It is not uncommon to use real-life celebrities, animation, and game characters as credit card co-branded IPs, but using a virtual idol that has been born less than ten years ago as a credit card co-branded party can still be considered a breakthrough in the domestic banking industry. On March 8, Bank of Communications credit card broke through and launched Luo Tianyi themed credit card. Luo Tianyi is the first Chinese virtual singer. Luo Tianyi’s IP image was first announced in 2012. Currently, Luo Tianyi’s Weibo fans are as high as 5 million, B The official account of Zhanluo Tianyi has up to 2 million followers, and she has endorsed and cooperated with many retail brands.
"Bank of Communications Credit Card hopes to 'play' with young users, allowing them to feel their emotional connection with virtual idols through consumption." Bank of Communications said.
In recent years, the bank credit card market has been crowded out by "Huabei" and "Baidiao", especially among young people. Banks have also put a lot of effort into entering the young people market in the Internet era, such as Ping An Bank. The credit card cooperates with traffic star Dilireba, Shanghai Pudong Development Bank’s credit card cooperates with Internet celebrity anchor Wei Ya, China Construction Bank and China Merchants Bank cooperate with Bilibili to issue cards, etc. Luo Tianyi, who appears on the Bank of Communications credit card this time, the age of the fans The structure is more youthful.
A virtual idol accompanying the growth of post-00s
In recent years, in order to implement the brand rejuvenation strategy, Bank of Communications Credit Card has been actively exploring cross-border cooperation, and has launched PlayStation-themed credit cards, Gundam-themed credit cards, etc. series of products.
According to station B’s data, Luo Tianyi’s core users are concentrated in those born in 1995, 2000, and 2005, that is, young user groups under the age of 24. Among them, those born in 2000 accounted for the highest proportion, reaching 32.21, and the main groups are concentrated in one Second-tier cities.
The concept of virtual idols is still unfamiliar to most people “outside the circle”. In the two-dimensional culture, characters in comics, animations, and games come from complete works, and fans’ emotional connection with the characters is highly related to the storyline, screen presentation and other elements of the work. Luo Tianyi is an independent singer, using videos of singing and dancing performances as the main way of exposure. The stage performance relies on AR technology and holographic technology.
Although the model is novel, since its operation, Luo Tianyi has become the leading singer in the domestic entertainment industry, and its commercial value cannot be underestimated. In 2016, he appeared on Hunan Satellite TV's Little New Year's Eve Spring Festival Gala and completed his TV performance debut. After that, he performed on Hunan Satellite TV New Year's Eve, Jiangsu Satellite TV New Year's Eve, Zhejiang Satellite TV, CCTV Variety Show, Station B New Year's Eve and other platforms. In 2021, Niu In the 2018 Spring Festival Gala, Luo Tianyi also appeared on the CCTV stage, performing with real-life stars Sister Moon and Wang Yuan.
Most of the post-00 generation are still in the student stage. Bank of Communications has also launched a campus version of the Luo Tianyi co-branded credit card. The campus version of the card has a zero limit and requires a deposit before spending. It is free of annual fees and domestic exemptions. Overflow deposit withdrawal and overflow deposit transfer handling fees.
In the process of launching this credit card, Bank of Communications also conformed to the Internet culture of young users and revealed five card faces on January 25. Fans are invited to vote for their favorite card face via online voting. According to the aesthetic preferences of fans, Bank of Communications Credit Card finally launched two card faces: "Parallel Universe" and "Night Navigation Star".
Consumer finance expert Su Xiaorui said that the integration of bank credit cards and two-dimensional culture reflects the new media thinking of fan circle marketing and fan operations in the digital economy era. Two-dimensional culture has a relatively mature fan group and Loyalty, on the one hand, can help bank credit cards acquire customers; on the other hand, it can break the previous vicious circle of "hot issuance of cards and low sales" of co-branded credit cards, and enhance user stickiness after acquiring customers.
It is also necessary to cultivate young people's credit awareness
In recent years, the bank credit card market has been crowded out by "Huabei" and "Baidiao", especially among young people. In order to break into The young people market in the Internet era also takes a lot of thought. For example, Ping An Bank's credit card cooperated with traffic star Dilraba, Shanghai Pudong Development Bank's credit card cooperated with Internet celebrity anchor Wei Ya, China Construction Bank and China Merchants Bank cooperated with Bilibili to issue cards, etc.
At present, Internet credit payment products such as Huabei and Baitiao basically enable instant opening and instant use, and all online account openings. However, bank credit cards still require complex processes such as application and offline activation, and the user experience is relatively complicated. This The first disadvantage was more prominent in the first half of 2020 when the epidemic was more serious. Taking Bank of Communications as an example, Bank of Communications' performance report for the first half of 2020 shows that at the end of the reporting period, its number of registered credit cards was 71.47 million, which was a decrease of 0.46 from the end of 2019. In terms of the number of new card issuances, the number of new cards issued by most banks in the first half of the year was only around 30 levels for the whole of 2019.
Since the beginning of 2000, bank credit cards have been entering and exiting the university campus market. After the initial extensive operation of horse racing, they were stopped by supervision around 2009 and basically withdrew from the campus market. It was not until around 2017 that the reorganization began, but most banks have learned from historical lessons and adopted a cautious attitude towards card applications for students over 18 years old, issuing cards with low or even zero limits.
Jin Tian believes that recently some representatives have proposed that credit card products for college students should be banned or currently used to prevent college students from over-consumption and excessive borrowing. In fact, such products should not be one-size-fits-all. Banks have launched exclusive products for college students. Small or no-deposit credit cards (with points benefits, etc.) can cultivate brand awareness and card usage habits of potential high-quality consumers.
At a time when banks are withdrawing from the campus market, Internet companies’ campus loans are expanding rapidly. Although they have also been stopped by supervision, there are still routine loans and anti-aircraft guns platforms in legal gray areas fishing in troubled waters and violent collections. , Financial fraud cases occur from time to time. In October last year, the China Consumers Association issued an article warning about the new scam of "cancellation of campus loans".
Editor/Fan Hongwei