What is the most expensive in this era? IP is the most expensive. This Spring Festival, Sister Ting will take you to learn how to build a super IP Kumamon.
A few days ago, I visited a consumer company and found a sad waste, that is, the company worked hard to design the IP image and continued to produce content, but did not continue to amplify its energy through communication, channels, and continuous output operations, and finally the IP image became a solid mascot at the entrance of the company. They came to the conclusion that maybe we don't need an IP. I said, no, you don't know what IP is. IP should have its own topic and potential energy, be personified, and be spontaneously disseminated by the public.
So today, I will talk about the case of Kumamon, which will definitely inspire and inspire many companies. It is the mascot of Kumamoto Prefecture, Kyushu, Japan, with a silly appearance and occasional offenses. Its fans are all over the world, and you may see it in any corner of the earth; You can see its emojis at any time on WeChat. In the five years since its birth, it has achieved a nearly 20% increase in the number of tourists in its hometown.
This IP was designed by the guest business Japanese tutor Manabu Mizuno and writer Koyama Shundo. Mr. Manabu Mizuno told me that Kumamoto Prefecture has a unique volcanic landscape and is rich in crops such as strawberries, watermelons, and tomatoes. But later, ** said that the focus of marketing is to attract more tourists and sell more agricultural products. Mizuno heard the goal of selling goods and decided that the logo would not be able to accomplish this mission, so he reworked it himself and designed a Kumamon with a soul.
Guest: Wu Ting, founder of Business School, talks about Mizunogaku, the "father of Kumamon".
Due to the volcanic topography of Kumamoto Prefecture, Kumamon's body is black, and two round blushes are heavily painted on its face, which not only makes it more simple and cute, but also represents Kumamoto Prefecture's delicious red agricultural products, echoing the title of "Land of Fire".
From a design point of view, this doesn't seem like anything new, right? But the following story is sure to make you feel "amazing".
As her popularity grew, the adorable Kumamon often participated in various public events, and every time she appeared, fans looked forward to it. At one point, Kumamon appeared on stage and everyone froze — its signature blush disappeared from its face.
Without blush, Kumamon was instantly eclipsed and reduced to an ordinary bear. This is so remarkable that Kumamoto Prefecture** immediately held an emergency press conference and took the liberty of declaring that the loss of Kumamoto blush was a serious incident because it was a symbol of the happiness of the Kumamoto people. Kumamoto Prefecture leaders also issued notices on major social networks to launch a vigorous "Looking for Blush" campaign.
In this blush search activity, major ** continued to track and report, and the whereabouts of blush became a hot topic of public discussion. After many twists and turns, the blush was finally recovered, and it turned out that there were traces of blush in the strawberry field and tomato field. People were pleasantly surprised, and the whole event ended perfectly with a national carnival of "blush recovery".
This is clearly a well-planned marketing campaign. I'm afraid everyone knows about this except for children. What is amazing is that this is the case, but no one has broken it, from the local ** leaders to the ordinary people, they are very serious and serious into this game.
This made the whole event a huge success. The incident also conveyed the impression to the outside world that the local strawberries and tomatoes were so delicious that they could make the blush fall off.
Kumamoto Prefecture** also gave Kumamoto a serious workplace identity - the head of the Kumamoto Prefecture Sales Department and Happiness Department. The rank of sales minister is second only to the vice governor, and the happiness minister is responsible for the well-being of the locals. It has its own private office with a name tag with a job title on the desk, and works five days a week.
Therefore, like all the top VIPs, it regularly updates its itinerary and attends some promotional activities and public welfare activities, such as: gymnastics dance in front of the emperor and queen, participation in fashion week catwalks, participation in kabuki and so ......on
This style of play has become a daily routine in Kumamoto Prefecture.
For example, Kumamon was once demoted for a simple reason - * failed.
In addition, it applied to be the torchbearer of the Tokyo Olympics and wanted to contribute to the cause of world sports, but was ultimately rejected, supposedly because it was too young to be sensible.
It is these character settings and workplace anecdotes that make Kumamon's image three-dimensional and plump, and has a strong personification color. It makes the public feel that this is a living, interesting friend around them. Because of this, Kumamon quickly gained a large number of fans, and its every move was closely related to its position in Kumamoto Prefecture, and it was only natural that Kumamoto Prefecture became famous.
In just the first two years of its tenure, it brought billions of RMB to Kumamoto Prefecture.
If these interesting interactions make Kumamon a good friend of the people of Kumamon or the envy of the surrounding area, then it is thanks to another stroke of genius – an innovative copyright strategy.
There are many well-known **IP images that come from content works, such as: movies, comics, stories, etc. If you want to use these images commercially, you need to get a copyright license and pay a high royalty, which is also an important part of the income of a copyright owner like Disney.
What makes Kumamon different is that this IP doesn't rely on any content. Its copyright owner, that is, Kumamoto Prefecture**, the core purpose of building Kumamon is urban marketing, so it does not pay attention to the realization of the idea itself, and there is no strong demand for copyright fees. On the contrary, for them, Kumamon's successful IP design can be pushed to as many people as possible.
For this reason, they have adopted a completely different copyright strategy - in Japan, as long as it is authorized, any company or individual can use the Kumamon image for free to make or ** merchandise. Even if these products are not related to Kumamoto Prefecture, they are still possible.
Later, in the face of the vast overseas market, Kumamon expanded this idea to the whole world. In January 2018, the Kumamon Copyright Regulations came into effect, allowing companies outside of Japan to apply for its image license for the first time. After the application is successful, as long as you pay 5% 7% of the copyright fee, you can easily use the Kumamon image.
Eventually, the number of products applying for Kumamon image authorization soared from more than 3,000 in 2011 to tens of thousands today. Not only that, but you can also see that in China, Kumamon dances with Andy Lau; In the United States, Kumamon has been photographed with Keanu Reeves; Its connection with Thailand was ...... by Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra
With the help of a new copyright strategy, Kumamon quickly became a "world-famous bear". Moreover, the products with the image of Kumamon have gradually expanded from the initial agricultural products to become more high-end and more international. Whether it's a German BMW mini cooper or a Japanese Honda motorcycle, you can see Kumamon in it.
It should be added that although this case belongs to the category of public relations, the energy and resources of a county are actually not greater than our medium-sized enterprises, so the core ideas are also suitable for enterprises. Of course, if you also want to learn from Kumamon's IP design experience, you also need to pay attention to avoid a pitfall: the charm of corporate IP should be independent, some corporate IP is suitable for real benchmark characters, some are suitable for anthropomorphic images, not every corporate IP is suitable for cute pet style.
Finally, leave a question for thought: through the case of Kumamon, can you imagine some unexpected "reverse" operations to strengthen your own enterprise IP and help your IP last hot search? Everyone is welcome to chat in the comment area.
Author |Wu Ting.
References: 1] Editorial Board of China Copyright Yearbook. China Copyright Yearbook 2019[M].Chinese University Press, 2020
2] Wu Sheng. Super IP: The New Species of the Internet**[M].CITIC Publishing Group, 2016
3] Konishi Riyuki. Efficient people use super note-taking [M].Hunan Literature and Art Publishing House, 2016
4] Luo Xuxiang. The Five Disciplines of a Product Manager [M].China Machine Press, 2013