How much room is there for business imagination for a passport photo?
For the owner of the print shop downstairs, this is a piece of background cloth, a camera can solve the problem. From the time the customer enters the door to leave with the photo, the time will not exceed 10 minutes, and the unit price of the customer is around 30 yuan. The result? Many people stood at the door of the printing shop, looked at their ugly ID photos, and shed tears of remorse.
For people who want to take a "flower" of their ID photos, things are complicated. In 2010, Zhou Yang, a computer science graduate, opened a photo studio next to Fudan University that offers exquisite ID photos. In Naïve Blue, taking ID photos is not an easy task, at least you need to go through 6 steps of appointment, arrival, styling, shooting, film selection, and film repair, with a total time of more than 1 hour.
Zhou Yang mentioned more than once in media interviews that he initially wanted to establish Naïve Blue because "ID photos are not good" has become a pain point for most people. Prior to this, there were almost no systematic ID photo shooting stores on the market. A year after the establishment of Naïve Blue, in 2011, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, Hangzhou Mantu Photography Co., Ltd. was established, and its brand Haima Body Photo Studio also started the business of ID photos.
Starting from id photos, the new photo studios, represented by naïve blue and hippocampus, are trying to reshape the traditional photography model.
On September 23, 2017, Tianjin's first Seahorse Photo Studio Golden Label Store settled in Tianjin Galaxy International Shopping Center, bringing the "most beautiful ID photos" to Tianjin citizens. Visual China/Figure
Take a good photo of your ID
Before founding Innocence Blue Photo Studio, Zhou Yang worked for two years in a chain of printing shops. In Zhou Yang's impression, he would hear customers complain that his ID photos were not good almost every day. As a functional photo, the ID photo often has a clear purpose and use scenario, such as further education, examination, work, etc. For ID photos, "usable" is often a more important attribute than "good looking".
It's not easy to get a satisfactory ID photo. The business of traditional photo studios is mainly based on wedding photos, there are not many studios that provide ID photos alone, and many times, graphic companies that also engage in printing business have become the locations for most people to take ID photos. According to the "2017 Chinese Photography Industry Development Report" released by the Chinese Photography Association, the portrait photography industry can be subdivided into wedding photography, children's photography, comprehensive photography, product production, and image services. There are 416,000 business units in the industry, of which wedding photography accounts for 34.8%, and comprehensive photography, including ID photography, accounts for only 13%.
In order to take a good photo, in the innocent blue and hippocampus, the whole photo process is divided into three main parts: makeup, photography, and post-production. After the user makes an appointment online to take a photo and a photo shoot in the store, he goes to the store to shoot. Before the official shooting, the makeup artist will choose different shooting costumes and makeup according to the user's needs. After the shooting is completed, the photo will be processed by the post-unified retouching before it is returned to the user. Some people describe the practice of naïve blue and hippocampus as taking one extra step forward (makeup) and one step back (retouching) outside of photography.
Compared with traditional photo studios, in addition to the photo process, the pricing of innocent blue and hippocampus is also slightly higher. After several rounds of price adjustments, at present, the price of naïve blue to take a passport photo is 180 yuan, and the price of the hippocampus is 159 yuan. Zhou Yang revealed in an interview with the media that in 2014 alone, Innocent Blue received more than 40,000 guests who came to take ID photos.
The user portrait of Innocent Blue shows that 80% of the users are women, 70% of the users are aged 18 to 30 years old, and the unit price is about 300 yuan, covering young consumers in first- and second-tier cities. The business logic of naïve blue is also around the lives of these users, mining new scenarios and lengthening the life cycle of users.
Cheng Yuqing, a scholar at Shanghai University of Finance and Economics, pointed out in the article "Analysis of Blue Ocean Strategy Based on the Perspective of Practice" that the personal customized photo studio represented by naïve blue has opened up a new market space. The blue ocean strategy proposes that in order to win tomorrow, enterprises cannot rely on competition with opponents, but must create a "blue ocean", that is, a new market space with huge demand.
Since its establishment, Naïve Blue has at least 40 stores, covering more than 20 cities across the country, serving more than 1 million customers. The data of the hippocampal photo studio is even more eye-catching: it covers 57 cities, has nearly 200 directly operated stores across the country, and has served more than 4 million people.
Naïve Blue Photo Studio reservation interface. Image from the web
"1 hour of makeup, 10 minutes of photography"
Different from the standardization of the photography process, different people have different judgment standards for the definition of "beauty".
Zhou Yang introduced that for ID photos, the general requirement of customers is to "take a good look and look like yourself" . Therefore, in the process of retouching, the standard of naïve blue is to modify only the muscles, not to move the shape of the guest's bones. The photographer of the hippocampus needs to upload the photo to the cloud after taking the photo, and the photographer will return to the store after the unified processing on the website.
Photographer Peng Bo shared his experience on portrait retouching on the Internet: First, the face shape type cannot be changed, such as not changing the square face to a triangular face, which will cause a great change in human temperament; secondly, the face shape and facial features should be symmetrical, so in the later stage, the crooked mouth, eyes, eyebrows and face shape should be corrected to a normal level as much as possible.
But for some users, the hippocampus and the innocent blue ID photo is beautiful, and the biggest problem is that it is not like yourself. The people's livelihood news program "1818 GoldenEye" launched by the Minsheng Leisure Channel of Zhejiang Radio and Television Group once reported such a case: Mr. Feng and his family went to the Hangzhou Hippocampal Body Photo Studio to take photos, but they did not expect that "the revision of the map was too excessive", and the father-in-law who was originally full of red light was repaired to white and pure, "just like Guan Gong became Liu Bei". Mr. Feng's wife said that although the people in the photos look younger, she prefers that the feeling that the photos can convey is "real".
Also feel that the hippocampus photography is not "real" enough, and Li Lan. In May 2018, because of the needs of work, Li Lan took a set of professional photos and ID photos in the hippocampus. The first time I saw the ID photo of the repaired picture, Li Lan was very dissatisfied: "The p picture is particularly not careful, my appeal is not to distort, but I had acne on my face at that time, and I wanted to p off the acne." "As a result, not only did the acne not get rid of, but Li Lan, who originally had a round face, was also repaired into a typical melon face." In short, it is like a one-click beauty of The Meitu Show, but it is not as good as the Meitu Show. ”
After the second retouching was completed, Li Lan removed the acne on his face as he wished, but he still didn't feel like himself. A friend used Li Lan's ID photo in a book, and after another friend saw it, he said that he did not recognize him at all. "It's so ugly that my mom doesn't even know me." Li Lan said that he was more suitable for eyebrow picking, but the makeup artist of the hippocampus painted himself a thick flat eyebrow, which was very incompatible with his temperament. Li Lan complained that he had never used this photo so far.
"When I was a senior, my girlfriend's roommates went to six people, and when I came back, the photos of all six of them were the same." Some netizens complained about the hippocampus so much on the knowledge. Some netizens said that the visa photos they took in The Innocence Blue were later rejected because the retouching was too cruel, and the visa officer felt that it was not himself.
As a science and engineering man, Wang Liang took a marriage registration photo in the hippocampus and a light wedding dress in the innocent blue. Counting the previous experience of taking ID photos, Wang Liang is familiar with the "routine" of hippocampus and naïve blue. "1 hour of makeup, 10 minutes of photography, half an hour of retouching." Wang Liang complained that whether the photos are good or not is largely related to the level of post-revision. As for whether the money is worth it, more evaluation criteria come from service attitude.
It's not just ID photos
On the evening of May 28, the WeChat public account of the Hippocampus Photo Studio updated an article titled "Graduation Season, And You Need Courage to Say Goodbye and Confess" and announced the launch of a new limited theme photo: "Hour Light" graduation photo. In line with the new theme, the store will provide new makeup and hair combinations, including degree gowns, bachelor's hats, college-style short skirts, shirts, etc.
Coincidentally, 10 minutes later, The Innocent Blue WeChat public account was also updated and a new "retro children's photo" theme was launched. It's clear that this is an event prepared for the upcoming Children's Day. Children can take pictures of the theme of the last century studio in the naïve blue photo studio under the guidance of their parents.
Unlike the hippocampus, which lasts until the end of August, the innocent blue "vintage children's photo" only lasts until July 31. No one's graduation season lasts three months, and no child celebrates two months of Children's Day. This is not the first time that hippocampus and naïve blue have launched limited theme photos, in order to "hollow out" consumers' wallets, merchants have never lacked imagination.
Naïve Blue has developed a range of non-functional products that can be superimposed for shooting. For example, while taking a marriage license photo, you can take some intimate group photos; when taking portraits of the elderly, take additional family photos, etc., for customers, no additional makeup and hair styling is required, and it also saves time. Hippocampal Photo Studio has also successfully hatched two product lines of "year-round mains" and "limited-time memory". Throughout the year, the main features include ID photos, visa photos, marriage registration certificates, professional image photos and other image display photos; time-limited memories include Christmas photos, New Year photos and other series.
"In the early days, everyone's limited theme was more like a promotion, because there wasn't much stuff on the product. Later, through the design of shape and color, the limited model will be different. Shan Sixuan, founder of Chengdu Dameng Photography Studio and an independent photographer, explained: "There are actually two bases for the limited model: one is a holiday, and the other is related to the marketing node. For example, innocent blue has a 'Fanghua' series before, which is related to the movie. Regarding the "Fanghua" series, there is another episode: the movie "Fanghua" was originally scheduled to be released in October 2017, and the original "Fanghua Photo" launched by Innocent Blue was also limited to October. But in the end, the film was successfully released in December, and Innocent Blue also re-launched the "Fanghua Zhao" series the day before the film's release, and became a fixed shooting product, which has been retained to this day.
On June 23, 2018, the variety show "Creation 101" ended, and on the same day, Big Dream Photography launched the same light photo. The photorealistic costume uses a white T-shirt that has a high appearance in "Creation 101", and the makeup and hair are fresher and sweeter. Shan Sixuan did not disclose the specific amount of shooting orders, but said that the number of people was "not as many as imagined". The reason is that Shan Sixuan feels that it is because the launch of the series is too late, after the final, the popularity of the variety show has disappeared, and few people will pay attention to related things.
In addition to expanding the photography product line, naïve blue and hippocampus have also laid out more derivative businesses. As a supplement to the appointment-based shooting, in 2015, Naïve Blue established a sub-brand "Fang Kuai", focusing on 15 minutes of ready-to-use snapshot services, emphasizing convenience, and the price is only 1/4 to 1/3 of Naïve Blue. According to reports, "Fang Kuai" has opened 35 stores in 7 cities across the country, providing document snapshot services for more than 200,000 people. Hangzhou Mantu Photography Co., Ltd., the parent company of Haima Sports Photo Studio, has established 8 major brands such as Mantu Photography, Himobusiness, Mantu Cloud, and MantuLais Academy of Fine Arts, all of which are related to photography or an extension of photography business.
dreamplus big dream WeChat public account reservation interface. Image from the web
The demise of an internet celebrity photo studio
From the perspective of photography business, from ID photos to limited photos, Big Dream Photography and the product lines of naïve blue and hippocampus almost completely coincide.
After its establishment in 2015, the price of big dream photography ID photos is 180 yuan. "We will have some discounts, such as sending a circle of friends, there will be cashback; two people, three people together, there will also be discounts, so the average price of the customer order is about 150 yuan." Shan Sixuan introduced that compared with other businesses, the repurchase rate of ID photos and the unit price of customers are relatively low, and new users must be continuously absorbed. "If you're small, it's actually harder to make a profit. So I was more convinced of building a bigger brand or promoting it on a bigger platform. ”
After realizing the ceiling that may exist, when some investors found Shan Sixuan, Shan Sixuan happily accepted the other party's suggestion. In January 2017, Shan Sixuan left Chengdu with the core team and went to Hangzhou to build a new film service brand "Yimu ge". At its peak, Shan Sixuan and his team members opened 6 stores in Chengdu, Hangzhou and surrounding areas in 3 months.
The intervention of the capital side has also brought some unexpected effects to the big dream. First of all, investors hope that Big Dream Photography can lower the price and drop it to 99 yuan. "Investors want to make chains, like the hippocampus. They need to spread the net wider and attract more users. But in Shan Sixuan's view, reducing the price is actually disrespectful to old customers. At the same time, to some extent, customers attracted by low prices are not the target users of the brand.
During the same period, there were more and more photo studios that offered similar photography businesses in the market, including the more well-known "Zara who aspires to be a photographic world" face photo studio, a small elephant hall and so on. According to the data of Tianyancha, at least 28 companies have added the label of "the most beautiful ID photo" to the corporate information.
The price cut is just the beginning, and the longer the time goes on, the more Shan Sixuan finds that there are more and more differences between him and investors. In August 2017, Shan Sixuan and his team returned to Chengdu.
"In my own judgment in the industry, the market was saturated a few years ago, and there are no strong technical barriers in the industry as a whole." Shan Sixuan analyzed that in terms of technology and business, there is not much gap between everyone, and the scale determines the final direction of the photo studios to some extent. In order to take ID photos, people who walk 10 kilometers and 20 kilometers to find a fixed store are still a minority, so the number of stores is very important.
Up to now, the entire industry has developed to the stage of "grabbing territory". Hippocampus and Naïve Blue have seized the position of the core business districts of major cities, sitting on high rents and high foot traffic, which require strong financial and human support. For a company as small as Big Dream Photography, it does not have a competitive advantage. "I'm not optimistic about the future of the team." Shan Sixuan added.
On May 23, dreamplus Dream's WeChat public account published an article titled "Goodbye Is Not Goodbye", announcing the "death" of this well-known Internet celebrity photo studio in Chengdu.
Recalling the entrepreneurial process, Shan Sixuan feels that Big Dream Photography once had the opportunity to become "innocent blue" or "hippocampus". But unfortunately, this is only a "big dream".
(At the request of the interviewer, Li Lan and Wang Liang are pseudonyms in the text)
(Proofreader: Zhang Guogang)
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