Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH) Content-Driven Personal IP Business Ecosystem Model

📌 Background

Following Li Ziqi's return in late 2024 after a three-year hiatus, her individual videos surpassed 100 million views across platforms, demonstrating that the scarcity of ICH content allows it to transcend the typical lifecycle of internet influencers. By 2026, driven by the upgrade in cultural consumption and the policy dividends of the 'Guochao' (national trend) movement, ICH-themed IP has become a high-premium target for brand collaborations and consumer goods licensing, reactivating a model where the personal IP integrates content, licensing, and quality control.

👤 Target Customers

Brand owners and consumer goods companies paying for co-branding licensing fees and revenue sharing; platforms paying for content traffic revenue and exclusive signing fees; fan consumers purchasing IP-related food and cultural creative products.

💰 Revenue Streams

1) Content platform traffic revenue and exclusive signing fees; 2) Licensing fees and sales commissions from brand collaborations and product licensing; 3) Sales profits from flagship stores of proprietary consumer goods (e.g., Luosifen).

🧮 Cost Structure

Content production costs (long cycles for ICH craftsmanship, intensive filming requirements), IP legal protection and trademark management costs, supply chain quality control and warehousing/logistics costs, and personnel costs for team operations and business development.

🛡️ Moat

The barrier to entry for ICH content is extremely high, with craftsmanship learning and on-site filming cycles spanning months or even years, making mass replication difficult; a cross-platform pool of over 100 million followers creates a scarce traffic reservoir; the strong bond between the personal IP's persona and the products forms an irreplaceable emotional connection for the brand.

🔑 Keys to Success

• Maintain high quality and scarcity of ICH content, controlling update frequency rather than catering to algorithms.
• Establish a clear governance structure between IP licensing and proprietary brands to avoid repeating equity disputes like those with Weinian.
• Select collaborative brands carefully and participate deeply in quality control to maintain consistency in IP tone.

⚠️ Risks

• Founder's health issues or changes in personal intent leading to content supply disruption, causing the IP business ecosystem to stall.
• Quality control failures in licensed products triggering reputation crises, which could backfire on the core assets of the personal IP.

🏢 Cases

• After her return in November 2024, Li Ziqi released videos on ICH themes such as lacquerware and Shu brocade, with individual videos exceeding 100 million views across the web.
• The Li Ziqi brand of Luosifen once achieved annual sales exceeding 100 million, validating the conversion capability of the IP into consumer goods.
• The brand equity lawsuit with Weinian concluded with Li Ziqi regaining control of the brand, reshaping the autonomous commercial structure of the IP.

📊 SWOT Analysis