Mr Chen’s celebrates National Dumpling Day with ‘Find Aunty Chen’ via DDB Melbourne and Mango

Mr Chen’s, known for bringing restaurant quality dumplings to Aussie homes for over 1+0 years, celebrated National Dumpling Day via DDB Group Melbourne by serving up an iconic piece of the yum cha dining experience to surprise and delight customers in Melbourne’s CBD.

Born from beloved yum cha servers, ‘trolley aunties’, who dish up tasty dumplings from heated pushcarts, the new brand character Aunty Chen took her trolley to the streets of Melbourne to share the damn good dumplings Mr Chen’s has on offer.

Rolling where no yum cha trolley has rolled before; Aunty Chen’s mission was to make sure all she encountered left feeling well-fed. All you needed to do to claim the free hot dumplings was to simply find her.

Aunty Chen and her trolley kicked off the campaign by roaming all around Melbourne, including visits to The Project, Paramount, Urban List, and Fox FM’s Fifi 8 Nick Show for surprise tastings.

The integrated campaign culminated with an activation on National Dumpling Day, where Aunty Chen delighted anyone who could find her at Queensbridge Square with free Mr Chen’s dumplings.

“Find Aunty Chen” is the first integrated campaign from DDB for Mr Chen’s, following the agency’s appointment to the account earlier this year.

Meta TikTok and influencer social content from creators like Conor Curran launched the campaign and inspired people to attend the event. Melburnian Queensbridge Square activation influencers and interstate creators shared recipe content encouraging Australians to #MakeltMrChens this National Dumpling Day!

Says Dominique Grainger, brand manager, Mr Chen’s: “Aunty Chen represents the commitment in delivering authentic Asian flavours and quality that Mr Chen’s brings to all our products, as well as the brand’s rich history as a family-owned business. We are thrilled to introduce her to the world.”

Says Psembi Kinstan, executive creative director, DDB Group Melbourne: “Trolley aunties also encourage you to be adventurous and try new things, so this character makes the perfect brand ambassador. If you can track her down, that is.”

Client: Mr Chen’s
Co-CEO: Lucy Chen
Co-CEO: Nancy Chen
General Manager Sales & Marketing: Kevin McCudden
Marketing Manager: Lian Brouwer
Brand Manager: Dominique Grainger
In-House Graphic Design: Helen James

Agency: DDB Group Melbourne
Group Executive Creative Director: Psembi Kinstan
Senior Copywriter: Anneliese Sullivan
Senior Art Director: Josh Brown
Art Director: Phoenix Santamaria
Head of Production: Sonia McLaverty
Videographer/Editor: Tom Marley
Photographer: Alex Debely
Head of Social and Content: Sam Snowden
Social Strategist: Rosie Chong
General Manager: Khia Croy
Managing Partner: Marnie McKenzie
Senior Business Director: Lucy Shearer

PR: Mango Communications
General Manager: Alex Lefley
Group Account Director: Emily Perry
Account Manager: Ruby Loosli
Sound: Bang Bang Studios
Sound design: Tristan Dewey

Media: Kookaburra Riot
Founder and Channel Strategy Expert: Paul Murphy