Celebrity endorsements, plagiarism controversy…How does CASETiFY turn mobile phone cases into a trendy brand?

In the trend stage where fashion and technology blend, CASETiFY customized mobile phone cases came into being. In this article, we will deeply analyze the challenges faced by brands in today's highly competitive market reflected by CASETiFY. Let's take a look.

“A new trait of the rich: no case on iPhone.”

"If my phone case is CASETiFY, how would you respond?"

"If you don't understand, just ask, why do celebrities love to use CASETiFY?"

On the Internet, CASETiFY has become the "new symbol of the rich," the "Hermès" of mobile phone cases. Discussions about CASETiFY on Xiaohongshu have been hot for years.

CASETiFY also frequently appears in photos of celebrities. Kylie Jenner, Dua Lipa, BTS, Messi, Wang Sicong and other celebrities at home and abroad have all picked up CASETiFY phone cases, and they can be seen in street shots and selfies.

However, at the end of November, CASETiFY was sued by Dbrand, another electronic product accessories manufacturer, on the grounds that CASETiFY "heavily borrowed" its own products in its 117 mobile phone cases.

Why did this mobile phone case brand founded in Hong Kong, China, with an average price of 400 yuan, still attract countless consumers, and even "one case is hard to find" when new products are released? How did it get caught up in the controversy of plagiarism?

1. Make the phone case a trendy brand

As early as more than a decade ago, CASETiFY began to attract consumers with customized mobile phone cases.

At that time, CASETiFY was still called casetagram. Users could first select a part of the photos on Instagram or Facebook, and choose a template on the application casetagram. Then casetagram would print them on the phone case and mail them to users.

Compared with other brands' "customization services", CASETiFY's templates include more design elements, rather than simple DIY. Users can adjust the text direction, font, color, etc. based on the template, which can satisfy personalization while making a mobile phone case with a sense of design.

Image source: CASETiFY official website

This selling point hits the personalized needs of many people, and countless young people flocked to the application to customize their phone cases. At the same time, many imitators appeared on the market. In order to protect copyright, the CASETiFY brand was established at this time.

Compared with the early days, the biggest change of CASETiFY is the addition of original designs. CASETiFY, which takes the trendy brand route, has cooperated with many designers, co-branded various IPs, and designed many independent and creative mobile phone cases and other electronic product accessories.

Under the influence of various celebrities and co-branded IPs, CASETiFY has turned a small mobile phone case into a business worth hundreds of millions.

Some people think that a 400 yuan phone case is a waste of money, the case is heavy and the quality is not much better.

However, consumers are also aware of CASETiFY's positioning. In a discussion on Xiaohongshu about "Why buy CASETiFY if it's so expensive?", the comment with the highest number of likes was "Of course I know it's expensive, but if others don't know it's expensive, I won't buy it."

2. What do you get in return for the high price?

Of course it’s more than just performance.

As an item that everyone can’t leave, the mobile phone case is the best billboard.

After observing that various stars and idol groups such as Dua Lipa and BlackPink like to take selfies in front of the mirror and then post them on Instagram, CASETiFY began to cooperate with celebrities, appearing in their photos one after another, subtly influencing countless star-chasing girls and boys.

In China, CASETiFY has also appeared in photos of many celebrities such as Ju Jingyi, Yang Zi, and Huang Minghao, attracting countless fans to get the same style.

For star-chasing girls and boys, a mobile phone case that costs “only” 400 yuan can be said to have a lower threshold than the same-style clothing that costs thousands of yuan.

The spontaneous recommendations of celebrities have helped boost the popularity of CASETiFY and made CASETiFY phone cases a popular item and a trendy brand in the eyes of young consumers.

In addition to celebrity recommendations, another major "weapon" of CASETiFY is collaboration. Currently, CASETiFY has two joint product lines: IP collaboration and artist and designer collaboration.

In terms of IP collaboration, Disney, "Stranger Things", Pokémon... CASETiFY can always collaborate with many globally popular IPs. The brand has also specially developed an App to release a series of co-branded products.

CASETiFY has mastered the marketing method of seizing the fan economy and the desire to share through joint ventures. Before CASETiFY entered Korea, it opened up the Korean market through joint ventures with Korean girl group BlackPink, Netflix series "Squid Game", and Korean boy group BTS.

Recently, the Shenzhen concept store of the CASETiFY brand will open, and new products co-branded with the recently popular electronic character loopy will be sold on site.

Image source: Weibo

Some fans have checked in at the scene and posted it on social media. In this process, it not only attracted CASETiFY users, but also many fans of loopy.

Image source: Xiaohongshu

In addition to IP collaboration, CASETiFY also continues to explore artists for cooperation, including Jean-Michel Basquiat, a top artist in the contemporary art world, and CROSSWAVE and other popular artists. On the one hand, the brand uses the influence of artists and designers to sell creative products, and on the other hand, CASETiFY has also created a designer platform for designers to upload their designs, and designers can get commissions from sales.

CASETiFY co-branded CROSSWAVE (Photo source: official website)

On CASETiFY's official website, you can see all of its past co-branded products, but like most trendy brands, these co-branded products are only sold for a limited time. This kind of hunger marketing makes it easier for young consumers who pursue "personalization" to place orders.

In this way, with the idea of ​​operating a trendy brand, CASETiFY relied on customized innovation, celebrity recommendations, IP customization and other methods in the early stage, and worked hard to become a trendy brand in mobile phone cases.

3. CASETiFY who returned from studying abroad

CASETiFY, founded in Hong Kong, China, has “returned from studying abroad” in the past two years.

In January 2022, CASETiFY went online on Tmall to sell mobile phone cases and other accessories. But in fact, long before that, CASETiFY's purchasing agents had already appeared on Taobao Tmall.

CASETiFY is also actively developing social media. In China, CASETiFY actively publishes content on social media such as Weibo, Douyin, and Xiaohongshu. Currently, the number of fans on each platform is 20,000, 142,000, and 117,000 respectively.

With the development of the domestic live broadcast industry, in March 2023, CASETiFY, a mobile phone case brand founded in Hong Kong, began to broadcast in domestic stores and sell products on platforms such as Douyin and Xiaohongshu.

CASETiFY co-branded CROSSWAVE (Photo source: official website)

CASETiFY has also opened stores in Shanghai, Beijing and other places. It is a rare brand that has opened large offline stores with mobile phone cases as its main selling point. Observing the decoration style of CASETiFY stores, it is more inclined to the style of trendy brand stores.

CASETiFY Sanlitun store (Photo source: CASETiFY official account)

In addition to countries such as China, Japan, and South Korea, CASETiFY has also entered larger global markets such as Australia and Thailand.

From "studying abroad" to "returning from studying abroad", CASETiFY is not only expanding its business territory, but also gradually realizing the potential of the Chinese market. As for whether CASETiFY will be smooth sailing or not after returning to China, further observation is needed.

4. Caught in a plagiarism controversy

Products that excel in creativity and marketing rather than technology often get caught up in controversies involving plagiarism and being plagiarized.

For the mobile phone case industry where CASETiFY is located, this type of product has low technical barriers, low copying costs, and strong substitutability. Many copyrights are often difficult to define, and it is difficult to protect the rights of plagiarists and those who are plagiarized. In the early days of CASETiFY's establishment, there were many plagiarisms against CASETiFY, and recently, CASETiFY itself was also caught up in a plagiarism storm.

According to IT Home, mobile phone case manufacturer Dbrand took CASETiFY to court at the end of November because CASETiFY reproduced the founding date, prompts, various texts and easter eggs in the mobile phone case almost "pixel-level".

Image source: Youtube

Dbrand said that the design of the appearance of a mobile phone case is an extremely complex and important step, and CASETiFY simply appropriated the competitor's product and copied its details intact.

On the evening of November 24, CASETiFY responded to recent accusations of plagiarism. CASETiFY emphasized that it has always been a bastion of original design, and has investigated the copyright accusation and immediately removed the controversial design. At the same time, it has also launched an investigation into a recent DDOS attack, and all consumer information is currently safe.

However, many netizens were not impressed. Some said, "Copying and pasting someone else's Easter eggs is not original." They also called for "Tell your designers to stop using this keyboard (representing the three buttons: Ctrl, C, V)!" Others questioned, "How much do you want to embarrass yourself?"

For CASETiFY, this plagiarism incident is a big test of its brand power and originality. If it is not handled properly, it will not only be a blow to the brand image, but also the possibility of not losing consumers is very small.

Of course, CASETiFY faces different difficulties at different stages of development, but the founder has always been able to bring CASETiFY closer to consumers by adjusting its services and strategies. Perhaps it can be handled correctly this time too?

References:

1. A mobile phone case costs $60. How does Casetify, a company that returned from studying abroad, capture both Chinese and American consumers? | White Whale Going Global
2. Mobile phone case manufacturer CASETiFY responds to plagiarism: Our company has always been a "bastion of original design" | IT Home
3. CASETiFY, a mobile phone case brand that has become popular on TikTok, has brought new ideas to brand marketing! | Chijing Tianxia

Author: Guangye WeChat public account: Marketing Kanke (ID: yingxiaokanke)