This article is authorized and sourced from Fanctory Fan Workshop (ID: fensigongchang). Please indicate the source when reprinting. This is an era where marketing without IP is unthinkable. IP is like the steamship of the Age of Sail or the tank formations of World War II—it is not only an advanced weapon but also represents a way of thinking from a higher-dimensional civilization. Those who gain IP will conquer the world. How to build an IP? Let's listen to the sharing of Mr. Liu Chunxiong, the rotating dean of the Fan Research Institute. In the new marketing system, the most critical element is IP. Why do I say that? As we all know, traditional marketing in China has mainly been driven by two forces: brand-driven and channel-driven. But in the internet era, the marketing environment has changed dramatically. On one hand, the traditional one-way brand-driven approach is gradually failing, replaced by the rise of IP-driven marketing. On the other hand, the emergence of B2C e-commerce has brought new logistics models, allowing products to bypass traditional offline channels and reach consumers directly. As a result, brands are becoming less dependent on channel-driven strategies. They can use traditional channels, new logistics channels, or even no channel at all, but IP-driven is indispensable. More and more brands are recognizing the importance of using IP to change consumer perceptions. What is IP? IP originally means intellectual property, a term from the entertainment fields of film, games, and animation. Once an entertainment character becomes well-known to the public, a series of derivative products can be developed. Derivative products account for a very high proportion in the entertainment industry. For example, Mickey Mouse's image is deeply rooted in people's hearts, so derivative products like Mickey Mouse toys can be developed around it. This process is called IP licensing. IP licensing is a process that extends the commercial life of an IP and expands its influence. The commercialization of IP has gone through three extensions: entertainment IP → internet IP → pan-IP. The first extension of IP was from entertainment IP to internet IP. The internet created many new platforms, on which a group of entertainment-oriented influencers rose, such as Weibo's big V, Papi酱 on Miaopai, Up hosts on A-station and B-station, Mogujie influencers, and fashion bloggers on Nice. These influencers attract traffic and can derive commercial value. The second extension of IP is the generalization of IP: any personified label that can spread autonomously on the internet can be called an IP. An IP can be a company boss, like Lei Jun of Xiaomi; a brand, like Jiang Xiaobai; or a product, like Xiao Ming Tong Xue. With this second extension, pan-IP emerged, and everything with influence is called an IP. Wu Sheng, in his book "Super IP," defines a super IP as a symbol with self-generated traffic. From a marketing perspective, I define IP as a symbol that can spread autonomously on the internet. I emphasize autonomous spread to distinguish it from traditional passive spread and paid spread. Self-generated traffic and autonomous spread are important characteristics of IP. The core criterion for judging an IP is whether it has communication potential. Here we need to compare with traditional communication. Traditional communication is a one-way relationship between communicator and receiver, but in internet communication, the receiver may be the initiator of re-communication. Teacher Ding Ding says fans are supporters, and the core of support is spreading, not necessarily buying. I divide IP into two categories: public IP and proprietary IP. Wu Xiaobo and Lei Jun are both IPs, but they are completely different. I call Wu Xiaobo a public IP, or a media-type IP; in fact, he is a medium. Lei Jun, on the other hand, is a proprietary IP. Take Wu Xiaobo as an example of a public IP: he has a lot of traffic, but he basically doesn't sell things. Although he has crowdfunded bayberry trees and sold bayberry wine, it was basically unsuccessful. The traffic of a public IP can be used to attract traffic for other businesses, so its attributes are very similar to traditional media—it helps others attract traffic. Lei Jun is different: he participates in new product launches to attract traffic for his own products, so I call him a proprietary IP. Some IPs have both media and proprietary attributes, such as Wang Shi. He was both the image spokesperson for Vanke and a player, and he also endorsed other brands, such as advertising for Gree, so he has multiple attributes. But when we talk about IP in new marketing, unless otherwise specified, we mainly refer to proprietary IP. What is the difference between IP and brand? Many people have discussed the difference between IP and brand, each with their own views, but I think marketing expert Miao Qingxian summarized it best: "IP is naturally a brand, but a brand is not necessarily an IP." In other words, if a brand becomes a topic of discussion on the internet, it may be an IP; otherwise, it is not. So, NIKE is a strong brand and is sought after, but it doesn't carry its own traffic. To remember it, you need more communication, not consumers actively talking about it, so it is not an IP. However, NIKE's Jordan collaboration AJ is a super IP because it has personified characteristics due to Jordan's label, can carry its own traffic, and complete self-propagation. Coca-Cola is also a traditional brand, but I think it has transformed into an IP. In the past, Pepsi's slogan was "the cola of young people," but in recent years, we have found that Coca-Cola has done better in this regard: through smiley packaging, emoji posters, lyric bottles, and other ways that young people like, it has successfully created a personified character for the brand and triggered a lot of topic discussions on the internet. So it has transformed into an IP. To summarize briefly: Brand is a vertical force, IP is a horizontal force; brand anchors a product or category, and the more it extends, the weaker the anchoring; IP anchors personality, some can cross boundaries, some are hard to cross. Super IP is the result of crossing boundaries. How to build an IP communication matrix? There are roughly three directions for building an IP: the boss, the brand, and the core product. For example, Jiang Xiaobai's boss Tao Shiquan is a B-end IP, the brand is an IP among young people, and the product in the business scenario is also an IP, thus forming an IP matrix. Bano Hotpot also has such an IP matrix. Its boss Du Zhongbing is an IP, the brand Bano Maodu Hotpot is also an IP, and the big single product maodu (tripe) and the twelve products he calls "protectors" are also IPs. In addition, there are other ways to shape IP, such as turning employees into IPs. A few days ago, during the Qingdao SCO meeting, we were flooded with a photo of a SF Express courier carrying a delivery box on his shoulder and walking to deliver the package. Wang Wei personally liked it. As the photo went viral online, the IP image of the SF Express courier was successfully established. Some brands also shape IP by creating original anime or dolls, such as Japan's Kumamon, Three Squirrels, Jiang Xiaobai, and so on. Kumamon To form an IP, we also need to master its four characteristics and understand its formation mechanism. The first is personification. Personification is an important feature of IP. In Miao Qingxian's words, the physiological basis of IP personification is that people are more likely to remember character images and accept personified things more easily. This is why we emphasize that the boss must become an IP, because the boss himself is a natural personality. The second feature of IP is niche orientation. Meeting the special needs of a few people makes it easier to form an IP. IP ferments in a niche because niche groups have obsessive characteristics, and only obsession has strong communication potential. This is where many people misunderstand IP, because most of the IPs we talk about in secondary communication are super IPs. A super IP must cross multiple niches and eventually become mainstream. A super IP must be mainstream, but most IPs may remain niche forever, and only a few can become super IPs. The third feature is continuous content production and dissemination. The logic of IP formation is very different from brand formation. I remember a leading enterprise boss said ten years ago: "A brand is spending 200 million yuan a year to make consumers remember one sentence, which is the brand slogan. This slogan may be spread for a year or more. But IP dissemination is not like that. It's like a machine gun, consuming a lot of bullets every day, consuming a lot of content, so it needs to produce a lot of content." The fourth feature is occupying the latest communication platforms. Every new internet platform produces a batch of new IPs. So wherever public attention goes, our IP communication must follow. This article is reprinted from Fanctory Fan Workshop (ID: fensigongchang). Gravity is redefined here. In late August, the "2018 China Digital Innovation Conference (2018FDIC)" with the theme "Finding New Engines for Growth" will be held in Shanghai, hosted by the China FMCG Industry Association and organized by New Distribution. The conference will last for three days, focusing on two main themes: marketing and supply chain, with six parallel forums on brand, channel, communication, B2B, same-city logistics, and innovative retail. We will invite industry experts, CEOs, and senior brand executives to deeply interpret the trends and drivers of digital transformation in the FMCG industry. This conference will have more than 5,000 enterprises participating. This grand event brings together outstanding explorers and promoters of digital transformation across industries, sharing case practices of digital transformation for industry enterprises and partners, discussing trends and frontier applications of digital technology, and building a bridge for brand owners, distributors, retail enterprises, and marketing agencies to help FMCG manufacturers obtain the latest information and understand the best application practices. It will help brand owners and distributors find new engines for digital growth in the internet era! Conference Time August 22-24, 2018 Conference Venue Shanghai Baohua Marriott Hotel Conference Content August 22: Full-day check-in Afternoon 14:00-17:30 Parallel forum on same-city logistics for distributors Evening 18:30-21:00 New Distribution Night Gala Dinner August 23: Theme: Marketing Digital Innovation Morning 9:00-12:00 Main forum on marketing digital innovation Afternoon 14:00-17:30 Parallel forums on brand, channel, and communication August 24: Theme: Digital Upgrade of FMCG Supply Chain Full day: FMCG Supply Chain Conference Registration Method The registration channel is now open. Long press the QR code below or click "Read Original" to register. There are only 200 early bird tickets at half price, available on a first-come, first-served basis! Registration Consultation Ticket inquiries: Media cooperation inquiries: Highlights of Previous New Distribution Conferences Click the links below to review the first, second, and third FMCG + Internet Conferences: -END-