Image source @ Visual China
Text | Bear out of ink please note (ID: xiongxiongbiji), author | Polite
There is no such thing as a free lunch, but KFC is an exception.
It's not that KFC is doing charity, but it's the lately particularly popular substitute eater. Someone places an order for you to eat a hamburger, and how much you have to pay for labor. This may sound magical, but it really happened in reality.
Of course, it's not completely for nothing, you have to help the "employer" do one thing, pull out the bubble Mart Dimo blind box in the package. If you accidentally drive to hidden, rare or something, you may be able to get more tips.
The drunkard does not mean in the fort, but also cares about the DIMO blind box.
Some people even spent tens of thousands of dollars to purchase hundreds of packages in bulk. There are also people who remotely guide the takeaway brother, "the blind box belongs to me, the fried chicken belongs to you.". In short, witty blind box players have a hundred ways to solve the conflict between wanting Dimeo to be a good child and not wanting to eat KFC.
Madness and danger often go hand in hand, and after several hot searches, this cross-border marketing has attracted the attention of the China Consumer Association.
On January 12, the China Consumer Association named KFC, on-demand purchase of instant fast food, usually consumers will not over-buy, limited blind box sales is to stimulate consumption by means of "hunger marketing", which can easily lead to consumer impulse consumption and cause food waste, which should be resisted by the whole society.
KFC reacted quickly, and the official customer service said that the blind box activity would not be affected, and consumers could continue to buy normally.
The two are space-to-air, and the hot search has been hung on the whole network for a day. Most netizens are debating whether KFC is wrong, and Xiong Chumo found that the public seems to have ignored another important party in the whole incident, the blind box economy, and the problems exposed by it are actually more worthy of reflection.
"Blind Box +", a tried-and-true marketing formula
Time back to 2019, the blind box successfully took the place in this year, becoming the most dazzling wave in the new domestic consumption field.
According to the "List of Post-95 Players Cutting Hand Force" released by Tmall International, the number of consumers who spend more than 20,000 yuan on blind boxes in a year is as high as 200,000, and even some players spend millions of dollars a year to buy blind boxes.
Madness is just beginning.
According to the data provided by the Mob Research Institute, the domestic blind box market size in 2019 was 7.4 billion yuan. Industry representative company Bubble Mart, the blind box provider in this KFC incident, generated revenue of 1.683 billion yuan in 2019. Two years back, that number is just 158 million.
Two years later, the domestic market in 2021 is estimated to have exceeded 10 billion, and Bubble Mart not only completed its listing, but also ushered in a highlight moment of market value of HK$150 billion.
At the same time as it grows, the traffic of the blind box is also overflowing. In recent years, more and more merchants have begun to try blind box form of marketing, and they have tried and failed. "The blind box is a brick, where it needs to be moved", some insiders joked, "the formula of 'blind box +' does not dare to say that it is omnipotent, but so far there have not been many failure cases." ”
At that time, Luckin Coffee launched the blind box of the image of the spokesperson Liu Haoran, the product was just launched, a large number of fans and blind box players poured in, and the Luckin APP collapsed three times in a row. The flagship stores of its Tmall, JD.com and other platforms also set a record for daily sales, and the official temporary emergency replenishment was also empty in seconds.
Consumers who have not grabbed or want to collect a complete set are turning to second-hand trading communities such as idle fish, and the corresponding price is to pay N times the price difference.
History is always surprisingly similar, KFC and Bubble Mart this time cooperation with DIMO co-brand blind box package, different brands, different products, different IP, but the marketing effect is more than enough.
According to the rules of the event, from January 4, when purchasing a designated package "99 yuan family barrel" at KFC, consumers can get a joint limited series of handmade, with random and limited handmade styles. The specific models include 6 regular models and 1 hidden model, and the production ratio of the hidden model is 1:72, that is, 1 in every 72 products produced is a hidden model, and the probability of winning the hidden model is 1/72.
For consumers who simply make a scene and focus on participation, the package actually has a certain cost performance. But for the only buyers of DIMO in the eyes, the fried chicken burger is just an insignificant accessory, and the blind box has become a Pandora's box, and various "riot operations" have emerged.
Some netizens posted bills on social platforms and purchased 106 blind box packages at one time, with a total price of more than 10,000 yuan. The blind box is enough to disassemble, but how to dispose of the food in the 106 packages has endless imagination space like the blind box. In the discussion of netizens, there is no shortage of waste of drawing a blind box and discarding the package on the spot. Then there is the use of CT scans, subway security checks, etc. to confirm the style of blind boxes, spend money to ask people to eat on behalf of others, ask takeaway brothers to help dismantle on the spot, and so on.
In short, the magic realism induced by the blind box, only the unthinkable, not the impossible. At present, the Weibo topic reading of #KFC DIMO# has approached 100 million, and other related topics have also rushed to the hot search many times to earn enough traffic.
It is also this kind of madness that lays the groundwork for the subsequent public opinion storm.
Ignite the upper body, the other side of savage growth
"Blind box + KFC", the traffic password does work. But at the same time, the other side of madness is emerging.
There is a demand for the market, and the value of the KFC DIMO blind box is rising. It can be seen on the e-commerce platform that the pricing of merchants is generally higher than the official price of KFC, taking the merchants with monthly sales of 300+ in the figure as an example, the designated regular model is 150 yuan, and the hidden model is worth as high as 799 yuan. Compared with the KFC 99 yuan package price, the former is 1.5 times premium and the latter is 8 times premium.
What's more, the price doesn't include two mains, three snacks and three colas in the package.
Netizens who are sensitive to numbers immediately became alert, and KFC joined hands with Bubble Mart to operate this wave of operations, which is more like a "harvest" for young people than selling goods. In addition to the handmade food worth 39 yuan in the package, how can the value soar several times? Some skeptics joked that there was some "IQ tax" mixed in with it.
The real value geometry is the first slot point of the blind box. In recent years, the industry and outside have been arguing about this issue endlessly, especially whenever a high-priced blind box appears, it will inevitably attract a controversy.
To take a more extreme case, last year Bubble Mart launched a limited edition MEGA collection series, including two doll toys of 70 cm and 29.5 cm, with a price of 3999 yuan and 1099 yuan respectively, and they were sold out in 1 second after going online. Subsequently, on the second-hand platform, someone shouted out the purchase price of 350,000 yuan.
A baby, a suite.
Objectively speaking, in the tide play economic track where the blind box is located, similar abnormal sky-high "toys" are actually not uncommon. Ling Na Belle, who dominated the hot search some time ago, a doll was also speculated to a thousand yuan; more elderly-level brands such as Be@rbrick can easily soar to six figures.
However, the market is different and the national conditions are different.
Not to mention the cost of the blind box itself, xiong chumo learned from the source supplier before that the cost of factory mass production is generally more than ten pieces, and its premium is more supported by IP and marketing. According to the annual report data of Bubble Mart, the gross profit margin of the company's products in 2019 was 71.2%, and the gross profit margin in 2020 was 68.7%.
From the perspective of consumers, unlike Japan, Europe and the United States and other tides to play the economically developed market, the rise of blind boxes in China is only three years, consumers lack of general recognition and recognition, and its three days of hot search, public opinion storms will be inevitable.
According to the "2020 China Blind Box Industry Development Status and Market Research and Analysis Report" released by Ai Media Consulting, one-third of domestic netizens believe that the blind box gimmick is too large and the product lacks practicality. In addition, unreasonable prices, addictive, serious hype, design plagiarism, etc. are also typical problems. According to public information, in December last year, Bubble Mart was fined twice for false publicity and false price means to lure consumers.
The madness of the market and the frequent complaints of consumers have also attracted the attention of the relevant departments.
In January 2021, the China Consumer Association issued a document pointing directly to the barbaric growth of the blind box economy, reminding "consumers not to buy blind boxes blindly". In December of the same year, the Shanghai Municipal Bureau of Market Supervision issued the "Shanghai Blind Box Business Activity Compliance Guidelines (Draft for Comment)", which includes that the price of a single product is not higher than 200, and blind box enterprises are encouraged to establish a guarantee mechanism.
However, it is clear that the problem has not been alleviated by the involvement of the relevant authorities. KFC and the China Consumer Association this time to line, behind the essence of the "blind box +" traffic password was abused, the blind box economy risk was further amplified, and then ignited again.
Madness and danger often go hand in hand, and three years of barbaric growth have finally pushed the blind box machine economy to the brink of danger.
What is the bottom line of business operations?
"Will not be affected by (roll call), blind boxes will continue to sell until January 16," the official customer service of KFC responded after the Article issued by the China Consumer Association.
At the end of the day, there is nothing wrong with the pursuit of profits by enterprises. Carrying out marketing activities is a normal business operation.
Moreover, under the premise of performance pressure, KFC's enthusiasm for traffic passwords is not a matter of one day or two.
Yum China's financial report shows that in the third quarter of 2021, KFC opened 362 new restaurants, but same-store sales fell by 8% year-on-year, and operating profit plummeted by 31%. Previously, KFC has linked up with popular games such as "Original God" and "Ark of Tomorrow" to launch a designated package containing game packages, which once set off a wave of eating and snapping up.
Why did KFC personally send itself into the storm of public opinion this time?
Or return to the china consumer association name, the problem pointed to by the china consumer association is not the joint marketing behavior of enterprises, but the use of limited blind box "hunger marketing" to stimulate consumption, induce consumers to impulsive consumption, over-purchase, and the resulting food waste.
As bystanders, we cannot and do not need to speculate about the original intention of KFC and Bubble Mart, because the facts at hand have proved that the participants in this event enjoy the benefits of traffic passwords, but lack reasonable rule guidance, and the organizers are still indifferent when they are known to cause adverse effects.
Blind box players and die-hard fans of brands may stand up to defend themselves, but regulators will not be soft on business operations that ignore public order and good customs and the spirit of the law.
This operation ignited the morale of fans, in order to get a two-dimensional code, fans buy drinks in bulk, and then hire workers to open the bottle and pour the drinks into the gutters one by one.
With the madness comes the regurgitation of traffic, pouring milk has triggered heated discussions among the whole people, iQiyi and Mengniu both apologized, and iQIYI's painstakingly operated "Youth with You" IP was completely blocked. A few months later, the General Office of the State Administration of Radio and Television issued the "Circular on Further Strengthening the Management of Literary and Art Programs and Their Personnel," which clearly stipulates that radio and television institutions and online audio-visual platforms must not broadcast idol cultivation programs.
KFC × the impact of Bubble Mart Dimeo blind box marketing is not so bad, but it is repeated again and again. In 2021, the blind box economy was named by the China Consumer Association because of the industry's own problems, and in 2022, it was reminded again because of the traffic spillover of "blind box +". The next time a similar event reappears, it may be when the hammer falls.
Moreover, instead of chasing traffic, the blind box economy should focus on improving the sustainability of business models at this stage.
Bubble Mart's financial report shows that in the third quarter of 2021, the company's revenue increased by 75%-80% year-on-year, recovering from 49.3% in 2020, but still far lower than 225.5% and 227.2% in 2018 and 2019.
It is worth noting that the incident has fermented so far, and Bubble Mart has not given a formal response. On January 13, Bubble Mart closed down 4.63%, and its market value has fallen by 85 billion from the high of HK$150 billion.