During this year's "May Day" holiday, driven by the "top female star" Panda Huahua, the Chengdu Giant Panda Breeding Research Base, visited by 26,4 tourists, ranked second among the top ten popular attractions in China.

As the Chengdu Universiade gets closer and closer, "Rong Bao", who has transformed into a blind box with a Sichuan opera face, has become a favorite among young people. Earlier in February, as soon as the Universiade 2D animation promotional film "The Adventures of Nezha Rong Bao" was released, it won three consecutive netizens with one click.

Two giant pandas, one real and one virtual, have made Chengdu the focus again and again. How to continue to play the "king fried" card of giant pandas? How to use pandas to drive the local economy? How to use giant pandas to improve the energy level of a city? The reporter of Chengdu Business Daily-Red Star News In-depth Reporting Group investigated this.

one

IP construction must have the whole industry chain system thinking

What can the "top stream" come from?

This is the scene during this year's "May Day": the Chengdu Giant Panda Breeding Research Base is crowded, and in order to see the flowers of the "top female star", many tourists line up to slowly move forward in a queue of an hour or two away from it; At the flagship store of Panda Post Office Summer Sock Street, 13 kilometers away, tourists hold postcards of "flowers" and queue in front of the cash register; There are also some people who are waiting online for the new book "Panda Flower" to be quickly delivered to their hands.

"Chengdu is full of giant pandas," said Li Sha, a tourist. At IFS Square, she saw the "legendary" wall-climbing panda. What surprised her was the "scholar monster" panda at the Dongdalu subway station of Line 8, "You take one step, it also takes one step, it's so fun." "This innovative technology that uses radar capture and interactive experience has recently become a new Internet celebrity check-in point in Chengdu.

Behind the ubiquitous "panda fever" is the joint development of panda IP by Chengdu government and enterprises for many years.

The Chengdu Giant Panda Breeding Research Base where "Huahua" is located is the core area of Chengdu Panda International Tourism Resort, which is committed to the in-depth excavation of giant panda IP. The relevant person in charge of the Administrative Committee of Chengdu Panda International Tourism Resort introduced: "At present, our main work is to shape the Chengdu giant panda IP, and have launched the giant panda tourism boutique route, the musical "Panda", the promotional song "Panda Home", etc., the musical "Panda" began to perform at the Panda Theater last year, this 'May Day' holiday effect is good, the venue is full. ”

"In recent years, children have learned more and more about pandas." Speaking of "Look at the Panda" magazine, Jiang Lin, the editor-in-chief, was deeply moved, "The public loves pandas, but they don't know much about this species. We hope to use storytelling to popularize panda-related knowledge and spread panda culture to the world. "This magazine is the only magazine in the country named after a giant panda. Jiang Lin is also the author of the new book "Panda Flowers", "This book not only tells the story of Huahua, but also has popular knowledge of panda science".

Talking about panda IP, Chen Guangyu, founder of Chengdu Cherished Giant Panda Culture Communication Company, was very impressed, he introduced the brand GOGOPANDA to reporters, "The company has two major IPs, Art Panda and Balang Panda, art panda is white all over, equivalent to a medium, through which different cultures can be displayed." The iconic symbol of the Balang panda is the goggles, which present a spirit of exploration. But GOGOPANDA does not only do panda cultural creativity, "we are doing ecology around panda IP, including brand services, brand ecological chain, brand cultural and creative product development and operation." ”

After more than ten years of cultivation in the industry, Chen Guangyu once made an analysis report on the development of Sichuan giant panda cultural and creative industry, he believed, "Sichuan does not have truly influential giant panda cultural and creative enterprises and products at home and abroad." According to his observation, 30.4% of domestic tourists are interested in giant panda souvenirs, while inbound tourists are 10 percentage points higher, "which fully shows that the giant panda cultural and creative industry has great potential." "However, there are many enterprises in Chengdu that develop panda IP, and there are not many with characteristics, most of which are still based on the front end of the industrial chain, focusing on product design and sales, the business model is more traditional and single, and the design creativity only stays on the inherent image surface of the giant panda, lacking the core creativity."

Gu Jiang, executive deputy director of the National Cultural Industry Research Center of Nanjing University and dean of the Yangtze River Delta Cultural Industry Development Research Institute of Nanjing University, suggested that "a rich humanistic environment can be built around the panda IP and a richer science popularization venue can be built; It can produce creative products, such as using VR\AR and other technical means to enhance the sense of digital technology experience; It can also make efforts in consumption to create panda themed catering, theme hotels, etc., and form a whole industry chain of clothing, food, housing, travel, shopping and entertainment around IP. He also stressed that it is necessary to integrate Chengdu culture and panda culture to let everyone see what makes Chengdu Panda IP unique. At the same time, IP presentation should be as rich as possible to meet the needs of different groups online and offline, and realize the digital and physical integration of IP creation.

two

IP breaking the circle and cultural and creative problems

How do we learn to "break the plate"?

On April 4, the "Dinner Giant Panda" account broadcast a 27-second video, facing a baby panda "hanging" on a tree, the dubbing said: "Jiaxin children hang trees again, although the body is at work, but the soul has taken a holiday." "On the Douyin platform alone, the video received 20.209W+ likes. CCTV host Zhou Yun called "copywriting is outstanding".

In fact, official accounts such as iPanda Channel, Rice Giant Panda, and Chengdu Giant Panda Breeding Research Base have long become an online "meal replacement". If you can't go to the scene to see the giant pandas, the video will make up for it. On Weibo, the words of giant pandas and Hua Chao have been read by more than 23.3 billion people.

In this regard, "Huahua" and Shanghai Disney's "Ling Na Belle" have similarities. Both "top streamers" have overwhelming videos, pictures, and jokes on social media, and fans have unknowingly become IP promoters.

Also "doing things" is the Mosi Moxi Panda, a 4-year-old "boy" with white hair and a tongue sticking out. During the team competition of the Chengdu World Table Tennis Championships last year, the video of Li Feng, the coach of the Chinese team, playing table tennis with him was uploaded to the Internet, and it quickly became a hot discussion among netizens.

Even if there are top players such as "Huahua", there are funny events of Moxi Panda, but many panda cultural and creative enterprises in Chengdu are not outstanding in marketing. How to solve the problem? Regarding marketing, Ikuo Kawashima, the governor of Kumamoto Prefecture, Japan, once said that it doesn't matter if you wash a lot of plates, break a few plates. The brave attempt of the "breaking the plate" theory, which is not afraid of making mistakes, inspired the Kumamon planning team to "open their brains" and create the super IP Kumamon Kuma.

The reason why Kumamon has been popular for so many years lies in the continuity and effectiveness of marketing. Gu Jiang believes that IP breaking the circle needs to create a flashpoint, one is to rely on the blessing of content, give symbols cross-border narrative capabilities, and establish emotional bonds between people and urban IP, such as shooting cartoons, short videos, and creating marketing events such as "panda eating hot pot". The second is the publicity and dissemination of the all-media matrix, using 5G, artificial intelligence, and metaverse new technologies to achieve strong momentum and exposure of urban IP online and offline.

"Content is the best marketing." In addition to "Panda Flowers", Jiang Lin has also published many panda children's literature works such as "The Adventures of Panda Ming". He said, "The reason why Ling Na Belle is so popular is because there is a century-old Disney culture behind it. This point led him to think, "As long as the panda story is told well, you can derive products such as film and television, animation, stage drama and other products around the content, or create theme parks." ”

The goal of Chengdu Panda International Tourism Resort is more ambitious, and the corner of the stairs on the second floor of the management committee is impressively printed with three rows of large characters: "world-class leisure tourism resort, giant panda super IP source, and cultural and business tourism integration development demonstration area". To this end, in addition to musicals and other things, the resort is also creating a dance drama "Giant Panda".

In February this year, the resort released a list of investment opportunities for 2 types of key projects, attracting representatives from tourism industry associations from Chenghua International Sister City and more than 14 countries and regions around the world, as well as guests from more than 100 industry leaders such as Shanghai Bailian Group, Fosun Tourism Group and InterContinental Hotels Group. At the end of September, the new Aoya Beihu Ecological Park Adventure Park with Panda's characteristic IP as the core and "science + entertainment" as the feature will be launched here.

three

Economic value and spiritual core

How to break that layer of "paper"?

At the end of March, a group of special guests came to the Chengdu Giant Panda Breeding Research Base, who were guests attending the spring meeting of the head of delegation of the Chengdu Universiade. "It turns out that it is the prototype of 'Rong Bao'! This big guy is sitting and eating bamboo, it's really cool! After seeing the giant panda "Sesame", GREEN, a staff member of the FIFA office, excitedly used his mobile phone to capture the cute moment.

Turning to the Southern Hemisphere, in 2017, the "China-Australia Tourism Year Chengdu Day" event was held in Federation Square in Melbourne city centre, with 25 Panda Artparade art panda works on display. Two years later, the first "PANDA FAN" physical collection center featuring the cultural tourism food experience in Chengdu and featuring the image of the gogopanda brand landed in Melbourne's CBD.

Please come in and go out, all because of the charm of Panda IP. During this year's "May Day" holiday, Japanese TV came to report "Huahua"; On the short video platform, many foreigners share their visiting experiences. The city's popularity and reputation have been continuously improved in online and offline interaction with IP with Chengdu's characteristic panda characteristics.

This is the main function of Chengdu Panda International Tourism Resort, when interviewed by reporters, Ding Zhaorui, the person in charge of the management committee, said: "Chengdu Panda International Tourism Resort is Chengdu's 'three better and stronger' key area, undertaking the core function of international exchanges, we will further expand and strengthen the Panda IP, so that more people can understand Chengdu through Panda." ”

Not only enhance international influence, but also bring economic benefits to Panda IP. During the May Day holiday, the Panda Base and Beihu Ecological Park in the resort alone received more than 44,50 tourists. According to the estimation of a platform big data research institute, buying a ticket for the Chengdu Giant Panda Breeding Research Base in Sichuan Province for 1450 yuan can drive local transportation, accommodation and other consumption of <> yuan. Gu Jiang pointed out that "Chengdu needs to form a complete panda IP industry chain". Urban IP should form a sustainable, diversified and rich refined development model, and bid farewell to the extensive ticket economy as soon as possible.

"A successful city IP should be the result of culture-driven, technology-driven, demand-driven and spiritual satisfaction." Li Haigang, head of the culture and media research team of the Industry Research Institute of Shanghai Jiao Tong University, believes that "the spiritual core of IP is particularly important. Because of such an IP spiritual core, "directly points to the pain points of the public." Jiang Lin also saw the positive effect of panda IP on people, "I wrote about flowers not because she was hot, but because I saw in her an unhurried attitude, non-competitive character, she can give people strength." It's like people crying after experiencing the epidemic holding Ling Na Belle; It is also like when people are happy or sad, running to the panda base to see the flowers, at first they may have a good impression of the cute pet, and gradually it has become a kind of spiritual comfort and emotional resonance.

Urban IP can not only drive the local economy and promote industrial development, but also have intangible and valuable value, enhance the city's international popularity and reputation, and become people's spiritual sustenance.

In the survey, many experts said that Chengdu giant pandas already have this potential, but they still need to break through that layer of "paper", form a whole industrial chain around IP, and constantly create explosive points out of the circle incident, so that they can use panda IP to build a city and gather people.

Chengdu Business Daily-Red Star News In-depth Reporting Group reporter Huang Jing