Reporter | Ma Yue
Edit | Ya Han Xiang
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On the first working day of the new year of 2022, many young people rushed to the KFC store to snap up a package worth 99 yuan / part. Largely not because of how delicious these regular hamburger fries-cola combos are, but for the "plastic toy villain" that comes with the meal, a blind box jointly signed by KFC and Bubble Mart's DIMO.
What's more, they also want to find someone to "eat on behalf of" on social networks, spend the money of a package to ask someone to buy on behalf of others, and the package is invited to eat, leaving only the toys - somewhat contemporary "buy the pearls and return the pearls" flavor.
This is kFC China's joint activity with Bubble Mart at the time node of the 35th anniversary, the choice is Bubble Mart's hot IP DIMOO, the joint brand tide play has 6 ordinary models and 1 hidden model, and comes with a random gift after purchasing the specified package.
If you want to be welcomed around the toy, the most important thing is, of course, the appearance. DIMOO's joint tide play this time can be said to be enough "KFC" in terms of design, that is, each one is combined with KFC's classic products, namely "Ice and Snow Sundae", "Goodnight Fries", "Sweet Corn", "Is Coke", "Burger Full", "Ace Fried Chicken" and "Flying Colonel", and pokes at the preferences of many players in terms of color matching and styling.
KFC X DIMOO co-brand image source: Little Red Book search page
Image source: Little Red Book user @ Flying Panda
But the secret that triggered queues to snap up and even premium resale, tide play to make countless players "on top", still lies in hunger marketing.
"Limited edition" and "available in departmental stores" mean you may miss it if you don't pay attention. KFC's statement shows that the series sold 263,880 copies, or 43,980 units, in some stores across the country. Among them, the probability of rare hidden models appearing is based on full 1:72, that is, 1 in every 72 products produced is a hidden version.
The reason why the sale method of the blind box can make people "addicted" is that it is unknown and uncertain, which captures the curiosity of consumers, and at the same time, there is a kind of "gambling" psychology - betting on additional rewards, using the list price to buy high-priced items, and obtaining a consumption pleasure beyond expectations. Because in general, the hidden models in the blind box series are much higher in the second-hand market than the ordinary models.
For Bubble Mart, doing a special series of tide games with consumer brands can be said to be a mutually beneficial transaction with cooperative brands.
In recent years, Bubble Mart's IP has been more and more frequently licensed across borders. According to the 2020 financial report, Bubble Mart has carried out cross-border cooperation with 14 well-known brands such as L'Oréal, Defu and Casio, and the brands cover first-line brands in many fields such as FMCG, beauty, and daily use.
From the perspective of business composition, the external licensing business of Bubble Mart does not belong to the IP department, but is placed in the market department. At present, the external authorization does not undertake specific revenue tasks, but cooperates with the work of the IP department to carry out brand publicity activities through brand authorization and cross-border cooperation. This can also allow Bubble Mart's IP to expand its popularity and further prolong its vitality. Therefore, the primary importance of Bubble Mart's external licensing business is the tonality and IP adaptation of the brand, such as trying to choose a brand with trend attributes and pulling the tone of both sides.
The model of buying a set meal and giving away toys is not new to fast food brands, and the popularity of the event depends on the popularity of the IP. However, for the licensee and the sales channel of KFC, in addition to driving sales and manufacturing topics, it also has to bear the negative consumer evaluation brought about by hunger marketing.
Many netizens listed the "lower head" experience brought about by this rush on Weibo and Xiaohongshu, such as the postponement of the release date, the opacity of the store sales rules, some players complained about buying the blind box after being opened, and some people protested that scalpers sold on second-hand platforms at high prices in advance.
In essence, co-branded blind box marketing is a social marketing campaign, and its biggest role is to create more social topics for the brand, thereby driving brand exposure and sales. Special products based on blind boxes are more testing of the brand's combination of marketing link settings, market insights, creative settings and media communication for the entire link, as well as consumer experience.