The reasons behind the explosion of "Black Myth: Wukong": Five points worth learning from brand marketing

As a domestic 3A game masterpiece, Black Myth: Wukong has not only achieved great success in the game market, but also had a wide impact on multiple levels such as culture and economy. The brand marketing strategy behind it, especially how to use cross-border joint names and setting topics, has successfully attracted widespread public attention and provided a case worth learning for brand marketing.

In recent days, the domestic 3A game masterpiece "Black Myth: Wukong" is undoubtedly one of the most popular things in China. It not only set a record for domestic sales and the number of simultaneous online users, but also became a hotly discussed work in the domestic and foreign game circles. It has also broken through the circle and stood at the focus of public opinion: many brands have launched joint marketing, and Shanxi Culture and Tourism has set off a craze for checking in game scenes. Even CCTV has called for it, and reporters have asked questions about it at the regular press conference of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs...

Why is Black Myth: Wukong so popular? Can brand marketers learn from it?

Next, I would like to share my personal views.

01 Standing on the shoulders of giants, you naturally have high potential energy

Just as the gravitational potential energy of an object in physics is equal to the product of the gravity it experiences and its height, when you stand on the shoulders of giants, you naturally possess high brand potential energy.

As one of the four great classical Chinese novels, Journey to the West has a broad fan base, and the image of Sun Wukong is deeply rooted in the hearts of the people. He is regarded as a symbol of wisdom, bravery and rebellion, and is deeply loved by people in many countries. These two IPs have a profound cultural heritage and wide popularity, which provides Black Myth: Wukong with natural market appeal, brand influence and public opinion topicality.

Figure: Many films and TV series on Journey to the West have been shot in countries around the world

Picture: There are also many games related to Journey to the West and Sun Wukong.

Therefore, cultural industries such as games, animation, and film and television should be good at developing the potential value of similar big IPs, and brands in other industries should also be good at leveraging big IPs. Of course, "giants" are not only cultural masterpieces IPs, but also other successful brands, famous figures, scenic spots, and historical sites.

For example, brands can collaborate with big IPs or other well-known brands to leverage each other's strengths and expand the influence of both parties; or use strong distribution channels to allow products to reach consumers faster; or use strong media platforms for publicity to significantly increase the breadth and depth of information dissemination.

02 Product power is the greatest brand power. Match the appropriate pricing to create a high “value-for-money ratio”

I see that many marketers interpret the popularity of Black Myth as entirely attributing it to pre-production, release hype, domestic sentiments, joint marketing and other reasons, but ignore the most important factor, which is the quality of the work. This is a big mistake.

The author believes that the main reason for the popularity of Black Myth lies in the excellent quality of the work itself, which reflects the point of view I have always insisted on: product power is the greatest brand power.

As a 3A game, Black Myth: Wukong has excellent visual effects, art design, immersive experience, operating experience, and playability. Its storyline is derived from Journey to the West but has its own unique features. The art design and 3D modeling are not inferior to CG masterpieces. The game scenes also incorporate many scenic spots and historical sites across the country, as if leading players into a magical world under the realistic Chinese cultural perspective. The mission design is complex but attractive enough to make people unable to give up. Players who have experienced it all feel the physical and mental pleasure brought by the game and call it a world-class game.

Because of its high-quality game, we have seen a lot of UGC content such as player operation demonstration videos, full-game recordings, plot analysis, and interpretations of different endings on platforms such as Bilibili and Douyin. Rounds of word-of-mouth communication have driven the popularity of Black Myth to continue to rise. The direct benefit of high product strength is to give users a higher "value-for-money ratio", spending the same money to get higher value. Under the same decision-making constraints of money, energy, and time, can you choose another product if not it?

This may give us some inspiration: product power is the greatest brand power, and good products often have the characteristics of good functionality, aesthetics, emotional satisfaction, and correct value. High product power combined with appropriate pricing creates a higher "value for money", which makes the brand an object of consumers' choice and praise.

03 Emotionally moving and inspiring the desire to share, breaking through the niche gaming circle

In addition to functional benefits, what impresses consumers is the emotional and spiritual resonance established by brands. This is particularly evident in cultural content products, but it is equally important for brands in other fields.

A good work will contain the core emotions and thoughts that the author wants to express, but it will also be able to establish multi-level empathy and resonance with the readers, or bring them joy, or soothe their wounded hearts, or inspire them to strive for progress, or encourage them to keep up the good work, or secretly coincide with their outlook on life and values, so that they can be moved and feel that they have met a soulmate, and can't help but share and recommend it, and discover more people who can establish an emotional and spiritual connection with themselves through this work.

Figure: Many users on Bilibili share their feelings about the game

This is also a characteristic of a good product mentioned in the previous point. The main plot of "Black Myth: Wukong" is "'Finding the Six Senses' to Resurrect Sun Wukong". The core concept is still the "resistance and struggle" spirit represented by Sun Wukong. The unrestrained resistance and fierce battles have activated the passion of countless young people. The recovery of the "six senses" after "Wu" Kong and the layout of Erlang Shen and the inducement routine of the old monkey will make people have multiple levels of feelings and cognition...

Of course, the above is my personal feeling. As the saying goes, "There are a thousand Hamlets in the hearts of a thousand people", and there are tens of millions of "Destiny Man/Wukong" in the hearts of tens of millions of players.

More and more players are telling their stories and sharing their understanding of the stories and their feelings and insights to people around them and through the Internet. This has allowed Black Myth: Wukong to break through the niche circle of games and allow the wider public to recognize and understand it. More people are participating in its interpretation, sharing, and secondary creation, and it has gradually become a hot topic in public opinion.

04 Cross-border collaboration helps break the circle and triggers public opinion to become a hot topic

When a brand has gained a certain degree of popularity in its field, if it wants to continue to gain exposure, boost performance and improve its image, it needs to break the circle. The purpose of breaking the circle is to let more people see me, know me, use me, and spread me, and cross-border collaborations can effectively help brands break the circle.

This is exactly the case with "Black Myth: Wukong", and in the process of "Black Myth: Wukong" breaking out of its circle, it is inseparable from the comprehensive support of a number of brands and its cross-border joint marketing campaigns.

Luckin Coffee, which loves collaborations, acted as a pioneer. Its collaboration with "Black Myth: Wukong" launched a Maotai with a co-branded shovel-covered 'Black Myth Tengyun Americano' that was snapped up by consumers, and even its CGO Yang Fei couldn't help but post on his Moments saying "Male purchasing power subverts the team's cognition."

In addition, the cross-border collaboration of "Black Myth: Wukong" has a wide range of brands. According to incomplete statistics, there are at least more than 10 brands that collaborate with it, including Luckin Coffee, NVIDIA, Hisense, Lenovo, Didi Qingju, and JD.com, covering many fields such as beverages, electronic digital devices, travel, and e-commerce. The collaboration forms range from Luckin Coffee's co-branded product "Tenyun American", Didi Qingju's "Jindouyun" co-branded car model, to NVIDIA's exclusive Game Ready driver, to Lenovo's co-branded computers and customized hardware.

Even the local tourism industry in the locations corresponding to the game scenes has also participated in the cross-border marketing craze. Shanxi Tourism, which owns 27 of the 36 filming locations of Black Myth, took the lead and launched the "Follow Wukong to Tour Shanxi" event on August 22, inviting the first batch of players who have completed "Black Myth: Wukong" to visit Shanxi to appreciate ancient buildings and taste delicious food for free. It also launched three theme routes and an 8-day "Revisiting the Journey to the West, the Splendor of Civil Engineering - Self-driving Tour of Shanxi Ancient Buildings" route. Sichuan's Anyue Mingshan Temple, Chongqing's Dazu Rock Carvings, Hangzhou's Lingyin Temple, Lishui's Shisi Temple, etc. are also the filming locations of the game. Many local tourism industries have followed suit to spread the word.

Behind every brand are its own fans, sales channels and media resources. The co-branding allows "Black Myth: Wukong" to go beyond the gaming circle and reach all levels of society. Creative co-branded products, communication content and interactive activities allow everyone to gain an in-depth understanding of "Black Myth: Wukong" from multiple angles, making it one of the hottest topics.

05 Set the agenda and guide the direction, occupy the focus and maintain reputation

Judging from the public opinion surrounding the popularity of Black Myth: Wukong, they should have hired a professional PR team or integrated marketing team, planned a series of topics to spark discussion, and tried to guide the direction of public opinion, so as to always occupy the focus of public opinion and maintain a positive reputation. This is a very important strategy in public relations communication.

Whether it is industrial economics-related topics such as "The first domestically produced 3A game masterpiece blows the horn for the rise of China's game industry" and "Exploring the value of classic entertainment IPs", or topics involving international politics such as "The creation and export of cultural soft power on the road to China's rise" and "The impact of Chinese culture on the world", or cultural-related topics such as "The significance of traditional culture in modern social life" and "Interpreting the ideological connotation of "Black Myth: Wukong" and the classic "Journey to the West", all have set up high-level and meaningful core topics, under which many related sub-topics have been generated. Personal self-media, institutional self-media, and authoritative media have all participated in the relevant discussions, thus maintaining a very high level of public opinion and keeping "Black Myth: Wukong" in the public eye for a long time.

It is precisely because of the great significance of certain topics that they are likely to receive attention and coverage from CCTV, and will appear in relevant questions and answers at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs press conference, which undoubtedly greatly elevates the brand level of "Black Myth: Wukong".

Of course, it is impossible for any PR team to set so many topics in advance, nor is it possible to fully control the discussion content and evolution of each topic. However, by setting core topics in advance, planning the general rhythm of communication, and preparing key content, and guiding the direction of public opinion through the rhythmic release of information after the topics enter the public eye and spark discussion, and by monitoring the dynamics of the topic evolution and producing content in a timely manner to intervene, the development of the topic can remain in the general direction planned in advance.

In the process of any topic dissemination, some negative comments are inevitable. For example, during the period when Black Myth became popular, there were negative voices such as "violence affects the healthy growth of children" and "female boxing protests". However, by controlling the core issues and key content to dilute these negative voices and ensure that the dissemination path does not deviate from the right track, "Black Myth: Wukong" did not suffer too much negative public opinion damage and always maintained a good brand reputation.

Conclusion

The success of Black Myth: Wukong is not only a victory for domestic games, but its popularity also proves once again that excellent products plus clever marketing strategies can create huge market response and social influence. The author has "realized" the above five "secrets" for the benefit of all friends. Although my knowledge is limited or there are errors, I hope you can communicate and correct me.

Finally, write to yourself:

The road of marketing is long, so you must learn as you go. Understand the "emptiness" and practice the "reality" to achieve good results.

Author: Chen Kesi