From clothing to food, from beauty to cars, co-branded models are everywhere.
Co-branded models are also often more attractive to consumers, and are often sold out as soon as they are launched.
Before, a coffee brand and a beverage group launched a joint latte, which became a popular social platform.
Recently, a new tea brand has co-branded with the hit drama "Meng Hualu" to launch special blended tea products, which are highly sought after by consumers.
In the era of "everything can be co-branded", are co-branded models adding value to the brand, bringing a better sense of experience to consumers, or is it a "gimmick" created by businesses?
Brand mutual drainage to achieve "1+1>2"
Popular IP has always been the co-branding object that the brand is keen on.
During the Winter Olympics, some banks launched the Winter Olympics co-branded bank cards, some artists launched the Winter Olympics co-branded purple clay pot, and the popular IP "Bingdun Dun" co-branded dairy products, attracting consumers to buy.
Co-branding of catering brands has also become a routine operation in the industry.
Previously, Zhang Haixia, a post-00s Beijing girl, took advantage of the promotions launched by e-commerce, and placed an order for the "Layered Grape Cake" jointly launched by a cake brand and a tea brand. This is one of her favorite desserts. Every time I encounter a promotion, I have to buy some.
For Zhang Haixia, who loves food, "the combination of brands makes ordinary food more innovative and enriches the taste bud experience".
There is also the combination of time-honored brands and new Internet celebrities. Fresh supermarkets and time-honored brands have launched new dishes and dairy products that are convenient for fast food. There are also beer brands and milk tea brands. ...The joint name in the catering field made Zhang Haixia jokingly said: "Only unexpected, no joint can not be achieved."
Liubiju, a time-honored Chinese brand with a history of nearly 600 years, and Hema cross-border hand in hand, let the old Beijing Erba sauce appear in front of consumers with a new look.
The co-branded Erba sauce is still a traditional recipe, but it breaks into the eyes of young people with a young and trendy packaging.
The relevant person in charge of the Beijing Time-honored Brand Association said that it is a development trend for "time-honored brands" to embrace "new retail". Through co-branding, they can more directly gain the favor of young users. New brand promotion assistance.
Co-branding does bring traffic and attention to the brand.
The "Black Tea" jointly launched by "Hey Tea" and Hiroshi Fujiwara proves this with real data.
On the first day of the launch of the co-branded product, related topics were on the Weibo hot search list, and the two cups around the co-branded product, whether it was broadcast live or officially released, were all in seconds.
Relevant staff introduced that the joint name with other brands is to allow consumers to form a brand perception of drinks.
This is also the reason why most brands are co-branded. With the blessing of the dual-brand effect, the co-branded models can not only integrate their fans, but also produce a chemical reaction of "1+1 is greater than 2", attracting new consumer groups.
The dividends brought by the joint model are also obvious.
The "IP Co-branded Consumption Report" (hereinafter referred to as the "Report") recently released by the JD Consumer and Industrial Development Research Institute shows that IP co-branded consumption has gradually emerged, the consumer group and market scale have continued to expand, and the sales of sports outdoor and gift IP co-branded products are booming .
The share of IP co-branded merchandise sales in total sales is on the rise.
Since 2018, the number of users who purchased IP co-branded products and the sales of related products have continued to grow, and the number of users who purchased IP co-branded products and the proportion of sales have maintained an overall upward trend.
Is it a strong alliance or "cutting leeks"?
A number of data show that young people are the main purchasers of co-branded products.
Statistics from the "Report" show that in 2021, young people aged 35 and below will buy nearly 70% of IP co-branded products, of which consumers aged 26-35 will account for more than 50%.
However, can co-branded models satisfy young people?
A co-branded shopping experience made Gao Ziheng, an outdoor sports enthusiast, very unpleasant.
In January of this year, Gao Ziheng’s favorite outdoor brand Beimian and the trendy brand KAWS released a joint product, and he immediately placed an order for a jacket, “The quality of this clothes is greatly reduced compared to other clothes in Beimian, so I tried it outdoors. It's not wind-resistant at all. From the design point of view, it is not as good as the joint name of KAWS and other brands. I feel that this is an OEM joint name, and it has not achieved the effect of '1+1 equals 2', or even less than 2. I feel very disappointed."
Along with "everything is co-branded", some co-branded models also make some consumers feel aesthetic fatigue.
Xue Chenchen, a game lover who works in a foreign company in Guangzhou, likes trendy brands and is willing to pay for game accessories. Whenever a brand or game she likes launches a co-branded product, she always places an order to buy it immediately.
But recently, she, who used to queue up to grab co-branded models, seldom pays attention to the new co-branded products.
"Some merchants have launched co-branded models in order to make quick money, but many of the co-branded models just have an extra pattern or OEM, and have no creativity at all." Xue Chenchen said, "Some brands can be described as 'co-branding at the first moment of disagreement', and almost every few The co-branded model was launched this month, and my wallet can't stand it." She has a variety of co-branded clothes, figures, and daily necessities. She said that these are the blood and tears of being "cut leeks" a few years ago. "Actually calm down, I will find that many co-branded items have no practical use. Now I prefer to buy some co-branded items that are truly collectible. I will not pay for worthless co-branded items. I will also advise people around me not to blindly spend money on co-branded items. ".
Yu Xiaona, who works in an Internet company in Beijing, used to be a fan of co-branded models, but in recent years, she felt that "many co-branded models are becoming more and more careless, and it feels like they are co-branding for the sake of co-branding, and there is nothing new."
Yu Xiaona believes that the co-branded models have also spawned huge profits in the second-hand market. "The scalpers who resell the co-branded models will hire people to line up to buy them, making it impossible for some consumers who really like the co-branded models to buy them. After that, these scalpers go to second-hand platforms for high prices. For sale." She once bought a co-branded sneaker from a fashion brand at a high price on a second-hand platform, and the price doubled, "Calm down and think about it, I may have bought the co-branded sneaker to show off in the circle of friends, if only from the cost-effectiveness From an angle, it's really not worth that much money."
Yu Xiaona also introduced that, driven by huge profits, some counterfeit merchants have also launched co-branded fakes, "The ultimate reason is that co-branded items are scarce, and consumers who do not know how to do it and follow the trend to buy are easy to be deceived and become Chopped leeks".
Co-branded models cannot overdraft consumers' goodwill towards the brand
In early January this year, the "DIMOO Co-branded Blind Box Package" jointly launched by KFC and blind box seller Bubble Mart triggered panic buying among consumers. Some consumers hire people to buy and eat meals on their behalf to obtain blind boxes, and some consumers throw away the unfinished meals.
This incident has attracted widespread attention, and many consumers and industry insiders have called for "standardized co-branding" to reduce industry chaos.
According to Sun Shaojun, the head of Beijing Siwei Marketing, he often receives requests from customers to co-brand with other brands, but he believes that although co-branding is a commonly used marketing method, it needs to be related between brands and cannot be co-branded at will. "Co-branding is cultural The combination of value and commercial value is to promote the better development of the brand.
The environmentally friendly national tide brand "Baopu Regeneration BOTTLOOP" has been out of the circle through co-branding with other brands in recent years.
Different from other trendy brands, its raw materials are recycled materials such as waste plastic bottles. Through 12 professional recycling processes, garbage becomes "treasure" and becomes clothes, bags, etc., which appear in young people's wardrobes.
Its founder and general manager Liu Xuesong introduced that in recent years, the brand has successively launched cross-border products with well-known domestic and foreign brands such as BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Mars, Nestlé, Yuanqi Forest, Orient Securities, and World Wide Fund for Nature. The expansion of influence has spread and practiced the concept of sustainable development to a wider population.
In January this year, the brand and the Dunhuang Academy of Fine Arts jointly launched the "Dunhuang Regeneration Cultural and Creative Products", which put elements of Dunhuang murals such as nine-color deer on silk scarves and backpacks, allowing Dunhuang aesthetics and environmental protection aesthetics to collide.
Liu Xuesong introduced that the joint venture is based on the same concept of aesthetics and sustainable development between the two parties. "The joint venture with Dunhuang Academy of Fine Arts continues the traditional Chinese aesthetics and the concept of green and sustainable development, and also allows our brand to enter a more in the lives of many people.”
The new consumer brand "Jianai" has also launched co-branded products one after another. According to the relevant person in charge, when looking for IP co-branding, brands will first find values that fit each other, and then determine whether they can make more interesting gameplay. Give full play to the advantages of creativity and design, combine the characteristics that can resonate with users, and superimpose influence and communication.”
Sun Shaojun said that brand co-branding is a short-term behavior after all, and how to continue to attract and retain consumers is the focus of the brand.
He also called on relevant regulatory agencies to regulate brand co-branding, "The fundamental purpose of co-branding is to maximize the interests of both brands, and I hope practitioners will not make joint names without disagreement, which will cause chaos, which will also affect the industry and reduce consumer perceptions. Brand trust.”
China Youth Daily, China Youth Daily reporter Zhang Min Source: China Youth Daily
July 05, 2022 Edition 07