KyoChon: From Festive Idea to Finished Film

A festive film starts with a human moment

People remember how a celebration feels: the anticipation before a shared meal, a familiar joke, the friend who always turns up. For a brand, the opportunity is to find an honest place inside that experience.

For KyoChon’s Rasa Korea, Penuh Raya, the creative treatment connected food, family and friendship through a playful misunderstanding. The product helped set the story in motion and gave the gathering its resolution. This case study follows the decisions behind the film, from the initial brief to the final campaign versions.

The completed campaign discussed here is the Raya film. The initial brief also explored Chinese New Year; that does not establish a separate completed CNY film.

Watch the campaign film

▶KyoChon · Rasa Korea, Penuh RayaPlay film

01 / Find the idea inside the occasion

The original enquiry covered festive commercial, social-video and product-photography needs. As the conversation developed, the creative direction became more specific: funny, accessible and memorable, with the heightened comic energy of Thai-style advertising.

The treatment used the confusion between “Honey” and “Hani”, alongside “Hot Stuff”, to turn a food request into a comic family situation. A father’s enthusiasm for chicken becomes a misunderstanding about people. His friend helps resolve it, and the gathering leads towards breaking fast together.

That structure gives the product a reason to be in the story. The humour begins with its appeal, develops through its names and returns to sharing it. The festive setting supplies the social occasion and timing that make those events meaningful.

Apply it to your brief: write one sentence about the celebration before writing a slogan. For example: “A host wants everyone to feel welcome, even when the gathering does not go to plan.” Then decide what your brand can credibly contribute.

02 / Make the story visible before the shoot

The project moved through revised storyboards and moodboards before production. A two-minute story and a 30-second treatment were developed, followed by a shorter shootboard. This made the discussion concrete: what happens, what the viewer needs to understand, and where each version must arrive.

In comedy, the information sequence matters. A request needs to be clear enough for the audience to recognise the mistake. A reveal needs the right reaction. The food needs appetising coverage, while the people still carry the scene. Storyboarding lets the team examine that balance before committing to a location, cast and shooting schedule.

Apply it: review the storyboard twice. First, follow it as a viewer without explaining the idea. Then review it as a production team, checking what each scene requires.

03 / Translate the idea into a workable set

Location recce photographs, talent references, wardrobe, props and a more detailed shootboard formed part of preparation. The planned house environment needed to support conversation, entrances, food coverage and the shared-meal ending. The production discussion also covered hero shots, music, sound effects and the animated masthead.

A recce is where a promising location becomes a practical decision. Can the actors move through the scene clearly? Can the camera see the reaction that completes the joke? Where will the food be prepared and refreshed? What changes as daylight moves towards the evening? These are useful questions for any festive production.

Props also carry meaning. Food packaging, serving arrangements, clothing and household details shape the world the audience recognises. A written breakdown gives each item an owner and connects it to the scene where it is needed.

04 / Direct the performance and protect the edit

The shoot turns the approved plan into expressions, gestures, timing and usable coverage. For a story built on misunderstanding, the performance must make each character’s intention legible. The audience needs enough time to anticipate a response and enjoy the reaction.

A useful coverage plan includes the full interaction, the revealing detail, the listener’s reaction and the product moment. Those shots give the editor choices without requiring the story to be rebuilt later. Food inserts and clean brand frames also support shorter versions.

Planning for landscape and portrait delivery affects the shoot. The team needs to know whether two people can remain readable in a vertical composition, whether an important prop will be cropped, and whether a separate close-up would explain the moment more clearly.

Apply it: mark the shots that every version depends on. Protect those first in the shooting plan, then add expressive alternatives where the schedule allows.

05 / Find the voice and rhythm of the film

The review correspondence shows successive edits, voice-over consideration and final delivery. One particularly useful direction was the voice: humorous, down to earth and relatable across ages. That is a precise creative choice. The voice needed to belong to this playful world.

Voice casting changes how a line lands. Delivery, accent, pace and warmth can make the same words feel conversational or overly formal. Audition the actual line against the edit, then listen to how it interacts with performance, music and sound effects.

Comedy also needs space. An editor may hold a reaction, shorten a setup or delay a sound cue so that the audience can complete the joke. Product shots have their own pacing: enough time to register appetite and brand recognition, while preserving the story’s momentum.

Apply it: organise feedback around the viewer’s experience. “The reveal arrives before I understand the request” is actionable. “Make it more exciting” needs a more specific conversation.

06 / Give each screen a clear job

The campaign scope and delivery records included a main film, shorter cinema and digital-out-of-home versions, and vertical adaptations. The records also show a 15-second DOOH handoff and later main-film and vertical deliveries. Delivery establishes the supplied assets; it does not by itself establish where or how often they were screened.

A shorter edit may need a different opening or a simpler ending. Agree the role of each version before production, then verify the final file against the media owner’s current specifications.

Plan for the celebration your audience lives

The KyoChon example demonstrates a way of connecting product and occasion. Your campaign can begin with a different human truth. Hari Raya, Chinese New Year, Merdeka, Hari Malaysia, Deepavali, Christmas and other celebrations offer distinct settings, relationships and meanings.

Select an occasion to explore a starting question. These are creative prompts, not a substitute for audience research or cultural review.

For regional or multilingual campaigns, consider whose experience is represented and who may experience the occasion differently. An inclusive film can be specific about a family or community while remaining welcoming to a wider audience.

Make your festive-film brief ready

Start with the intended publication date and work backwards through approvals, preparation, filming, post-production and delivery. Leave room for the people who need to review the work. The right schedule depends on the concept, locations, casting and version count.

What this project teaches a commissioning brand

A strong festive film connects an audience insight to a product role, then protects that connection through practical decisions. The concept, casting, props, comic timing, voice and shorter edits all need to support the same experience.

For your campaign, define success before release. You might examine whether viewers remember the brand, understand its role, watch through the reveal or take a relevant next step. Choose measures that match the objective and the available evidence.

This case study documents the creative approach and production process. Verified campaign performance figures were not available for publication, so no view, sales or return-on-investment claims are made.