Xiaomi, the social currency

The author of this article tells the complete brand + IP template and the stable currency in social currency through the launch of Xiaomi SU7. Interested readers can take a look~

I often tell my friends who are in the branding business, don’t think that just because you don’t do IP, your brand has no IP attributes.

No matter what the brand does, even if it does not have an anime character, it has been accumulating IP energy. IP is like a shadow hidden behind the scenes, which has always deeply influenced the charm of the brand.

Brand and IP, like the front and back sides of the same coin, always exist in companies and products.

Just like the yin and yang sides of the Tai Chi diagram, there is IP in the brand and there is brand in the IP.

Coincidentally, Xiaomi recently launched SU7, providing a complete brand + IP template.

It also fully proves that Xiaomi may be the most stable social currency among Chinese brands.

Even those who don’t know much about brands or IP can feel the following points from the Xiaomi SUV launch conference:

01

Xiaomi never tires of talking about its cost-effectiveness, and never tires of expressing its feelings. ‍‍‍

Cost-effectiveness + sentiment are the two sides of physical value and emotional value.

"Touching people's hearts and reasonable prices" is the most concise description of Xiaomi's two-pronged approach.

02

Lei Jun is not only a science and engineering man who talks about every detail of the product, but also an uncle mentor who guides people step by step and tells them the meaning of life.

Lei Jun has created a dual persona as a science and engineering man and a mentor for Nefifeptide.

Normally, a science and engineering guy would be more of a homebody and more self-contained, but Lei Jun is not like that. He knows how to use a science and engineering guy's way, using a lot of quantifiers, percentages, or various analogies and comparisons, to make something that is not that impressive sound very impressive, or at least very attentive.

I think another important point is Lei Jun's way of speaking. He speaks slowly and with a non-standard Hubei accent, which adds to his rustic temperament. In addition, he likes to weigh out every word in important places, which makes people feel that he has participated in and polished every detail (according to the industry's description of him as a model worker, this is probably true), which greatly increases his credibility.

At the same time, Lei Jun is also very good at triggering various life insights and inspirations, intentionally or unintentionally. This makes his speeches easily stimulate people's endorphins, not just dopamine. Dopamine can only bring excitement similar to watching porn, but this is not Lei Jun. Lei Jun's life-inspiring content produces endorphins that can generate power, which can enable athletes to sprint to success or break through their limits. ‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍

03

Xiaomi may be the one that puts the most effort and care into explaining a large number of peripherals in all new car launch conferences. ‍

The core hardware + soft peripherals make Xiaomi SU7 have a sense of both hardness and softness.

When Lei Jun was speaking live, I kept paying attention to the reactions in the comments section, Weibo, and WeChat Moments. Many people felt the same way, thinking that Lei Jun was not only selling cars, but also selling peripherals, and that he was doing it very attentively.

I saw a Weibo post saying that a beautiful, rich and white girl unexpectedly bought one, and she was not a person who was keen on driving or buying new energy vehicles. When asked why, she said that the car's sunroof, front windshield and four sides of the glass were carefully protected from the sun, which looked very powerful. There were also specially designed parasols, and the refrigerator would not shake even if you only put a Coke in it. There were storage baskets in the front and rear trunks, as well as space for various ornaments... Xiaomi su7 may really be a car that is very friendly to women.

The lady also thinks that Lei Jun has a fresh and non-greasy temperament, and he doesn't look like he goes to nightclubs. I heard that his wife is his first love. He is just a simple science and engineering man with a high IQ and technology, so the cars he makes should be pretty good.

These are actually the soft energies in the product value, which contain more emotional satisfaction, and emotion is the most typical attribute of IP.

The IP of a corporate brand is not just a mascot image, but an IP matrix , including the entrepreneur's personal IP, employee's personal IP, partner IP, product appearance IP, craftsmanship IP, accessories emotional IP, etc., which are integrated into a complete brand IP system. Xiaomi's strength lies in the fact that it really develops IP according to a complete ecosystem, which makes it have a strong sense of integrity and sufficient risk resistance, because behind each IP, it actually requires sufficient strength and dedication to achieve it.

04

Xiaomi may also be the manufacturer that pays the most attention to IP derivative products among all car companies.

At the end of the press conference, after Lei Jun fully introduced the car itself, he began to introduce the car model seriously, and emphasized that the car model has as many colors as the real car, which immediately caused laughter at the scene, and I couldn't help laughing. Then, he continued to introduce the mugs, which also have multiple colors like the real car, as well as T-shirts, baseball caps, handbags, etc. At this moment, I felt that this was an IP derivative product introduction meeting:)

Seeing these derivatives of SU7, I have a sense of humor. Is it that Lei Jun wants to sell the car cheaper and more cost-effective, so he makes up for it and increase revenue through derivatives? Haha.

Not every car or product attaches so much importance to derivative products. As early as when Xiaomi launched its mobile phone, it had already grandly launched a rabbit-shaped mascot. According to a responsible friend of mine, the annual sales volume at that time was also several hundred million.

This product + derivative products make Xiaomi SU7 have a very interesting brand + derivative feeling.

In short, by doing this, Xiaomi is not only continuously strengthening the cost-effectiveness of the product itself, but also constantly emphasizing the dual attributes of brand + IP, making Xiaomi SU7 very likely to become a social currency.

Xiaomi is truly a stablecoin among social currencies.

Obviously, the social currency attributes and capabilities of SU7 are likely to be stronger than previous Xiaomi products.

Let’s analyze in detail here, what exactly is social currency? ‍‍

Simply put, there are two attributes: first, social attributes, which can become a topic of conversation and a symbol of social and cultural exchange; second, monetary attributes, which have a stable exchange value and can become an exchange representative used in the flow of social information.

Not every brand or IP can become a social currency. It requires the right time, right place, and right people, but it also requires the quality of the product or content itself.

The picture below is the social currency creation process proposed by me and the IP Fried Rice team——

The birth of a social currency first comes from the presence of emotional power, including "emotion, desire, love, hate, and vulgarity".

In addition, as Mr. Feng Weidong of Tiantu Capital said, whose lectures I have attended, there must also be trust value and display value, among which trust value is the foundation and display value is the outward sense of pride or joy.

This is the second part of the above picture. Social currency must have values ​​that people can share and content to support it.

In this process, visualization, bionics and popularization are the only way to the birth of social currency. I have also summarized a small waist law for this.

The Slender Waist Law refers to the fact that Guangzhou Tower, the tallest building in Guangzhou, is nicknamed "Slender Waist" by the public. This term is far more popular than the official name of Guangzhou Tower and has become the social currency of Guangzhou's tallest building. The reason why this can be achieved is because "Slender Waist" is more vivid, bionic and popular.

People will spontaneously transform abstract concepts and lofty things into down-to-earth, vivid, perceptible and touchable concrete figurative expressions, giving life to inanimate objects, and social currency will naturally be born.

Looking back at Xiaomi's SU7, it actually contains many figurative, bionic and popular elements, which makes this style extremely easy to spread and discuss.

The most important thing for Xiaomi to do is not to accelerate the dissemination, which is left to the public. The most reasonable thing for Xiaomi to do is to lay a more solid foundation for the brand and IP and eliminate essential risks.

Look at this picture again, it talks about the triangular foundation of social currency——

Behind every social currency is the guarantee of the most rational product, then the support of the people, and then the IP blessing of culture. This step cannot be confused.

Only when the first few steps are done well, the product will naturally become content, people will naturally participate, and cultural evolution will naturally occur, making it IP-based and eventually becoming a social currency.

Only when the product is strong enough to support it, can the IP culture be solid enough and the brand be able to withstand all possible negative storms.

Finally, I would like to add two cases. One is Zhong Xue Gao, which collapsed recently, and the other is Nongfu Spring, which experienced the storm but still managed to survive the difficulties.

Zhong Xuegao thought that his brand was going smoothly, but after one or two public opinion disasters, it completely collapsed.

What is the problem? Zhong Xue Gao is very good at telling stories, co-branding with IPs, and riding on the wave of emotions to rise to the top, but this brand has a serious problem, which is the misalignment of positioning and the crowd, plus the hidden dangers of the product. If Zhong Xue Gao focused only on high-end prices and high-end crowds, gradually improved its products, and took steady steps, such a big problem would not have happened. But it wants both, it wants to maintain a high price, and it wants to popularize it to the general public as soon as possible. This is like forcing a yacht into the Bermuda Triangle, and it is difficult to withstand the wind and waves.

The founder of Zhong Xue Gao once created Madiel ice cream, but Madiel ice cream has a profound historical background and cultural accumulation. No matter how much story is told, it has the foundation to support it. But when the founder of Zhong Xue Gao applied this set to a brand new brand and faced a new market, it was definitely a huge risk to just rely on storytelling. ‍‍‍‍

In short, Zhong Xue Gao is indeed a social currency, but it is a social currency that lacks a stable currency value and is likely to depreciate rapidly.

Let's talk about the Nongfu Spring public opinion incident. It seemed to come on strong, but it passed quickly. The reason is very simple, that is, Nongfu Spring's product strength is still there. I once heard a senior investor say that as long as a company's products are good and its channels are sound, it will not be too affected by social emotions.

Moreover, Nongfu Spring has a profound cultural accumulation over the years and does not have any real problems. The accusations against it are more of the violence of current emotions, so the storm will naturally pass.

Looking back at Xiaomi and Wahaha, I can't help but sigh -

The best way for a commercial brand IP may be for a rational person to do things that reflect literary and artistic sentiments, rather than just doing things that reflect literary and artistic sentiments.

Don’t just dream of becoming a social currency, but become a stable currency among social currencies. All brands and IPs that are long-lasting and not afraid of public opinion are essentially stable currencies .

It is just like there is a famous garden in China called Tuisi Garden. If you step back and think about it, you will naturally make progress.

Retreat to be steady, advance to achieve success naturally.

Author: Chen Gray

WeChat Official Account: IP Fried Rice