Keywords

1 Introduction

There is a huge gap between the box office receipts of animated films and the disproportionate of inputs and outputs, particularly against the background of the booming market for Chinese animation. The quality of animated films is important, but the role of advertising and promotion in box-office success becomes increasingly evident in the ever-expanding influence of new media. How to increase the influence without compromising the quality and attractiveness to audiences has been becoming a problem that every filmmaker should pay attention to it.

The growth momentum of Chinese animation has been swift in recent years. At present, the marketing strategies of animation focus on the individual consumers’ attention and the best marketing methods are online marketing, event marketing and the best promotion platforms are website, BBS and email subscription (Yu 2012). At the stage of initial interest, companies design entertainment and interactive topics in microblogs or BBS, which are the direct marketing and emotional marketing approaches. At the search stage, the focus is mainly on the principles of interaction and interest activities which releases information through a variety of channels (including search engines, official websites, professional websites and online communities) as well as effectively monitoring online commentary. At the stage of operation and purchase, the methods adopted are a combination of visual marketing and promotion for use on the net. At the stage of sharing and word of mouth, the companies focus on customer interaction and use a combination of viral marketing and word-of-mouth marketing to spread their message on industry websites and microblogs (Liu 2013) (Fig. 1).

Fig. 1.
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Monkey King - Hero is Back

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Monkey King - Hero is Back combines the features of artistry, technicality and peculiarity and is representative of Chinese animation, showning the artistic charm of Chinese animation and winning approval from the market and film critics. This film is based on the traditional story of Journey to the West and applies Chinese elements to the whole film production while utilizing the technology of Hollywood animation films to present a comprehensive and novel movie concept for Chinese audiences. Actually, this animation film is the first animation of Journey to the West to use 3D technology and garnered 955 million box office within two months in 2015 (Jiang 2016). Meanwhile, it has also won best art film at both the 13th Golden Rooster and the 7th China International Film & Television “Golden Dragon Award” (Qing 2016). This success represented a win-win aspect of economic and social benefits and set a new record in the history of Chinese animation film, becoming the champion of the current Chinese box office. Consequently, there have been few researches on the marketing strategies of Chinese animation and the phenomenon of the box office of Monkey King - Hero is Back is worthy of researching. This study uses literature analysis and SWOT analysis to discuss the marketing strategies of Monkey King - Hero is Back. The aim of this research includes: (1) analyze the marketing strategies of Monkey King - Hero is Back; (2) explore the developing strategies of the sequel of Monkey King - Hero is Back; (3) provide the strategies as the reference of the development plan of Chinese animation.

2 Literature Review

2.1 Marketing Strategy

Marketing is a means to an end and the ultimate goal is to make consumers recognize and understand the goods so as to trigger their desire to buy. The 4Cs of marketing strategies Consumer, Cost, Convenience and Communication were provided (Lauterborn 1990). This theory emphasizes that enterprises not only focus on the marketing model from the perspective of companies while carrying out the marketing strategies, but also pay attention to consumers’ desire and pursue customers’ satisfaction. Meanwhile, companies should effectively communicate with consumers to adjust their strategies and guide public opinion. The main contents of marketing methods include target market strategy, positioning strategy, marketing mix strategies and competition strategy (Ricky 2016). (1) The target market strategy consists of two parts, market segmentation and target market selection. Some factors must be considered when company choose their target market: the company’s resources, current market position, the potential and competitors’ target strategies and strengths. (2) Positioning strategy is to make every marketing plan combine closely to send customers those messages and images which they want to convey through the marketing mix. (3) Marketing mix strategies refers to various marketing activities that are to satisfy customer needs. There are many strategies companies can be used, but the most of them are marketing mix strategies, i.e., product, price, place, and promotion (McCarthy 1964). The enterprise can adjust the content of marketing mix strategies according to the different target markets so as to maximize the marketing method and achieve the marketing goal. (4) Competitive strategy means enterprises need to develop a competitive strategy in order to effectively compete with competitors and maintain their long-term competitive advantages.

2.2 Strategy Analysis

SWOT analysis is a frequently used tool for analyzing an organization’s external and internal environments concurrently in order to provide a systematic approach and support for decision-making (Kurttila et al. 2000; Kangas et al. 2003; Yüksel 2007; Kotler 1988). SWOT analysis includes four factors such as strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats (Hill and Westbrook 1997). The SWOT analysis refers to systematic thinking and comprehensive diagnosis of factors relating to a new product, technology, management, or planning (Weihrich 1982). The SWOT analysis framework shows how SWOT analysis explains the environment scan as shown in Fig. 2 (Kahraman et al. 2008). The SWOT analysis constructs the framework to systematically study the SWOT factors, and there is a hierarchical structure of the SWOT matrix as shown in Fig. 2 (Gallego-Ayala and Juízo 2011), which is separated in three phases: the goal, SWOT group and SWOT factors (Görener et al. 2012).

Fig. 2.
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Hierarchical structure of the SWOT matrix (Gallego-Ayala and Juízo 2011)

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The analysis mainly considers whether the internal advantages and disadvantages of the enterprise are conducive to competing within the industry. Opportunities and threats are to explore the external environment of the enterprise and the evolution of the future of the industry so as to understand the impact of change for enterprises (Lee 1998). SWOT analysis is used to explore the cognitive level of the competitive environment; external and internal factors form four groups of strategic orientation. (1) The strategies of strengths and opportunities (SO) - this strategy is to actively integrate the external environment and internal conditions forming the niche; that is to maximize the effect of strengths and opportunities. (2) The strategies of taking advantages and avoiding threats (ST) - this strategy means enterprises can overcome the external threats; that is maximize the strength and minimize the threats. (3) The strategies of modifying weaknesses and grasping opportunities (WO) - this strategy is to use external opportunities to modify weaknesses, that is to improve the occasion. (4) The strategies of modifying weaknesses and avoiding threats (WT) - this strategy is to minimize the threats and weaknesses by organizations so as to achieve the goals of organizational development.

3 Results and Discussions

3.1 Marketing Strategy Analysis of Monkey King - Hero Is Back

Strengths

At the aspect of product, Monkey King - Hero is Back has a unique artistic charm from its own advantages and this research is to explore the film’s internal advantages from the technical, semantic and effectiveness level, as shown in Table 1. Some researchers have constructed the animation research model which combines communication theory with animation evaluation factors as shown in Fig. 2. A visual and acoustic communication of animation is a process of coding through the artists’ creation and then letting the audience decode. To discuss the differences between different times and places of the animation through image, color, lens, music and artistry on technical level; performance, atmosphere, plot, narrative and rhythm on semantic level and audience, theme, story, motif and connotation on effectiveness level (Fang et al. 2017).

Table 1. Product advantages of Monkey King - Hero is Back
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The analysis of technical level. The characters in this film are innovative and distinctive. The Monkey King is no longer dressed in gold armor and with eye-catching eyes but has well-muscled limbs, appealing to people’s conceptions of a hero. The style of the dragon draws on the classics of Nine-Dragon Screen and Western Han Totem and the shape of the four-legged little white dragon is that of the classic dragon of the Ming Dynasty, which moves delicately and precisely. The character of the demon king is drawn from animals of the Mountains and Seas and are inspired by Beijing Opera masks. The film is colorful with a classical Chinese charm. The viewpoint varies from magnificent top-view to close-up view, which confounds the common impression of Chinese animation by audiences. The music of this film is sublime and the animators selected different voice actors according to personality traits to make the characters lively. For example, Jiang, Liuer’s voice is cute and demon king’s voice is bewitching. Finally, the 3D artistry is of world-class standard.

The analysis of semantic level. Character performance is vivid which brings the role’s personality to life. The atmosphere of this film is mysterious and dreamlike, presented in a distinctively Chinese manner. The narrative of this film is multiplex with boldly arranged and combined story elements from the Journey to the West used to establish the new narrative perspective and character relations. The rhythm of this film varies as the plot develops and is dramatic and attractive.

The analysis of effectiveness level. This film aimed at multi-age audiences, breaks the routine and attempts to become an international animated film which also arouses the confidence of Chinese audiences, and the audience no longer regarded it as young children’s animated cartoon. The theme of this film is traditional Chinese aesthetics where the classic tale is remodeled for modern audiences. The structure of this story is clear and understandable. The motif of this film fully exploits the national culture classics and almost completely reconstructs the story of Journey to the West but does not violate the most classic elements and the favorite perspective of the audiences (Yang 2015). The film shows a profound cultural connotation and references the spirit of Chinese aesthetics.

At the aspect of promotion, Monkey King - Hero is Back is a painstaking work that took eight years to complete. It was made without the participation of well-known actors and due to its low budget is also hard-pressed to advertise, but effective promotional strategies create a strong word-of-mouth effect.

The aspect of attention. The promotional video is well-made and contains character introduction, narrative plot and story arcs to attract people’s attention so as to promote the film. The videos are put on Youku, bilibili and other video sites with prominent social influence. (2) The aspect of interest. The ending song, Former Me, became a hit song even before the film came out which helped audiences enter the story before they watched it. That Monkey King - Hero is Back debuted in Cannes was a good basis for Chinese overseas sales and won it a good reputation, which attracted a new group of fans. (3) The aspect of desire. The universal promotion on social platforms such as microblog and WeChat was an effective means, with movie-related topics appeared frequently during the release period: for example, the original painting of Monkey King - Hero is Back was widely disseminated on WeChat. There were some effective continuing measures such as, the book dealing with behind-the-scenes of Monkey King - Hero is Back which triggered the audience’s expectations of the sequel.

At the aspect of place, this film was released in most cities in China with wide coverage after triggering a hot discussion. The film became the most popular Chinese animation film in the American film market through screening at the annual meeting of the American film market and unveiling the poster there.

At the aspect of price, Monkey King - Hero is Back and other films have the same price. The audiences can choose to watch the film in a variety of formats such as 2D, 3D, China’s giant screen and IMAX (Table 2).

Table 2. The SWOT analysis of Monkey King - Hero is Back
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Weaknesses

Firstly, At the aspect of product, there are other movies based on Journey to the West on the market. The production company of Monkey King - Hero is Back is a small-scale enterprise with many unstable factors and is easily affected by the market. Excellent 3d animation films must be designed over a long period; whether the sequel can build on the success of the first part is unknown. Secondly, at the aspect of promotion, this film lacks funds and advertising investment and there are no well-known actors involved, unlike domestic movies have the star effect. Finally, at the aspect of price, there are few films released at cinemas for this movie initially.

Opportunities

At Political aspects, the country has supported the animation industry with the establishment of National Animation Base and trained up some people with animation talent. Outstanding young animators have been placed at the forefront of the animation industry; therefore, there are some remarkable results from the Ministry of Education’s support in the past decade and graduates from universities can come to the industry and join the team to create success. At economic aspects, the company can strive for the investment from other large enterprises to carry advertisements. The release rate of this film is higher than other Chinese animation films in various regions of China. At technological aspects, social media possesses platforms for sharing information, expressing opinions and exchanging ideas including social networking sites, Weibo, WeChat and forums (Wang 2016). At social culture, the subject consciousness of audiences is stronger nowadays and they have more space for consideration of the choice of cultural products, which heralds an opportunity to boost traditional Chinese culture.

Threats

Firstly, this is a phenomenon-level animated movie and there is a huge gap between China and Hollywood, which was emphasized by high-quality Hollywood animations in the same period. Secondly, the reputation of 3d animation in China has been poor in recent years. There are some animation films, most consumers just say “yes” instead of taking advantages, which leads stereotypes that Chinese animation films have the poor quality. Finally, there has been a phenomenon of over-marketing of domestic films, and the idea of “marketing that is bigger than films” has quietly entered the minds of moviegoers in this era of well-developed media.

3.2 Developing Strategy Analysis of the Sequel of Monkey King - Hero Is Back

SO Strategy

Firstly, creative script, story construction and character design are the basis for the development of the Chinese animation film industry. Animators seek a balance between Chinese elements and animation techniques, which was achieved in the interface between the adult’s child psychology and the children’s adult world and heralded the development trend of Chinese animated films. Secondly, Monkey King - Hero is Back must continue the design concept of Chinese traditional culture. Monkey King has always been a big hero in people’s heart and the company should take advantage of people’s love for Monkey King to present it as the return of childhood idol, arouse the enthusiasm and encourage innovative means to interpret it. Chinese animation films can regain their competitiveness to achieve sustainable development under the precondition of taking root in the national culture. Thirdly, it is necessary to train professional marketing talents in film promotion. Essentially, what we want to cultivate is traditional marketing talents who have the marketing capability in hot news, the premiere ceremony, and momentum as well as new media talents who can use network platforms to promote films. Finally, there are box office marketing strategies and non-box office marketing strategies in the diversified marketing model which are the important and diversified strategies to promote the development of the movie industry. The method of game and comic promotion can add movie characters into new versions of video games to achieve the aim of generalization. The cooperation between films and comics not only can expand the popularity of both, but also brings greater benefits. Award-winning promotion can enhance the visibility of the film, and brand promotion with their own huge membership base and high-quality media promotion are effective activities for the film.

WO Strategy

Firstly, companies must focus on the development of merchandise. There are various kinds of film derived merchandise including books, posters, audio-visual products, toys, souvenirs, daily necessities, collectibles, etc. and their industrial chains are intertwined. The company uses the development of merchandise to attract people’s attention during early release of the movie, so that the image can be deeply engrained in the public consciousness. The development and management of merchandise is an important method of stimulating and maintaining the audience’s attention and merchandise is released before the film. Secondly, the state must vigorously support the animation industry and strive to provide more financial subsidies to film-makers. In recent years, the state started to implement policies to support the animation industry and a large number of companies emerged under the encouragement of various measures which produce a rapidly-growing number of animation movies. Companies co-ordinate their resources to increase the flexibility with which they can respond to the market impact. Thirdly, the core principle of animation movies is that the plot meets the audience’s psychological needs. In addition to entertaining young children, the animation companies should exploit their market consumption potential by also catering to other audiences’ tastes. The emotional elements of the films can resonate with audiences and successfully break the bottleneck of focus on young people under the consumer-centric principle. Finally, it is important to schedule release to maximize opportunities for consumers. The company should choose the right time to release, such as winter and summer vacations so as to take advantage of large market demand (Table 3).

Table 3. Developing strategy analysis of the sequel of Monkey King - Hero is Back
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ST Strategy

Firstly, the company enhances consumers’ participation through interaction with them which increases their affection for the movie, and prompts audiences to become loyal fans of the movie who contribute spontaneous publicity on the internet. Together with a good image the company has created, the folk reputation spreads rapidly and consumers virtually become advertisers for the company. Secondly, companies should introduce the relevant talents to improve the production technology of animation film. The production team ought to strengthen technology development to make animation works more excellent. For example, to make special effects and picture quality more beautiful and realistic, the animators must highlight the details of figures and backgrounds so as to touch the audience. Finally, companies must adopt marketing approaches with green health. The film company should abandon negative publicity such as excessive speculation and gimmicks and instead actively make use of diversified media platforms to establish a positive industry brand and image. Though companies can get the attention of media and audience through the marketing methods of hype and scandal they will eventually be abandoned by the audience. Therefore, only by adopting a green health marketing strategy can they win the reputation.

WT Strategy

Firstly, the sequel needs to continue using the 3D visual effects and excellent production values to create a quality advantage. The sequel production still takes a realistic style, which sets a mysterious scene with beautiful pictures. Secondly, innovation is the core power behind the continuous development of enterprises. Innovation is not merely about the technology and content but also the marketing concept and brand development strategy for producers of Chinese original animation films. Finally, the producers ought to define their movies’ market positioning. The original animation films intended to grab the opportunity in the full-year audience market must possess sufficient quality, attractive features and interesting topics. Essentially, the producers must not only rely solely on formal Chinese elements, but also need to highlight distinctive features from the story, the world outlook, emotions and other internal factors. Specifically, the producer should gain insight into their audiences and incorporate these into the story and characters in order to arouse the audiences’ the emotional resonance.

4 Summary

Through SWOT analysis, this study reclaims the developing strategies for Chinese animation. Firstly, animation designers shall design the artwork with elements of Chinese traditional culture and the animation company shall train the specialized marketing personnel to develop the marketing model multifariously. Secondly, managers should strengthen the research of derived merchandise, and the country must support the animation industry vigorously. Thirdly, the film should meet the psychological needs of consumers and use interactive advantage to close the distance between designers and audiences, and also be scheduled conveniently for consumers. Fourthly, the company ought to introduce relevant personnel to improve the production values of animated films. Finally, designers should adopt innovative principles to extend their exquisite advantages and enhance their market position. The marketing ideas and promotion methods of Chinese animation films are still in their infancy. In the future, Chinese animation marketing must follow the principles while combining with tradition and innovation.

Actually, Chinese animation films as niche products in the Chinese movie industry are still in their infancy in terms of marketing ideas and promotion methods, and show the characteristics of design with blindness, innovation with tradition and promotion with interaction. The success of Monkey King - Hero is Back at the box office and its subsequent reputation means that the Chinese animation industry has begun to think deeply about its marketing model. Accordingly, marketing is the concept that shows throughout the whole process of animation creative, production and publication. Meanwhile, changes in marketing concepts and executive thinking will inevitably affect the mode of transmission. There is more space for Chinese animation to advertise in the new media environment, but consumers also have more voice, which will bring more interference. Therefore, if Chinese animation chooses a reasonable route of transmission and methods aiming at the target audiences under the overall marketing strategy, it will exceed the expected marketing goals.