# Correct Approach to Welding for AI Marketing Strategy During Chinese New Year: Why Yuanbao Slipped While Qwen Surpassed

Recently, the AI competition landscape has shown an interesting pattern in how marketing strategies are classified—some successfully embed long-term value, while others only generate temporary traffic waves. This fundamental difference isn’t about how large the budget is but about a correct understanding of product characteristics and proper positioning in a competitive seasonal market.

First, Traffic Battlefield: Investment Scale Indicates Competition Intensity

Chinese New Year remains the most fiercely contested arena for major tech companies in Southeast Asia and China. The scale of investment reflects each player’s commitment: Alibaba allocates 3 billion, Tencent 1 billion, ByteDance invests hundreds of millions, while Baidu allocates 500 million. Marketing during Chinese New Year has become the only gateway to achieve a prestigious trillion-scale user flow.

Looking at market trends and user feedback, the way AI marketing strategies are classified this year shows a clear spectrum: from the most effective to the most problematic.

Three Dimensions of Yuanbao’s Mistakes: Product Mismatch and Growth Strategy Errors

Tencent’s Yuanbao project worth 100 million only lasted online for three days before a dramatic drama—its status was restricted by WeChat itself. On February 4, WeChat Security Center issued an official statement revealing that the Chinese New Year Yuanbao campaign used “methods of creating tasks and receiving rewards to encourage users to repeatedly share links to WeChat groups,” disrupting the platform ecosystem. Tencent’s stock fell 3.53% that day.

Ironically, 11 years ago, the “shake” of WeChat Red Envelopes revolutionized the digital payment landscape at that time. Now Tencent hopes Yuanbao can repeat that success, but they forget one crucial thing: the era has changed.

On the surface, Yuanbao only touches the regulatory red line of WeChat. But in depth, it manifests a classic mistake in how to classify fundamental AI product marketing strategies:

1. Product Logic and Growth Strategy Mismatch

AI is a “problem-solving” tool—users will only actively use it when facing challenges and needing efficiency boosts. Conversely, red envelopes are an “emotion-driven” mechanism—users act not for the product’s value but for instant gains.

Red envelopes have never failed in Pinduoduo because their strategy and product naturally align: cognitive costs are nearly zero, interaction paths are very short, and returns are immediately visible. But AI products have the opposite characteristics: high learning costs, complex screen understanding, and delayed value. It’s like opening a top neurosurgery clinic but handing out eggs at the door daily to attract patients.

2. Accumulating New Users Without Retention: The Illusion of Data

From an internal perspective, Yuanbao’s dissemination may be “very successful” in measurable terms: DAU skyrockets, distribution curves look attractive. But the reality is different: users have “thrown away the trash” of Yuanbao—they close the app after receiving rewards and return to main groups to discuss technology and DeepSeek. This traffic is transient customers who will disappear.

After Chinese New Year, only the perception remains that Yuanbao is an “orange app that gives money,” not recognition of its true AI assistant value.

3. Designing for KPIs, Not for Users

At industry level, this operation resembles more of a reactive response driven by data pressure. Doubao’s DAU exceeds 1 billion, Qwen and Wenxin follow at the 1-billion scale, while Yuanbao stalls at 20 million. In the competition among large AI factories, this doesn’t seem impressive enough. Under this pressure, growth targets are set earlier, and “doing something” becomes more important than “doing the right thing”—a common disease of big companies: as long as the curve rises and reports look good, short-term mistakes and long-term side effects are ignored for now.

Qwen: Implementing Real Value in Actual Usage Scenarios

In contrast, Qwen demonstrates advantages by directly linking AI capabilities to real user needs and the Chinese New Year context. Through Qwen Agents, users can not only win free tickets but also connect to Tmall Flash Sales, shop at Hema, and have items delivered directly home, creating immediate and applicable value satisfaction.

Classifying Qwen’s strategy correctly involves several key elements: completing actual tasks with low learning costs, scenarios touching specific pain points of Chinese New Year, building long-term trust through practical value, and mechanisms that can be reused across different usage nodes.

Overall, Qwen successfully makes AI “useful” in Chinese New Year marketing, not just “interesting,” forming a closed cycle from short-term stimulation to sustainable long-term value.

Correct AI Marketing Methodology for Chinese New Year: Four Classification Principles

Chinese New Year is indeed a must-win battlefield for AI marketing—widest user coverage, highest usage frequency, and most suitable for concentrated investment. The key to proper classification is whether AI truly solves real problems. Based on case studies and industry trends, the right posture is:

1. From “Giving Rewards” to “Solving Practical Problems”

Negative: Yuanbao e-red envelopes are not directly related to AI functions—users just take the money and leave. Positive: Ali Qwen enables users to use AI for ordering food, booking flights, buying movie tickets, and direct cancellations. This not only lowers trial barriers but also allows users to feel real value: “AI can do things.”

Seasonal CNY scenarios that can be implemented: smart travel planning, real-time ticket monitoring, automatic packing list creation, quick local cultural guides to accompany family visits.

2. From “Throwing Money at Users” to “Saving Costs for Retention”

User acquisition through large subsidies has become a weapon, but users are getting smarter. Cost-saving strategies include: AI-generated New Year content tailored to relationships and preferences, automatic family album setup with annual memories, AI-generated Q&A training for common family questions.

3. From “Redistributing Social” to “Sharing via Word-of-Mouth”

WeChat restricts Yuanbao to protect social experience. AI marketing should strengthen network relationships, not damage them. Innovative games include AI family assistant bots managing group info, cross-generational games connecting grandparents and grandchildren, and new e-red envelopes with AI-generated video greetings and personalized family tree maps.

4. From “CNY Bombardment” to “Long-term Approach”

All seasonal marketing faces the same challenge: how to retain users after the warmth fades? Retention mechanisms include: automatically linking Chinese New Year tasks to other celebrations, 7-day habit formation challenges with redeemable points, and AI-integrated memories that remember user preferences for proactive services next year.

Making AI genuinely useful in the context of celebrations is the best marketing of all.

Conclusion: Proper Classification as the Foundation of Success

A hundred flowers do not bloom in one season, but when a thousand flowers bloom together, that is the true spring. May major local tech companies continue to pursue and optimize their models while actively investing in marketing. Ultimately, easy-to-use products and correct classification strategies are the best, and we look forward to the next wave of local AI breakthroughs.