Hu Jhen Tang, a Yunlin pastry brand, was mostly known for one product, Hu Yue Shao. For Mid-Autumn 2025, VOCAL MIDDLE Communications built outreach around two gift boxes, adding new product photography, press releases and media and social unboxing. The programme generated more than 80 articles, over NT$14 million in PR value, and placements in several Mid-Autumn gift guides.
Hu Jhen Tang, founded in Huwei, Yunlin, is Taiwan's only pastry brand built around sweet potato, and its awareness was concentrated in Yunlin. For Mid-Autumn 2025 it launched two limited gift boxes, Hu Ying Yue (虎迎月) and Hu Ming Yue (虎名月), and wanted more shoppers to see them during the peak gifting season and to lift festival sales. This programme used product photography, press releases and media and social unboxing to raise the brand's visibility in mainstream media, so that people choosing a Mid-Autumn gift would see Hu Jhen Tang as a premium pastry brand with a clear cultural identity rather than a local favourite or a single bestseller.
Hu Jhen Tang had been named one of Yunlin's top ten gift products, yet its recognition remained largely regional, and most consumers associated it with single products such as Hu Yue Shao. Ten years of sweet-potato craft and storytelling reached few people beyond that. VOCAL MIDDLE's market observation was that gift brands that win consumer attention tend to pair distinctive design with a strong narrative, then build recognition and word of mouth through festival rituals and social interaction. Mid-Autumn concentrates gifting demand and gives media and shoppers a reason to look at a brand again, so the programme combined mainstream media and social channels around the two new boxes.
Use the Mid-Autumn gifting theme to bring out the brand story and the two boxes
Media and consumers knew Hu Jhen Tang through individual products, so the programme did not lead with a product specification. It began with the brand's ten-year story of filling pastries with Yunlin sweet potato and extended it to the ritual of gift giving. The audience was editors who write Mid-Autumn gift features and shoppers choosing a box, who could then see how Hu Jhen Tang reinterprets gifting with Taiwanese character and creative design.
Align core messages, reshoot product photography and separate gifting occasions by box
Sweet potato served as the cultural thread linking local sentiment, inventive craft and refined packaging into one consistent message, and new product photography reinforced the premium look. Hu Ying Yue, priced at NT$690, has a white box with a red satin sleeve and a light, Japanese-inspired feel. Hu Ming Yue, priced at NT$1,050, uses a black-and-gold design with twin tigers on both sides, holds more items and larger portions, and suits important family, elders or guests. Each box matches a different gifting occasion and buyer tier, which made the brand's cultural depth and price positioning easy to explain.
Phase media and social outreach to sustain visibility before the festival
On the media side, outreach targeted national dailies and the food, lifestyle and consumer desks to establish the brand and reach core buyers; social unboxing and interactive posts followed to keep attention steady before Mid-Autumn. The two channels reach different readers: mainstream media builds credibility, while social unboxing shows the boxes in hand, and together they carried visibility through the season.
Several outlets reused the gifting occasions set out in the programme: Liberty Times Playing described Hu Ying Yue as affordable and Hu Ming Yue as suited to important family, elders or guests, and CaVa grouped the two boxes by recipient in the same way. The programme generated more than 80 mainstream articles across daily newspapers, women's fashion and food and lifestyle media, with total PR value above NT$14 million. Hu Jhen Tang was listed in several Mid-Autumn gift guides, and Styletc placed it alongside GODIVA, LADY M, BAC and Rivon, which strengthened its image as a premium gift brand. Social unboxing and video content drew more than 21,000 views and more than 5,400 comments, and the season left behind new product photography and unboxing material the brand can keep using.
1.Why did Hu Jhen Tang run this Mid-Autumn media programme?
Hu Jhen Tang was best known in Yunlin, and many people knew it through single products such as Hu Yue Shao. For Mid-Autumn 2025 it launched Hu Ying Yue and Hu Ming Yue, and needed gift buyers and media editors to understand the brand story more fully so that they would consider Hu Jhen Tang when choosing a Mid-Autumn gift.
2.What strategy and services did VOCAL MIDDLE provide?
VOCAL MIDDLE ran three core workstreams: using the Mid-Autumn gifting theme to bring out the brand story and the value of both boxes; aligning core messages and reshooting product photography so each box matched a gifting occasion; and phasing mainstream media and social outreach. Services covered product photography, press release distribution and media and social unboxing.
3.How does this programme differ from a typical festival gift-box media campaign?
The programme did not build on the public's existing single-product impression. It centred the message on the brand's ten-year sweet-potato story and on gifting occasions, and used two boxes to separate audiences and price points. Media could then introduce the products by recipient, and the brand appeared in Mid-Autumn gift guides as a premium pastry maker rather than only a local favourite.
4.What verifiable outcomes did the programme produce?
Three public articles from Liberty Times Playing, Styletc and CaVa feature Hu Ying Yue and Hu Ming Yue in Mid-Autumn recommendations. Project figures show more than 80 mainstream articles, total PR value above NT$14 million, and social unboxing and video content with more than 21,000 views and more than 5,400 comments. These outcomes sit at the level of media exposure and social engagement; the figures come from the case page VOCAL MIDDLE published on 2025-08-18.
5.How does this case relate to AI PR?
AI PR concerns how humans and AI see, understand and choose a client from public information. This programme organised Hu Jhen Tang's positioning into consistent public information: Taiwan's only pastry brand built around sweet potato, a ten-year Yunlin sweet-potato story, and the recipients each box is meant for. That information was published through Liberty Times Playing, Styletc and CaVa. When consumers and AI tools look up Mid-Autumn gift boxes, these articles show where the brand comes from, how the two boxes differ and their price range.
