IP collaboration, what exactly is the “collaboration” about?

Content marketing routines - IP joint inventory! This article disassembles IP joint cases from multiple angles such as consumer groups, IP value and popularity, positioning, traffic diversion, content productivity, etc., to understand brand marketing tactics. Recommended for those who are interested in brand marketing and IP.

Content marketing is undoubtedly an important strategy to leverage brand growth in this era. IP co-branding is a marketing method often used by brands. Brands use IPs with market recognition to convey brand concepts and brand image through co-branding to create a conversion path from content touchpoints to transaction scenarios.

The popular IP itself has obvious characteristics such as personalization, fashion, scarcity, culture, and collection value. Once the brand finds the points of convergence between the IP and the user circles and brand characteristics, it can reach more user groups and enrich the marketing content. In addition, the content consumption scenarios created by the brand can also help the brand expand its marketing radius, break through different circles of people, and establish more consumer touchpoints.

For example, recently "You Yogurt" chose to collaborate with the Sad Frog, which is very popular and well-known among young people, played the "Widowed King" Vanity Fair, and launched 3 random packages.

Three expressions of the sad frog were chosen on the packaging box. The front reads "The widow's expression is out of control again", and the back reads "Single Quotes" of the sad frog. The copy on the packaging uses the self-deprecating way of speaking that single people often use, such as "Even they are together, and you are still single." In addition to the visually impactful packaging, "You Yogurt" also launched a co-branded "Widow" expression package, coupled with a very internet-savvy copy, which makes the expression package full of "sad" humor and adds fun attributes to the content.

This time, Yousuanru chose to collaborate with a popular IP for marketing. In addition to increasing product exposure through collaboration, it mainly wanted to showcase the brand's youthful tone through IP collaboration and reach more young people.

In fact, there are countless cases of brand co-branding, such as the collaboration with Sad Frog, in addition to Youku yogurt, there are also Luckin Coffee, Little Elephant, etc. IP co-branding as a marketing strategy for brands to connect with users is very common in the marketing circle. As a common marketing method in the marketing circle, the reason why brands continue to come forward is actually more because Generation Z has a strong interest in IP.

What exactly are brands “linking” when engaging in joint marketing? In Mr. Bingfa’s opinion, when brands and IPs are collaborating, what they are “linking” is actually the consumer groups, the value and popularity of IPs, and the traffic generated after precise positioning.

01 Consumer Group

Many brands choose to collaborate with IPs like Sad Frog. The most important thing is to "connect" with people from three different circles.

1. People who are keen on socializing

There is no marketing without social networking, which is a prominent feature of contemporary marketing and also a lifestyle for young people. In this era where everything can be socialized, brands are playing IP co-branding, in fact, brands also want to connect with those young people who are keen on social networking. They have a strong interest in marketing that is novel, interesting and has significant characteristics, and it can also encourage them to take photos and post them on WeChat Moments, or buy new products.

Obviously, brands that know how to create social content can quickly gain popularity among young people and create a spotlight effect in this era of scarce attention, attracting more young consumers. For example, the emoji package and "King of Widows" package jointly launched by You Yogurt and Sad Frog made great use of young people's interest in Sad Frog and their love of taking photos and posting them on WeChat Moments, which produced unexpected marketing effects.

2. Young people who are keen on collecting

Secondly, IP is full of vitality and has its own traffic and attention, which can bring self-propagation and high conversion to the brand. The collaboration between brand and IP also utilizes the scarcity of the IP itself. The content produced is given new value and meaning, which can meet the emotional needs of young people such as companionship and collection.

In addition, the uniqueness and scarcity of the co-branded IP content itself can encourage young people to buy and even actively spread it. Whether it is across categories, scenarios, industries or experiences, the content created by IP co-branding has different styles and cultural attributes, which can just meet the needs of young people who have a strong interest in novel and interesting things. For example, the reason why trendy toys and figures are popular among young people is because the products themselves have collection value. Obviously, brands are now playing with IP co-branding and cross-border marketing to a certain extent to satisfy young people's hobbies of collecting.

3. Workers who are busy with their daily lives

Life requires rituals, and for young people who are entering society and experiencing loneliness, IP co-branded products and gameplay focus more on a sense of companionship, which can bring them joy and enjoyment in life and rich spiritual connotations, making consumers willing to spend money to buy them.

At the same time, co-branding will also create new opportunities for communication with consumers. On the one hand, it can demonstrate the vitality of the content during the dissemination stage. On the other hand, it provides brands with the opportunity to play with young people, allowing young people who pay attention to brand co-branding marketing to explore more value of IP.

02 IP value and popularity

IP collaboration, to a certain extent, is an extension of IP value and a continuation of market popularity.

For example, the collaboration between You Yogurt and Sad Frog is due to the fact that Sad Frog has been very popular in the market. Since it became popular, basically every festival that symbolizes love or expressing love to a partner will be mentioned by young people and become popular on social media.

On the other hand, the audience of Sad Frog is all young people. The opportunity for Sad Frog to become popular was the Chinese Valentine's Day, when it became popular for sending "blessings" to those single people. Extending to today, Sad Frog is not only a sense of festival ritual, but also a carrier for young people to ridicule themselves and vent negative emotions. Choosing to co-brand with IPs that young people pay attention to also satisfies those young people who pay attention to trendy culture.

IPs with traffic and certain communication properties are naturally also the objects of brand co-branding, which represents topics, popularity and communication properties. Therefore, when brands co-brand with IPs, they are also “cooperating” with the market popularity and value of IPs.

03 Drainage after precise positioning

It is not difficult to find that in the user market, IP has an extremely obvious feature: it has its own traffic and has unlimited scalability. When brands collaborate, they can infinitely extend the value and significance of IP. The collaboration between You Yogurt, which has been popular among young people for 25 years, and the Sad Frog, which became popular on Chinese Valentine's Day, is a collaboration between young people. Both the co-branded products and emoticons are well-liked by young people, maximizing the value of the content.

With a consistent target audience, novel marketing methods and precise positioning of the target audience, we can achieve a surge in traffic by conducting all-round diversion through content that young people are interested in.

04 Continuous content productivity

Novel content is the basis for attracting young people, and continuous content output is the way for brands to cultivate user loyalty. In the context of marketing and industry involution, how can brands improve their competitiveness? In Mr. Bingfa's opinion, highly differentiated content creation can enhance the charm of the brand, which is also a magic weapon to attract users.

IP itself has personalized characteristics, and its expression and emotional catharsis can be diverse. The continuous content production of a brand needs to constantly incorporate fresh elements. Choosing IPs that are highly cultural, fashionable, personalized, and collectible can naturally add fresh blood to the brand's content marketing and contribute to the continuous content output.

Author: Mr. Bingfa

Source: WeChat public account "Marketing Art of War (ID: lanhaiyingxiao)"