It’s time for iQiyi, Youku, Tencent Video and Mango TV to impact “daily IP consumption”

In recent years, IP-related products have become very popular and often become hot topics on social media. At the same time, domestic long video players are also seeking ways to increase "IP consumption". But how to transform massive amounts of IP content into more daily consumption patterns and habits? This is still a question worth discussing. This article will analyze it for you, and you can take a look if you are interested.

The sales of "Lotus Tower" IP derivatives exceeded 18 million, which was highlighted in the Q3 2023 financial report just released by iQiyi. On the other hand, Mango TV announced at the investment promotion conference just held that the "Nanbowan" brand series deeply customized based on puzzle IPs such as "Detective Academy" has accumulated sales of 1 million and GMV of 200 million yuan. At the same time, Tencent Video's "Douluo Dalu" series and Youku's "Country Love" series have also pushed IP derivatives to the hot topics on social media... There is no doubt that domestic long video players have been tirelessly seeking ways to grow "IP consumption".

Netflix has also provided further direction for the topic of “IP consumption” through the creation of “Strange Things Day”.

Just like how Double Eleven inexplicably became a shopping carnival, starting last year, November 6th suddenly became a commemoration day for Netflix's most popular series "Stranger Things". This day was officially named "Strange Things Day" by Netflix, and this event continues this year.

"Stranger Things" series of multiple brands co-branded

Even though the final season of "Stranger Things" was announced to start filming only after the end of the actors' union strike, which means that audiences will have to wait at least a year or two to see the show, the lack of new dramas does not prevent Netflix from making a big splash with its most popular IP.

It's not just as simple as naming a day. Starting from November 6, the official "Stranger Things" began to cooperate with multiple brands to launch limited products.

In Japan alone, there are joint activities with brands such as GU, FamilyMart, and Ichiban Sho, which once again bring various elements from the drama into the daily lives of ordinary people.

Netflix has been in the field of content e-commerce for quite some time. Although its own independent e-commerce platform seems to have received a mediocre response, the various limited-time pop-up events it has launched with great effort have often become topics on social media, and the IP co-branded products brought about by such events also make people more eager to buy.

Domestic long video platforms have always been very keen on business expansion in IP derivatives or content e-commerce. However, for a long time it has been difficult to truly derive content into sufficiently attractive physical products and promote them to the mass market.

As a latecomer, it is obviously extremely difficult to create heavy asset IP derivatives and content product consumption like Disney or Universal. At this time, it might be helpful to take a look at business models like Netflix or Japan, which have both highly developed IP production and extremely mature daily IP consumption. How to transform massive IP content into more daily consumption forms and habits is still a path that has not yet started but is worth exploring for iQiyi, Youku, Tencent Video and Mango TV.

1. If you want to consume IP, you need to be more advanced than IP.

How long does it take to build an IP and consumer ecosystem from scratch? 100 days is enough.

In December 2019, a four-frame comic titled "100 Days Later Died Crocodile" (100 Days Later に死ぬワニ) began serialization on Twitter (now X). Since the cartoonist was unknown and the story was not special, it was nothing more than the little things in the life of crocodiles, such as watching TV, taking a ride, working part-time, and gathering with animal friends, the initial response on Twitter was not enthusiastic.

Thanks to the forwarding of social network users and the curiosity of readers, the number of fans of this comic account is increasing day by day.

Comic "The Crocodile Died After 100 Days"

On March 20, 2020, the 100th day in the trailer, Crocodile and his friend agreed to go to the park to enjoy the cherry blossoms, but he was nowhere to be seen and his phone was not answered. His friend decided to ride a bike to find him. After sending him a photo of cherry blossoms, the camera turned and showed a chicken, a crocodile lying on the ground (partial), and a phone that had fallen to the ground.

This ending topped the world's Twitter trend that day, but many readers were shocked when they saw the last frame of the cherry blossoms. Some said that the ending came too suddenly and cried and said they couldn't accept it.

However, the mourning for the crocodile did not last long. 30 minutes after the four-frame comic strip on the 100th day was published, it was suddenly announced on the Internet that the four-frame comic strip would be compiled into a book, adapted into a movie, and that peripheral products would be sold and related events would be held.

The music group Bio Stock Chief will sing the theme song "To Live". Peripheral products can be purchased on the e-commerce platform Rakuten and the physical grocery store Loft. At the same time, an exclusive website will be launched immediately, and various joint collaborations will begin , including record companies, convenience stores, publishing houses, limited-time theme cafes, clothing stores, etc., which are also expected to be launched within a week.

Lotte 100 Crocodile Memorial Pop-up Store Goods

Although the subsequent derivative projects of this popular IP were criticized by netizens and even became popular, causing the original author to come forward to clarify, it still showed the market the whole process of the birth of an IP and its rapid integration into consumers' daily lives . As for the IP movie hitting the big screen a year later, that is another story.

This is just the tip of the iceberg of Japan's IP production and consumption.

In fact, based on its many years of experience in derivative products, today's Japanese IP consumption has already penetrated into the daily lives of ordinary people.

From the perspective of the producer, this kind of daily IP consumption obviously cannot be carried out randomly after the content is produced and becomes popular. It is more of an advanced deployment. Before making the layout of IP consumption, they will not simply consider whether the content will become popular. Even if the content may only have a mediocre response, they will still do the whole set.

This is actually a paradox of domestic long-form video content IP consumption. In terms of statements, each company claims that each of their content is a super hit when it is released, but in reality, no one dares to make a conclusion until it has received dozens of hot searches. Generally speaking, the consumption of these hit IPs lags significantly behind the content supply itself. Most of the time, related IP derivatives or consumer products will not appear until the drama or variety show is finished and the discussion is over.

Some of the co-branded items of Lotus Tower

This situation is caused by a lack of confidence in the content, and on the other hand, it is also due to the fact that IP consumption has always been solidified in a very specific or grand scope . Either the pursuit of high-end and forcible alignment with Disney, or small-scale efforts without continuity or rhythm. The former often ends in failure, while the latter is more of a temporary excitement and cannot feed back to the content and platform.

This is why we repeatedly emphasize the so-called "daily IP consumption", which actually requires us to "create something out of nothing" like those shopping festivals, and integrate the content of the platform itself more into daily life, regardless of whether the content is a hit or is currently on the air.

2. Integrating IP into daily life requires long-termism

Although the leaders of various companies are keen to mention the word "long-termism" on various occasions, the biggest problem with the domestic long-form video business strategy has long been the lack of sufficient stability. Whether it is content production or IP consumption, once there are no obvious results in the short term, it will easily become a waste and become a victim of cost reduction and efficiency improvement.

This is also why, for a long time, although the domestic film and television industry is extremely eager for IP, it is often difficult to truly cultivate its own IP brand, let alone create a sufficiently attractive IP consumption ecosystem.

This situation has only gradually improved in the past two years after the entire long video industry began to get rid of vicious competition. In addition to paying more attention to the construction of a lineup of high-quality content, the platform has also begun to maintain the IP influence of core content as much as possible. One of the important actions is to integrate IP into more daily consumption patterns and environments as much as possible.

"Detective Academy 6" joint baseball uniform

For example, Mango TV’s Xiaomang e-commerce platform, which was built from scratch in 2021, tried to achieve a closed loop of IP consumption by relying on its own internal traffic.

Judging from the time of its establishment, compared with other mature e-commerce platforms, Xiaomang's starting time is obviously not the best window for industry development, nor does it have the endless funds like Internet giants. Therefore, its core path is still to rely on its own content capabilities and user groups, and to break through by positioning itself as a trendy domestic content e-commerce platform.

In the initial layout of the track, Xiaomang took the new national trend as the entry point. In the 2021 "Sisters Riding the Wind and Waves" group night, the celebrity sisters wore Hanfu to build momentum for it. Merchants launched thousands of new Hanfu products through Xiaomang, and Xiaomang launched a co-creation plan for Hanfu enthusiasts, with celebrity platforms, content support, and user interaction, forming a complete IP consumption linkage based on popular content.

Of course, what Xiaomang does is not important, the key is how much content support it can get from Mango TV and Hunan Satellite TV. In the past two years, Mango TV has focused on incubating IPs around the platform's own variety shows and film and television dramas, creating a series of peripheral products, and then actively returning traffic to Xiaomang, which has almost become one of its most important tasks.

This platform has indeed shown rapid development. According to the 2023 Mango Super Media semi-annual report, Mango's GMV has exceeded last year's total, and its content e-commerce business achieved revenue of 1.247 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 32.05%.

Mango Super Media 2023 Semi-annual Report

The investment promotion conference held on Double Eleven Day not long ago was the first joint event of the four platforms of "Hunan Satellite TV + Mango TV + Golden Eagle Cartoon Satellite TV + Xiaomang E-commerce", which is enough to show the importance of Xiaomang E-commerce in the entire Mango Super Media.

According to the investment conference, in 2023, the baseball uniform of its self-made variety show "Detective Academy" became the best-selling single product in the baseball uniform category on the entire network. On this basis, Xiaomang incubated its first self-operated fashion brand "Nanbowan", completing the advancement from single product to brand, and the transaction volume of a single product exceeded 200 million yuan.

Practices such as the "Academy People" group incubated by the "Detective Academy" series and the customized variety show "Journey Into a Geography Book" further enhance the conversion effect of IP consumption. It is not difficult to understand why an everyday baseball uniform can be a best-seller.

Of course, the uniqueness of Xiaomang E-commerce is just like that of Mango Super Media, which is highly unreplicable. Therefore, companies like Tencent Video, which hold a lot of content IPs, are actually learning from their predecessors in IP production, especially in its strongest animation content.

Games like "Douluo Dalu", "The Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation" and "The Bodyguard" have gradually begun to form some mature daily IP consumption cases.

Master Kong instant noodles and "Douluo Dalu" jointly cooperate

Around the animation IP "Douluo Dalu", Tencent Video has previously launched a long round of derivative marketing called "Ignite the Hero Universe", and completed IP derivative commercial monetization with daily consumer brands such as Master Kong and Uni-President.

To date, the "Douluo Dalu" IP has covered various fields such as toys, food, beverages, clothing peripherals, 3C, games, publishing, etc., radiating to various life scenes. With the help of consumption scenes, IP works can further enter the users' three-dimensional daily life.

Even for "The Detective", a relatively niche but highly acclaimed work, the development of its IP commercial value has not been completely abandoned.

Tencent Video not only collaborated with Luckin Coffee to launch the "Kunlun Snow Latte", an oriental-style special blend that fits the tone of the comics, but also teamed up with the national trend brand NEO FANTASTIC to launch IP co-branded clothing, integrating the chivalrous spirit of "The Darter" into the national trend style, and further allowing users to bring IP elements into their daily lives through customized umbrellas, mugs, mouse pads and other peripherals.

"Dart Man" peripherals

While Tencent Video will continue to hold the Starlight Awards at the end of this year, it will also launch the "Starlight Market" for the first time to further showcase more ideas about "IP consumption".

For current long-video players, the heavy asset IP consumption of Disney and Universal is difficult to imitate. On the contrary, cases like Sanrio, which can build an IP kingdom on its own, are more valuable for reference. However, what is more important is to see the "drip irrigation effect" formed by more small and medium-sized IP content in the long term. The so-called dripping water wears away the stone also applies to the IP derivative business model.

After consumption upgrading is replaced by the new slogan of affordable consumption, both consumers and brands will eventually need to return to their daily lives, and this is exactly where long-video IP consumption needs to go most, appearing in the most daily and trivial places anytime and anywhere.

Author: Great Entertainment

Source: Yiyuguancha (ID: yiyuguancha), the telescope and sonar of the pan-entertainment industry.