Who failed in the marketing of "Squid Game"?

With the popularity of " Squid Game ", "Squid" marketing has also been launched. There have been failures and successes in this marketing. So who has failed in the "Squid" marketing? Interested friends can take a look.

1. The popularity of "Squid Game" also teaches a lesson to brands?

An investment of $21 million resulted in a thousand-fold increase in market value to $19.2 billion. "Squidward Fever" was a huge success, but Netflix was not the only beneficiary.

On October 13, Netflix announced that its Korean-language drama "Squid Game" had become the most watched series in the history of the platform. In less than a month after its launch, the drama had attracted 142 million viewers worldwide, accounting for two-thirds of Netflix's subscribers. On the Chinese Internet, topics related to Squid Games frequently appear on hot searches. As of now, the Weibo entry #SquidGame# has been read over 2.1 billion times.

Squid Game poster

The popularity of the drama has also brought attention to related industries. In addition to derivative peripheral products, even the "nostalgia-killing" products such as lozenges and marbles involved in the drama have become hot-selling products in e-commerce. In addition to content, the marketing support behind Netflix's new series breaking out of the circle is also indispensable.

Before the show started, Netflix set up an offline exhibition hall for Squid Games at the Itaewon subway station in South Korea to restore the iconic elements of the show into reality. For a film or TV work aimed at the global market, marketing in non-Korean-speaking regions is even more important. Focusing on content themes and memorable points, interactive games, joint stores, installation exhibitions, etc. are launched. To some extent, this is also a way to communicate with the audience in a more universal form under the differentiated cultural and cognitive background.

In North America, Netflix launched a user topic on TikTok, attracting netizens to participate in interactive video challenges adapted from the games in the show; in France, Netflix authorized the opening of a Squidward game-themed pop-up coffee shop, recreating the scenes and game experience in the show to attract offline check-ins; in the Philippines, Netflix set up the same puppet dolls as in the show at an intersection, so that the red light "gaze" in the puppet's eyes is combined with the plot; in this year's popular metaverse concept game Roblox, a large number of fan-made related theme game challenges have also been launched.

Image from Netflix Franceg official Twitter

Whether it is the puppet installation or the co-branded coffee shop, it has sparked discussion on online social media, and various ghost screenshots, memes and emoticons have been continuously circulated. On platforms such as Xiaohongshu, various Squid Game-related content such as sugar challenges, imitation makeup, and cosplay frequently appear on the screen.

In addition to the promotion of the series itself, "Squid Game" has also become a marketing symbol with high commercial value. Various brands have also taken advantage of it in online and offline activities or social media marketing to quickly respond to hot topics. For example, the luxury brand LV recently announced that the heroine of "Squid Game" Zheng Haoyan is the new global ambassador, and the fashion brand Emotionally Unavailable announced a cross-border cooperation and released a series of items co-branded with the "Squid Game" IP.

Pictures from LV, EU official

Of course, leveraging marketing requires a sense of scale, following rules and using reasonable methods. Recently, the video platform Youku officially announced its new variety show "Victory of the Squid", which was embroiled in a plagiarism controversy due to the similarity of posters and other content. Subsequently, the official urgently apologized and said it was a "wrong" posting, but it still triggered condemnation from many netizens and became a marketing "crash" incident.

2. “Jia Zhangke’s Personal Statement” Goes viral

"Jia Zhangke's personal statement" has been all over the WeChat Moments over the past week. The content has nothing to do with movies, but is about the latest advertisement in collaboration with a domestic boutique instant coffee brand.

Screenshot from Sandunban's official H5 page

In the form of short video + H5, the content is approached from a seemingly critical perspective, allowing the director to "accuse" the "unpleasant" process of cooperating with Sandunban during the filming. In fact, it is a planned conflict to arouse popularity and discussion and promote Sandunban super bucket products.

The video clip is taken from the Weibo of young director @王三才

Although netizens have expressed different opinions on this marketing cooperation, the WeChat index shows that the popularity of the keyword "Santonban" has soared for several consecutive days since October 18.

Brand advertising content pays more and more attention to communication influence, and the angles and creative planning are constantly updated. In other words, some advertisements tend to wander in the area where art and commerce intersect, allowing the content to continue to transition to cinematic levels. Collaborating with well-known directors has also been a preferred form of communication for brands in recent years. In addition to its own topic-spreading potential, it also aims to elevate the brand's tone and give new vitality to the content through the director's personal artistic style and work background.

As a representative figure of China's sixth generation of directors, this is not the first time that Jia Zhangke has been involved in commercial advertising cooperation. The 2019 Apple New Year short film "A Bucket" was also directed by Jia Zhangke, presenting the story of home and love in the form of an art film. Since the beginning of this year, Jia Zhangke has also collaborated with Kuaishou, Dongfeng Nissan, FILA and other brands on brand promotional videos.

Video clips taken from Youku video

In the ever-changing media environment, communication demands are also constantly changing. The brand is moving upward and pursuing cinematic narrative, texture and style. Compared with direct marketing advertisements in the past, the future trend is more inclined to abandon strong commercial attributes and extract brand concepts from the exploration of stories and artistic beauty.

Hua Xizi teamed up with Zhang Yimou's team to shoot the brand promotional video "Spiritual Beauty of the East, Impressions of the Dai People", Mercedes-Benz invited Wong Kar-wai to create the short film "Where the Heart Desires", and Ann Hui directed Alipay's Spring Festival Five Blessings short film "Seven Miles"... Using stories and blank spaces to evoke empathy is more conducive to enhancing the brand image and strengthening user favorability and stickiness.

3. Metersbonwe held its first fashion show in 26 years

On October 19, Metersbonwe held a launch of its 2022 Spring/Summer collection with the theme of "New Life" at the West Bund Dome Art Center in Shanghai. This was also the brand's first show in its 26 years of history.

The picture comes from metersbonwe official Weibo

It is reported that Metersbonwe's new series launch show is not only an anniversary celebration, but also a formal announcement of the brand's active transformation, conveying its goal of returning to young consumers and taking an unusual path again. In addition, Metersbonwe also officially launched a new set of brand logos.

In the 1990s, when brand awareness and style system had not yet been formed in the Chinese clothing industry, Metersbonwe was once a well-known brand in the industry. However, with the changes in the market and fashion trends, Metersbonwe misjudged the trend and lagged behind in transformation, faded out of the public eye and experienced a trough in the past few years. Whether this active transformation and the proposed youth strategy can reshape the brand’s vitality and attract young people remains to be seen.

It is reported that this event also cooperated with Bilibili, and invited many up hosts to co-create content before the show conference to warm up the event. On the day of the event, the live broadcast also had simultaneous interpretations by well-known up hosts such as Chinese boy Super Gorilla and Mou Huanjun, aiming to increase brand awareness through the influence of Bilibili and up hosts among Generation Z.

4. Nayuki’s Tea, opened a bookstore next to Tsinghua University

On October 15, the first "Nayuki Bookstore" in Beijing opened, and the new PRO store was located at the south gate of Tsinghua University in Beijing.

Image from the brand official

In addition to selling tea, baked goods and other items found in traditional PRO stores, the bookstore also offers more than 1,000 books for free reading by consumers. Compared with regular stores, "Nayuki Bookstore" has also opened up additional outdoor space, added long tables that can accommodate more than ten people, and set up a book-shaped wall in the outdoor area. The overall space is more spacious and can be used for small salons and other activities.

In fact, "Nayuki Bookstore" was once limited to three cities, Shenzhen, Guangzhou and Shanghai, in the form of a pop-up store, and received a lot of positive reviews. This is also the first time that Nayuki Bookstore has officially landed in the form of a PRO store.

5. Tmall launches "digital collectibles"

This year's Double Eleven marketing of e-commerce platforms is creatively centered around NFTs and digital collectibles.

On October 18, Tmall’s “Metaverse Art Exhibition” was launched. The art exhibition was produced by AYAYI, a hyper-realistic digital person who had previously “joined” Tmall, and jointly launched limited virtual digital collections with eight super brands.

The poster comes from Tmall official

The platform and the brand jointly created a digital marketing event during the launch phase of Double Eleven, leveraging this year's popular concepts of the Metaverse and NFT to digitally redesign physical products, and created the first collision with consumers' lives in the form of digital collections, adding new artistic and collection value to the brand.

From moving physical goods to online sales to reshaping the online shopping scene through live streaming, e-commerce platforms have entered the era of "goods looking for people" from the stage of "people looking for goods". Unlike the discounted purchase of physical goods, the digital collections of the super brands on Double Eleven were sold through a lottery-for-buy-and-give-away method, which has unknowingly presented the future of life to consumers in a concrete way.

The Tmall Metaverse Art Exhibition page shows that more than 20,000 people participated in the lottery for the limited digital collection of aliens, and the number of users participating in the lottery for the limited digital collections of the two brands, Procter & Gamble and Chando, exceeded 30,000.

In the view of Tmall Super Brand Day, the Metaverse has found new development space for the already relatively cramped e-commerce field and merchants who are troubled by brand marketing empowerment.

6. Li-NING1990, Li Ning's high-end sports fashion brand, is about to be launched

On October 22, Li Ning 1990’s official Weibo account “LI-NING1990” released its first concept commercial to warm up for the upcoming launch of Li Ning’s high-end sports fashion brand LI-NING1990.

Clip taken from LI-NING1990 official blog

31 years have passed since its establishment in 1990. Li Ning has launched a high-end sports fashion brand. The addition of product lines means that the brand layout has entered a new stage.

In fact, Chinese clothing brands that were born in the 1990s have all experienced a chaotic stage with a lack of industry brand awareness, no independent style, and unclear positioning. Compared with other domestic sports brands, Li Ning has been tied to the founder's IP and achieved mutual success since its inception, which also laid the foundation for the subsequent nationalization route.

With the rise of Chinese fashion in recent years, Li Ning grasped the trend of brand transformation towards youth relatively early, and stood out among young people through differentiated design, exhibitions, fashion shows and other means, further enhancing the brand's vitality and recognition.

7. The first creative podcast of ByteDance, “Yi Yi Bo Er”, is launched

Recently, the first season of the creative podcast "Yi Yi Bo Er", exclusively produced by ByteDance, produced and broadcast by JustPod, and first released by Himalaya, was officially launched. It will be updated every Thursday from October to December, focusing on marketing, creativity and culture-related content.

The first episode, "How a Poet Becomes a Media Person," explores the changes in media and creativity, and invites the founder of "New Weekly" and rural entrepreneurship practitioner Feng Xincheng, senior advertising person and creative person Dong Dongqiang, and talk show host and Internet creative person Mao Dong to record together.

Poster from official

Making a podcast or shooting a Vlog, this personalized and unconstrained form of content expression is popular on social media. In this communication environment where there is excessive competition and redundant information in information and short video content, both brands and platforms are trying to strengthen user communication through diversified content and media forms.

Of course, at present, podcast programs still belong to a relatively niche circle culture, and their content is more suitable for in-depth exploration focusing on a single point, and more as content products for old user operations and community dissemination.

Author: Azhi

Source: Brand Manager