The Assembly Line Princess has become a hit, where is the marketing logic behind it?

With waves of consumption booms, the new traffic code of the tourism industry has evolved from Zibo BBQ to the assembly line princess. This article will sort out the marketing logic of such a hot phenomenon from multiple aspects, including consumers' consumption tendencies, consumption preferences, and the influence of their living conditions. It is recommended for novice operators to learn together.

Zibo barbecue has made a splash, and the spring outing is still not enough. In the wave of consumption boom, the tourism industry has once again ushered in a new traffic code - the assembly line princess. In fact, at the beginning, the scenic spot was to attract people and set aside a photo area for tourists. Through highly similar makeup, shooting, and photo editing, the photo shooting that was supposed to be full of rituals was eclipsed, and the photos were produced continuously like a standard assembly line operation, and netizens gave it a friendly "nickname".

Image source: Xiaohongshu

The number of views and plays of topics about taking photos at scenic spots has been increasing. On TikTok, the #西双版纳写真topic alone has been played more than 900 million times. At the same time , the number of views of #PipelinePrincess#RejectPrincess of theAssemblyLine is also increasing.

At the same time, the discussion on topics such as assembly line princesses, scenic spot princesses, and scenic spot photos has increased on major platforms.

1. How did the Assembly Line Princess become so popular?

After the "Assembly Line Princess" became a hot search, many people were confused. How did this thing become so popular? At first, an article in Daily People's Daily called "I am an "Assembly Line Princess" in a scenic spot" caused controversy. The article stated that the "Assembly Line Princess" consists of three steps:

Some people dislike the photos taken at scenic spots because they are similar and lack creativity. However, taking photos at scenic spots is highly utilitarian, so "fast and expensive" are the characteristics of taking photos at scenic spots. In the eyes of some people, most of the people who take photos are women. Some people think that "assembly line princesses" mean to demean, objectify and vilify women, which has triggered widespread discussion and has become a hot topic on the Internet.

2. The assembly line princess caused controversy. Are women more likely to pay the IQ tax?

With the popularity of taking photos in scenic spots, many tourists have copied their photos, which makes many people think that women's vanity is fully displayed. Some people also think that this is a very brainless behavior, and women happen to be the main body of this consumption behavior. In addition, in the traditional e-commerce consumption era, female consumers are often called "spendthrift women". Later, in order to win over female consumers, it was extended to the female consumer group who "loves shopping".

At the same time, it also proves from the side that female consumers are more easily led by all kinds of strange consumption gimmicks, which is called paying IQ tax by some people. Especially in the era of she economy, data analysis on female consumption power can be found everywhere.

For example, according to the "China Women's Consumption Power Insight Report" jointly released by Southern Finance Media Group - Southern Finance Think Tank, JLL, and JD Consumer and Industry Research Institute, in online consumption, JD's female consumers are 5.5 percentage points higher than male consumers, while in offline shopping, pure female consumption accounts for 24.6% and pure male consumption accounts for 2.8%, a gap of nearly 9 times.

The appearance of princesses in scenic spots has made more people imagine that women are the ones who pay the IQ tax.

In fact, more often than not, women's consumption represents family consumption. Women are more thoughtful and emotional. When they buy things at home, they are more likely to consume for the needs of the whole family, not just for themselves. In addition, due to the collusion of the economy, patriarchy and consumerism, people often ignore the energy and time women spend on shopping for their families. They only see a woman who is happy because of consumption, and the consumption behavior of letting women take pictures in scenic spots has caused controversy.

In the eyes of marketers, the assembly line princess is more like a standard operation. The reason why it is so popular is that the clothes worn by consumers in scenic spots are different from those worn in daily life. The appearance and freshness of the clothes make women more likely to make impulse purchases. At the same time, the adjective "assembly line" also proves that the profit model of scenic spots is profitable.

3. Photography in scenic spots shows phenomenal consumption. What’s the marketing logic behind it?

For marketers, there is no right or wrong in the production of a certain consumption phenomenon, or whether it is a "production line princess" or good or bad. However, the production of phenomenal consumption often contains marketing logic that is worth learning and studying.

The huge consumer base is the basis for achieving transformation. It is worth affirming that in this early summer, tourism consumption has ushered in recovery and sustained growth.

According to statistics from relevant departments, during the May Day holiday in 2023, the number of domestic tourists nationwide was 274 million, about 119% of the same period in 2019. The increase in the number of travelers has also enabled the commercial projects of scenic spots to achieve considerable sales and generate collective behavior.

What is the unknown business logic behind the popularity of taking photos at scenic spots?

1. Consumers have strong demand and good experience, resulting in the phenomenon of photography in scenic spots being very popular

Only when there is demand will attention be generated, and attention is more likely to generate consumption. At the same time, the experience and popularity of consumption in the consumption process are more likely to stimulate consumer consumption behavior. Behind the phenomenal consumption, it is inseparable from the multi-party collaboration of demand insight, communication logic and marketing experience, and it gives consumers reasons not to refuse. Such as high appearance, fleeting opportunities, etc.

Obviously, from the perspective of demand insight , it is the consumption, emotional and social needs of the current young group who follow the value economy and like to take photos and post them on WeChat Moments that have given scenic spot photography commercial opportunities. Scenic spots keep pace with the times and make their marketing more youthful. Most people originally have the habit of taking photos when traveling.

In the era of social media, people's desire to take photos to share their lifestyles, to find like-minded friends through sharing, and their extreme desire to gain recognition from friends have also led to a stronger need for taking photos.

2. Unique sense of contrast attracts consumers to participate

From the perspective of communication, the contrast after putting on the costumes can greatly arouse people's curiosity and stimulate people's sensory experience, making the princess's appearance different from her image in life have a unique charm, stimulating people's sensory experience and making consumers willing to participate in it and willing to consume. For example, someone published a group of before and after comparisons on the Internet, and more people thought: It is really beautiful and can be called a "head-changing technique". After all, no one wants to reject beautiful things.

3. Herd mentality has led to a surge in the number of people taking photos at scenic spots

At the same time, the highly controversial topic has led to a surge in discussions about taking photos in scenic spots, which has led to a wider spread. The spread of the "Princess of the Assembly Line" has made it popular all over the Internet. From the perspective of consumer psychology, after a phenomenon occurs, the herd mentality will prompt more consumers to participate, making the originally popular phenomenon even more popular. With the help of self-media, more people will want to participate, forming a closed consumption loop.

Image source: Xiaohongshu

4. Immersive experience enhances the user experience

From a marketing perspective, the popularity of the scenic spot princess is due to an important factor: the scenic spot. At the same time, scene marketing and immersive user experience make users happy to participate.

First, the in-depth scenario marketing carried out in combination with the scenic spot has a strong sense of immersion, which is easier to generate appeal and attract users to participate. Second, the immersive user experience is easier to bring an immersive experience, allowing users to perceive the unique cultural charm of the scenic spot, and establish a deeper emotional cognition with users through forms with a strong sense of ritual and participation, such as taking photos, so that tourists can feed back the marketing communication of the scenic spot.

4. Final Thoughts

The birth of a phenomenon that becomes popular is often due to the consumer's consumption tendency, consumption preference and living conditions. Just like the popular and "criticized" scenic spot princess, in essence, it is still a situation caused by strong user demand.

Author: Mr. Bingfa

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