Entertainers giving the audience what they want

Film and TV companies are using merchandise to open up new revenue stream

The TV series The Story of Ming Lan has made huge profits through merchandise sales thanks to intellectual property rules.

The Story of Ming Lan, adapted from an online novel, tells the story of heroine Sheng Minglan's life in ancient China, including childhood rivalry with her sisters, romance and marriage. The apparently submissive woman turns out to be lion-hearted when protecting family and friends.

The 73-episode series has aired on major video streaming portals including iQiyi, Youku and Tencent since Dec 25.

Developed by Alifish, the licensing and entertainment platform of internet giant Alibaba, the TV series' merchandise, including figurines, stationery, cosmetics and costumes, have been sold through e-commerce.

An official at Alifish told China Intellectual Property News that the series has granted 15 manufacturers permission to develop its merchandise, which generated 12 million yuan ($1.77 million) in sales earlier this month.

Blockbuster TV series have higher requirements for production and therefore cost more, the official said.

The IP business model of combining merchandise with online retail creates a new trading space for the entertainment industry and a new way to commercialize superior content, he noted.

Chen Shaofeng, deputy dean of the Institute for Cultural Industries at Peking University, told China Intellectual Property News that developing merchandise based on TV series and offering them online is a good way to promote and develop IP. This can monetize commercialized TV series and exploit their IP value, he said.

Wu Qian, president of Alifish, told news portal Sina Tech that the platform acquires copyrights from owners and sell them to manufacturers for production.

The platform evaluates a TV or film work through big data and commercializes it to produce merchandise, which can quickly attract more consumers, she said.

When choosing a copyrighted TV or film work to develop merchandise, its value, potential and fan base need to be taken into consideration, she said.

Data from the industrial center of CIConsulting, a Shenzhen-based research company, show that compared with the United States and Japan, China's film and television merchandise accounts for only 20 percent of market capacity. China's film derivatives market is expected to exceed 10 billion yuan in 2020.

"Not all movies with good box office figures are suitable for developing merchandise and those with poor box office returns may have potential to develop. It is the essence that matters," Wu said.

There are more ways to commercialize works of film and television through marketing and other activities, she added.

liangkaiyan@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily 01/24/2019 page17)