Some time ago, KFC gene went out of the circle for an unexpected joint name.
Some netizens spent 10494 yuan to directly buy 106 packages, but not to reserve grain, nor because they love KFC, but to gather the Dimoo blind box jointly signed by KFC and Bubble Mart.
Why do you have to buy 106 packages when you only have 7 blind boxes? According to the introduction, the KFC X Dimoo blind box package also contains a "hidden model" in addition to the regular model, and because the probability of the hidden model is very low (some people calculate it is 1.4%), many enthusiastic blind box fans buy a lot of packages in one go, increasing the probability of winning the hidden model.
As a post-90s, in my childhood, the "Water Margin" hero card in the small raccoon crisp noodle bag was once popular, in order to gather 108 good men in Liangshan, some local tycoon children will also be like this KFC netizen, buy several boxes of crisp noodles at once, every time they go to school, they will give others noodles, as long as the cards inside, more than twenty years have passed, the cards have been upgraded to blind boxes, but the routine of the merchant is still the same.
Fast food + blind box toys, this old routine has long been seen by everyone, in fact, as early as 1979 by McDonald's first attempt, and tailored for children, but 43 years later, whether McDonald's or KFC, with the annual delivery of more than a billion toys marketing activities, this routine has long been from attracting children to "hook up" adults the ultimate road.
Why does a toy that accompanies a children's fast food catch the eye of an adult? How have fast food toys changed from children to adults? Why is it that after so many years, McDonald's is still the King of the fast food blind box?
A "Kids Package" that delights adults
The idea for fast food Riga toys originally came from McDonald's. To solve the problem that small children don't like to eat, in 1979, McDonald's added a set of plastic toys called the Circus Wagon Train Theme to the children's package.
Although it was very creative and successfully attracted the attention of some people, it did not make a big splash until two years later, McDonald's chose to cooperate with the most popular movie "Star Trek" at that time, and launched a co-branded toy, which gradually became a weapon for McDonald's to dominate the children's market.
In the United States, foods like fries and burgers, like our rice noodles, are the most common food, the price is not expensive, even if there are toys to join, McDonald's children's meals are not much more expensive than other packages, so McDonald's relies on toy marketing to stand out from a group of fast food brands, and successfully attract the attention of parents.
In a book called "Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of Fast Food in the United States", author Eric Schlosser mentioned that American fast food is grabbed from dolls, and McDonald's, which found marketing know-how, subsequently locked in Partners such as Disney, DreamWorks, Warner Bros., Nintendo and other partners for popular IP cooperation, and many brands are exclusive cooperation, McDonald's is very aware of the effect of this trick, a data shows that in the United States there are 40% of 2 to 11 Aged children ask their parents to take them to McDonald's at least once a week, and 15 percent of preschoolers clamor to go every day.
Mickey Mouse, Mario, Pokémon, Minions, Sesame Street... McDonald's has a new toy package almost every month, which has become the biggest reason for children to worry about McDonald's, according to official data, McDonald's sells 1.5 billion toys a year, and 20% of its annual revenue also comes from Happy Meals, and McDonald's has a dedicated team to develop and produce toys to ensure the safety of toys.
So from the initial creative execution, McDonald's "Happy Meal" is one step ahead, while other brands have followed suit, joining this eye-catching marketing, KFC is one of the brands that can best learn the essence of McDonald's.
Similar to McDonald's, KFC has also made a popular IP co-branded toy, but unlike the former, KFC's cooperation objects are more diversified and localized, which makes its popularity in China gradually increase. For example, in the Chinese market, KFC has launched NetEase's "Yin and Yang Division", Miha Tour "Original God", Bubble Mart Dimoo and other joint cooperation according to local conditions, although these IP are not as classic as Disney's Mickey Mouse, but they are highly unified with the hot consumption concept of young people, so they can break through the children's circle to make many young people crazy, it can be seen that these fast food brands are more and more attractive to young people.
Because it's fun, it's hot
Speaking of which, in fact, fast food brands in addition to McDonald's, KFC, the global chain of Burger King, domestic Dicos, country base and other brands, have also done toy + fast food marketing, but regardless of the communication effect or word of mouth heat, and McDonald's, KFC is not an order of magnitude, the reason is actually not difficult to understand.
First, McDonald's, KFC has been doing this set of marketing for many years, and has long turned its attention to young people and adults, the launch of toys also have blind box characteristics, the use of fun and fun or cute and innovative design to please these user groups, while other brands stay in the stage of launching toys for children, the product is not very fresh, so the overall effect is not very good.
Second, in the field of popular IP, McDonald's and KFC have long been preconceived, and have maintained long-term and solid cooperation with brands such as Disney, Warner Bros., Nintendo, etc., which is easier to achieve the effect of 1+1>2, while other brands do not have this advantage.
From the perspective of domestic consumers, KFC is indeed better at marketing, but from a global perspective, McDonald's is the deserved king of blind boxes. In 2016, a research institute estimated the number of toys recalled from McDonald's that McDonald's would sell 250 children's playground meals every 3 seconds. Assuming that the average price of each happy meal is $3, it can be inferred that McDonald's daily happy meal sales are about $10 million, and the official data has been released, McDonald's sells up to 1.5 billion toys per year.
In fact, in addition to the popular IP and its own long-term business reasons, McDonald's toys are a very attractive point: fun and fun, for more than forty years, McDonald's set of toys can always develop some interesting play, so that children can enjoy the fun of toys.
For example, in the United States, during the fiery era of "Transformers", McDonald's unexpectedly designed a set of toys that looked like mini fries, hamburgers, and ice cream, but children would find that they could all become another shape like a Transformer.
For example, the once popular Barbie doll, McDonald's combined with the bamboo dragonfly that can fly to the sky, invented a set of Barbie dolls that can fly to the sky, and also let many little girls feel the fun of toys.
Speaking of which, it is also worth mentioning that McDonald's requirements for toys are stricter than normal standards. For example, McDonald's toys are larger than 1.5 inches and larger than ordinary toys. Every McDonald's toy goes through a pull, bite, and even throwing speed test before it hits the market, such as McBaby, a doll with an artificial lung that measures choking risk. McDonald's toys, although only giveaways, have a dedicated business team in charge. From design, production, testing to market, it takes up to 1.5 years, which may be the reason why people are more comfortable buying for children.
McDonald's understands children's psychology because toys need to be creative and have surprises, and usually this kind of surprise will make children indulge in them. For example, the former Hello Kitty series of toys, not only for each different character with a small house, but also added a sticker Egg, as long as you pull out the note in your pocket, you can see the exclusive stickers, and these stickers can also be used to decorate their Hello Kitty, so that it becomes a unique exclusive toy.
In recent years, the rise of blind boxes has made McDonald's and KFC once again become the focus of people's attention, McDonald's always launched some heartwarming blind box sets, although many people are no longer children, but simply eat a meal of inexpensive McDonald's can harvest happiness, and even eat a few times to collect favorite playsets, as a collection, which makes more young people and even adults fall in love with McDonald's.
From recent years, KFC's toy package is better in terms of localization operation, because KFC has a keen sense of smell for popular IP in different regions, so it can always find new popular IP to promote product sales, whether it is Yin Yang Division, Original God or today's Bubble Mart, it seems to be able to mobilize people's appetite. If you stand in a global perspective, McDonald's with a long history of marketing traditions, classic IP in-depth cooperation, so that American culture with the help of global channels popular, sales and popularity has not decreased that year, do not know is reading the article, which series of toys will you prefer?
This article was originally published by Geek Park GeekPark, please add Geek Jun (ID: geekparker).