On June 30th, the 2026th (22nd) China Advertising Forum · Urban Cultural Tourism Brand Forum, hosted by the China Advertising Association, was successfully held in Luohu District, Shenzhen. The forum aims to explore a new model of advertising in the era of artificial intelligence to support high-quality urban development, and to continuously empower the advertising industry and urban brands.

Wang Kaihang, General Manager of Advertising Strategy and Marketing at iQiyi, gave a speech titled "Resonating with Emotions, Paying for Meaning" in the afternoon session, sharing iQiyi's thoughts on IP marketing from three dimensions: the rise of emotional economy, the irreplaceability of long video platforms, and the reconstruction of advertising forms by AI.

Wang Kaihang pointed out that in the current era of emotional economy, consumption is shifting from "pleasing others" to "pleasing oneself" comprehensively. The essence of consumer behavior is to pay for emotions, from the surprise of Bubble Mart opening blind boxes during Jellycat's purchase ceremony to the sense of belonging among fans of "Ten Diligent Days" in "Farming Bar". He analyzed that behind this is the logic of symbolic consumption: when the competition between product functionality and price falls into a red ocean, brands need to create additional meaning for consumers. This meaning relies on specific behaviors that can be imitated, seen, and repeated to construct, ultimately forming three values: identity labels, pleasurable experiences, and emotional connections.

From the essence of content, creation has only two directions: deconstruction and construction. Deconstruction is to satisfy the emotional satisfaction of the public, which is the logic behind the rapid rise of short dramas; Construction is achieved through high-quality long dramas such as "My Altay" and "Life of All Things" to help viewers explore the meaning of life. In the era of AI, the empathy, credibility, and brand security possessed by long video IPs are precisely irreplaceable core values.

Wang Kaihang proposed the "Fusion Model" around IP marketing, which includes four stages: tuning, carrier, strategy, and compound interest. Setting tone is to clarify the emotional value that a brand wants to convey; The carrier needs to adapt to the characteristics of different groups of people - young people in small towns prefer short content that releases emotions, teenagers need interactive immersion, white-collar workers pursue social reference frames, and elites tend to prefer deep content. TV dramas can bring identity recognition, variety shows are suitable for presenting a sense of liveliness, smart screens carry family consensus, and connected car screens provide immersive new scenes.

Compound interest can be divided into three categories: emotional compound interest is achieved through short acting, live streaming, and co branding during the peak of IP popularity, such as the collaboration between Le Shi and the third season of "Farm Farm Bar"; Spreading compound interest is the multi-level distribution of IP content, such as Kangshifu's linkage with Xi'an Culture and Tourism and "Tang Dynasty Mysterious Events in Chang'an", which transforms IP popularity into offline flash mobs; Long term compound interest refers to long-term binding to specific scenarios, such as the continuous occupation of cold moments in family dramas by the Three Nine Cold Spirits, forming strong mental associations.

Wang Kaihang summarized that the essence of IP marketing is to resonate with emotions and pay for meaning. No matter how rich the technological means are, brands ultimately have to answer a question: what kind of meaning do you want to create for consumers.

The following is a conversation between Modern Advertising and Wang Kaihang, General Manager of Advertising Strategy and Marketing at iQiyi:

Q: Emotional value is becoming the core driving force of consumer decision-making. What irreplaceable advantages do long video platforms have when undertaking this wave of emotional dividends?

A: Behind emotional value lies symbolic consumption. Today's consumers are shifting from pleasing people to pleasing themselves. When buying a product, they are not only concerned with its functionality, but also value the additional meaning it brings to themselves. Behind every IP, there are emotions, whether it's idol worship or self-identity. Especially in today's AI era, the empathy and credibility that IP itself possesses are becoming increasingly scarce, so what it endows brands with is not only exposure, but also value beyond functionality and price.

Q: AI is penetrating the entire content production chain, to what extent will it change the cooperation mode between platforms and brands?

A: The disruption of brand advertising by AI will be enormous. When production costs significantly decrease, brands can say different things to different audiences. Another change is the contentization of advertising, where future advertisements can have longer narratives and become consumable content. The implantation method will also be changed. With AIGC, changing a paragraph of text can generate scenarios on a large scale, and industry efficiency will be greatly improved.

Q: The boundary between short and long videos is blurring. What new possibilities has iQiyi released in the "long+short" content ecosystem?

A: Short videos are like fast food, solving fragmented time; Long videos are like regular meals that require a calm mind to savor. Short videos meet immediate needs, but people also need to explore themselves and improve their thinking, which is an irreplaceable value of long videos. For brands, long videos provide "brand gain". If this exposure makes consumers trust you more, willing to pay a premium, shortens the decision-making cycle, and increases the repurchase rate, this is the value of brand advertising.