How the Souvenir Industry Is Using Social Media for Customer

Growth: Koi Kei Bakery in Macau as an Example

Feifan Shi

Macau University of Science and Technology, School of Liberal Arts, Macau, China

Keywords: Social Media, Souvenir Industry, Macau, Kuikee.

Abstract: This study takes the representative brand of Macau's handicraft industry “Macau Moment Kee” as an example,

and explores the application strategies of social media (TikTok and XiaoHongShu) in the traditional

handicraft industry and its role in driving customer growth. The study analyzes the current situation, core

challenges and optimization path of social media marketing in Macau's handmade letter industry through

literature survey and case study. It is found that although Moment Kee Bakery achieves short-term traffic

explosion through short-video cultural narratives and KOL cooperation, it still faces content homogenization

and brand trust crisis. This paper proposes two strategies, namely cooperation with intangible cultural heritage

and data-driven operation, to provide a digital transformation framework with both academic value and

practical significance for Macau's handmade handicrafts industry.

1 INTRODUCTION

Driven by the wave of digitalization, social media

platforms such as Jittery, XiaoHongShu, and Weibo

have profoundly reshaped the marketing model of

traditional industries through short videos, user-

generated content (UGC), and precise algorithms, and

have become a key force in reshaping consumer

behavior and business models. At the same time, as a

UNESCO World Heritage Site and an international

tourism hub, "Macau's souvenir industry is not only

an important source of economic revenue, but also the

core carrier of Macau's local cultural heritage, " said

Mantas (2022), adding that the value of the souvenir

always remains prominent in the mind of the traveler.

mind of the traveler, while Kong (2012) points out

that representing history and culture, souvenir

products may also be a tool to promote a destination.

a major tool to attract tourists to Macau. However,

despite the fact that social media has helped a number

of traditional industries globally to achieve digital

transformation, Macau's souvenir stores still rely

mainly on offline shopping and tour group

cooperation (Xu, 2023). In recent years, studies have

indicated that consumer preferences are shifting

towards online interaction and content-driven

consumption (Jin et al., 2024). This contradiction

highlights the urgency of the industry's

transformation. On the one hand, consumer

preference is accelerating its migration to online; on

the other hand, Macau's hand-me-down stores are

facing content homogenization and brand trust crisis.

This situation highlights the urgency and necessity of

studying the application of social media in the Macau

handicrafts industry.

On the academic level, by analyzing the

application of social media in the traditional

handicraft industry, this study expands the

applicability of classical marketing theories to digital

scenarios and fills the gap of empirical research in this

field.

On the practical level, it provides an actionable

strategic framework for Macau's handwritten letter

stores, such as utilizing Jitterbit short videos to

strengthen cultural narratives. This study adopts a

mixed-method approach combining literature survey

method and case study method to focus on the Macau

handicraft industry. By sorting out the current

situation of the industry and identifying the key

issues, the study proposes to achieve effective

publicity and customer growth through social media

such as TikTok and XiaoHongShu, so as to realize the

brand upgrading and sustainable development of

Macau's handicraft industry amidst the wave of

digitization.

Shi, F.

How the Souvenir Industry Is Using Social Media for Customer Growth: Koi Kei Bakery in Macau as an Example.

DOI: 10.5220/0013992300004916

Paper published under CC license (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0)

In Proceedings of the 2nd International Conference on Public Relations and Media Communication (PRMC 2025), pages 401-406

ISBN: 978-989-758-778-8

401

2 LITERATURE REVIEW

Existing studies have shown that social media has a

significant impact on customer growth in the

handwritten letter industry; Boley (2013) empirically

analyzed that visual content like pictures and short

videos in social media can significantly enhance

consumers' purchase intention, while Yuan (2022)

further verified the sales potential of food handwritten

letters through online platforms. For the Macau local

market, Xu Yidan (2023) emphasizes cultural

integration as a core path for brand innovation, while

Shen Ting (2020) suggests that the added value of

brands can be enhanced through the deep exploration

of cultural symbols. However, Jin (2024) found that

although consumers rely on social media interactions

in the post-pandemic era, Macau's representative

brands still suffer from content homogenization and

disputes over the authenticity of the place of

production. In addition, Su et al. (2024), comparing

different purchasing channels, pointed out that the

platform trust mechanism like user-generated content

in XiaoHongShu is a key variable in consumer

decision-making. Deng (2015), on the other hand,

pointed out that people will if gifts are for friends,

people tend to do their best to pursue tastes, brands

and high ratings. To summarize, existing studies

mostly focus on theoretical frameworks and cross-

regional cases, and there is still a lack of systematic

explorations of Macau's handwritten letter industry in

social media scenarios.

Although existing studies have revealed the

potential of social media to empower traditional

industries, the specificities of the Macau handicraft

industry - its high dependence on the tourism

industry, its high concentration of cultural symbols,

and its exposure to regional competition - make the

path of its digital transformation even more complex.

Existing literature mostly focuses on cross-regional

or theoretical framework analyses but lacks

systematic exploration of the suitability of Macau's

local cultural scene with digital tools. Therefore, this

paper will clarify the necessity of social media for the

local handicraft industry and fill the research gap in

light of Macau's unique market environment and

consumption structure.

2.1 The Necessity of Social Media to

Drive Digital Transformation of

Macau's Handicraft Industry

Study on the Current Situation of Macau Handicraft

Industry and Digital Transformation Practice -

Taking Kui Kee Bakery as an Example

3 STUDY ON THE CURRENT

SITUATION OF MACAU

HANDICRAFT INDUSTRY AND

DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION

PRACTICE - TAKING KUI KEE

BAKERY AS AN EXAMPLE

3.1 Current Situation and Competitive

Landscape of the Industry

Macau's handicraft industry is highly dependent on

the tourism industry, with handicraft food almond

cake or jerky as the leading category, and the market

shows oligopolistic competition. According to the

Statistics and Census Bureau of Macau in 2024, the

annual output value of the handicraft industry is about

MOP 1.2 billion, of which the leading company Kui

Kee Bakery has a market share of more than 70%,

with Ying Kee, Tsim Sha Tsui Heung Yuen and other

brands occupying the remaining share. As the

structure of tourists become younger, 56% of tourists

aged 25-35 and consumer preferences are tilted

towards “lightweight, personalization and experience

” , the traditional store model is facing a growth

bottleneck. The industry needs to be restructured

through digital transformation to cope with regional

competition and changes in consumption scenarios.

3.2 Digital Transformation Path and

Mode of Head Enterprises

As an industry benchmark, Kui Kee Bakery promotes

transformation through “social media content-

enabled brand IP”:

3.2.1 Social Media Content Empowers

Brands to IP

The Macau government is now advocating the

development of the tertiary industry and vigorously

developing the tourism industry, and Kui Kee

Bakery's strategic vision coincides with the general

situation (BING Ying Lam, 2022). Kui Kee relies on

platforms such as TikTok and XiaoHongShu to

develop cultural narratives, such as creating a

nostalgic short video that combines the classic Hong

Kong "drama The Big Wheel" which is based on Kui

Kee with the history of the handover of Macao, thus

reinforcing the brand's emotional value. 2023, its

hashtag “Taste of Macao - Kui Kee” was played more

than 200 million times, leading to a 45% increase in

online searches. In 2023, its topic "Taste of Macau

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Kui Kee" will be broadcast more than 200 million

times, leading to a 45% increase in online search

volume. This is certainly a shot in the arm for Kui

Kee's digital transformation.

3.3 The Double-Edged Sword of Social

Media Marketing: Traffic

Conversion and Long-Term Value

Game

The digital transformation of Kui Kee Bakery fully

demonstrates the "double-edged sword" effect of

social media marketing. From the perspective of

advantages, Kui Kee has successfully realized

efficient traffic conversion by cooperating with KOLs.

However, over-reliance on traffic strategies also

carries risks. Kui Kee's social media marketing is

mainly promotion-oriented, with content focusing on

product discounts and short-term activities, and lacks

in-depth exploration of the brand's cultural values.

For example, although its Jittery account launched a

nostalgic short video of an episode of "The Great

Wheel", the content is mostly one-way output, failing

to establish an emotional connection between users

and Macau's intangible cultural heritage products

such as "native Portuguese culture" and "Cantonese

opera". Such short-termism can lead to a flattening of

the brand image, and when negative public opinion

erupts like disputes over product quality or questions

about cultural appropriation, word-of-mouth crises on

social media can quickly spread. 2023's"End of an

Era" public opinion over the closure of Kui Kee's

Hong Kong branch exposed the brand's shortcomings

in long-term narratives and crisis response.

The second dilemma facing Kui Kee Bakery is the

lack of a user stickiness mechanism. Although live e-

commerce has boosted sales in the short term, the

membership system, which is based on points

exchange, lacks a dynamic incentive mechanism. The

lack of similar personal recommendations, user co-

creation activities, resulting in a large fluctuation in

the repurchase rate of the customer base in the z era.

Compared with the Zhuhai Tang family's intangible

cultural heritage brand "Mai Ji cake art" through user

feedback to continuously optimize the product, Kui

Kee's own according to the needs of customers to

continuously optimize the product of the closed loop

of data has not yet been formed.

3.4 Strategy Optimization

The practice of Kui Kee Bakery shows that although

social media marketing can drive traffic in the short

term, if there is a lack of continuous investment in

cultural depth and user stickiness, the brand may fall

into "traffic dependence", This contradiction

highlights the urgency of strategic optimization.

Based on this, the following section proposes specific

strategies in three aspects: private domain operation,

data closure, and intangible cultural heritage IP

innovation, aiming to build a balanced mechanism

between "short-term conversion" and "long-term

value".

3.4.1 Private Operation: Data-Driven and

User Stratification

The WeChat ecosystem has become the core of

Vantage's refined user operation. Through the small

program membership system, Kui Kee collects data

on users' consumption behavior such as purchase

frequency and preferred categories, divides them into

“cultural experience” and "cost-effective" segments,

and pushes out customized content. For example, for

high-net-worth users, to push limited edition

intangible cultural heritage co-branded gift box pre-

sale information, while price-sensitive users are

directed to issue full-reduced coupons. In terms of

community operation, Kui Kee will follow the

example of mainland merchants to establish WeChat

fan groups, in which it will regularly carry out

activities such as "intangible cultural heritage skills

quiz" and "sun order lucky draw", and issue consumer

discount coupons, so as to enhance the sense of

participation and sense of belonging of users.

3.4.2 Multi-Platform Matrix and Data

Closure

In 000Koi Kei can build a cross-platform marketing

matrix of "TikTok-WeChat-Offline" to realize traffic

synergy and data interoperability. In the operation of

TikTok, it focuses on brand exposure and explosive

attraction, in the operation of WeChat, it focuses on

user retention and repurchase conversion, and in the

offline stores, it realizes O2O flow through the

intelligent cloud code scanning the code to get the e-

coupon. At the data level, Vantage Point can integrate

user behavior data from various platforms, use AI

tools to analyze consumption trends, and optimize the

rhythm of content release and advertising strategies.

In terms of operating promotional videos, in response

to the risk of content homogenization, Koi Kei keenly

discovers and seizes the hotspots of the times and

promptly releases promotional videos combining

hotspots and "terriers" to meet the preferences of the

z-era, making the brand more grounded and

How the Souvenir Industry Is Using Social Media for Customer Growth: Koi Kei Bakery in Macau as an Example

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resonating with young customers, and thus increasing

the visibility of the brand within the young group.

For the lack of depth of private traffic operation,

Koi Kei could learn from the "Quick Print" intelligent

cloud code model, tracking user interest through the

scanning behavior, regularly sending questionnaires

to attract customers to fill in the mode of coupons or

small lucky draws to improve the user profile, and

finally achieve a more accurate personalized

recommendation.

While continuously promoting commercialization,

Vantage Point needs to keep in mind that technology-

driven digital transformation should not come at the

expense of cultural connotation. Especially in Macau,

a cultural hub, hand-letter brands need to find a

balance between data accuracy and cultural

authenticity. Therefore, the optimization strategy

needs to further explore the innovative application of

intangible cultural heritage elements, and through the

synergy of productization, scenarios and social

responsibility mechanisms, to achieve the two-way

empowerment of commercial growth and cultural

heritage.

4 BALANCE OF CULTURAL

HERITAGE AND

COMMERCIALIZATION:

INNOVATIVE PRACTICES OF

INTANGIBLE CULTURAL

HERITAGE IPS

4.1 Productization and Scenario-Based

Intangible Cultural Heritage

Elements

Kui Kee Bakery can balance cultural heritage and

commercialization value by strengthening intangible

cultural heritage cooperation in digital transformation.

First, product innovation and store innovation of

intangible cultural heritage symbols. For example,

Kui Kee has incorporated elements of Macau's

"Cantonese Opera" into its packaging design,

launching a limited-edition almond cake gift box with

relief carvings of classic scenes from Cantonese

Opera on the outside. Such design not only reduces

customers' price sensitivity and raises product

premiums but also increases sales while attracting

attention. At the same time, incorporating intangible

cultural heritage culture, such as the image of the

Ruins of St. Paul's in the store decoration, creates a

sales boost by creating a more impulsive store

environment, as sometimes the influence of a well-

built store atmosphere goes beyond product intrinsic

value in encouraging customers to do impulse buying

(Zulaikha, 2011).

Secondly, scenario-based marketing of intangible

cultural heritage narratives. Kui Kee can cooperate

with the Macao Intangible Cultural Heritage

Protection Organization by firstly launching the topic

of "Intangible Cultural Heritage Guardian Program"

on TikTok, and at the same time launching a series of

live broadcasts and video activities by inviting

intangible cultural heritage practitioners to

demonstrate the traditional production process of

chicken biscuits, and lastly, it can also choose to

combine user UGC with the solicitation of campaigns,

for example, launching the "My Relationship with

Kui Kee" campaign. Finally, it can also choose to

incorporate user UGC campaigns, such as the "My

Story with Kui Kee" campaign, which encourages

customers to upload photos of themselves with the

new product on social media, thus spreading and

reinforcing Kui Kee Bakery's brand image as the

“spokesperson of Macao's culture”. This mode of

"cultural participation" enhances user stickiness

while avoiding the dilution of intangible cultural

heritage connotations by commercialization.

4.2 Synergistic Mechanism Between

Social Responsibility and

Commercial Interests

Strengthening the strategy of corporate social

responsibility is also a good medicine to promote the

long-term healthy development of enterprises. Kui

Kee can incorporate environmental protection

concepts into intangible cultural heritage products by

launching a "Green Packaging Program": using

renewable materials to make gift boxes and jointly

launching a "Carbon Points Redemption" campaign

with the Macao Environmental Protection Bureau

(MEPB), in which consumers can share their low-

carbon consumption behaviors on social media to get

discounts. Discounts are available for consumers who

share their low-carbon consumption behaviors

through social media. This strategy not only responds

to the global sustainable development trend but also

expands the brand influence through the fission

spread of social media, which can realize a win-win

situation of cultural value and commercial return.

The practical examples of intangible cultural

heritage IPs show that the digital reconstruction of

cultural symbols can not only increase brand

premiums but also strengthen users' emotional

connection. However, this process should be alert to

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the "cultural hollowing out" caused by the abuse of

symbols. Only by embedding intangible cultural

heritage narratives into the closed loop of user

participation and data feedback can Kui Kee ensure

the sustainable dissemination of cultural values and

inject deeper momentum into the digital

transformation of Macau's handicraft industry.

5 CONCLUSION

Taking Macau Kui Kee Bakery as a case study, this

study systematically analyzes how social media

drives the digital transformation and customer growth

of the traditional handicraft industry. Through

literature analysis and practical research, it reveals the

dual effects of social media marketing and proposes

an optimization path that works together with cultural

heritage and data drive.

The study found that social media can quickly

increase brand exposure and short-term sales

conversion through short video cultural narratives

and KOL cooperation. Kui Kee Bakery, with the help

of TikTok, Little Red Book and other platforms,

combined with the elements of intangible cultural

heritage, and successfully created "Macau flavor Kui

Kee" and other 70 million heat of the hot search

phrases. However, over-reliance on promotion-

oriented traffic strategies has led to content

homogenization, shallow cultural narratives, and the

problem of insufficient user stickiness has gradually

emerged. This paper gives feasible solutions to the

above problems, such as establishing a two-way

output marketing approach and creating emotional

connections. The study further proposes a two-wheel

drive framework of "cultural IP + data closed loop".

At the cultural level, the productization of intangible

cultural heritage elements, such as the Cantonese

opera relief gift box, is combined with scenario-based

marketing to strengthen brand premium and

emotional resonance; at the data level, the cross-

platform matrix of TikTok attraction, WeChat

retention, offline channeling, etc., is combined with

AI-driven user stratified operation. The data level,

through the cross-platform matrix, TikTok attraction,

WeChat retention, offline channeling, etc., combined

with AI-driven user stratification operation for

example to customized push for high-net-worth

groups to achieve precision marketing.

This paper provides a replicable model for

Macau's hand-letter industry with an analysis of Kui

Kee's transformation strategy and suggestions for

improvement, i.e., the hedging of offline risks

through the fine-tuning of private domain traffic

operations, as well as the use of intangible cultural

heritage IP innovations to break through the

competitive regional barriers. Meanwhile, the

synergy between social responsibility and business

interests can follow the global sustainable

development trend and build differentiation

advantages for brands. At the academic level, this

study expands the application scenarios of traditional

marketing theories in the field of handicrafts in

combination with intangible cultural heritage through

the digital reconstruction of cultural symbols.

There are some limitations in this study: the

research method is based on case study analysis and

lacks the support of large-sample quantitative data.

Future research can further explore the virtual-real

linkage mechanism and user co-creation mode of

cultural IP to provide a theoretical framework for the

transformation of the traditional industry or analyze

quantitatively through questionnaires and other

means to achieve in-depth research on this topic with

data support.

To sum up, the digital transformation of Macao's

handwritten letter industry needs to take culture as the

core, technology as the tool, responsibility as the link,

build a "traffic-value-sustainable" trinity ecosystem,

build a cross-platform synergistic ecosystem, break

through the red sea of traffic, achieve sustainable

growth, and realize the two-way empowerment of

cultural inheritance and commercial growth in the

globalization competition. Future research can realize

the two-way empowerment of cultural heritage and

commercial growth in the globalization competition.

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