Azar In-App Events (Seasonal ASO)

Seasonal moments as brand reinforcement, not gimmicks

How do you keep a seasonal event from being a gimmick and make it feel like the product itself?

Timeline

2026 (recurring)

Timeline

2026 (recurring)

Team

Marketing Creative Team

Team

Marketing Creative Team

My Role

Creative lead across App Store motion banners, splash / post-splash images, and in-app assets · Figma Motion build · multi market localization Timeline

My Role

Creative lead across App Store motion banners, splash / post-splash images, and in-app assets · Figma Motion build · multi market localization Timeline

Tools

Figma, Figma Motion, Gemini (Nano Banana, Veo)

Tools

Figma, Figma Motion, Gemini (Nano Banana, Veo)

Overview

Beyond a single event, I own Azar's recurring seasonal event surface. International Emoji Day, International Pet Day (Cat Day & Dog Day), World Tourism Day, and Halloween (in progress). Each is built in Figma Motion to stay consistent with the performance marketing pipeline, localized across markets, and designed so a seasonal moment reinforces the product's core value of connection rather than functioning as a standalone gimmick.

The Constraint

  • A seasonal event easily reads as a throwaway gimmick, disconnected from what the product is actually for.

  • The post-splash surface gives roughly 1.5 seconds to land a message.

  • Rolling out across many markets means real cultural landmines. e.g., dog imagery is taboo across much of the Muslim world.

The Craft

Emoji Day

the goal was to drive app visits (new & returning) around July 17 and increase in-chat emoji use as a lightweight way to connect across language barriers, tying the event straight back to the product's core value. I led creative across the funnel: App Store motion banner (built in Figma Motion) and in-app popup (IAC) assets, designed against a mapped user journey (App Store discovery → in-app awareness → in-chat action). (No splash screen at this stage. The post-splash surface came next, with Pet Day.) Copy tested across 4 variants and localized for six markets (US, GB, DE, FR, IT, KR).

To bring the "Judgmental Cat" concept to life within a tight timeframe, I developed a highly efficient, AI-collaborative production pipeline, acting as both the creative director and technical executor.

Reverse Engineering Visuals with AI: I began by sourcing specific visual references that matched the desired mood. Instead of guessing prompts, I used AI to analyze these references and extract precise, descriptive text prompts. I then fed these exact prompts into Gemini to generate the core still images.

Keyframing AI Video Sequences: To create fluid motion, I didn't rely on random video generation. I carefully generated specific first and last frame images using Gemini, and then used AI video tools to bridge these frames into seamless, controlled video sequences based on my storyboard.

The "Kim Hamster" Editing Technique: To capture the chaotic, viral energy of the Korean "Kim Hamster" meme, I employed rapid fire jump cuts. This fast-paced editing not only kept the viewer's attention but also strategically masked the typical "AI generated" feel, making the video look like a raw, native social media clip rather than a synthetic render.

Voice Acting & Modulation: To give the cat its signature sassy persona, I recorded the voiceover myself and applied voice modulation to achieve the perfect comedic pitch.

Pet Day (Cat & Dog)

I introduced the post-splash surface here (reused for later events), with art built on a "face + pet" concept to invite users to update their profile photos. Rolled out with permarket cultural adaptation: Cat Day ran across nearly all markets; Dog Day deliberately excluded Muslim majority markets (plus one market already running another campaign), because dog imagery is culturally sensitive there.

To bring the "Judgmental Cat" concept to life within a tight timeframe, I developed a highly efficient, AI-collaborative production pipeline, acting as both the creative director and technical executor.

Reverse Engineering Visuals with AI: I began by sourcing specific visual references that matched the desired mood. Instead of guessing prompts, I used AI to analyze these references and extract precise, descriptive text prompts. I then fed these exact prompts into Gemini to generate the core still images.

Keyframing AI Video Sequences: To create fluid motion, I didn't rely on random video generation. I carefully generated specific first and last frame images using Gemini, and then used AI video tools to bridge these frames into seamless, controlled video sequences based on my storyboard.

The "Kim Hamster" Editing Technique: To capture the chaotic, viral energy of the Korean "Kim Hamster" meme, I employed rapid fire jump cuts. This fast-paced editing not only kept the viewer's attention but also strategically masked the typical "AI generated" feel, making the video look like a raw, native social media clip rather than a synthetic render.

Voice Acting & Modulation: To give the cat its signature sassy persona, I recorded the voiceover myself and applied voice modulation to achieve the perfect comedic pitch.

World Tourism Day

invited users to set a favorite travel photo as their profile ("show where you've roamed") and meet friends from countries they want to visit. Ran across all markets for ~18 days around Sept 27 (timed to catch three weekends plus a Korean holiday). Assets: four post-splash variants + a store event card produced in three ethnicities (white / Asian / Black) for inclusive representation. Results still in review.

To bring the "Judgmental Cat" concept to life within a tight timeframe, I developed a highly efficient, AI-collaborative production pipeline, acting as both the creative director and technical executor.

Reverse Engineering Visuals with AI: I began by sourcing specific visual references that matched the desired mood. Instead of guessing prompts, I used AI to analyze these references and extract precise, descriptive text prompts. I then fed these exact prompts into Gemini to generate the core still images.

Keyframing AI Video Sequences: To create fluid motion, I didn't rely on random video generation. I carefully generated specific first and last frame images using Gemini, and then used AI video tools to bridge these frames into seamless, controlled video sequences based on my storyboard.

The "Kim Hamster" Editing Technique: To capture the chaotic, viral energy of the Korean "Kim Hamster" meme, I employed rapid fire jump cuts. This fast-paced editing not only kept the viewer's attention but also strategically masked the typical "AI generated" feel, making the video look like a raw, native social media clip rather than a synthetic render.

Voice Acting & Modulation: To give the cat its signature sassy persona, I recorded the voiceover myself and applied voice modulation to achieve the perfect comedic pitch.

  • AI-generated assets: the imagery and video across these events were produced with Nano Banana (Gemini) and Veo, then composed and animated in Figma Motion. The same AI-integrated pipeline as the perf-marketing creative.

  • Consistency: everything built in Figma Motion so the seasonal creative matches the look and cadence of the perf-marketing pipeline, not a separate one off style.

To bring the "Judgmental Cat" concept to life within a tight timeframe, I developed a highly efficient, AI-collaborative production pipeline, acting as both the creative director and technical executor.

Reverse Engineering Visuals with AI: I began by sourcing specific visual references that matched the desired mood. Instead of guessing prompts, I used AI to analyze these references and extract precise, descriptive text prompts. I then fed these exact prompts into Gemini to generate the core still images.

Keyframing AI Video Sequences: To create fluid motion, I didn't rely on random video generation. I carefully generated specific first and last frame images using Gemini, and then used AI video tools to bridge these frames into seamless, controlled video sequences based on my storyboard.

The "Kim Hamster" Editing Technique: To capture the chaotic, viral energy of the Korean "Kim Hamster" meme, I employed rapid fire jump cuts. This fast-paced editing not only kept the viewer's attention but also strategically masked the typical "AI generated" feel, making the video look like a raw, native social media clip rather than a synthetic render.

Voice Acting & Modulation: To give the cat its signature sassy persona, I recorded the voiceover myself and applied voice modulation to achieve the perfect comedic pitch.

Results & Insight (qualitative. swap in only company-cleared numbers)

Range & ownership : a recurring creative surface I run across roughly five seasonal moments in 2026 (Emoji Day, Cat Day, Dog Day, World Tourism Day, Halloween) and many markets, not a single event.

  • Goal-specific briefs : each event ladders to a distinct objective, not one generic "seasonal post": Emoji Day → app visits + in-chat emoji use (connection across language barriers); Pet Day & World Tourism Day → profile-photo updates (pets, then travel).

  • Real, readable behavior : during Pet Day, users actively updated their profile photos, and many uploaded pet-only photos. For a video-chat product built on face-to-face matching, that's a double-edged result: genuine engagement, but not always in the form the product wants. Reading that behavior, rather than just shipping the event, is what reframed the next brief.

  • Cultural localization : handled market by market, so the same seasonal idea ships responsibly worldwide.

Reflection

Seasonal events are a test of two things: can you make something feel native to the brand's core value under a 1.5-second, multi market constraint. And do you read what users actually do with it, not just whether it went live. Owning this surface across several moments is where I get to iterate on both.

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ANNALYTICAL DESIGN

© 2025 by Anna E KIm

Messeage me on Linkedin or stalk my Insta

Other links

ANNALYTICAL DESIGN

© 2025 by Anna E KIm