WHY BABY PANDA LIN PING IS A GREAT BRANDING STORY...
Monday, August 31st 2009 ( The Nation )
When conditions are dire and people are losing their nerve over political uncertainty, economic volatility is bad news, one is trying to take stock at the mid-year mark of what is happening that impacts us most from marketing and advertising public relations point of view. I cannot ignore the fact that the panda marketing story may be regarded as one of the most successful campaigns ever.
Whether the Lin Ping panda brand story and event was orignally invented or not is not relevant because the story deserves the credit due to a successful campaign ans is worth studying. It can be described as an opportunity to promote the zoo or promote happiness by creating something new, something different to break the domination of bad politics and unpleasant speculation of the state of the economy in newspaper and broad-casting media.
Perhaps we can learn something about PR and advertising hype impact, by tracing the story back to the root of its origin - goodwill panda diplomacy between Thailand and China - when we first adopted the two pandas in the Chiang Mai zoo.
Doom and gloom had swirled around the global economy, which domectically affected many coorporations and companies in thier mid-year performance report. News of slashed advertising budget and staff retrenchment abound. Bursting out like lightning was the birth of a little panda -with no name - for the first time in our country. Imagine me, which I am not, a marketing communication professional who plans this "birth of Lin Ping Panda" from the beginning, I would be praised for the success of the campaign for sure.
It is as thought the "Lin Ping Branding"as a brand story was concieved, invented to continuously stimulate the long-awaited product and brand new model from a marketing point of view. The manufacturing process of the product was softly communicated phase by phase by attempting to reproduce a baby panda. People were anxiously awaiting for the birth of the baby. From that point onwards, it's like a never ending story being told free everyday by major media.
The "Lin Ping Branding" was created by way of getting people to participate, even pay to get involved in naming " Lin Ping" with some 22 million participants or 60 percent redemption rate which was absolutely amazing. A marketing manager and an agency executive handling a good brand would be happy with the promotion redemption rate of 20 to 30 percent let alone 60 percent achievement.
The people had chosen "Lin Ping". But the brand story did not stop there. Everyday people became very involved and engaged with the Lin Ping brand. It is like a reality show where we are witnessing the gradual process of growth of our little panda, day in day out. Lin Ping is bringing happiness and smiles to our community and disrupting the bad news, bad politicians and bad business. From Panda Diplomacy and Panda Marketing, similarly, a baby Thai elephant recently born in Australia also had a fair impact in terms of creating news and hype among Australians and Thais. From panda mania to elephant mania, it's a beautiful way to promote not only zoo, but coming with it are the augmented benefits of promoting the countriy, promoting goodwill and promoting happiness among the general public as well. For months we read about Lin Ping, talk about Lin Ping, are curious about Lin Ping and even start to love Lin Ping.
Panda is panda, so is Koala bear, or other rare animals found in different parts of the world. They have been in existence for centuries. Somehow, the building of the panda mania or the Lin Ping branding story, has been quietly growing on you, like a good product or a good brand.
A vey basic theory of 5P'at its best. From concept to the market place, it takes the right mix of ideas and a myriad of other factors to navigate our brand to give our consumers " a love bite " that will last like the Lin Ping panda story.
Let's celebrate the hundred days of Lin Ping's birth soon.
Kiiti Chambundabongse
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