Understand the new marketing benchmark in 1 minute and create high added value with low cost

As a series of successful commercial films, " Despicable Me " not only made a cartoon character famous, but also started a marketing chain with the "Minions" theme.

The first to bear the brunt is McDonald's , the big brother of the catering industry. It has already started to hype up "Despicable Me 3" before it was released, and launched 10 new products centered around "Minions", including folding pens, notepad holders, business card holders, mobile phone holders, paper clip holders, computer decorations... There are also hidden edition Minions dolls that only appear in gift boxes, and they are not sold separately!

That’s not enough. McDonald’s even opened several new Minions-themed restaurants and used the Minions as a super IP to carry out a heavy marketing campaign.

Ofo, on the other hand, was not to be outdone and pulled out its own trump card - it designed the ofo "big-eyed bike" based on the cute appearance of the Minions and launched it precisely according to the release time of the movie, which immediately became a "king bomb" among the Minions' fan base!

Then, ofo placed a large number of themed advertisements in Beijing Subway Guomao Station, Haidian Huangzhuang Station and subway carriages, hoping to take advantage of the Minions craze and brand association to further enhance its popularity.

On the day of the release of Despicable Me 3, there was a new way to play with Minions that sparked heated discussions among netizens:

@鹿九哦_: So loving
@Big Eyed Pumpkin: Yes. . Dad is very loving. . Willing to accompany the child to do what he wants to do
@啊什么好呢: Maybe it’s because dad wants to dress like this

It turned out that at the premiere of "Despicable Me 3" in Shanghai, a father and son wore banana-shaped clothes to enter the theater to watch the movie, which caused screams from the audience and made headlines in major media the next day. As veteran fans of the Minions, you all know that the elements that make up the Minions are banana puree, and their favorite food is also bananas. Some fans jokingly said - are they really here to be "eaten" by the Minions when they dress up as banana people?

The story didn't end there. Banana father and son went to the cinema again to distribute bananas, which attracted CCTV, Shanghai TV, Youku and other media to the scene for interviews and reports.

It was not until the attentive onlookers saw the QR code " Scan with Alipay to ride a bike" on the distributed bananas that they suddenly realized: it turned out that this was not just a spontaneous activity organized by Minions fans! This is simply a carefully planned high-end marketing campaign!

Many people did not instinctively reject this unexpected encounter after knowing that it was a marketing scam. Instead, they rushed to repost the internet celebrity couple "Banana Father and Son" on Weibo and WeChat Moments . Even the "banana flyers" they received were used as a "tool to show off" in WeChat Moments.

From a marketing perspective, there are 6 aspects of this incident that are extremely valuable for reference!

The impact of scene selection on marketing effectiveness is crucial, and its power can be seen by taking an example.

" Ode to Joy 2 " caused a viewing frenzy as soon as it was released some time ago. In the Weibo TV Index list, "Ode to Joy 2" occupied the top spot on the daily TV drama list on the day it was aired. During the broadcast of the drama, except for June 5, "Ode to Joy 2" always topped the daily and weekly TV drama rankings of Weibo TV Index. The total number of related Weibo mentions reached 7.719 million times, and the number of readings exceeded 8.17 billion times.

It can be seen that the drama is highly sought after among both TV viewers and Weibo netizens for its high ratings and high topicality.

Another blockbuster, "White Deer Plain", was also released at the same time. You should know that "White Deer Plain" was highly anticipated by everyone before the pre-broadcast. Such a profound TV series is undoubtedly the biggest dark horse of the year.

However, the popularity of "Ode to Joy 2" was so high after it was broadcast that "White Deer Plain" released at the same time was completely silent and suffered a disastrous ratings defeat.

Isn’t “White Deer Plain” famous? It is adapted from a well-known novel and falls into the category of big IP among adaptations.
Isn’t “White Deer Plain” anticipated? With a well-received movie in front and big-name stars behind, the film had already attracted much attention before it was broadcast.
Is "White Deer Plain" a bad film? The Douban rating of 8.9 can prove this, and everyone who has seen it says it is a conscientious drama.

But compared to "Ode to Joy 2", "White Deer Plain" just can't generate as much buzz.

Since audiences don’t like to watch content that is out of touch with real life, the “Alipay scan code to ride a bike” event simply sets the scene in a movie theater. This is a national event with a huge potential browsing base, which allows the audience to empathize effortlessly.

Therefore, the scenario that needs to be chosen for marketing is very important. It is directly related to the preferences of C-end users, determines the sense of distance from users, and is directly related to the public preferences.

Novelty, fun and excitement can create a temporary communication effect, but if you want to ferment multiple times like the "Banana Father and Son" incident and cause a lasting impact, you also need to make the audience connect with the information itself.

In other words, "Alipay scan code to ride a bike" focuses on user participation, which is the motivation for the audience to spread it multiple times.

The news of basketball superstar Kobe Bryant's retirement once caused a sensation, but it has little to do with everyone's life. As a C-end user, you can only comment on the Internet and express your own opinions, but you cannot really participate in it. The topic died down after it became popular, and few people paid attention to Kobe's subsequent life.

The difference of the "Alipay Scan Code to Ride a Bike" activity is that they indirectly increase user participation: anyone may encounter the "Banana Father and Son" on the road, get free bananas, and even take a photo together and forward it to their friends to "show off".

It is opportunities like these that allow everyone to become a participant in headline news. This motivation to participate can form a psychological suggestion, making users feel that the hot spots are happening around them, giving them a sense of full participation, and they may even encounter them while shopping.

The result of this psychological suggestion is that the hot topic can continue to ferment and subtly influence the people around you.

Before Jobs founded Apple, he must have done some research and found that the audience subconsciously had a good impression of Apple.

"Alipay scan code to ride a bike" chose bananas as the advertising carrier, which not only fits the Minions character, but also won a very high favorability among users.

Bananas are a lovely fruit, and most people will gladly accept them: you can choose to eat them, or take them away; at least you won’t throw them away.

In this way, users will have more chances to notice the QR code attached to the banana, and the time the DM slip stays in the user's hands will increase exponentially.

It turns out that the "Alipay Scan Code to Ride a Bike" campaign, which prints QR codes on bananas, is extremely attractive and has directly created a new type of advertising carrier.

Any activity hopes to leverage hot topics to increase brand popularity. In the close combat marketing field, it is not easy to get really close to the hot spots.

Many people want to get a piece of the pie, and “Alipay scan code to ride a bike” is no exception. But the story of a "Banana Father and Son" watching a movie became a hot topic from WeChat Moments to self-media , to Weibo, and even made headlines in major mainstream media. The conversion rate of the event was astonishingly high .

Being able to launch a campaign that focuses on hot topics and has a wide influence is a success. The viral “Alipay scan code to ride a bike” campaign has a headline effect that is even comparable to the potential energy of the movie itself.

Let me first give you some background knowledge. "Return on investment " (ROI) is an important indicator to measure the success of a marketing campaign. Heat and effect are important, but the conversion ratio between them and cost must also be considered.

The most successful marketing is to exchange lower investment for higher added value. The marketing cost of "Alipay scan code to ride a bike" is less than one percent of the traditional marketing cost, but it has an amazing conversion rate and high participation. From then on, communication is no longer restricted by cost, and "Alipay scan code to ride a bike" can be said to be a new benchmark for IP marketing.

As the highly anticipated "Despicable Me 3", the popularity of the Minions has made all brands want to get a piece of the pie. Good leverage is the icing on the cake, while insufficient skill will only reduce the audience's favorability towards you.

"Scan the QR code with Alipay to ride a bike" was a decisive move to create a fresh breeze in the sea of ​​homogeneous marketing, which led to the "Banana Father and Son" campaign, which is simple but has a very high emotional added value.

Finally, a few notes:

The most valuable thing in marketing is not to simply create new methods, but to accurately use corresponding marketing methods to maximize the marketing effect after fully interpreting the communication background and understanding the needs of the communication objects.

In the Internet age of information explosion, any piece of content may flash through the audience's mind without leaving any trace. Only creative content can ferment for a long time. For example, the "Banana Father and Son" activity of "Alipay Scan Code to Ride a Bike" interprets every stage of high-quality marketing and created its own excellent recognition.

Small cost, big return. Just like the "Alipay scan code to ride a bike" campaign, the conversion rate of the activity does not rely on cost, but instead uses word-of-mouth to spread multiple times. Such low-cost cases can reap huge returns because of excellent marketing ideas.