Snack Company Mondelez Kinh Do Brings a Centuries-old Mid-Autumn Festival to Life Through Technology

Mondelez Kinh Do has partnered with Publicis, Spark and Digitas to magically bring old family photographs to life for Kinh Do mooncakes – a brand that is synonymous with the ‘Trung Thu’ festival in Vietnam, which takes place on September 21st this year.

Using Kinh Do’s new genealogy platform, you can see your ancestors smile, blink and turn their heads as old photos come to life. This charming experience is made possible with deep learning artificial intelligence from D-ID, a leading technology company based in the United Kingdom and Israel – creators of the MyHeritage app.

According to Simon Crowther, marketing director of Mondelez Kinh Do Vietnam: “Kinh Do stands for meaningful Vietnamese traditions that bring family together and keep the culture alive. With the pandemic lockdown situation in the country, the festival atmosphere that used to line up the streets with stalls of mooncakes was not attainable this year. Through technology, we are able to bring the spirit of the festival online – testament to the fact that nothing can stop Kinh Do in keeping cultural traditions alive.”

The ‘Trung Thu’ festival has been around for more than 2,000 years and is the second most important festival in the country after Tet (Lunar New Year). It is a time when families come together to celebrate the full moon, when Kinh Do brings mooncakes to millions of Vietnamese.

Unfortunately, Trung Thu has been losing its sheen in recent years as Vietnam moves towards a digitally-driven economy. Kinh Do takes genuine responsibility for keeping meaningful Vietnamese traditions alive, which means reaching a new generation via digital and social channels. The Kinh Do Trung Thu platform also makes it possible to relive family memories in the midst of a lockdown – Vietnam’s strictest since the COVID pandemic began.

Anish Kotian, deputy managing director, Publicis Vietnam says: “This is a coming together of head, heart and hand in one idea. Activating the Power of One, we formed a group of experts across Publicis Groupe from creatives, data, technology and media to bring the magic of Trung Thu to life.”

Experience the platform here.