June 1st has just passed, are you happy children?
Looking at the brand's Children's Day marketing, it is not difficult to find that the marketing focus of this festival has shifted from the children themselves to adults.
Today, TOP reviewed the brand marketing gameplay of Children's Day, and looked at the brand's Children's Day blessings, how to say it to adults?
Pattern Toys & IP co-branding
Long live a happy life to adults
As we all know, McDonald's and KFC can be called the toy manufacturers in the catering industry, and the two major brands that often launch toy packages on weekdays are not absent on Children's Day this year.
As early as May 22, McDonald's launched the McMc walkie-talkie. It has both the cute appearance of Chicken McNuggets & French Fries and the interactivity of the walkie-talkie, so that this peripheral was sold out as soon as it was launched, and even caused the applet to be paralyzed.
"Don't want a walkie-talkie"
Any consumption plus 38 yuan can have toys, but can achieve real-time intercom within 300 meters, which is indeed a great temptation for "big children". McDonald's official has gained insight into the love of McMc walkie-talkies among consumers, and has also launched 200,000 McMc walkie-talkies again, focusing on a pet fan.
McDonald's has launched walkie-talkies again
KFC, which is also keen on launching toys, is not far behind, and this year's June 1st chose to co-brand with Pokémon to launch toys such as Pikachu CD players, Geng ghost game consoles, and Pokémon pick-up music. In terms of launching merchandise, KFC and McDonald's have a very tacit understanding that they are no longer just simple ornaments, but more social and playable toys.
KFC Children's Day Toys
In addition to toys, there are many tea brands that choose to co-brand with "childhood memories".
For example, Aunt Shanghai and the classic animation "The Legend of Nezha" launched a joint drink, and printed the classic characters and scenes of the animation on the periphery of straw cups, cup sleeves, stickers, etc., and also arranged interactive stands in 31 atmosphere stores to evoke consumers' childhood memories.
Aunt Shanghai× "The Legend of Nezha"
Nayuki's tea continued last year's "Baby's Day" event, following SpongeBob SquarePants and choosing Teletubbies as a co-branded object. Similarly, Nai Xue's tea also uses the image of the Teletubbies as a selling point, and introduces water cups, plates, stickers and other peripherals, using "baby" to arouse people's childlike innocence.
Nayuki's tea × "Teletubbies"
Lele Tea, on the other hand, chose to co-brand with Anpanman and launched co-branded products such as shoulder bags and cups.
Lele Tea × Anpanman
In addition, catering brands such as Taier Sauerkraut Fish, Haidilao, Wallace, and Pizza Hut, as well as tea brands such as Yidian and Gu Ming, have also co-branded with various animated IPs or cartoon characters on the occasion of Children's Day.
Classic recreation > children's perspective
Restore the Japanese color
When catering and tea brands jointly use childhood and cuteness as the co-branded marketing keywords for Children's Day, stimulating consumption has become the common goal of these brands.
However, there are also brands that try to convey the brand concept through classic IP, or restore the true color of Children's Day from a childlike perspective.
For example, BMW's advertising film launched on Children's Day this year chose the domestic classic animation "Hulu Brothers" to convey holiday blessings.
BMW × Hulu brothers
In this small animation jointly created by BMW and Shanghai Fine Arts Film Studio, BMW's mascot BAWA turns into the eighth baby in the Hulu Brothers and joins the battle of Hulu Wa to save his grandfather.
Although the battle between BAWA and Huluwa is just a big dream, the spirit of solidarity is the same as the original. BAWA is not only the representative of the brand in the film, but also the little hero in this continuation story. While restoring childhood memories for the post-80s and post-00s, BMW also provides consumers with an exclusive holiday surprise.
Lego and the Cotton Era, on the other hand, are children's perspectives and tell the world in their minds.
Lego "June 1st Wish, Do You Really Understand?" 》
LEGO chose to use toys to show children's whimsical ideas, and as the LEGO brick-built wish train passed, the children's wishes were revealed.
Whether it's the rhetoric of being a principal without classes, the imagination of turning the school into a playground, or the expectation of mom and dad not working and playing together in the sky, it can all be realized in the world of LEGO. Turning fairy tales into "reality" is a gift from LEGO for children.
The same with children as the main body, the cotton era pays attention to the small troubles of children in the process of growing up.
Cotton Times "Listen to the Child's Words"
For children, it is a nuisance that adults always ask them to be obedient, but never listen to them.
What should adults do if they don't want to go to work? What is the understanding of death? What is the embodiment of love? These questions are difficult for adults to give accurate answers, but children have innocent understanding.
The cotton era hopes that parents will pick up the perspective of understanding their children on the occasion of Children's Day, and in the process of listening to their children's answers, they will regain their authenticity and learn to respect their children.
Of course, there are also many brands that express their holiday wishes through public welfare activities. For example, the sports brand ANTA focuses on the rural sports education ecology with the theme of "We are all the same".
ANTA "We Are All the Same"
Children's Day Marketing ×
Childlike economy √
If you look at the brand's Children's Day marketing trend as a whole, you will find that IP co-branding still accounts for a large part of the popularity.
According to the data released by Miaozhen at the end of 2023, many brands have now joined the IP co-branding army, trying to break into the young consumer group through diversified co-branding activities and quickly grab attention. According to reports from Xinhuanet and the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, the market size of China's IP licensing industry and IP adaptation entertainment industry is expected to reach 156.1 billion yuan and 586.7 billion yuan respectively in 2024.
Miaozhen Social Media Database [Jan-Nov 2023]
The IPs selected by the brand are aligned with the childhood memories of the post-80s, 90s, and 00s - "Anpanman" broadcast in 1988 and "Teletubbies" released in 1997 are the memories of teenagers around the world, and "Hulu Brothers" born in 1985 and "The Legend of Nezha" broadcast in 2003 are the enlightenment of Chinese little heroes in the hearts of young people in China.
It can be said that the brand marketing of Children's Day no longer focuses on children, but sets the target audience as young and middle-aged people in the 80s-00s, trying to use old animations and festival check-in habits to leverage the consumption of this generation. And this kind of childlike economy is also the focus of Children's Day marketing in recent years.
But there is also a problem - brands that choose IP co-branding focus on the same age group, and it is difficult to play a good card of differentiation. Their co-branded products are also highly similar, and it is almost impossible to capture most of the market during the festival.
In addition, although there are other ways to play in addition to IP co-branding, marketing homogeneity is still very serious.
It is true that children do not have the spending power of adults, so what brands need to do is to attract children's attention and let them drive parents' purchase intentions.
According to QuestMobile data, the online consumption power of people with children has increased rapidly in recent years, among which the post-90s generation has a higher tendency to consume middle and high than the post-80s, and the post-70s generation has stronger spending power under the accumulation of wealth. Therefore, in the marketing of Children's Day, brands need to do more than just leverage the consumption of "big children", return the perspective to the children themselves, and perhaps create consumer demand in the children's economy.