Brand Matrix Building Guide

This article will talk about "How to build IP and brand in matrix" is divided into two parts:

1. How personal brands and corporate brands should empower each other
2. 8 suggestions for building a relatively stable IP matrix

Every trader has thought about standing in front of the stage, and every IP has thought about retreating behind the scenes.

1. Definition of Big Content IP and Small Brand IP

Let’s clarify the concepts first. These two words are newly coined, but in fact every private domain team cannot avoid them.

1. Big content IP

As the name suggests, the IP itself is a super creator of content. Generally speaking, the typical characteristic of this person is that his personal brand is stronger than the company brand.

For example, you probably know Wu Xiaobo, but you probably don’t know Ba Jiuling. Ba Jiuling is the company brand of Wu Xiaobo. Wu Xiaobo is a very typical content IP.

There is also Liu Yuanyuan, who "sold 100 million on Douyin" some time ago. Everyone knows Liu Yuanyuan, but the Yuanchuang Culture behind her is not as well-known.

There are many more. Do you know the companies behind Li Jiaqi and Viya? Try to guess.

Dadong is following the same model, but I am only running the business model to pave the way for the company's subsequent business.

Here I would like to give some advice to those friends who heard that short videos and video accounts are popular and signed up for courses and started working on their own:

Not everyone is suitable for personal IP, and you cannot monetize it just by having fans, so please be careful.

For a business model like big content IP, the advantage is that it can have a better cold start, and is more spreadable and controllable. It is particularly easy to acquire customers. Generally speaking, the IP belongs to the founder, which also helps the founder to better control the company. And if you don’t have much start-up capital and don’t want to go the financing route, it is especially recommended that you increase your volume through the use of big content IP.

But the disadvantages are also obvious. This is because this model is highly dependent on IP, and IP is also a mortal body, it will get tired, make mistakes, and have various accidents such as birth, aging, sickness and death. Therefore, it is generally difficult for such companies to go public and gain recognition from mainstream capital.

The main reason is that the risk factor is too high. Imagine that hundreds of thousands of investors bought stocks with a market value of tens of billions of dollars, but because the IP got seriously ill and could no longer do live broadcasting or other businesses, the company's revenue plummeted and its valuation was halved. This possibility is too great.

2. The opposite of “big content IP” is “small brand IP”

As the name suggests, the brand is in front and the IP is smaller. Generally speaking, it means that the company brand is stronger than the personal brand, especially when the company brand is intended to divert traffic to the personal brand.

Many people know Perfect Diary, but only a small number of hardcore users know about Chibi Maruko-chan.

The IP Chibi Maruko-chan is a small brand IP under Perfect Diary. This is because Perfect Diary will divert traffic to Chibi Maruko-chan through advertising, so only hardcore users know about Chibi Maruko-chan.

Many people know Xibei Youmiancun, but not many people know the manager of Xibei.

There are actually many case scenarios like small brand IPs. In the online education industry where Dadong has been working, every front-end salesperson, back-end class teacher, and learning consultant are also small brand IPs.

Its advantage is that it does not rely solely on one individual. The company can control and scale well and has a strong ability to resist risks.

If Perfect Diary does not have Maruko, it will have Xiao Meizi, and the conversion rate will not be much different no matter who becomes the IP.

However, the disadvantages are also relatively obvious. It will be slow and difficult to increase the volume, and generally the volume is increased by intercepting one's own traffic .

The interception of own traffic will be discussed in the following traffic diversion chapter , which includes 5 major traffic diversion scenarios. This model requires a lot of money to be spent on advertising and renting offline stores to divert traffic to them.

Like the previous online education industry, during every winter and summer vacation, major leading companies would spend nearly tens of billions of dollars to enter the market and empower these "small brand IPs".

At the same time, various KOLs are also needed to stand up for them. It can be seen that the potential energy of a small brand IP will be relatively low.

OK, now the classification differences between large content IPs and small brand IPs are much clearer.

In fact, the simple way to judge is to see who directs traffic to whom, which is also the most obvious difference.

2. Classic Cases of Transforming Big Content IP into Small Brand IP

Luo Zhenyu, Mr. Luo used to be a very typical big IP. I believe many of my friends have listened to his early "Luoji Siwei" repeatedly on their way to and from get off work.

Later, it decisively transformed itself and created a new brand.

Although he continued to direct traffic to Duoduo in the early days, he also gathered a lot of new IPs and turned the Duoduo APP into a platform. Now more people may know Duoduo than Luo Zhenyu. Because big IPs like Xue Zhaofeng, Wu Jun, Liu Run, etc. are also directing traffic to the APP.

A while ago, it submitted an application for listing. Imagine if Luo Zhenyu still sticks to the previous single content IP model, it would be very difficult for him to go public.

This type of investment is relatively easier to be accepted by capital because everyone recognizes the brand.

Now that we have aligned these two concepts, let’s talk about the main point of this article.

In order to prepare this article, I sorted out 8 typical IP matrix systems on the market, which basically cover most of the IP matrices.

Among these 8 types, 4 are recommended by Dadong, and 4 are matrix models that I do not recommend.

Next, let's go through them one by one. Let's talk about the recommended ones first, as shown below:

1. Four recommended IP matrix systems

The first type is called the founder’s IP + brand + trader or assistant IP . Note that the trader or assistant IP at the end may or may not be present.

For example, there are Gong Wenxiang and Luo Jianfeng from Electric Shock Club, Bobo and Luo Hui from Bobo is Coming, Yiren and Yuwan from The Art of Making Money, and many more.

This model is very stable. As long as the IP is hard-working, diligent and self-disciplined enough, generally no problems will arise and it can last for a long time.

The second type is called the founder’s content IP + brand + master-apprentice IP.

Let’s take an example. Guo Degang and his disciples from Deyun Club, Simba and the Xinxuan family, Luo Yonghao and his many assistants are very typical master-disciple IP matrix models. Generally speaking, such a big IP needs to have very, very, very high potential energy, and there will be relatively strong control over the apprentice IP, allowing the apprentice to continue to create economic benefits for itself.

The key to the sustainability of this model is that the master must have the most traffic.

The third type is called brand + brand small IP.

The most typical example mentioned above is Perfect Diary and Chibi Maruko-chan.

Although it is a small IP, the real-life character setting is also very important.

The cover of Chibi Maruko's Moments is a real person. Real people and non-real people have a great psychological impact on customers, so it is not recommended to use non-real people.

The last type is brand + brand small IP group . Note that this is a brand small IP group.

Two examples are Hepuolan and Xibei.

Every technical consultant of Hepulan and the store manager of every store in the northwest are a small brand IP, and many WeChat business teams also set up the IP matrix in this way.

OK, the above are the four IP systems that I highly recommend. These four types of IP matrices are also relatively stable and can go relatively far.

2. Four IP matrix systems not recommended

Next, let’s talk about the four IP matrix models that Dadong does not recommend.

The first type is a two-person or multi-person CP combination IP matrix.

This kind of combination is fine if it is a temporary cooperation, but for a long-term strong binding, this matrix will apparently empower each other. However, in the long-term running-in, IPs are very likely to produce discord.

Discords include differences in concepts, traffic distribution, and benefits distribution. Any kind of discord will lead to a lot of disputes and eventually cause the breakdown of cooperation.

Dadong and his trader friends have experienced many such cases, so I do not recommend this model. Especially those with similar potential energy are more likely to have their cooperation break down.

Especially in the entertainment industry, many band groups, such as Huaer Band and Da Zhangwei, Shuimu Nianhua and Li Jian are very typical cases.

In recent years, people are more familiar with Li Jiaqi and his assistant Fu Peng.

Although he was an assistant, he went solo after his potential energy gradually increased. So now if you look at Li Jiaqi’s live broadcast room, there is no assistant who can show up often. My friends, please take a closer look.

Therefore, two or more content IPs can cooperate in the short term and build momentum together, but long-term cooperation is not possible.

The second type that is not recommended is big brand + employee content big IP.

In the past, Dadong thought it would be great to turn his employees into IPs, which would not only bring considerable profits to the company, but also allow for continuous batch replication of IPs. But after experiencing many big scandals, you don’t have to be too afraid. Those who understand will understand.

Because it is difficult to bind employees through labor agreements. Either you fail to do it, or you do it alone after you succeed.

Then someone might ask if it is possible to use a stricter protocol for binding. I think it's possible, but in the long run, all good things must come to an end.

So you see why Perfect Diary doesn’t create a big internet celebrity like Li Jiaqi as its IP. They have the ability and capital to do so. There must be more decisions behind the scenes, and they are long-term considerations.

The third type, which is not recommended, is the big brand + customer service IP matrix.

I believe that those who have been following Dadong’s articles will understand it immediately.

If you do this, either your WeChat account will be deleted, or the user will simply ignore you or block your circle of friends, which is a complete waste of traffic.

Many takeout restaurants nowadays basically handle the process in this way after adding friends. There is basically no communication, only event announcements and reminders. I delete this kind of account as soon as I see it.

A few weeks ago, a consulting client asked this question, but his boss didn't take it seriously. He felt that it had no impact on his current business anyway, so if it was deleted, it was deleted.

There are also some large e-commerce companies that are like this, but I won’t mention their names here.

We should also thank this big company disease. If there is no such disease, what chance would we small entrepreneurs have~~

The last matrix that is not recommended is called large content IP + multi-brand IP.

Generally speaking, it is enough for a big content IP to do one thing well. If you talk too much about positioning, it will confuse people.

Just like when we mentioned Lei Jun, that is Xiaomi. When talking about Dong Mingzhu, we think of Gree. Jobs is Apple. This kind of top-tier IP only does one thing.

Of course, there are exceptions. Musk, he is working on Tesla, Space X, and Neuralink, but there is only one Musk. If you are not as rich, smart, or hardworking as him, you should still focus on doing one thing. Focus is powerful.

3. Conclusion

The 8 major IP matrices basically cover most of the character positioning. At the end of this article, I would like to share with you the opening sentence:

Every trader wants to stand in front of the stage, and every IP wants to return behind the scenes.

Being a big content IP can bring you a lot of benefits, and long-term operation will inevitably have great barriers, and it will also enable you to have stronger control over the business. Therefore, many traders have thought about moving from behind the scenes to the front stage.

But the second sentence is that the model of big content IP has always been very profitable, but it is not recognized by capital. This is indeed an accident, a possible cycle of birth, aging, sickness and death, and then the investors’ money will be gone. Who can feel at ease?

Moreover, for big IPs, creating content, participating in various forums and social gatherings consumes a lot of mental, physical and mental energy, and it is quite tiring to do it for a long time.

Many big IPs that have made enough money have gradually retired from the market. Either they live a low-key life, hiding their achievements and fame, or they go behind the scenes and go back to being a company trader.

Like Luo Zhenyu, turning into spring mud and building a brand is a very good destination.

For example, Peking University, Harvard University, and West Point Military Academy. They are also able to separate themselves from their physical bodies and personal IPs and survive for hundreds of years, which is much longer than a human lifespan.

This is a truly valuable brand.

Author: Dadong is not roast duck

Source: Dadong also talks about money