As a common marketing strategy, a crossover between brands has become commonplace during the sales promotion period of various brands. In our daily life, even if you don’t pay attention to it, you could see the trend that is sweeping the town led by “crossover”. From Starbucks' Cat Paw Cup to Uniqlo, which is the “master of crossovers” every year. The hot spot effect caused by the Kaws X Uniqlo collection made the products in short supply, consumers are rushing as the craze erupted, causing the product's popularity to drove up dramatically.
In June 2020, adidasneo officially announced its crossover with Gudetama; in the same month, tissue brand Mind Act Upon Mind, and Elf Sack also released their summer product crossovers one after another. In July 2021, Bananain released the Weibo feed #Cutest of the summer Ever-changing Minions# (#夏最萌 百变小黄人#), announcing the crossover with the cartoon character Minions.
From clothing to daily necessities, a crossover has no longer been limited within a single category, and the collision of different IPs can often lead to widespread concern among consumers.
Crossover between large brands: a win-win situation
Looking back at the previous joint cases, there was a strange IP collision: Ramen Talk✖️999 Ganmao Ling Keli’s chicken soup noodles combination.
Besides, there was also been a heart-warming crossover in special periods: During the pandemic, Pepsi ✖️People’s Daily co-branded and launched a can packaging with the theme of medical staff, volunteers, front-line workers, and couriers, implying “love our guardians”.
Furthermore, there is an example of “competition becomes cooperation”: Hey Tea✖️ SexyTea. After an unintentional mistake in a Weibo lottery draw, Hey Tea launched a crossover gift box with SexyTea as a competing product. The collection was said to have subverted people's perception of crossovers.
On the other hand, there has been a crossover voicing out for the LGBT community: On the occasion of the International Day against Homophobia, Transphobia, and Biphobia on May 17, Coca-Cola ✖️ Tyrannosaurus launched rainbow glasses that were only for a giveaway but not for sale.
IP crossover has become a major strategy for new marketing objectives. Compared with other crossover methods, IP crossover is easy to operate and highly controllable, so it is highly welcomed by marketers of various brands.
Cartoon✖Brand, Nostalgia and Fashion
The crossovers of brands and cartoon images are often a win-win situation. Cartoon image, as nostalgia and cultural symbols, they used to live in TV, comic books and people’s memories. Yet now they have been moved into real life and integrated with daily necessities. While the original brand would break its monotonous style, obtaining different themes and designs in the crossovers with different IPs, thus injecting new vitality into the products.
The cartoon ✖️ brand not only increases the reputation and influence of both parties, but also attracts and exchange both of their fan groups, in which it is a good way in increasing sales.
KOL and noise volume
Among Weibo feeds, except for amateurs who have posted for adidas✖️ Minions accounted for a larger proportion, which is 87.25%, the rest are dominated by KOLs and KOCs. While the largest proportion of making noises are all top KOLs. Aside from adidaseno, even if other brands do not have the resources like this brand, they are still willing to spend on high-quality KOLs, because the noise volume brought by top KOLs is indeed significant.
The total number of adidasneo KOLs is 251, and the total number of Mind Act Upon Mind KOLs is 395; the total number of Bananain KOLs is 134, and the total number of Elf Sack KOLs is 625. Among the brands, the total number of KOLs invited by Mind Act Upon Mind is the largest. Since it is a tissue brand that belongs to the lifestyle category, the types of KOLs invited are also more diverse.
(Vfluencer's analysis of Elf Sack’s data and noise volume)
(Vfluencer's analysis of Elf Sack’s data and noise volume)
(Vfluencer's analysis of Elf Sack’s data and noise volume)
Content and Amount of Interactions
Under the Weibo feeds of Mind Act Upon Mind✖️Xiao Liu Ya, the total number of content is 456, the total number of reposts is 80195, and the total number of comments is 83591.
Under the Weibo feeds of Super Super Super Lazy Live Broadcast of adidas✖️ Minions, the total number of Weibo interactions is 5053961. On September 14, 2020, the highest noise volume of the topic under the feed reached 4388954.
Under the Weibo feeds of Elf Sack✖️Doraemon, the total number of content is 195, the total number of reposts is 18,438, and the total number of comments is 48,362.
Under the Weibo feeds of “Cutest of the summer Ever-changing Minions”, 98,271 likes, 18,367 reposts, and 30,49 comments have been received.