How Toptrees built a 甄嬛传 (Empresses in the Palace) cat-food campaign on Xiaohongshu
Toptrees linked cat food to 甄嬛传 (Empresses in the Palace) through role-play videos, collectible cards and a Shanghai exhibition pop-up, then used 80 creators and 88 Xiaohongshu posts to carry the idea from August to October 2024.
Put cats inside the palace drama, then make the pack collectible
Toptrees built the collaboration around “如果我穿进甄嬛传” (If I Were Transported into Empresses in the Palace), an invitation to place cats in palace-drama roles. Co-branded packs and character cards added a collecting layer to 领先烘焙猫粮 (Toptrees baked cat food), 领先主食罐头 (Toptrees complete-meal canned cat food), 领先猫条 (Toptrees cat treat sticks) and 领先甄安心 (Toptrees Zhen Anxin). An August 2024 pop-up at 亚宠展 (Pet Fair Asia) in Shanghai opened the activity with a 倚梅园 (Yimei Garden, a location from Empresses in the Palace) set, costumed interaction, an H5 quiz and check-in rewards; themed videos then sustained it through October.
The campaign addressed urban working women and Gen Z students interested in classic screen IP and cat care. A 1.5 kg pack in the 领先甄安心 (Toptrees Zhen Anxin) range included a character card and scratch code, with a gold IP figurine as the top prize. Exhibition check-ins offered a wish draw and limited gift packs. With no discount and no hard conversion CTA, collecting and participation stayed ahead of price promotion.
- Objective
- Brand Awareness
- Occasion
- Film / IP Window
- Funnel
- Awareness
- Messaging
- Value for Money · Nostalgia
- Formats
- Character Roleplay · DIY Handcraft · Comedy Skit
- Activation
- Meme Play · Votes and Quizzes · UGC Solicitation · Pop-up Store
- Trends
- Merch and IP Collab · Self-reward Spending · Aesthetics Economy
- Discount
- No Discount, Pure Brand Push
What set it apart
| Choice | Share of campaigns |
|---|---|
| Distinctive | |
| Nostalgia | 1.3%1 in 79 |
| Comedy Skit | 2.1%1 in 47 |
| Internet Meme | 3%1 in 34 |
| Pop-up Store | 4.2%1 in 24 |
| Character Roleplay | 5.1%1 in 20 |
| Votes and Quizzes | 5.1%1 in 20 |
| Film and Variety | 5.1%1 in 20 |
| DIY Handcraft | 5.9%1 in 17 |
| Meme Play | 5.9%1 in 17 |
| UGC Solicitation | 5.9%1 in 17 |
| IP Collaboration | 6.8%1 in 15 |
| Limited Scarcity | 7.2%1 in 14 |
Share of the 237 Xiaohongshu Pets campaigns in the unrandom archive that made the same choice. Counted Nov 5, 2026.
A female-leaning barbell of headliners and long-tail meme creators
5.23K–8.73M
80 creators with a public follower count
Head Ignite, Mid-tail Volume Pyramid
Barbell
Female Dominant
The first step to copy
- 1
Start with an IP premise creators can retell
Choose a widely recognised screen property and turn it into one repeatable prompt. Here, “如果我穿进甄嬛传” (If I Were Transported into Empresses in the Palace) gave comedy, pet-story and meme creators a shared narrative while leaving room for daily cat-care product placement.
- 2+
More steps in the full teardown
offline launch, tiered casting, collectible packaging and long-tail memes
The full teardown adds
- Reads and engagement for all 88 posts, ranked against similar creators
- Estimated spend and cost per read
- The breakout post, and why it led
- What 4,858 comments asked for most
- The rest of the playbook
- Casting risks and smart moves
More from the archive
| Campaign | Started | Creators |
|---|---|---|
| How 汪爸爸 (Wangbaba, Papa Wang) built a tenth-anniversary dog-food seeding push on XiaohongshuXiaohongshu · Pets | Aug 30, 2024 | 15 |
| How Instinct turned kitten-care education into a Xiaohongshu creator challengeXiaohongshu · Pets | Aug 17, 2024 | 23 |
| How Blue Buffalo seeded a cat-food launch on XiaohongshuXiaohongshu · Pets | Aug 8, 2024 | 90 |
| How NetEase Tiancheng seeded functional pet food with mid-tier creators on XiaohongshuXiaohongshu · Pets | Aug 7, 2024 | 77 |
A public campaign observed on Xiaohongshu. unrandom did not run it and is not affiliated with Toptrees领先宠物食品. Analysis by unrandom from public posts, updated Nov 5, 2026. Your brand? Request a correction