Case Review | How did Mafengwo build its brand IP?

There is a saying: Your success is not only determined by yourself but also by your opponents.

In the surging wave of consumption and brand upgrades, staying ahead of competitors through effective brand campaigns is a crucial step!

Today we will review how Mafengwo leverages its brand IP to gain an advantage in the battle with its competitors.

Case review: Mafengwo’s “Unknown Travel Lab”

"Unknown Travel Laboratory" is a brand IP launched by Mafengwo in September 2016. As we all know, Mafengwo is a free travel brand that has been in business for ten years. There was no major marketing campaign before 2016. Since then, almost all of Mafengwo's marketing activities have been unified under this IP. Below we will examine the operation of this brand IP from multiple perspectives:

1. Background:

Let’s go back to September 2016, when Mafengwo was facing a stressful task of brand upgrading.

1) [Market Perspective] The online travel market has gradually divided into two camps: on one side, traditional OTA online travel brands represented by Ctrip.com , Qunar.com , and Alitrip (the predecessor of Fliggy Travel), and on the other side, new-style free travel brands that started with social networking + guides, such as Mafengwo and Qyer.com;

2) [User perspective] As the post-90s generation gradually grows into a new generation of middle-class consumer force, their demand for independent travel has increased dramatically, which provides a rare opportunity for the development of all independent travel brands. How to maximize the harvest of this huge user base has become a major concern for all free travel brands;

3) [Own perspective] Since its establishment 10 years ago, Mafengwo has been steadily promoting the development strategy of social strategy operation + big data upgrade, and has gained a very good reputation in the circle of veteran travelers. It can be said that it is on par with its strong competitor, Qyer.com, and it is difficult to tell which one is better. However, it has made little progress in terms of brand marketing . If you are not a veteran traveler, you may not have heard of Mafengwo.

2. Strategy:

In order to complete this brand upgrade task, Mafengwo examined itself and sought breakthroughs in marketing from two main perspectives: one is users, and the other is competitors.

It can be said that the biggest driving force behind this wave of free travel is the rise of the post-90s consumer group. So what kind of group of people is this? Tencent’s “Mobile Digital Life of Post-90s” summarized it this way:

Self-definition, embracing new things and loving adventure can be said to be extremely important characteristics of the post-90s generation. At this time, Mafengwo remembered a slogan it had used earlier: "Don't fear the unknown." Here, "unknown" is closely related to "adventure", "new things" and "self-definition", which means that the post-90s generation "is not a biological age of 18-27 years old, but a vibrant psychological state, a mainstream social group full of changes." (Quoted by Ogilvy's senior creative director Zhao Yuanyuan). This user insight allowed Mafengwo to begin focusing its Idea breakthrough on “unknown travel”.

After looking at the users, you also need to look at the competitors. As mentioned above, Mafengwo's competitors mainly fall into two categories: one is traditional OTA online travel websites such as Ctrip, Qunar, and Alitrip; the other is free travel platforms represented by Qyer.com. The advertising imprint of "With Ctrip in hand, you can go whenever you want" is very deep, while in contrast, the advertising imprint of free travel platforms is rarely heard. Of course, this also gives Mafengwo the opportunity to reopen the marketing battlefield.

The following two comparisons will help us find out where Mafengwo’s competitive advantages lie:

Mafengwo PK Ctrip: Ctrip is an OTA-like website whose core products are ticket booking ( air tickets + hotels) + various travel agency projects. Basically, I decide where I want to go, and then search for flights and hotels to the local area in the input box, or see if there are any cost-effective travel agency programs to choose from. For travelers, Ctrip.com only serves as a tool to provide cheap air tickets and cheap accommodation.

Mafengwo, which started out as a travel social networking and travel guide community, is obviously different from Ctrip. It intervenes in the consumer's interest generation stage by starting with the travel guide. The first step is to discover an interesting place, and then think about how to get there. How to play better. Therefore, even though Ctrip also talks about free travel, Ctrip’s free travel and Mafengwo’s are not in the same category at all.

Mafengwo vs. Qyer: If Ctrip does not pose any threat to Mafengwo in the independent travel market, then Qyer, which was founded in 2004, has been deeply involved in the independent travel market and has a market share almost on par with Mafengwo, can be said to be a strong rival of Mafengwo. To find advantages, we must first start with differences.

In the eyes of veteran travel enthusiasts, although Mafengwo and Qyer.com both started out as social networking + travel guide platforms, their different entrepreneurial backgrounds and development paths make them quite different.

1. [Strategy level] Mafengwo's guides feature rich pictures and texts, beautiful articles and beautiful scenery, are highly enjoyable, and are very thoughtful, which can easily make people want to go for a "free trip "; while Qyer.com's guides feature practical information, are well-reasoned and verifiable, and are more practical, which can help travelers solve practical problems. For example, the travel guides on Mafengwo are like the seven-day Spring Festival holiday is coming soon, and you don’t want to spend the holiday at home, but you also have some place you particularly want to go. In this case, you can go to Mafengwo to have a look, and if a certain travel guide catches your interest, you decide to go there. The travel guides on Qyer.com are different. You don’t want to stay at home, and you may have long wanted to take your parents to Japan for a trip, so you look for travel guides to see whether to go to Tokyo, Kyoto, Osaka, or Nara.
2. [Travel Routes] Mafengwo's domestic travel routes are the most mature, and of course the routes to China's neighboring countries and other overseas regions are also gradually maturing; while Qyer.com started out by developing European travel routes, and has a natural advantage in overseas travel routes, especially in Europe and the United States.

Summary: With the fierce competition between Mafengwo and Qyer for the free travel market, the development and coverage of tourist routes, both at home and abroad, is a matter of time. Therefore, the differences in tourist routes will not be taken into consideration, as this will affect Mafengwo's long-term strategy. Then we can only start from the strategy level.

The analysis here requires the use of an important tool, which is the consumer purchasing decision-making process.

With the above picture, we can clearly see that Mafengwo’s strategy advantage is more suitable for the first stage of “confirming needs”, while Qyer.com’s strategy advantage is more suitable for the second stage of “collecting information”. Obviously, Mafengwo’s marketing should focus more on shaping and guiding the “demand level”. Combined with the breakthrough "unknown travel" in the previous user analysis, the entire logical chain is connected. Mafengwo’s brand upgrade idea should start with “unknown travel” and transform Mafengwo from a “strategy platform” to a “fun and adventurous” cool platform.

3. Execution

After reading the strategy, the next step is to implement it. Since its launch in September 2016, the "Unknown Travel Lab" has carried out a series of creative marketing activities, the most representative of which are:

#An unknown journey#

Time: September 2016

Content: Online experience recruitment

Format: Subway advertising + elevator advertising + WeChat soft article

Mafengwo has developed more than a dozen mind-blowing tourist routes, such as driving tanks and fighter jets in Russia, staying overnight in a prison hotel, having lunch with NASA astronauts, driving a MiG-29 fighter jet... These are full of gimmicks, and they use subway ads + elevator ads + WeChat soft-text bombardment to recruit experiencers, and many people responded at once.

#Love is an unknown journey#

Time: June 2017

Content: Online experience recruitment

Form: Co-branding strategy — video + event marketing

Partner Brand: Airbnb

Mafengwo cooperated with the popular short-term rental platform Airbnb to jointly launch a theme event called "Love is an unknown journey." Only 10 pairs of participants are invited to participate in the flash sale at the promotional price of RMB 2,017, and experience 10 unknown travel destinations, such as "Love is living in a down-to-earth home, love is witnessing the origin of inspiration, love is an exclusive museum in the rainforest" with only mysterious clues and landlord information left to trigger event marketing.

#Looking for the little yellow box#

Time: July 2017

Content: Online experience recruitment

Form: Co-branding strategy — video + H5 + WeChat Moments advertising

Cooperating brand: Durex

This time, Mafengwo chose to join forces with Durex to jointly create the "Unknown Little Yellow Box". The box contains a box of AiR, a Mafengwo themed travel guide, and mysterious unknown travel surprises, such as double plane tickets. This mysterious product, which has its own popularity, quickly sold out online.

#My trip#

Date: November 2017

Content: Online experience recruitment

Form: Co-branding strategy — creative video + H5 test

Cooperating brand: Atour Hotel

Mafengwo and Atour Hotel have jointly launched a 72-hour flash experience project called "Travel Personality Hotel". If you want to stay there, you need to complete the "My Travel Personality" H5 test and find one of the nine personalities, including "Local Undercover", "Scenic Spots Competition", "Local Excavator", "Picky Eater", "Five-Star Otaku", "Living Shopping Cart", "Wild Photographer", etc., and then get the opportunity to experience the hotel's special rooms. If you are a "wild photographer", you will have Polaroid calendars and cameras in your room, as well as many master-level photography sets.

#Guide to the Internet celebrity walls around the world#

Time: December 2017

Content: Fan Experience

Form: Co-branding strategy — offline immersive experience + H5 + KOL

Cooperating brand: Taikoo Li

Mafengwo has teamed up with the fashion landmark Beijing Sanlitun Taikoo Li to create the "Guide to the World's Internet Celebrity Walls" offline experience center, unprecedentedly "moving" 12 of the world's most fashionable Internet celebrity walls to China, allowing young people to check in in one stop and post the coolest photos. And you can sign up for the corresponding experience routes through H5.

Looking at the above activities, there are several important features of Mafengwo’s execution:

1. Unified theme and integrated into products: Starting from the first "unknown journey", Mafengwo's marketing activities did not blindly pursue gimmicks, but actually developed corresponding products. Every subsequent major event will be supported by corresponding experimental products online. These products are always in line with the main theme of "Unknown Travel Laboratory", and each time is full of fun and excitement.
2. Keep users engaged at all times: Almost every event will have flash sales, H5 interactions, offline selfies and other activities to allow users to participate and interact with the brand; those who successfully complete the interaction can also actually participate in "experimental tourism projects."
3. Taking advantage of the situation and flattering others to win favor: Mafengwo is very good at cooperating with popular brands favored by the post-90s generation. Through clever and interesting associative creativity, and taking advantage of brands with their own traffic such as Airbnb and Durex, it has successfully entered the circle of attention of the post-90s generation and won their favor.

Summarize:

As of early 2018, through the continued operation of the brand IP "Unknown Travel Laboratory", Mafengwo has successfully implanted the impression of a strong brand of free travel into the minds of post-90s users. Its direct competitor, Qyer.com, was also forced to respond by proposing a new brand proposition, "Define travel with creativity", in September 2017, but the timing was too late and coupled with a lack of systematization, it has had little effect. Looking back on the journey of building the brand IP of Mafengwo, there are three points that can be used as a reference for later generations:

Strategic accuracy: Accurately identify target users and direct competitors, and find out the core positioning and concept essence of the brand IP;

Continuity of execution: The creation of brand IP must adhere to continuity, and all marketing actions must be closely linked to the IP theme;

Open-mindedness: Brand IP must learn to “set the stage and perform”, be open to introducing brands, topics, and gameplay that users like, and be flexible and creative.