2017 is about to arrive, and bears the hope of economic growth. Technically, the year of the rooster doesn’t start until the first day of the lunar calendar, which falls on January 28th this year. However, since no one really uses the lunar calendar in China anymore, the turning of zodiac has been moved to January 1st.
What can we expect from the year of the rooster?
We will see an increase in the number of babies being born. The reason for this is quite simple: Roosters. Sound. Cool. People tend to relate many desirable qualities to babies born in years of the rooster, and would even try to hold back the birth (I don’t know how one would do that), or rush it (with C-section) just so they can have a rooster baby. Roosters symbolize character traits that include dominance and ambition, and are said to be blessed with luck and strength. According to a survey done by the Hong Kong newspaper Wen Wei Po, 85% of sampled parents (mainland and Hong Kong Chinese) tend to believe that rooster babies are smarter than others. Although there is no scientific or mythical proof about these babies being smarter, this “baby rush” does means a number of things: A) babies born in 2017 will face a lot more competition in school and their careers; B) if you are thinking about starting some baby-oriented service such as babysitting or early childhood education, 2017 might be an especially good year to start.
Chinese brands generally tend to employ the current year’s zodiac as a key element in their advertising and straplines. They do that every year rotating through the Chinese zodiac cycle. In 2016 there were plenty of monkey adverts, a massive gang of goats in 2015, and mobs of horses in 2014. As we’ve already established, the rooster is the mightiest creature of all the zodiac, and chances are that they will be abused for marketing purposes with an extra dose of passion. Staying away from these grand fowls or using them less explicitly will make your marketing efforts stand out from others.