is a great reminder of our own rich history of playfulness, and the value of play.

We know it will take time for China’s 996 work culture to change (called so because people are expected work from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. six days per week), but we are proud to have started a conversation about creating a more balanced life while reminding people of their lighter, optimistic side. It is just the beginning for Art of Play, and soon we hope to extend the platform to music, literature, art and even sports.

New lessons: We have so much to learn from our ancestors. Not only have we forgotten ancient toys, but we have put playfulness aside. We need to recognize the importance of creativity as a way of life.

Visual influences: The challenge was to revitalize classic, nearly forgotten toys. We collaborated with Lao Wang, a renowned toy designer, to craft them with a unique design twist—using OREO’s signature black-and-white palette and adopting modern graphic lines. We also integrated an OREO ritual— the “twist, lick and dunk”– into the toys’ design.

publicisgroupe.com

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