As the Spring Festival approaches, the CNY battle in the food and beverage industry has shifted from the 'stocking-up phase' to the intense 'explosive phase.' A month ago, New Distribution analyzed Lay's 2026 'scenario-based product portfolio' evolution. At that time, Lay's, with its combination of 'Fortune Bucket' and 'Family Bucket' that blend festive flavor and portion size, along with a refined matrix covering all scenarios from self-use to gifting, was the first to address the channel's anxiety about 'what to sell' during stocking. But with the Spring Festival travel rush underway, the new question facing the industry is: with products in place, what will ignite sell-through? During a recent market visit, a veteran distributor's anxiety was representative: 'Traffic is too fragmented—not just online, but offline new formats are also diverting customers. Our biggest worry is whether this festive buzz can be gathered in front of our shelves.' With this industry sentiment in mind, examining Lay's 2026 CNY sprint actions, we find that its strategic focus has upgraded from 'product portfolio positioning' to 'traffic conversion.' Lay's has not stopped at competing for existing market share; instead, it is strengthening brand mindshare comprehensively through omnichannel buzz and scenario deepening, injecting confidence into partners. This is a 'systematic sell-through design' tailored for the Spring Festival peak. It proves to the channel that this year's Spring Festival business offers not only 'good products' but also 'certain' sell-through.
Omnichannel Buzz Breakthrough:
High-Profile Moves to Activate Traffic
The first challenge in Spring Festival marketing is always how to be truly 'seen' in a highly crowded information environment. Judging from Lay's actions this year, its strategy is not complicated, but execution is focused: at the moment when Spring Festival emotions are most concentrated, it occupies the most noticeable traffic entrances. First, it's about 'high-profile' buzz. Around this window of intense national sentiment, Lay's officially announced Shen Teng and Fan Chengcheng as 'New Year Spokespersons for PepsiCo Foods.' Simultaneously, the 2026 New Year TVC was launched, featuring multiple scenarios such as being on the way, shopping for New Year goods, and family gatherings, where the duo's tacit cooperation and chemistry perfectly convey the festive joy. Fan Chengcheng's 'contrast video' on Douyin quickly surpassed 1.35 million likes. Meanwhile, the Weibo topic #沈腾范丞丞喊你吃乐事有乐事# (Shen Teng and Fan Chengcheng invite you to eat Lay's, have fun with Lay's) has accumulated over 150 million reads[1]. It's worth noting that Lay's celebrity strategy also uses lighthearted, joyful content to reinforce the brand's 'fun' emotional proposition in the Spring Festival context. We also observed that Lay's has made large-scale placements across major video sites, apps, and social platforms to reach consumers comprehensively and deepen brand mindshare. Recently, Lay's also announced becoming the official marketing partner for the movie 'Pegasus 3,' starring the duo. After the film's release, Lay's will deeply reach consumer groups with the movie's popularity, continuously solidifying its market influence. Second, Lay's did not stop at entertainment traffic; it partnered with authoritative media like People's Daily Client to release a short film titled 'Joy on the Way Home.' The lens focuses on real 'returnees' during the Spring Festival travel rush and their homesickness. The video quickly broke through circles after release, giving the brand a stronger public emotional attribute in the Spring Festival context and further boosting communication momentum. From a channel perspective, this combination of 'celebrity content + authoritative media' sends a clear signal: the brand will continue to dominate topic centers during the Spring Festival, creating a more favorable external environment for terminal sell-through. These measures did not stop at the traffic level; they directed traffic to actual sales conversion. For hundreds of millions of returnees, 12306 is one of the most frequently used apps during the Spring Festival. Lay's successfully embedded itself into the 12306 app during the travel rush, directing users to Meituan's mini-program, completing the pre-conversion, and connecting the consumer demand activated in the travel scenario with the higher-frequency instant purchase scenarios during the holiday. The brand locks in the mindset of 'Eat Lay's for the New Year' the moment consumers start their journey home. When consumers are exposed to 'Lay's' during their travels, their subsequent purchase conversion rates at various terminals will significantly improve.
Deepening Offline Scenarios:
From Traffic Hubs to Omnichannel Sell-Through
If the online buzz layout solves the problem of 'being seen,' then the continuous deployment of offline scenarios takes on the role of 'being remembered and taken away.' At this stage, Lay's has demonstrated strong ground execution capabilities, leveraging this year's trending topics such as intangible cultural heritage, lantern fairs, and offline experiences to land brand momentum in scenarios where consumers actually pass by and stay. On one hand, Lay's precisely positions itself on the 'must-pass routes' for returnees. At core transportation hubs in the Yangtze River Delta, such as Hefei South Station, Wuhu Station, and Ningbo Station, Lay's has set up brand pop-up stores. For travelers on their way home, these points are not just brand displays but also pre-holiday supply stations and emotional check-in spots. Beyond exposure, Lay's reinforces the scenario hint of 'bring a bag of Lay's home' before consumers even step through their doors. On the other hand, in Chengdu, a trendy city blending ancient and modern, Lay's created a pop-up experience space integrating 'interactive experiences, flavor co-creation, and local co-branding.' Inside the pop-up store, consumers can experience the 'Potato Chop Chop' interactive game, try Sichuan-style special potato chips at the 'Ba Shu Flavor Station,' and DIY packaging bags, achieving deep communication with young people. Lay's anchors on the high-frequency out-of-home scenario during Spring Festival—travel—implementing full-funnel marketing and deeply cooperating with key channels to achieve an end-to-end closed loop. It partnered with Henan TV and Luoyang's Luoyi Ancient City to create an offline lantern fair that will last until the Lantern Festival. At the same time, Lay's also explores regional characteristics, collaborating with channels to create experience spaces incorporating elements like Hunan Xiang Opera, Guangdong Lion Dance, Jiangxi Aoyu Lantern, and Hubei Oil-Paper Umbrella Flowers, and integrates intangible cultural heritage into Guangdong TV's 2026 Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area Spring Festival Gala. Lay's is achieving 'areal coverage' of brand momentum through a grand 'deep scenario experience.' In the decisive stage of Spring Festival sell-through, what channels truly care about is not just 'where activities are held,' but whether these activities can drive sales across a broader range of terminals. From bustling commercial districts to historic ancient capitals, Lay's embeds product experiences into Spring Festival folk scenarios like shopping and lantern viewing, making it not just a bag of chips on the shelf but part of the festive atmosphere. These high-momentum cultural and retail scenarios are essentially turned by Lay's into 'emotional ignition points' for regional market sell-through. They not only amplify the brand's 'visibility' and 'discussion' in regional markets in a short time, but more importantly, this frequently activated festive consumption emotion has a strong 'spillover effect.' According to distributor feedback, such concentrated exposure often brings more noticeable natural sell-through before and during the holiday. That's why the value of such scenario-based investment lies not in the immediate sales of a single store, but in laying the cognitive and emotional foundation for the entire regional market, making subsequent omnichannel sales smoother. Conclusion All marketing actions ultimately return to the 'last meter' in front of the shelf. What Lay's has shown in 2026 CNY is precisely how to efficiently convert 'airborne buzz' into 'ground sales.' Lay's has completed a clear validation: through systematic momentum building, it has successfully broken down the barriers between online and offline, allowing both new and old channels to share the brand's traffic dividends. This also confirms its status as a leading brand—not only providing a quality product portfolio but also committed to building a healthy ecosystem where sell-through happens naturally. That's why what Lay's brings to the channel this Spring Festival is not just marketing excitement, but a set of sell-through certainty that is already being realized—transforming into tangible business dividends on every terminal shelf. Note: [1]. Douyin and Weibo data as of January 29, 18:00.