The Trend of Branding – Creating Your Brand’s Intellectual Property

Today we are exposed to many channels for obtaining information, which is called as media fragmentation. The rapid development of internet industry has accelerated such process. So, it becomes harder for marketers to draw people’s attention and retention. The increasing media fragmentation brings difficulties for brand marketing, especially when the target consumers are the young generation (Lom).

In FBIF & Food Show 2016, Li Ziqiang, the CMO of Pepsi pointed out the solution to tackle this challenge – creating intellectual property (IP). He believes IP is crucial for a brand to deliver its idea and value consistently, and it can enhance the brand impression which leads to more attention, revenue and loyalty. His viewpoint is agreed by many corporates. Therefore, this essay examines this trend from the perspective of China market, investigating how IP would raise brand equity and help a brand succeed.

       Intellectual Property vs Brand. Traditionally, IP refers to creations of the mind. It can be materialized such as inventions, literary works, designs, symbols, names and images used in commerce (WIPO). In today’s business, this concept has been expanded. In the book How to Create Super IP (Qin & Qiu, 2016), IP refers to the original content that can be developed into various formats. It is invisible but eternal, reflecting values, culture or identity.

It is still controversial between whether a brand is an IP since it also stresses the emotion and idea, and building a brand is also a long-term process. Yet the main difference is that the brand must rely on materialized products. So, the ideas of a brand may not be represented on products. Tracy (2016) mentions that the successful brands have already created its IP, for instance, Coca Cola has integrated happiness, dream and refresh the world as its IP. Its campaign and sponsored programs are related to the IP, such as American Idol Show (Dream) and Happiness without Boarder (Happiness and Refresh the World).

       Based on Qin and Qiu’s book (2016) and other research, this essay discusses three main elements of creating a brand’s IP.

       Exclusive Content. The content can be ideas, values, services and products, etc. The content must be differentiated with unique selling point if a brand wants to build its IP. Haidilao Hotpot is a successful example. It distinguishes itself by optimizing its service so that when people talk about service, the image of Haidilao will come up immediately. By this strategy, Haidilao has become the most well-known brand in the catering industry. 

      Brand Personification. It means by using a figure (Mascot, real person or cartoons) to represent the brand to make the brand more warm, interactive and easy to remember. It helps create a brand’s IP. For instance, famous snacks brand Zhang Jun Ya chooses a little girl as its figure, making the brand image very adorable and friendly.

Launched in March 2015, Classmate Xiaoming “小茗同学” is another successful case by personification. Targeting at consumers who are 95s, it depicts a cartoon figure that has a very vivid and appealing personality to the young people. Also, the figure is enriched by telling stories that familiar to the young consumers.

                                   

In addition, Classmate Xiaoming further explored the IP by initiating social media activities, emoji in Wechat and entertainment show 我去上学了.

By creating IP for this beverage and utilizing it into various forms, the brand awareness (over 30%), retention and loyalty are highly improved (Digitaling, 2015). 

Subculture & Community. This element means that a brand’s IP can provide emotional attachment, connecting and interacting with users in various ways. It also helps to form a subculture or community. For example, Pepsi has launched the campaign of “把乐带回家” for Chinese New Year since 2011. Each year Pepsi will launch a mini-film with the theme of reunion and spending the holiday with family. This prize-awarded campaign triggers people’s emotional resonance, especially those who work and live outside. By inserting the idea of “把乐带回家”, bring Pepsi (Happiness) back home, Pepsi forms its subculture that after whole-year hard work outside, it’s time to reunite with family and Pepsi helps to create a joyful vibe. 

        In conclusion, today we are under the situation of media fragmentation, which makes it difficult for business to get people’s attention and retention. Branding is not only about the content, but also the consistent value and core idea that are delivered through various channels. Creating IP for a brand is regarded as an efficient way to enhance the brand impression and customer loyalty, as well as to increase the brand equity and eventually the profits. As Li (2016) said, building brand’s IP is a trend for marketing, especially in internet industry even the upcoming AR and VR industries. Now the question should be how to create a popular IP and how to develop it.

CHAI Siyu

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References:

1.     秦阳、秋叶 （Qin, Y. & Qiu, Y.），《如何打造超级IP》。北京：机械工业出版社，2016。

2.     Branding: How to Use Intellectual Property to Create Value for Your Business?

http://www.wipo.int/sme/en/documents/branding_fulltext.html

3.     首席访谈 — 李自强： 价值驱动型营销时代，我们该如何“赢” 销

http://www.foodforum.cn/Aspeechmaker-detail.aspx?Class_id=23&Class_page=776

4.     What is Intellectual Property?  

http://www.wipo.int/about-ip/en/

5.     品牌IP化时代，哪些品牌可能成为有价值的IP

http://www.biangejia.com/27693

6.     统一「小茗同学」：认真搞笑，低调冷泡 整合营销

http://www.digitaling.com/projects/15773.html

7.     李自强：媒体碎片化 康师傅品牌IP营销的新功夫

http://www.morketing.com/posts/1554