Short Essay 2_WANG You (1155227259)

Co-branding, a strategic partnership between two or more brands, aims to leverage each other's strengths to create mutual benefits. In the gaming sector, co-branding has become a powerful tool to expand brand reach, enhance consumer engagement, and create unique experiences. Cross-border co-branding, where brands from entirely different industries collaborate, is particularly interesting because it allows both parties to connect with new audiences in creative ways. In the increasingly homogenized FMCG and food and catering industries, brands are increasingly connecting with younger consumer groups through co-branded game IPs. 

The Case of "Light and Night" x Holiland: A Positive Example

The collaboration between Light and Night and Holiland is an example of successful co-branding. The partnership combined the romantic, artistic themes of the game with Holiland's high-end desserts to create a tailored co-branded experience that resonated deeply with their target audiences. 

Holiland released a limited-edition dessert collection inspired by the characters and themes of Light and Night. Each dessert was carefully designed to reflect the personalities and aesthetics of the game characters, reinforcing the emotional bond between players and the game. In addition to the customized desserts, they also created custom Polaroid cards and packaging copy for each character.

Audience Overlap:

Both brands target a similar demographic: young, urban women who value luxury, aesthetics, and storytelling. This overlap made the collaboration highly relevant. Fans of the game were drawn to Holiland’s desserts, while Holiland customers were introduced to the game, creating a win-win situation for both parties.

Innovative Marketing and New Media:

The campaign used a multi-channel approach, leveraging social media platforms like Weibo, Xiaohongshu (Little Red Book), and TikTok to create buzz around the collaboration. This included:

1. Posting behind-the-scenes content of how the desserts were created.

2. Encouraging user-generated content through hashtag campaigns like #LightAndNightDesserts.

3. Offering in-game rewards for players who purchased the desserts, creating a seamless connection between the physical and virtual worlds.

Experiential Branding:

Special events were held in Holiland stores, where customers could experience themed decorations, exclusive merchandise. This experiential approach strengthened emotional engagement and created lasting memories for consumers.

Impact of the Collaboration

Boosted Brand Visibility: The partnership increased awareness for both brands. Increased Sales and Engagement: The limited-edition desserts sold out quickly, and Light and Night saw a surge in downloads and active players during the campaign.

Enhanced Brand Equity: Both brands reinforced their premium and artistic positioning, creating a halo effect that strengthened their overall image.

While the Light and Night x Holiland collaboration showcases the benefits of strategic co-branding, not all partnerships achieve such success. Poorly executed co-branding can lead to brand dilution, customer confusion, and even backlash. 

For example, during the preheating period of the collaboration with Light and Night, Auntea Jenny (Bubble Tea Brand) was found to have employees leaking materials, selling collaboration gifts, and store employees insulting players and game characters, and the co-branding event was subsequently cancelled. This shows that the co-branding also challenges the brand's marketing strategy and public relations capabilities. Once handled improperly, it may lead to damage to the brand's reputation.

Take "Genshin Impact" as an another example. This well-known game has cooperated with many brands in many fields and did get huge success once. At first, fans spent a lot of time and money to collect these limited edition merchandise. But with the frequent co-branding, some consumers began to feel tired. The high-priced merchandise plummeted in value in the second-hand market, which also reduced fans' enthusiasm for co-branding things. Thus, frequent co-branding leads to aesthetic fatigue among consumers. When the market is flooded with various co-branded products, it is difficult for consumers to be interested in a single co-branded product. Secondly, frequent co-branding also leads to the dilution of brand value. When a brand frequently co-brands with other brands, its original brand value and personality may be weakened.

(Just some insights for ACCN related co-branding: With co-branded products as the connection point, and through the linkage between online and offline and different dimensions, the brand can gradually achieve efficient reach to users. Connecting virtual games with the real world effectively builds an emotional communication bridge among young consumer groups, which becomes an opportunity to achieve a deep connection between products and users.)