In recent years, IP products have taken the market by storm, especially Peppa Pig merchandise, bringing both fame and fortune to companies and distributors alike—truly "making money while lying down." Animated IP products mainly target the children's market. First, the children's market has vast growth potential; according to authoritative statistics, it has a market capacity of 3 trillion yuan. Second, children's IP products sell quickly due to their strong targeting and precise positioning. Through market research, our reporter learned that Liaocheng Haojiayi Bio-Lactation Co., Ltd., together with Shanghai Youxiaojun Food Co., Ltd., has secured the rights to four major IPs—Peppa Pig, PAW Patrol, Octonauts, and Chuggington—this year, making a full-force entry into the children's beverage market. Holding these four IPs with a combined 16 billion streams is unique nationwide, demonstrating the strategic boldness and absolute strength of these two companies. Through follow-up interviews, our reporter gained insight into the strategic development direction behind the companies and the visionary thinking of their leaders. 1 A Boss with a Military Background Shows Military Boldness, Securing Four Major IPs in One Go For a great product and a great brand, the founder is crucial. The founder is the company's biggest IP. Without Zhong Shanshan for Nongfu Spring, Zhang Liaoyuan for Three Squirrels, or Jack Ma for Alibaba, these brands might never have come into existence. Li Lei, the leader of Hao+1 and Youxiaojun, is a seasoned veteran in the industry. Li Lei is a former soldier; years of military life have instilled in him a decisive and efficient work style. With years of practical experience, Li Lei keenly sensed that the IP era had arrived, and the children's beverage market was still a blank slate—a huge market opportunity. So, without hesitation, he signed contracts for four major IPs: Peppa Pig, PAW Patrol, Octonauts, and Chuggington. On the distributor side, products need to bring their own traffic and sustained buzz; on the parent side, the post-85s and post-90s young parents have a natural affinity for IPs; on the child side, animated IPs are a window for children to understand the world, with natural appeal. The power of IP lies in its ability to bring its own traffic and self-replicate, making consumers willing to actively spread the word and take pride in it, so IP products naturally sell well. These moves have undoubtedly dropped a bombshell on the children's beverage market. Let's take a closer look at these four formidable IPs. 1The World's Most Profitable IP—Peppa Pig "Peppa Pig" is a British preschool animated TV series created, directed, and produced by英国人 Astley, Baker, and Davis. The story revolves around the pleasant experiences of Peppa Pig and her family, humorous and interesting, promoting traditional family values and friendship, and encouraging children to experience life. Since its premiere on May 31, 2004, the series has been broadcast in 180 regions worldwide, with cumulative views on major Chinese video platforms exceeding 100 billion. Thanks to the popularity of the animation, in 2016, "Peppa Pig" brought 7 billion yuan in retail sales globally for the company, with projections of 12 billion yuan by 2020. 2The World's Largest IP by Volume—PAW Patrol "PAW Patrol" is an American preschool educational animated series that tells the exciting stories of a team of rescue dogs led by a boy named Ryder, allowing children to learn basic safety and rescue knowledge while enjoying the animation. It has been broadcast in 126 countries worldwide, with annual viewership growth of 187%, and cumulative views on major Chinese video platforms reaching 36.8 billion. The series won the 2017 "Licensed Character of the Year" award at the "Toy Oscars" in the United States, and it holds stage show tours in Beijing, Shanghai, and Hangzhou every year, each becoming a hot topic for media coverage. 3The IP with the Top Real-Life Theme Park Presence, Operated by Wanda—Octonauts "Octonauts" is a work by the British company Silvergate. Set in the ocean, the series combines action, adventure, marine biology lessons, and preschool teamwork, telling the story of a team of eight cute animals on underwater expeditions. After six years, Octonauts has become a world-class IP, and it has taken the lead in the Chinese market. In 2017, Wanda Children's Entertainment Co., Ltd. launched operations for "Octonauts," relying on Wanda Kids Place to create the top real-life theme park IP. To date, online views across all platforms have exceeded 23 billion. 4The Top Pure CG IP—Chuggington "Chuggington" is a fun story about growing train babies, specially created for 21st-century children. It uses pure CG production, making it more suitable for children to watch. It is produced by the same company as the world-famous "Thomas & Friends" train animation, and its high-speed train design is more in line with modern children's understanding of trains. Through communication with Mr. Li, our reporter felt that he had long been prepared for IP. In his view, why has China's IP market been so hot in recent years, especially animated IPs? There are two fundamental reasons: first, these foreign IPs convey positive energy—whether it's the harmonious life of Peppa Pig's family or the ocean adventures of the Octonauts—they educate children with positive messages, so people love to watch them; second, the development of mobile devices has made it possible to watch animated IPs freely. Previously, you had to watch cartoons on TV, but now you can easily watch them on iPads and phones, enabling rapid IP dissemination. 2 Addressing Distributors' Core Pain Points: Why Business Is Hard In recent years, rising costs from raw materials and logistics, product homogenization, and promotional activity similarity have led to difficulties in moving products and declining profits, becoming pain points for distributors, who lament that business is hard! There are three pain points: distribution, sell-through, and profit. First-tier brands are easy to distribute and sell well, but profits are pitifully low—often less than 5% for beverages—making distributors of first-tier brands mere "porters." Moreover, distributors of first-tier brands face pressure from inventory and capital. To meet performance targets, companies often require distributors to continuously increase inventory and accelerate distribution. However, market turnover is not within the distributor's control, leading to expired products, inventory pile-ups, and inefficient capital use. Combined with the thin margins from famous brands, distributors' profitability is greatly affected. Some distributors have even been "crushed" by this, while more are considering "fleeing," and others are "hesitating." For second- and third-tier lesser-known brands, product homogenization is severe, terminal stores have low awareness, distribution is difficult, consumers don't recognize them, and sell-through is also difficult. Although profits may seem high, without sell-through, they still don't make money. In summary, these three problems mean that first-tier brands have traffic but no profit, while second- and third-tier brands have profit but no traffic, ultimately resulting in no profit. Worse, there is no strategy or solution to address this situation. Seeing this, Mr. Li was determined to help distributors solve these three pain points, because only by solving these can distributors earn more money. The emergence of IP gave Mr. Li the answer: use IP to solve the pain points of distribution, sell-through, and profit, giving distributors traffic, profit, and a solution. 3 Four Matrix Solutions: Making Business Easy for All After Hao+1 and Youxiaojun signed contracts for Peppa Pig, PAW Patrol, Octonauts, and Chuggington, they conducted comprehensive design and planning from product development, packaging design, and channel positioning to dominate the Chinese children's beverage market and become the leader in children's beverages. This time, they have created a unique four-matrix approach, connecting the parent, child, and distributor ends in the children's beverage field, providing one-stop solutions to solve the sell-through problems for distributors and terminal stores. Making business easy for all! IP Matrix — Monopolizing four major IPs: Peppa Pig, PAW Patrol, Octonauts, and Chuggington, with 16 billion streams, automatic replication, and a typical blockbuster screen-dominating situation, making them phenomenal IP products. Product Matrix — Creating "three no" standards for products (no artificial colors, no preservatives, no artificial sweeteners); children's exclusive formulas to support healthy growth (with added prebiotics, calcium, iron, zinc, DHA, etc.); meeting three consumer needs: digestion, appetite, and intelligence. Packaging Matrix — Covering seven packaging forms: PE bottles, nipple bottles, Tetra Pak, stand-up pouches, two-piece cans, three-piece cans, and PET, to meet consumer needs in different regions. Channel Matrix — Opening up circulation channels, baby channels, KA channels, and catering channels, and developing targeted solutions for each channel's pain points and needs, positioning as a one-stop solution provider for baby products; on-the-ground IP activities help distributors create buzz, encouraging consumers to actively spread the word and naturally replicate, leading to natural sell-through. As the four matrices of Hao+1 and Youxiaojun, these are also four advantages that help distributors solve distribution, sell-through, and profit issues, with precise positioning and reasonable layout, gradually achieving leadership in Chinese children's beverages. Looking at the entire food and beverage industry, no company can match Hao+1 and Youxiaojun in monopolizing four formidable IPs, commanding 16 billion streams, and creating unique product, IP, packaging, and channel matrices to enter the 100-billion-yuan children's beverage market. Our reporter has learned that distributors in the industry have already begun competing for IP product agency rights. Opportunities wait for no one. The key is that with four hot IPs, it's hard not to be a hit! Scan the code to learn more about animated IP products (Peppa Pig, PAW Patrol, Octonauts) Central China Region (Hubei, Hunan, Henan, Jiangxi) Liu Huibo North China Region (Beijing, Tianjin, Hebei, Shanxi, Inner Mongolia) Ji Qian Northeast and South China Regions (Guangdong, Guangxi, Hainan, Liaoning, Jilin, Heilongjiang) Bai Yongwang East China Region (Shandong, Jiangsu, Anhui, Zhejiang, Fujian, Shanghai) Yin Lili Southwest Region (Sichuan, Yunnan, Guizhou, Tibet, Chongqing) Sun Lili Northwest Region and Others (Ningxia, Xinjiang, Qinghai, Shaanxi, Gansu) Investment Promotion Customer Service Center, Investment Promotion Director: Wen Yang -END-