What are the co-branded brands of traditional culture?

If you pass by the subway station in the core business district of Beishangguang this spring, you may be attracted by a large advertisement with a bright monochrome background-fashionable models wear trendy T-shirts, and each T-shirt incorporates the animation element of "making trouble in heaven", and the Monkey King plays a six-year-old boy in the same picture. This is a series of national T-shirts jointly launched by Blue Ocean House and "Make a scene in Heaven" IP.

△ Haishu House "Tiangong Series"

This is not surprising for the Blue Ocean Palace. Everyone has adapted to the transformation of this man's wardrobe from "middle-aged rustic" to young and minimalist, testing the tide of the country. It is worth noting that its partner, Shanghai Animation Film Studio, is the founder of Make a scene in Heaven.

In fact, you will find that this long-established animated film production base is more and more keen on IP co-branding, and it has its animated images in clothing, daily necessities, food, electrical appliances and other fields.

Undeniably, co-branding is bound to occupy a place in the most popular marketing game. This trend was triggered by the fashion industry, and then spread from clothing retail to various fields. Nowadays, it is not uncommon for street brands to play together. Unexpected bindings can also be seen in the joint names of domestic products, such as Want × Natural Hall Air Cushion Powder, Zhou Heiya × Royal Nifang Little Spicy Kissing Lipstick, Hero Ink ×× Rio Rio Cocktail and so on. It seems that everything can be "linked" just by adding an "x" in the middle.

In addition to traditional co-brands, there are more and more combinations of brands and cultural IP (intellectual property), such as cooperation with artists and anime images. Uniqlo UT is the best-the most popular series at present is Uniqlo × KAWS series, and this box of Blue Ocean House and Noisy Palace is also an example.

What needs to be clear is that for Shanghai Animation Film Studio, brand co-branding belongs to the IP licensing business within the cultural industry. In the field of culture, IP refers to a cultural symbol with high recognition, large fan base and strong liquidity. For holders and operators, IP with commercial development value can be understood as branding of image.

From the co-branded T-shirts of "Make a scene in Heaven" to the co-branded milk tea of the White Rabbit, although it is nothing new that there are co-branded brands everywhere, it is curious that state-owned veteran brands like Shanghai Animation Film Studio have also joined this wave of cultural IP cross-border trend. Why are these "old guns" beginning to be keen on joint names?

Function 1: an opportunity for the revival of time-honored brands

In the Shanghai Film Museum, the history of animated films occupies a small exhibition hall to commemorate the peak of artistic animation in the planned economy era: Little Tadpole Looking for Mom, Three Monks, Shuke and Beita ... and the audience's impression of film studios mostly stops here.

In 20 12, The Return of the Great Sage, produced by a group of cutting-edge animators, won 956 million box office, showing the vitality of classic IP in the contemporary era and providing new ideas for domestic secondary commerce.

Qian Jianping, then the factory director, once said that in the future, the overall strategic planning of Meiying Factory is to activate classics with new thinking and creation, and to create new stories. Subsequently, classic remake animations, such as the emerald star of the black cat sheriff, the adventure of two generations of love, and the original paradise miracle, were released one after another. At the same time, new works such as Warriors, Malanhua and Flying of Impala have also been released.

For brands with a long history and traditional style, which are classified as "old school" by consumers, catching up with the trend of co-branding is an opportunity to change the solidified label. The LV × Supreme series, which can load the joint history, will help Louis Vuitton successfully enter the trend and fashion.

"Our marketing work is more about work content." Zhou, manager of the intellectual property licensing department of Shanghai Animation Film Studio, said. IP business is an extension of the influence of the work, which in turn empowers the work and deepens the new image of the film studio in the contemporary era.

"Cross-border cooperation is an example of expanding borders, and you can reach groups that the original category can't reach." Xu Menglin, deputy director of brand and marketing strategy of Kaidu Consulting Department, said. Brand alliance needs to find an accurate target audience, and fully seek the voice of the target consumers from the aspects of creative marketing, design sense and cultural connotation.

"After 80 s and 90 s, people who grew up watching the works of film studios are the main consumer groups, and they will also guide their children." Zhou said that these people are the targets that film studios need to consolidate, while young people are the targets that film studios need to develop.

Meiying Factory has more than 400 animation works, more than 500 animation IPS, and many highly recognizable IP images, such as Tiangong, Hulu Brothers, Black Cat Sheriff, Celestial Anecdote, Tu Tu with Big Ears, etc. "We will differentiate according to consumers' preferences and re-create classic IP images, such as classic version and Q version."

The classic version is relatively artistic, following the prototype in the work, while the Q version is a more lovely image, with two heads, and the head-to-body ratio is 1: 1, and some new materials are added, but they are all based on the characteristics of the original image, which is more in line with contemporary aesthetics and can also be changed according to the needs of different joint names.

△ Q version of Huluwa series

Specific to each joint name, the crude practice of printing cartoon images on products has long been out of date. In order to ensure the effect, now both parties usually redesign a series of products. Take the T-shirt of Blue Ocean House as an example, the Monkey King's feathering pheasant tail, eating flat peaches and other elements, as well as Nezha, Tota Li Tianwang, Tian Bing Tian Jiang and other supporting roles are also used. Screenshots of animated stills were made into rectangular prints common to street brands, and the lines became simple and avant-garde slogans.

"In the parent-child costume, the adult costume is printed with" My old grandson is coming "and the children costume is printed with" My little grandson is coming ". This kind of small interaction has the feeling of national T-shirts and family happiness. " Blue Ocean House told the Golden Signboard Research Office.

But in this process, the film studio will always follow up to ensure the stability and continuity of the image's own tonality. The design of Blue Ocean Building also needs not to deviate from the meaning of the original painting. "Every pattern on the clothing is approved by Shanghai Animation Film Studio."

Function 2: Mutual leverage between brands

No matter what kind of brand alliance, the business logic foundation of * * * is to realize complementary advantages and achieve the win-win effect of "1+ 1 > 2".

"There are two ways to measure, one is topicality, and the other is sales." Chen, cultural strategy consultant of Kaidu Consulting Department, said that the ideal state is both. On the one hand, the production and sales of physical products attract funds with the help of fan traffic, giving them their own cultural attributes, while IP holders can expand their image exposure. Both sides output energy and take what they need.

How to complete a satisfactory loan is the result of the joint action of who to cooperate with, how to cooperate and when to cooperate.

"Partners will be screened to some extent." Zhou said that Meiying Factory divides customers into brand category and product category. "Brand marketing generally has its own brand. Paying attention to brand reputation will consider how the highlights of marketing are more attractive; Some products do not have their own brands, or the brand awareness is not so high. If they want to enhance their brand power through cooperation with IP, we will identify their various capabilities and ensure the cooperation effect. "

According to Chen's observation, IP joint names that chase hot spots are more common nowadays. "For example, Line Friends has become a big IP, and everyone wants to rub it. Anyway, launch it first. " Similarly, there are a large number of homogeneous forms of cooperation in the market.

Finding the gene match between the two sides is the key to differentiation. "IP co-branded partners may belong to different fields, and it is very important to find the essential matching point." Xu Menglin said that the greater the span, the more ingenious the incision.

"National Men's Wear Brand" is the self-orientation of Blue Ocean House, and "National Classics" is its refinement of "Making a scene in Heaven". Taking the slogan of "Rebirth of National Classics" as a joint series, it aims to promote the "Xian Yi for all ages" of T-shirts through cartoons with the highest social awareness in China.

KFC is an old partner of Meiying Factory, and the first cooperation began with a successful case of the Spring Festival in the Year of the Monkey. "The Year of the Monkey can't find a more suitable cartoon image than creating a scene in heaven, which is combined with very interesting product design," Zhou said. KFC made three new year's gift toys with Q-version images such as Monkey King, and designed the paper tube package as a detachable headdress. The lid can also be made into small ornaments by removing small inserts.

△ KFC Year of the Monkey New Year Package Map | Deng Xiaonan

The final feedback was unexpected. "Shanghai has been robbed for almost a week. Many people can get higher prices online in order to collect three hands to buy around. " Zhou said to the memory:

Function 3: Realize the value of traditional cultural IP.

Chen summed up the characteristics of high-value IP in three points: "First, your appearance should be good-looking and recognizable. Second, your story should be relatively complete and not attached to any other brand. Finally, the value that IP is liked by the audience should always exist. "

Because artists are invited to participate in the creation, and experimental techniques such as ink-wash animation, paper-cut animation and puppet animation are explored, Meiying Factory is called "China School" because of its strong artistic style. The content is based on classical myths and idiom stories, which makes the work have the characteristics of profound meaning and easy to recite. The art films accumulated in the last century provided high-quality soil for incubating IP, so the vitality of classic animation is relatively long.

It is not difficult to see that the nostalgic meaning of the classic animation IP of Meiying Factory and its emotional connection with consumers are just one of the selling points of such old brands. But since the beginning of the new century, apart from the early "I am crazy about singing" and Tu Tu with big ears, the film studio has no more iconic images for the time being. In the process of animation industry's transformation from running volume to quality improvement, the creation of national IP has a long way to go.

Although the Film Studio emphasizes "don't imitate others, don't repeat yourself", but in turn, renovating the classic IP can't escape the doubts of "selling feelings" and "frying cold rice".

Chen, cultural strategy consultant of Kaidu Consulting Department, analyzed how to continuously inject new connotations on the basis of maintaining IP tonality, which put forward a long-term test for operators. "It may be a live-action version, or even a sequel. In short, it is not a simple re-release, there will be a renovation process. " She believes that communicating with young audiences is a big problem, which requires IP content to be more in line with contemporary aesthetics and values.

From the partner's point of view, the traditional cultural characteristics contained in the IP of Meiying Factory are the value that domestic brands need to tap. "Some foreign brands want to enter the China market, and the quick and efficient way of integration is to find a symbolic cooperation with China cultural characteristics, which will be more acceptable to China consumers." Zhou said to him.

△ Q version of Monkey King series

"This classic IP rooted in traditional culture can break the time limit. The affinity for traditional culture is inherent in China children, and they will like it even if they have never seen the animation of that year. " KFC described the reasons for choosing Meiying Factory.

At the same time, in the domestic mainstream background, emphasizing national traditional culture can set off the brand's "social responsibility" to a certain extent.

Li Bo, Chief Marketing Officer of Yum! China, said he was a comic book fan in the studio. In the documentary "lord protector", he personally set the platform for the KFC Year of the Pig package. 20 19 The Film Studio and KFC jointly signed the latest joint name, and closely cooperated with the promotion of the second edition of Paradise Story to film the restoration process. The new word "Guo Man" was invented in this wave of joint names, and the statement of "guarding Guo Man" highlights the role of two brands in "inheriting traditional culture". Monkey King, Huluwa, Black Cat Sheriff, Nezha, "National Hero Day Mission", sounds like a comic book of local superheroes against Marvel.

△ "Guardian of the Country" poster

From the perspective of the whole cultural industry, cultural IP can realize the realization of various forms of intangible assets, and then build a pan-entertainment industry chain, making IP economy a new growth point.

With rich and high-quality works as the core, we will develop peripheral products, games, stage plays, music and other derivative products, and then land on theme parks, restaurants and other physical scenes. Regardless of the big-name Disney, Marvel Comics or upstart online friends, this model is adopted to lengthen the liquidation cycle.

According to the law, this is also the path that film studios should explore. Official website, a film studio, shows that IP business is divided into image authorization, derivatives, games, activities and stage plays, and its offline experience store Mein Friends Coffee has opened in Shanghai and Nanjing. "Now the cinema box office and IP image content authorization are the main parts of income." Zhou said to him.

Although the joint name is very hot, it is not the second time in Turin.

Compared with celebrity endorsements and other means with many variables, joint marketing is a relatively safe marketing method. However, domestic products subvert the image of "old antiques" and repeatedly create hot spots with the novel concept of cross-border collision through the spread of new media, which has spawned many joint names that seem out of reach at present.

This does not mean that the joint name will be valid forever. Even if the domestic products have a good reputation, it is only a temporary popularity and lack of sustainability for the sake of joint names. It is not only difficult to say success, but also unfortunate.

Take the hot pot restaurant in the Forbidden City, which caused controversy in Xu Menglin some time ago, as an example. "If we can't dig deep into the connotation of the Forbidden City and develop its all-round experience, it will be difficult to use the selling points of the Forbidden City to form a distinct and powerful distinction from other restaurants, and it is likely to form a short-lived scene."

If the same routine is repeated too much, consumers will eventually get aesthetic fatigue, and it is difficult to continue the old-fashioned and eye-catching joint appeal.

"It is not impossible, but it is too rough or gives people the feeling of plagiarism, which will have potential risks." Unfortunately, HLA JEANS, a trendy black whale owned by Blue Ocean House, was caught in a plagiarism storm, which undoubtedly cast a shadow over the T-shirt of Tiangong.

Constantly changing and having more accurate and in-depth contact with consumers is the eternal point of marketing methods including co-branding.

Chen judged that with more and more fancy joint-name games, high-level immersive experience is the future trend, such as the Costa Coffee on 20 17 and the pop-up shop with the theme of ghost blowing lights. "Turn your retail environment into a movie-like tomb-robbing environment, and fans want to see how the imagination of the novel becomes a reality. It will be more effective to impress consumers from the perspective of derivative value. "