Helping a growing tech brand enter the U.S. market through stories of memory, identity, and the people who shape us.

For Mother’s Day 2026, Mother Tongue Media partnered with Liene and Shanghai-based agency Shylight EON to produce a U.S. campaign centered around the emotional textures of family, creativity, and self-expression.

Spanning one manifesto film and four intimate character stories, the campaign explored a simple but resonant idea:

What makes someone who they are is often hidden in the small things we choose to keep close. Mothers are not mean to be contained within certain definitions but to be appreciated for who they are, fully.

Our Approach This Time

As an outbound Asian tech brand entering a different cultural landscape, the challenge was not simply translation, but emotional localization.

The campaign needed to feel visually elevated while remaining deeply human: warm instead of overly polished, specific instead of generalized, and emotionally recognizable across cultures.

At the center of the process was a question we returned to often: how do we create branded storytelling that still feels like real life?

Our Approach This Time

Mother Tongue Media led U.S. production across creative development support, field production, crew management, logistics, casting coordination, and post-production collaboration.

The production was designed around real environments and lived-in emotional spaces, allowing each story to feel personal rather than performative.

From a daughter building joy through color and stickers, to creative practices passed quietly across generations, the visual language focused on texture, intimacy, and emotional memory. Rather than treating the product as interruption, the campaign integrated it into the emotional architecture of everyday life.

BRAND PARTNER

Liene

AGENCY PARTNER

Shylight EON

DIRECTOR

Ben Mullinkosson

PRODUCER / 1ST AD

Lily Huang-Voronina

DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY

Yanqiu Fei

EDITOR

Austen Deery

COLORIST

Nicola Gasparri

ORIGINAL SCORE

Joaquin Pastor

PACKAGING

Lily Huang-Voronina

SOUND DESIGN & MIX

YouTooCanWoo

Flip Back to You

Jenna always wanted to give her mom a gift that truly matters. To her, mom is everything: her inspiration, her constant support. But her mom has always seen herself as ordinary. Just simple. Nothing special. Jenna sees more.

A mom who plays video games, who fills their home with beautiful details, who can plan an unforgettable trip—even to places she’s never been. She’s creative, surprising, and so much more than she believes. This 3D scrapbook is Jenna’s gift— a way to help her mom see just how extraordinary she truly is. just as she’s always been.

Her, On Air

Celo and Joyce have just stepped into a new chapter—becoming parents. As Joyce embraces motherhood, Celo sees everything she gives and everything she quietly sets aside.

This Mother’s Day, his gift isn’t just for the mom she’s become— it’s for the woman she’s always been. We can see balloons covered in photos, a DJ booth, a wall of film. Piece by piece, they come together to reveal Joyce, her fullest, truest self. Motherhood is only a part of her.

With a little clumsiness but a lot of heart, Celo used Liene to create something small, yet deeply meaningful— Just a quiet reminder: I love you, only for who you are.

Seed to Flower, See to Keep

Luna and her mom are connected in more ways than one—mother and daughter, partners in business, and best friends through it all. They’ve grown side by side, witnessing each other’s journey, like Calendula in bloom—from seed to flower.

For Mother’s Day, Luna created a herstory board—a piece that traces where they began, how their family journeyed from Germany to the U.S., built a beautiful home, and slowly shaped a life and business of their own.

Through this board, she wanted her mom to feel one thing: That she’s never alone. That her daughter has always been right there with her— growing, building, and blooming together.

Every Piece of You Shines

Sherry may not be a real mother in the traditional sense— but she is, without a doubt, the heart of this chosen drag family. She leads with love, shaping not only their art, but their lives.

She helps them see themselves, accept themselves, and grow into who they truly are. She’s opened her home, taken them to the stage, and shown up—every single time they needed her. This gift is a set of walking memories.

A collection of every laugh, every story, every endlessly joyful moment they’ve shared with Sherry. And more than anything, it carries a wish— for her to feel confident, happy and deeply fulfilled... and yes...be rich!!!:)

DIRECTOR