How to build IP, from "breaking the circle" to "evergreen"
Editor's note
At present, in the Chinese consumer market, the consumer preferences of users are shifting from a single type of "material consumption" to a compound type of "spiritual consumption." A large number of post-90s and post-00s have proved with practical actions that they are more and more willing to pay for their favorite IP. .
According to the "2020 Global Licensing Market Report" released by the International Licensing Industry Association, in 2019, the global sales of licensed goods and services reached 292.8 billion U.S. dollars.
Among them, the revenue of the Chinese market was 10.4 billion U.S. dollars, a year-on-year increase of 9.7%, making it one of the fastest growing markets in the world.
At present, China's IP economy is still in its infancy, but its development potential and space are huge.
What kind of IP can "break the circle"?
How far is it from good IP to successful IP?
How to create an IP with lasting vitality?
In this regard, our reporter conducted an in-depth investigation.
The little yellow man incense burner, Su embroidery "Mona Lisa", Jintan paper carving work "Kakao Friends"... At the recently concluded 4th China International Import Expo, these "mixed and matched" exhibits of Eastern and Western IP and cultural elements , Attracted the attention of a large number of exhibitors and visitors.
It is reported that this is the first time that the CIIE has set up a cultural relics and artworks area, and many top overseas IPs have concentrated on this area.
This scene at the CIIE is a microcosm of the development of the IP economy in China——
According to a report from the China Toys and Baby Products Association, my country’s annual retail sales of authorized goods is 110.6 billion yuan in 2020. 41.6% of post-95 consumers purchase authorized products or IP themed experiences 4 to 6 times each year, and 92.9% of 95 Later consumers buy authorized products at a higher price than similar products.
Why does IP have such "magic power"?
What secrets are hidden in the creation and operation of IP?
1 In the Internet age, everything can be IP
Recently, related topics about the 10th anniversary of the TV series "Zhen Huan" have frequently appeared on the hot search lists. Some lines in the show are still chewed repeatedly by netizens, and even given new meanings in combination with current hot spots.
Although it is accompanied by some controversy, this TV series adapted from online literature has "lived" in the hearts of audiences for 10 years and has become a veritable "big IP".
What is IP?
IP is the abbreviation of "Intellectual Property" in English, literally translated as "Intellectual Property".
But in the context of actual use in my country, the concept of IP has been greatly extended. It can be a character or story that consumers like, or it can be a variety show, a mascot, a game, or even just a concept. As long as cultural consumer products that can continue to gain appeal and traffic, they can be called IP.
Industry experts concluded that IP specifically refers to cross-media content management with long-term vitality and commercial value.
In recent years, as the types of media have increased, the sources of IP have become more abundant.
At present, in addition to traditional IP sources such as literature, animation, film and television, and games, social media platforms, cultural institutions, and many local governments have also joined the trend of creating Internet celebrity IP, becoming an indispensable emerging strength.
Personal IP.
"Everyone has 15 minutes to become famous." The continuous rise of personal IP in the Internet age confirms the words of trend artist Andy Warhol 50 years ago.
Personal IP, with Li Ziqi as a typical representative.
Dressed in an ancient costume, in an atmosphere full of ancient flavors, the ancient process and traditional tools are used to show the ancient rural food culture.
Through a series of unique short videos, Li Ziqi has formed identity tags such as "country life" and "traditional food". His products have been extended from short videos to the fields of food and e-commerce, realizing the expansion and realization of personal IP.
Wenbo IP.
In recent years, some radio, television and cultural and cultural institutions have taken advantage of the country’s waves to create IP.
This year's Henan Satellite TV Spring Festival Gala, a song "Tang Palace Night Banquet" became popular on the Internet, and the highly recognizable IP images of the "Tang Palace Miss Sisters" made them the "new favorites" of the cultural and creative circles.
Henan Museum responded quickly and developed the "Tang Palace Night Banquet" series of IP derivatives. The blind box of "Ladies Band" became a hit when it was launched.
The reporter combed and found that from the Henan Museum to the Palace Museum, to the Dunhuang Museum, the museum's cultural creations no longer show up in a cold manner, and have launched their own unique "cute series" IP.
From the history floating in the clouds to the adorable things that are approachable, the museum has found a way to communicate with young people, and it has also triggered more market resonance.
City IP.
Mrs. Tumbler from Xi'an, the tea-face of Changsha, the giant panda from Chengdu... the popularity of these IPs has attracted the public's attention to a brand-new area-urban IP.
Looking at the world, the concept of urban IP has long existed. Many well-known cities have their own mascots, and they often take on the important task of promoting local tourism.
Kumamoto in Kumamoto Prefecture, Japan is one of the most well-known urban IPs.
Many cities in China are also actively exploring their own cultural characteristics and trying to create their own urban IP.
Nanchang, Jiangxi, selected Zhu Da, a famous freehand painter in ancient my country, from Badashanren.
Bada Shanren is good at painting landscapes, flowers and birds. The birds and fishes he paints have one of the most notable characteristics-always with the eyes facing up and rolling his eyes.
This strong personal style "stokes" the hearts of many contemporary people, and makes Bada Shanren a "net celebrity painter".
The Qingyunpu District of Nanchang City is a hermit and an important place of creation for the Bada Shanren in his later years. The Bada Shanren Memorial Hall was built here.
Teng Zuopeng, member of the Standing Committee of Qingyunpu District Committee and Minister of Propaganda, introduced that with Bada Shanren as the core IP, local brand activities such as art festivals, calligraphy exhibitions, and cultural forums have been held, and online and offline interactive activities such as "Traveling around Bada Shanren Memorial Hall" have been planned. It also launched peripheral products such as the Bada Shanren commemorative badge.
Zhejiang Wenling launched a virtual image-Shuguang Lion.
This cute little lion is an IP planned and launched by the local propaganda department based on the basic elements that Wenling is the first spot for the dawn of the millennium.
Around this IP, offline exhibitions and tourism festivals are held locally, dolls, comics, picture books, children's clothing and other products are launched, and cartoons, movies, and theme parks are planned to be shot and produced.
2 What kind of IP can "break the circle"
In the age of content consumption, users' time and attention have become scarce resources.
With the continuous emergence of various new IPs, a "attack for attention" is inevitable.
What kind of IP can "break the circle" and really retain the hearts of users?
There is a distinct "personal design".
Liu Kanshan, an anthropomorphic Arctic fox, appeared in 2014 as the mascot of the Zhihu platform.
In the official character setting, he is a north drifter who likes to watch film and television dramas. He is the author of "Anthropological Research Notes". He is surrounded by good friends such as polar bears and Miss Tern.
On the Zhihu platform, he has more than 10 million fans and is an absolute "top stream".
From interviewing celebrities, to warming up offline events, to co-branding with brands and co-creating with artists...This little fox has completed the output of the corporate brand concept in his own way.
Having "personal design" like Liu Kanshan has become an essential element of a successful IP.
For example, the "Optimus Prime" in the movie "Transformers" is a serious and socially responsible image, the "Bai Bai" in "Big Hero 6" is a warm and safe image, and the image in "The Devil Boy of Nezha" "Nezha" is the image of a young hero who "my fate is my fate".
In interviews, many people in the industry said that personalized IP has a sense of intimacy and recognition, and can establish an emotional connection with the audience and convey their values in a "human" way.
Have the correct value orientation and cultural connotation.
During the interview, many experts said that IP that can “break the circle” and stand the test generally has a positive value orientation and a certain cultural connotation.
Under the trend of the country, many IP producers unanimously set their sights on my country's excellent traditional culture.
"China's five thousand years of civilization is the best cultural foundation for creating IP." said Wang Xiaohui, chief content officer of iQiyi.
Recently, iQiyi released the concept of "China Ancient City Universe", hoping to create a series of IP with Chinese historical and cultural characteristics.
The ancient city of Luoyang is the first stop of this series of IP development works. The series of IP will interpret the unique charm of the ancient Chinese city through the linkage of dramas, comics, variety shows, documentaries, animation, and movies.
China's excellent traditional culture has become the cause of many organizations to create IP, and it has also led more people to experience my country's splendid and long-standing civilization.
There is plenty of room for imagination.
If "personal design" is the spiritual core of an IP, then the rich imagination space allows an IP to be diversified.
JK.
Rowling used 7 "Harry Potter" novels to build a huge magical world with unique rules and logic.
This has also become a solid foundation for Harry Potter IP to be adapted into movies, games, and even into a theme park.
In the Harry Potter Park of Universal Studios Beijing, the scenes and details that have appeared in the books and movies are restored one by one.
In Hogsmeade Village, which is covered with snow all the year round, you will accidentally eat "Bibi Duo beans" that smells like booger, and wizards in long robes can be seen everywhere... This immersive experience will make people feel a little trance at a certain moment— —Perhaps, the magical world is real?
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Have the ability to cross borders.
On November 7, many people’s circle of friends was swiped by a piece of news-"EDG won the championship!" In the eyes of e-sports players, this Chinese team won the first place in the "League of Legends" global finals, and its weight is heavy. It is equivalent to the Chinese team winning the World Cup.
Later, a trendy toy launched a collector's edition figure co-branded with the EDG team, which attracted both trendy toy players and e-sports players.
Cross-industry cooperation and the launch of joint products have become the common choice of many organizations.
"Cross-border cooperation can increase brand exposure and topic communication while attracting different groups; on the other hand, it lies in innovation. For both the brand and the IP itself, this combination will undoubtedly inject new vitality into them. "Yang Jianpeng, head of the IP authorization department of the trendy toy brand Bubble Mart, said that whether it is between IP and IP or between IP and brand, cross-border cooperation is a way to verify the influence of IP, and it is to accelerate IP." An important means of breaking the circle.
3 How far is it from good IP to successful IP
Relevant data shows that the world's most profitable IP in 2021 is the "Pokemon" launched by Nintendo of Japan, with a total revenue of US$100 billion, of which US$76 billion comes from licensed derivatives.
Among the top 11 IPs, Disney's IP accounts for 6 with a total revenue of 341.8 billion U.S. dollars.
In this list, "King of Glory" is the only original IP from China and the youngest IP, only 5 years since its birth.
The average "age" of other IPs on the list is about 40 years old.
The creation of a successful IP is a long-term complex issue involving many industries.
In the survey, relevant professionals combined with specific cases and pointed out the specific problems existing in my country's IP planning and operation.
At the content level, there are few high-quality IPs.
Zhang Xinxin, a professor at the School of Publishing, Printing and Art Design at the University of Shanghai for Science and Technology, pointed out that in recent years, there have been a number of realist IPs that reflect the main theme of the times, such as "Great Rivers" and "Mountain Sea Situation", and "Nezha: The Devil Boy Comes into the World". "Wandering Earth" is such a romantic IP that reflects Chinese values, but overall, the number of boutique IPs is still relatively small.
At the same time, the physical IP that can be turned into a theme park is extremely scarce.
According to Cui Di, associate professor of the School of Journalism at Fudan University, whether it is Disneyland or Universal Studios, young people are the main target group.
Therefore, subject matter that is too childish may not be suitable for development into a large-scale paradise.
""Three Body" may be a promising IP, but at present, its characterization is relatively weak."
At the operational level, there is decentralization and fragmentation.
Many industry insiders mentioned in interviews that due to the lack of overall planning, many IPs in my country are decentralized and fragmented in the commercialization process.
There are also some IPs that explode on the Internet due to accidental reasons, but there is no special organization to maintain this popularity. This situation is more obvious in some IPs with public attributes.
At the same time, commercialization is also a double-edged sword.
"The business model of some IPs is relatively clear now, the platform operation yields quick results, and the profit conversion is also fast. If the relationship between short-term profitability and long-term planning is not handled properly, it may kill an IP life cycle." Cui Di said.
In addition, some popular personal IPs also face many uncontrollable factors in the commercialization process.
Zhang Xinxin pointed out that once a character has relatively large negative news, it will lead to the collapse of the "personal design" and the value of the personal IP will be wiped out.
This is why many platforms currently launch virtual idols.
At the legal level, related risks cannot be ignored.
"IP is a property with personality attributes. For the legal community, this is a brand new topic, and there are no clear rules yet. Relevant laws and regulations need to develop along with the development of business models." Vice President of Guangzhou Internet Court According to Tian Hui, in practice, there are more disputes over the control of accounts operated by self-media platforms.
In many cases heard by the court, when the platform anchor resigned, both the brokerage agency and the anchor claimed control of the account, which resulted in the account being frozen by the platform.
"On the one hand, the platform account for content output belongs to the core property of the brokerage agency. On the other hand, the account is often highly related to the person or personality of the traffic anchor. If clear rules are not established, it is easy to fall into a deadlock in the distribution of benefits. "Tian Hui believes that only by solving the above problems through appropriate benefit distribution rules, can the chain of content innovation and industrial development be opened up and a long-term IP can be created.
4 How to create an IP with lasting vitality
The creator of the internationally renowned IP Marvel "Avengers" once explained the value of IP in this way. Fans' identification with IP is not only a story-level pleasure or a short-lived enthusiasm after consumption, but also a continuous emotional bond.
For decades, the stories of this group of super IPs have been continuously updated, and the actual value has been dynamically transplanted into the stories.
This unique companionship value has slowly accumulated in the audience and formed a hard-to-change loyalty.
The interviewed experts believe that in order to build IP with long-lasting vitality, efforts are needed from the following aspects.
Value-oriented, story-driven, content is king.
In interviews, many experts said that IP is actually a cultural product in the Internet age, which carries certain values and cultural concepts. IP that can be popular and is worth advocating for development should have positive spiritual value and stimulate positive psychological energy. .
Cui Di believes that a good IP is not an isolated symbol or logo, nor is it a pure combination of images. More importantly, it must have a narrative and a story. Only with a good story can it be passed on forever.
"Usually these stories touch on some motifs of human survival, such as friendship, family love, justice, courage, etc."
The Chinese civilization has a long history and has produced many popular folk tales, opera arts, and traditional images.
This is where many IPs look for inspiration.
Zhang Xinxin said that although the process of IP incubation from 0 to 1 is very difficult, as China’s cultural and national self-confidence is gradually increasing, the national trend that has emerged under the guidance of traditional aesthetics will be very important to enterprises in the entire IP industry chain. Is a huge opportunity.
Innovate operating models to extend the vitality of IP.
“IPs with cross-media narrative capabilities have lasting vitality.” Cui Di said that a good IP is highly related to the ability to adapt to different media in a specific era, and this adaptability should be considered at the early stage of planning and design. .
From creation, incubation, creation of film and television works, construction of theme parks, to authorized products, many domestic IPs are currently actively exploring and improving the layout of the entire industry's upstream and downstream industrial chains, trying to tap the value of IP in an all-round, three-dimensional, and multi-level manner.
As a phenomenon-level large-scale cultural expedition program, "National Treasure" has been launched for three seasons.
The program uses a "dramatic" form to interpret the past and present of the national treasure, and has carried out a wide range of IP commercialization explorations. Through continuous enrichment of IP content output to meet user needs, high-frequency reach users, while extending the vitality of IP, it is realized The value of IP has risen many times.
Embrace new technologies and enhance the sense of experience.
With the rapid development of the experience economy that emphasizes individual consumption feelings and consumer psychological experience, whether it can provide customers with immersive and experiential satisfaction has increasingly affected the value recognition and development prospects of IP.
At present, the development of emerging technologies and new concepts such as 5G, artificial intelligence, and Metaverse have provided strong support for the morphological innovation and multi-effect operation of IP-derived content.
"Cultural industry innovation is often accompanied by major changes in new content, new channels, new technologies, etc." Zhang Xinxin believes that in the future, new formats of intelligent network audiovisual such as high-definition video, immersive video, interactive video, and smart audio will be formed; based on VR/ With new technologies, new concepts, and scene-oriented IP economy such as AR and Metaverse, the future can be expected.
Cultivate talents in the IP industry.
With the continuous extension of the IP industry chain, there is a strong demand for talents in various cross-fields.
Tian Hui said that in the fields of film and television, entertainment, games, etc., there is a shortage of talents who are proficient in the field of expertise and have relevant legal literacy. With the development of the industry in the Internet era, all disciplines should pay attention to IP when cultivating talents. problem.
"Now when everyone talks about IP, they think it's just a problem in the field of intellectual property. This understanding is biased. We should not only treat IP as a legal issue, but also cultivate some interdisciplinary and comprehensive talents."
Creative talents are also in short supply.
At present, the domestic majors related to the IP economy are creative industries or media design majors. Experts suggest that a talent cultivation idea for the entire IP industry chain should be established. When cultivating artistic expression and creative talents, simultaneously pay attention to related knowledge such as operation and management. Improve and improve.
(Our reporter Fang Quyun)