Lắc Xì is MoMo’s annual Tet campaign, first launched in 2019. Over four years, MoMo has remained faithful to the theme of lì xì (lucky money) and Tet games. Although the messaging hasn’t changed much, the Lắc Xì 2022 campaign still made a huge impact on social media: 12 million participants took part in the game, generating 300 million shakes/spins over the course of more than one month. What made this seemingly repetitive campaign so successful?

1. Factor 1: Leveraging the Golden Window of Tet Discussions

Buzzmetrics research shows that in at least the past three Tet seasons, the seven days before Tet and the first five days of Tet consistently generate the highest volume of Tet-related discussions. This means that during this period, users are most eager to talk about Tet and engage with Tet-themed content.

From a marketing perspective, this period is considered the “golden window” for Tet campaigns on social media. Content created during this time is more likely to capture attention, drive interaction, and inspire users to generate new content around the brand. In other words, Tet campaigns launched during this period have a higher chance of achieving social media virality.

However, for various reasons, most Tet campaigns tend to “start early and end early.” Brands often launch their Tet campaigns as early as November or December and conclude them two weeks before Tet. Even if the campaign doesn’t end early, brands usually don’t focus their most impressive or engaging activities during the critical days immediately before Tet. This means the campaign often misses the “golden window” of Tet discussions.

In contrast, MoMo’s Lắc Xì campaign has consistently chosen the period right before Tet as the official launch and extends throughout the Tet holiday, effectively capitalizing on peak user interest.

In addition to cleverly choosing the timing, MoMo also adapted the Lắc Xì messages to align with users’ interests during each phase of Tet:

• Pre-Tet phase: MoMo sparked discussions about Lắc Xì within MoMo user communities and on social media, aiming to warm up the audience and announce new rule changes.
• Peak Tet phase: MoMo promoted the message “Tet mà phải chơi Lắc Xì” (“Tet must play Lắc Xì”), both continuing the campaign’s multi-year theme and resonating with users’ festive spirit. Discussions during this period accounted for 60% of the total campaign conversations.
• Post-Tet phase: When people were still in a relaxed, post-holiday mood, MoMo switched the message to “Còn mùng, Còn gỡ” (“The Tet holiday isn’t over, keep playing”), which generated 30% of the total campaign discussions.

Thanks to these timely message adjustments, discussions around Lắc Xì remained lively even after the golden Tet window, continuing until the end of February.

2. Factor 2: Digitizing traditional Tet activities

With COVID-19, home-based and online entertainment became a growing trend during Tet 2021 and 2022. The pandemic led to two major characteristics of Tet activities:

1. Cancellation or limitation of offline Tet activities: traveling, visiting relatives, gatherings with friends, etc.
2. Shifting offline activities online: e.g., direct red envelopes → online red envelopes, in-person visits → video calls.

Among online Tet activities, traditional Tet customs still generated the most discussion, particularly online red envelopes, which accounted for 51.5% of total conversations (the key activity of the Lắc Xì campaign), while sending online greetings ranked second at 28.1%.

The Lắc Xì MoMo campaign showcased nearly all traditional Tet activities. In just the first three days of Tet 2022, 5 million users exchanged 20 million red envelopes via MoMo’s online red envelope transfer feature. Beyond sending red envelopes, MoMo also recreated familiar Tet activities within the Lắc Xì game, such as visiting friends’ homes, enjoying spring outings, decorating houses, all directly on the mobile app.

3. Factor 3: Leveraging the “Play to Win” minigame to engage users 

A key element of any Tet campaign is user interaction tactics. Throughout the Lắc Xì campaign, MoMo’s main tactics were gift-giving and minigames, which are among the most popular approaches brands use during Tet to attract participation and engagement. 

However, a popular tactic doesn’t automatically guarantee success. It requires a clever combination of tactics and carefully chosen game rules to maximize their effectiveness.

In the case of Lắc Xì, two key factors contributed to the success of MoMo’s minigame + gift-giving strategy:

(1) “Play to Win” approach – Unlike competitive minigames that limit rewards to only a few winners, MoMo’s minigame ensured everyone could win, eliminating hesitation from users who might think, “I won’t win, so why bother?” This “all-win” rule encouraged massive participation, helping Lắc Xì consistently rank in BSI Top10 campaigns during Tet. In 2022, MoMo further innovated: instead of giving out a single large prize at the end (as in 2019–2021), MoMo provided 500,000 Xu upfront (1 Xu = 1 VND after completing 5 “Thần Tài Challenges”), giving players initial capital to overcome challenges. The better players performed, the greater their rewards.

(2) Linking Minigame to the Brand – Many minigames follow the simple steps: (1) post the game, (2) users comment, (3) announce results and distribute prizes. This makes the minigame a standalone activity. MoMo cleverly modified step (2): users had to log in to the MoMo app to play, driving traffic to their product and reaching new users. This smart adjustment made the minigame deliver more than just social buzz.

3. Closing

Each Tet season, Buzzmetrics tracks over 100 Tet campaigns with diverse insights, messages, and approaches. Some campaigns succeed through differentiation and innovation; others succeed through interesting insights and user connection.

Lắc Xì 2022 stands out for its well-designed tactics system. Without a lengthy storyline or a “grandiose” message, the campaign demonstrates three essential factors:

1. Choosing the right timing (“golden window”)
2. Crafting messages aligned with user discussion topics
3. Designing an effective tactics system

These three simple yet effective strategies have consistently kept Lắc Xì at the top 10 most influential social media campaigns during Tet each year.