Editor's introduction: The tide play is gradually out of the circle, accompanied by the shift in the consumption habits and preferences of the user group and the development of the market environment, behind which there are hidden business opportunities that deserve people's attention. So, how should "changing babies" find their own creative advantages? In this article, the author has analyzed the relevant content published by the bloggers, let's take a look.
KFC, known for its "dream marketing", "flipped over", but it didn't turn over completely.
The incident stemmed from a blind box package launched by KFC on January 4 in conjunction with Bubble Mart, according to the official introduction, after the purchase of a "family bucket" priced at 99 yuan, consumers will immediately get a limited handmade dimo.
On the surface, this joint brand is no different from KFC's previous "IP joint brand" marketing, but what is surprising is that the situation is moving towards the extremes of "over-purchasing" and "substitute eating service". On the 12th, KFC was named by the China Consumer Association, saying that it stimulated consumption through the means of "hunger marketing" of limited-edition blind boxes, resulting in food waste, which was contrary to public order and good customs and the spirit of the law.
Behind KFC's "rollover" is the consumer's enthusiasm for blind boxes. Since the beginning of this year, the tide play business represented by the blind box has been in the ascendant, showing great market potential, and the head companies have entered the game and are committed to creating their own IP. According to the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, it is expected that the retail market size of China's entire trendy toys will reach 47.8 billion yuan in 2022.
Entering the new year, the adult "doll" business seems to be more and more popular, and in addition to the relevant industrial chain, the "baby" business should be born in response to demand, and gradually derived into a hot business. On Xiaohongshu and Douyin, we have seen many high-quality baby bloggers publish relevant content, they either show their "baby change" skills, or share "baby change" tutorials to attract users to plant grass and buy.
Is a hand-made track with a heavy vertical like "Changing Baby" a good track worthy of the creator's entry?
I. Contemporary young people are addicted to "changing babies"
According to Ai Media Consulting data, in 2020, the size of China's tide play economic market reached 29.48 billion yuan, and it is expected to rise to 38.43 billion yuan in 2021 with a growth rate of 30.4%. Behind the expanding tide play market and the hot doll business, there is also a niche track of "baby changer", which has spawned a new business of "baby change".
When it comes to talking about capital and the degree of "burning money", humanoid dolls are undoubtedly the best in the "baby circle". According to the different structure and material, humanoid dolls can be subdivided into a variety of categories, and the current common cotton material rag dolls on the market, as well as BJD, that is, spherical joint dolls, mostly based on resin materials, due to the ball joints installed in key parts, such dolls can make a posture more similar to real people, and therefore favored by users.
In the shopping platform, the price of BJD ranges from 100 yuan to 1,000 yuan, but only buying dolls is no longer enough to meet the needs of contemporary young people, and most of the players who buy "naked babies" have the mentality of "rich daughters", buy more clothes, costumes, and even build corresponding scenes in the follow-up, these complex transformation projects undoubtedly "take care" of the business of the baby changer.
From the handmade of dolls, daily wear and makeup modifications, to the provision of special accessories for such dolls, the price of a privately customized doll can sometimes reach tens of thousands of yuan. In Xiaohongshu, handmade women will also share sewing knowledge, post their own baby works, and plant grass for more potential consumers.
Compared with the price of thousands or even tens of thousands of humanoid dolls, the price of blind boxes is much cheaper, and the general price of a single box is about 59, which reduces the original high threshold of tide play, and also makes the "change of baby" from private customization to the public circle. In the Weibo, Little Red Book, B station and Douyin and other "reformers" gathering places, Bubble Mart's home IP has become the mainstream of "changing the baby", a modified doll can be sold for 359 yuan, far more than the value of the blind box itself, but these works are very sought-after, and because of the long construction period, they often need to "arrange a list".
Due to the particularity of the blind box, the original "reva" is aimed at the "thunder model" drawn, and the baby changer takes the original style as the "bottom baby", and re-paints and modifies according to the original shape to make the "Lei Wa" conform to the public aesthetic. However, with the player's pursuit of unique appearance and high-quality "film", the "Change Baby" track has ushered in the "inner volume" without accident.
In the Little Red Book, the tutorial shared by the "baby changer" @Grey reveals this tedious process of transformation: first, "boiling the baby" in boiling water to dissolve the glue that connects the doll's body parts, followed by disassembly, disassembling the complete baby body into a bunch of small parts, using a nail removal towel to paint, followed by kneading and repairing soil shaping, spray painting, hand-painted details, etc., and finally spraying a layer of protective paint.
Image source: Little Red Book blogger @Grey
For the lovers of tide play, "changing the baby" is equivalent to adding a new identity to the original series, opening up new scenes and expressions, and the unique sense of design and excellent appearance are important factors to attract users to "change the baby". For example, Little Red Book blogger @ Yingjie Ynje, under her design, Bubble Mart's other IP "SKULLPANDA" sometimes incarnates as a gingerbread person to participate in Christmas parties, and sometimes transforms into a queen of the sea, appearing in the fairy tale world, and the exquisite painting style plants many users.
The integration with the elements of popular IP is also one of the directions of the baby, the Little Red Book blogger @ Yan Wuhao to "Dimoo" as the bottom of the series of works, there are many styles are with the glory of the king, Harry Potter, Donald Duck and other IP integration. In addition to the officially released series, these works have taken on the imagination of more users, giving the dolls personality and new meaning.
Second, the "change of baby" business, a million profits?
In September last year, Shanghai Disney launched the new member of the Duffy family, "Ling Na Belle", and the pink fox-shaped "Chuansha Daji" swept the social platform as soon as it appeared, becoming Disney's new "top stream", and the surrounding first sale was sold out of stock. Similar to the "predecessor" Purple Rabbit Star Dew, Lingna Bell's doll also gained the favor of the baby changer.
After spending a lot of money to receive the original doll, many players will choose to send Lingna Bell to the hands of the baby changer to do a "full body beauty". Any unsatisfactory part of the original doll can be "transformed" in the hands of the baby changer. For example, the original doll's eyes are biased towards black, and after modification, they are filled with "sea of stars"; the mouth shape with fox characteristics is more beautiful after re-stitching.
The doll changer would disassemble the dolls, bury them in aluminum threads and skeletons to fix the posture, and then re-stitch, refill the cotton, and install the eyes so that Linga Belle could wear the exquisitely cut dress. A set of processes down, costing between 100 yuan and 1,000 yuan.
But in fact, from the experience tutorials shared by bloggers, it can also be seen that the entry threshold for changing babies is not high, and the creators who are active in this niche track are often self-taught, and after understanding enough knowledge of the baby circle, they become "handmade women". This seems to imply that "baby reformer" is a "one-million-dollar" business that everyone can enter.
On the surface, the business of "changing the baby" depends on the designer's own design level, and the baby changer does not worry about the business, as long as the work can be seen, there will be players who will independently inquire. However, the flaw of this model is precisely that both the benefits and risks are often borne by the "baby changer", of which "commercial infringement" is often one of the most worrying problems for creators.
Once a well-designed product becomes popular, it is likely to be copied or copied. In January this year, @Yan Wuhao posted a message in the Little Red Book, saying that his work had been stolen by someone, and another baby changer directly took orders in the live broadcast, imitating his work.
Trading that relies too much on manual capabilities is inherently risky. Some users are not particularly satisfied after receiving the modified doll, believing that the finished product is not as perfect as the presentation of the "seller show", or "not worth the price". This kind of "pulling" between the buyer and the seller is more unfavorable to the reputation of the seller's store, and it is even more "a loss" for the buyer.
For tide play, another "unstable" factor is the heat. After a wild surge, the tide play business has reached a new critical point, and the blind box has also ushered in the "great ebb tide". Whether it is the current popular blind box IP, or the popular Lingna Bell, after the heat drops, the related business will also "fall".
However, although the trend and heat will pass, the baby changer will always wait for a new wave.
Third, small circle creators, how to explore the power of the minority?
How can an inferior plastic doll be transformed into a delicate doll that makes people "love at first sight"?
On Douyin, @Full of Villains points the camera at the simple handmade table on the set. Starting from sketching, under her hands, a "black skin" Barbie, after undergoing hair transplantation, makeup, and new clothes, suddenly "transformed" into a classical mythological style "Golden Sun God", and its meticulousness made the audience directly call out "Nuwa pinched I have not been so careful". This video has received a total of 650,000 likes, and it has also become the beginning of the "Shan Hai Jing Series Transformation Baby" in the country of people .
Image source: Douyin creator @ full of villains video screenshot
There are many "doll transformers" similar to her, such as the daily sharing of tide play of the master @ zebra sycamore, the account set tide play, shop exploration, baby as one, has accumulated 1.05 million fans. In The search for the keyword "change baby" in Douyin, related topics have been played more than 300 million times. This means that even niche hobbies can find related interest circles on short video platforms.
In addition to "changing the baby", there are many heavy vertical handmade accounts, which are subdivided in various fields, such as handmade soap, antique jewelry, drip glue ornaments, mobile phone cases, clay handmade, etc. Take "turning sugar" as an example, there are sugar flipping tutorial sharing, sugar flipping live broadcast or online courses. Zhou Yi, the @sk sugar king who won the world cake championship, has 1.97 million fans on Douyin, and the sugar-flipping work "Nine Tails" combines the myth of national style with beauty, and has received a total of 1.46 million likes.
Image source: Douyin creator @sk Sugar King Zhou Yi video screenshot
Seemingly niche tracks, in fact, it is easy to precipitate accurate user groups. Although the size of such accounts is small and the number of fans is difficult to reach more than one million, it is easy to find accurate user groups. Based on the recommendation mechanism of Douyin, moderately adding relevant hashtags when the content is released can increase the probability of being actively searched by users, and the topic pool of hundreds of millions of volumes also facilitates the collection and divergence of interest users' attention, giving the content more possibilities to be seen.
Through content and account operation means, handmade accounts can quickly aggregate and precipitate to a certain number of interested users, and then further drain outside the station, form a fan base with the same good, and discuss and exchange private domains together. After accumulating a certain number of fans, handmade masters often target interested users, go to the road of monetization of finished product sales or knowledge payment, and turn the craft into a certain degree of income.
Despite the "niche" interest, it is difficult to appear super head creators. However, for more creators who are "skilled", the emergence of such talents provides a reference template for more small merchants to display and monetize, so that traffic can be spread to more "ordinary people" who create value with their hands.
Author: Zhou Chang, public number: Kath Data
This article was originally published by @CAS Data as a product manager and is not reprinted without permission.
The title image is from Unsplash, based on the CC0 protocol