The author | wu xi
The original debut | The Blue Axis Tour
To successfully resist the "Jackie Chan Curse", how strong strength is needed? For legendary games, it is enough to change the skin.
The so-called "Jackie Chan Curse" refers to the fate of all the advertising brands endorsed by international movie star Jackie Chan in the end.
There is a rumor that Jackie Chan's big brother:
Endorsement of Xiao Bawang, Xiao Bawang went out of business; endorsement of aiduo VCD, aiduo boss is in prison; endorsement of Fenhuang Coke, Fenhuang Coke is gone; endorsement of Kaidi car, the country only sold more than nine hundred vehicles; endorsement of Bawang shampoo, was found to be bawang carcinogenic.
From the first endorsement of legendary games caused a sensation on the whole network 3 years ago, to the popular "Jackie Chan Attacking Sand" two-creation video in recent months, the more Jackie Chan's big brother is, the more moist the company that makes legendary games lives.
Even Luo Yonghao, who is known as the "industry lamp", later entered the legendary endorsement, and could not break this unique game category.
Legendary games that only change skins, why?
If there is any collective memory that has always been implemented in the short history of the Chinese Internet in less than 30 years, the "legend" may be counted as one.
No, since the "Legend of Blood" swept the national Internet café frenzy in the early 21st century, the word "legend", which has long been abstracted into a cultural phenomenon, has accompanied a group of Internet natives for more than 20 years, and the heat has never subsided.
Today, legendary games that live at the bottom of the chain of game contempt are appearing in front of the public with another image.
The pandemic of "Slag Slag Hui" has not yet been completely sung, and Jackie Chan's "one-man attack on sand and abuse the whole field" has taken the stage again. Between the two, there are even half of the top footprints of the Chinese showbiz circle.
What is the reason why many top stars disregard their personal image and devote themselves to the advertising endorsement of legendary games?
What is the reason that "Legend", an old IP of more than 20 years, can still live in the Chinese game market with bullets and bullets?
The answers to these questions may only be found by walking into the magical Continent of Marfa.
When the Chinese crowd is shining
If an artist is not favored by the game company and becomes the spokesperson of the legendary game, it may mean that ta's coffee position is not enough.
In recent years, legendary game spokespersons have suddenly become an alternative "status symbol" for celebrities in the entertainment industry, an "alternative identity" for the status of artists in the entertainment industry.
As with many Internet subcultural phenomena, it is difficult to probe the legendary game spokesperson when it became a cultural symbol.
One theory is that in 2017, when Hong Kong artist Zhang Jiahui endorsed the legendary game "Greedy Blue Moon" under the company, he was wearing a golden armor, holding a dragon slaying sword, and shouting out the classic line in a mouthful of Hong Kong-flavored Mandarin, the magic of the advertisement came into reality.
With the help of the large-scale purchase volume of the greedy play company, a valuable wealth has been added to the "black talk box" of the Chinese Internet.
Big za good, I tie the slag slag Hui, explore the lazy moon, the new version of the ship that has not been pulled in the four miles, squeeze need to experience three times the clock, the inside will dry me, love like a festival game.
The launch of the greedy company not only let most of the Chinese Internet know about the game "Greedy Blue Moon". Also because of the strong ability to create stems, the game's advertising materials have become a frequent visitor to the hot list of the head creation platform "Erchuang".
One delivery, multiple earnings, can be called a model in the buying case.
The popularity of "slag slag" may be an accident, but the magic brainwashing advertising of legendary games is inevitable today.
As early as 2014, another Hong Kong artist, Lin Zicong, had already tried a similar routine when endorsing "Legendary Hegemony". Public opinion and erchuang's attention to this kind of magic advertising has made some undercurrents begin to surge.
Greedy companies that perceived the conversion potential of such buy-in advertising opened the "era of big endorsement" for later legendary games. The greedy play company decided to take the road of celebrity endorsement to the black, including Chen Xiaochun, Gu Tianle, Sun Honglei and a number of first-line artists have successively thrown themselves into the great cause of endorsement legendary games.
The viral marketing of the "slag slag" phenomenon in 2017 was pushed down by this situation and ushered in a complete outbreak.
If analyzed from the specific performance, the conflict of style is the key to the "charming charm" of this type of advertising.
The conflict between the ethics of the Hong Kong and Taiwan acting schools and the shoddy production of the "Just Meal" advertisement on "Slag Slag Hui"; the conflict between the overly outrageous "Hong Kong Pu" and a serious interpretation method; the conflict between exaggerated props, uniforms, lines and the awakening of old good memories...
All of them make the entire advertisement present an unforgettable effect at first sight, so that it has the conditions to achieve leapfrog dissemination in the Chinese Internet circle.
For Legend, the only game category in China, traffic means everything. The operation of buying volume is the most critical part of the operation process of each legendary game.
Good purchase of materials for the transformation effect, can play a multiplier effect with half the effort, not to mention the "slag slag hui" this difficult to copy, with the explosion effect of the explosive god work.
It is difficult to copy, and it does not prevent the game company from embarking on the road of self-reproduction. Since 2017, a large number of legendary game ads endorsed by A-list stars have been overwhelming, and game companies have opened screen-level delivery.
Kaiying Network, the developer of the original game "Blue Moon Legend" of "Greedy Blue Moon", also took advantage of this wave of heat to increase its operation of this game. Nowadays, on the official website of Kaiying Network, there is a hard photo of the endorsement of a generation of boxing king Tyson. However, in the face of the huge Lineup of Chinese stars, Tyson may also have to be ashamed of himself.
Looking at the list of spokespersons for legendary games, it can be called the stars shining and the stars shining, and it is not too much to describe it with the phrase "when the stars of the Chinese crowd shine".
Jackie Chan's legendary endorsement is that after the phenomenon of "slag slag", this kind of advertising has once again exploded super, and it is the hottest "two creations" material in recent times. The phrase "one person attacked the sand and abused the whole field" evoked the memories of the green years in the minds of countless people.
Speaking of brothers, it is indispensable for Causeway Bay's "ancient puzzle boys" Chen Xiaochun, Xie Tianhua and Lin Xiaofeng to star in their true colors.
Gu Tianle, who is also a Mandarin aphasia patient with "Slag Slag Hui", supported the other side of the sky of "Playing Blue Moon".
Zhen Zidan, a righteous "Master Ye", is also a representative of the spokesperson of legendary games.
Not only are the first-line film and television superstars, game companies have begun to seek a variety of spokesperson styles and types, hoping to play a differentiated game in the increasingly fierce competition for delivery.
For example, the endorsement style of the big director Feng Xiaogang pursues the presentation of texture more.
Returning to the game attributes themselves, legendary games are mainly based on casual gameplay, in order to alleviate the player's aesthetic fatigue, operators began to raise the banner of female spokespeople in the later stage, and the style was based on heroic posture.
Even Luo Yonghao, who has repeatedly jumped in the entertainment industry, science and technology circles, legal China and other circles, cannot escape the wisdom of the game company and has become the spokesperson of "Ice and Snow Single Career Legend" under Guangzhou Entertainment Games.
On the B station, there is a UP master to cut these star endorsement materials into a nearly 10-minute video, the average person only has a few seconds of appearance time, and then look at the lineup of the video introduction, the comment area can only directly call "why they give too much."
Legendary games make money, but it's getting harder and harder to earn
It has been rumored that behind the strong lineup of spokespersons for legendary games, some ulterior motives are involved. Otherwise, it's hard to explain how these shoddy ads and games support the marketing expenses required for superstar endorsements.
However, the truth is that compared with the amazing flow brought by these games, the endorsement cost of inviting A-list stars to shoot such unlimited brainwashing advertisements is simply a dime.
Looking at the flowing revenue of many legendary games, combined with the high-level interpretation of some operating companies, we can see enough data to support these almost "unreasonable" endorsement operations.
Liu Yang, head of the game brand business, once said at a public event that the cost of speaking people per generation accounts for less than 1% of the company's annual budget; South Korean R&D business entertainment virtue has previously shown that the annual revenue of legendary games in the Chinese market is currently 30 billion yuan, accounting for up to 13% of the market.
Some media statistics show that for most small and medium-sized legendary game operators, the annual turnover of tens of millions is only the entry; it is not difficult for the head manufacturer to make a monthly turnover of more than 100 million.
Taking Kaiying Network as an example, the 2020 financial report shows that the cumulative flow of "Legend of blue moon" in less than 4 years has exceeded 3.9 billion yuan; another "legendary" page game "Legend Hegemony" developed and operated by 37 Interactive Entertainment has a total flow of more than 300 million yuan in 80 days on the line...
In a word: legendary games, really profitable.
In contrast, the annual endorsement fee of the industry's top stars is often only about 10 million, and most waist artists maintain a range of about 2 million to 5 million. For a legendary game company with a lot of money, this is no different from the "cabbage price".
For artists, endorsement legendary games often only need to complete the shooting of purchased materials such as promotional videos and advertising hard photos, which rarely involve long-term follow-up docking, which is very in line with the definition of "more money to live and less close to home".
Behind the "win-win" between legendary game companies and endorsement stars is a mature business model that has been certified by the market for many years. This model has been baptized by the market for many years and has learned to "walk on its own." ”
In the current market environment, legendary games, as a product with extremely low research and development, operation and maintenance costs, usually have two product forms: page games and mobile games.
The logic of its operation is also very simple, that is, to change the skin and update in the same set of game frameworks, and then maintain the server activity and player recharge desire through the familiar opening and service operations, and implement the operating concept of "serving 1% of recharge players".
Therefore, for game operators, in theory, as long as the conversion rate of buying and delivery is solved, it basically means solving the problem of input-output ratio of the entire product life cycle.
In this business model, celebrity spokespersons play the key to opening the traffic gap. As long as this business model continues to work, the position of spokesperson for "legendary" games will remain vacant. The question that remains is just who can stand in this position and easily take the endorsement fee away.
Having said that, the legendary game industry has developed brutally to this day, and it has begun to face unprecedented challenges and uncertainties.
On the one hand, due to the disappearance of the Internet traffic dividend, the investment and income caused by the increasing cost of buying are unbalanced; on the other hand, the industry rumors that the relevant policies have ideas for the game purchase industry, and some companies that perceive the crisis in the future have contracted their business in advance.
The round of large layoffs that the head manufacturers started last year seems to confirm the changes in the industry.
At the end of last year, there were successive media reports, pointing out that after receiving reports from a number of former employees who played games, the company launched a round of layoffs, which involved many labor disputes involving severance compensation; in addition, some internal employees said that they had cut off many employee welfare benefits.
Combined with the cold winter of the version number in the second half of last year and the various regulatory policies frequently introduced in recent times, the single business model of the legendary game operating company can be described as "fragile" in its ability to resist policy risks.
Before the legendary game boom completely cools down, how many film and television stars will enter this endorsement list? The answer may soon be revealed.
Once glorious
The "legendary" IP residual heat, after more than 20 years, is still volatilizing in a completely different game market than that year, which in itself can be called a legend.
According to the report released by Gamma Data in 2020, the legendary IP has been born for 20 years, with a cumulative registered user of more than 600 million, the annual turnover has always remained above 10 billion yuan, the cumulative value created is more than 90 billion yuan, and there is a potential value of 40 billion yuan in the next three years.
It is generally believed that the user portraits of legendary games that support the continuous change of skin are mainly middle-aged men with stable income sources in third- and fourth-tier cities in China.
This point, in fact, is very obvious, referring to the people who grew up playing the first generation of legendary end games.
Turning the time back to 21 years ago, we can see how the legend, which is now played badLY, created the history of China's online games and profoundly affected the development trend of the entire industry.
In 2001, Shanda Network (now Shengqu) took over the mainland agency rights to Legends of Blood from South Korean game maker Actoz for $300,000.
Because there were not many competitors on the market at that time, coupled with the exquisite game numerical design of the "Blood Legends" game itself, the mutual survival between classes, and the simple routine of exploring the map to fight monsters and upgrades, this game had the possibility of becoming a hit from the gameplay.
Shanda founder Chen Tianqiao creatively used the Internet café as a new channel for game promotion, laying the foundation for the subsequent large-scale outbreak of "Legend of Blood".
Before Shanda, the traditional concept of the game industry classified point cards and software and hardware into one category, and the sales channels were positioned as game software and hardware dealers and newspaper and magazine kiosks.
Shanda handed over the game's point card business to Ubisoft in the early days of the operation of "Legend of Blood", but due to the rapid popularity of the game after the launch, Ubisoft's sales method began to be unable to meet the needs of players, and there were many cases of point card out-of-stock.
In order to ensure the normal operation of the game, Chen Tianqiao decided to put the sales of the point card in the Internet café closest to the player at that time after careful market research, and developed an online sales system "E-sales" to achieve online interaction between data information flow and capital flow.
This move has completely activated the enthusiasm of Internet café owners across the country for promoting "Legend of Blood".
The root of legendary success lies in its precise insight into human nature. Chen Tianqiao had already made a sharp judgment on how to grasp "human nature" many years ago:
The more you want to strike at your heart, the more you can't stick to the form. The same is true of the change of business model, we can throw away everything, but we can't give up the mastery of human nature.
For example, the point card distribution model that cooperated with Internet cafes in that year, in addition to solving the problem of point card out-of-stock, the profit stimulation brought by sales share directly allowed Internet cafes across the country to use "Legend of Blood" as a cash cow, and the owners of Internet cafes spontaneously increased the installed capacity of the game and increased the promotion efforts, so that "Legend of Blood" instantly occupied the computers of Internet cafes across the country.
"Legend of Blood" is the first game in the history of Chinese online games to exceed 500,000 people online at the same time.
A year after the game was launched, Shanda's annual revenue accounted for 60% of the overall Chinese online game market, of which Internet café recharge accounted for 65% of the company's total sales; by 2003, Shanda had thousands of Internet café distributors nationwide.
In terms of gameplay, it is a game that can "really hit the player's heart". Because, the capital market pursues profits, so do people.
For example, the equipment dropped by the mob may be the best that can be traded, and knocking down the player may reveal the equipment on the opponent's body. The names of equipment with memories of the times, such as "Dragon Slayer Sword" and "Paralyzing Ring", have not been forgotten.
Driven by the psychology of pursuing profits, offline players form groups to fight and kill enemies in groups on the PVP battlefield... It has become an experience that can never be forgotten in the hearts of a generation.
Chen Tianqiao's commercial status, grand and short-lived and splendid prosperity, are all based on insight into human nature.
By reading human nature, you can meet the core needs of players from the root. Legend is a game, but also the spiritual paradise that countless people have been, and it is the past of countless sleepless nights in those green years, and the time and time again with brothers full of bondage.
An industry insider who has been operating legendary games for 10 years believes that although there have been so many legendary games on the market over the years, every time a new product is launched, it can get so good data that it has little to do with the game itself.
The user is no longer playing the game, but is repeatedly experiencing and looking for a feeling.
Today's Chen Tianqiao has turned the course of his life to brain science research, and Shanda of that year has also been renamed Shengqu and "relegated" to the century Huatong. However, the legend is still active in this world in another form, deeply remembered by a generation.
The magic brainwashing ads, the uninvited gameplay, and the legendary games that stand at the bottom of the chain of game contempt are just an extension of the memory of that generation.
Perhaps this is the best interpretation of what Chen Tianqiao said, "the most real thing on the Internet is human nature". And human nature will never change.