Article summary: In the military, the real can win the war of the Army, often occupy a favorable position, and then let the enemy have to attack with a disadvantage, rather than simply care about a city a soldier's gains and losses. The same is true in marketing.
What is the purpose of planning a brand strategy?
Because the essence of brand strategy, not "enhance the image, move the user", but "in the user's mind, against the competitor to determine the advantageous position." "Today, this article is about the difference between image packaging and branding strategy. Why use "brand strategy" instead of simply branding?
Let's start with an example of a real project called the Beast.
A start-up company that does deli fresh seafood supper, called "Seafood to Kang (kàng)", what would you do if you were planning a brand strategy?
If it is image packaging, the general idea is this:
1. Identify the population
"Who is most likely to eat this seafood?" Oh, the price of 30-50 yuan, the main focus on fresh, convenient, healthy, delicious. "So the main crowd is set as" advocating healthy and busy first-tier new middle-class white-collar workers.
2. How to move this group of people?
Well, since the crowd is set, we're going to look for "consumer insight" (consumer insight) to see if we can use some of the little details of their lives to impress them.
"These new middle-class white-collar life, although very exciting, but work pressure, fast pace, and family, friends, less contact, so we want them to care more about their lives, more concerned about their loved ones." ”
So the slogan is set to: more care, more seafood.
If there is no end to this sentence, then in accordance with the common practice of advertising proposals, think of 2 60 points as an alternative: "Fresh, let life more flavor" or "love life, Love seafood."
3, how to build a brand system according to strategy?
Since there is a "more attention, more seafood" This sentence slogan, then the next can be formulated so-called brand system-
"Brand Concept: the freshest ingredients, give you the most care about life." ”
"Brand Tone: loving, energetic, warm, healthy." ”
"Company Mission: To make people more concerned about life, to eat more fresh seafood." ”
"Company values: Customer First, the pursuit of the ultimate, different, conscience management." ”
......
And these are the traditional "brand image packaging technique". (But many people consider it a "brand strategy")
In the above scenario, everything is so easy to convince, everything to the entrepreneur's heart, everything embodies the insight of consumers, as long as the use of this strategy, there will be countless consumers are moved, will let them feel you speak their hearts, and then crazy to buy products.
But what is the biggest problem with this strategy?
The biggest problem with this strategy is that if you're the only person on the market, you'll hear what you say. In fact, there are many competitors in the market, users see countless ads every day, there are countless people want to impress them. The purpose of the brand strategy is not to move consumers, nor to let consumers feel that you are very heart, but against competitors, to determine a favorable position, so as to win the choice of consumers.
What do you do according to brand strategy (not brand packaging)?
1, find your competitor.
We need to give the user a reason to buy you instead of buying someone else, so we need to find out who your competitor is (note: Competitors are not necessarily peers, and anyone who blocks consumers from buying your product is a competitor).
Comparing these choices is naturally easy to find: The third is our key competitor.
After all, let the people who want to go to the store change their lifestyle and start selling out, are hungry and the American group outside the work of this giant to do, not our entrepreneurial team can do. Therefore, our goal is actually very simple: first in the consumer's choice of supper to cut a market. Since you want to cut the market, it is natural to see who the market leader is. Slightly asked to know, now the Beijing snack market, the leader is mainly the small lobster takeaway, barbecue takeout some shops.
Well, find the competitor and start the next step.
2, determine the advantageous position
Find competitors, and naturally seek out their shortcomings, so that consumers abandon them to choose us.
The intuitive look will reveal that the main competitor prices are very expensive (crayfish per capita is often more than 100 blocks). So we can play "more cost-effective supper" this point? Of course not. Because the high price is the competitor's "direct disadvantage", rather than "the inherent disadvantage of the greatest advantage", the direct disadvantage of the offense is often ineffective.
What we have to do is to find faults in the greatest advantage that competitors rely on to survive.
So what are the biggest advantages of spicy crayfish and grilled skewers? Why do people choose it? Nature is cool and exciting-nothing is more fun than hanging out with your brothers at night.
But any coin has a positive and negative, "cool", "stimulation" of this advantage, what are the inherent shortcomings? Many people feel that it is "very heavy" (some people want to have a little supper at night, but don't want to eat too much so they feel guilty).
So, our position is out: "supper, eat seafood not heavy mouth."
All along, we believe that the important purpose of brand planning is to "impress the consumer", is to come up with more moving statements to let consumers cry, but in fact, this is not the most important purpose of brand planning. If you do this, you are actually doing "image wrapping" instead of "branding strategy."
A true branding strategy must be able to help a company identify a position for its competitors and ultimately win the customer's choice.
So why is that? Why should we abandon the traditional "simple image packaging" and use the real "brand strategy"?
1, heavy tactics, light strategy
"Heavy tactics, light strategy" is a lot of people in marketing often make mistakes.
Specific performance lies in: infatuated with the image packaging, think that marketing is packaging image, promote communication, spend a lot of energy tangled in small details, but big strategy (such as positioning) not enough attention.
Some time ago, Li called the Beast and friends to talk to the mobile phone industry marketing, someone asked "which mobile phone company marketing to do the best", most people think that the marketing of Hammer mobile phone is the best. Every PR is a powerful comeback, every time the copy is wildly forwarded, every press conference attracts social attention, there are a lot of religious followers loyal fans-there are few companies in the country to shoulder.
But the obvious reality is that there aren't many people buying a hammer phone.
We know that the most important way to measure marketing ability is to see it "create and retain the ability of customers", hammer mobile phone to create and retain customers is not a high ability, why do people think he marketing well done? Just because of the win for every PR war and copywriting?
It reminds me of my favorite American drama, the Game of Thrones. In the second quarter, Rob of the Stark family said: "I won every battle, but I am losing the war." (I won all the battles, but I am about to fail in the whole war.) ）
And this is typical of "smart, no big strategy."
On the contrary, in the mobile phone industry, last year I thought that the best marketing is Huawei, although Huawei's copywriting, PR response, press conference and so on are not the 1:30 point, but Huawei last year in the overall marketing strategy, played a beautiful flank battle.
Originally domestic mobile phone is the first millet, in the user's mind the advantage is "high cost-effective", this time to try to exceed the cost of millet is impossible (even if your product price is millet twice times, but because the millet has been firmly occupy the positioning, how you shout also useless). The most important thing to do is to find the disadvantage inherent in Xiaomi's greatest advantage.
What is the disadvantage of the advantage of cost-effective? Nature is "to feel very dick silk and low end." ”
Therefore, Huawei through the Mate8 and other models of the listing, flagship high-end positioning, seized the market.
In the military, the army that can truly win the war, often occupy a favorable position, and then let the enemy have to attack with a disadvantage, rather than simply care about a city a soldier's gains and losses.
In marketing is also the case, the company that really won the market, often in the user's mind occupy a favorable position, rather than simply to care about whether a sentence has touched the consumer.
Any image packaging is only meaningful if it is positioned correctly. Otherwise, one-sided pursuit of image packaging and moving consumers, the end result is bound to only move the self, and this is a typical "there is little smart, no big strategy" behavior.
2. No key competitor found
"Image packaging" to replace the marketing strategy is the problem: not to find the key competitor, by virtue of cavity blood to appeal to consumers, but do not know exactly what to target.
Before Lee called the Beast to see a small travel agency written by the dissemination of copy, hope that the beast to help diagnose the animal, the copy is generally the case:
Ignore the writing in the text of the problem (such as not conform to cognition), purely in the strategy, is completely failed: there is no competition to find who is, want to impress consumers to marketing.
So let's assume that the ideal situation is that your copywriting is very good, really moving consumers, what happens next?
Suppose I was a living in the high pressure of the ordinary white-collar, just be the leader scolded a meal, read this copy, feel almost write to my heart went.
"Yes!" said the man. I'm so busy all day, it's right, I really should go on a trip! ”
Thinking about it, he made up his mind. Take out the cell phone, open to where, selected the destination, directly to buy the ticket.
"Well, it's going to be a trip that says go!" ”
Wait a minute! This time you will find a problem: Supposedly this copy is very moving people, but the whole process, write the copy of the "XX travel agency" where? How about the second half of the story without our great advertiser!
Why did you move the consumer, but didn't buy me at the end? Of course it's normal! Why is it? Because the writer's brain is loaded with "How to impress the user", and forget to find the "competitor" first. In this copy, the author's target competitor is obviously "the user does not travel the habit", and hoped that through the copy lets more consumers choose to travel rather than stays in the office, thus defeats "the user does not go to travel the habit" this opponent.
But is this your real opponent?
Not necessarily. Because you are not the industry first in the travel industry, and not the first choice for most people to travel, when your real competitor is the other travel company, you need to provide a "why choose you instead of choosing someone else's reason" rather than a "why travel rather than stay in the office".
The consequence of trying to stimulate more people to travel is that these users will be directly referring to past behavioral habits (for example, where to book tickets directly), and there's nothing wrong with you.
Therefore, advertisers can not take the pen to think how to impress the user moved users, should first look for: We are now the key competitor what is it? What do I want the user to give up to choose me?
Otherwise, even if touched, it is useless.
3. No vantage point found
Simple image Packaging There is also a problem: often just make your brand look more temperature, but not in the user's mind to determine a favorable position.
A few years ago in the cup of milk tea, the two giants on the market were gifted and fragrant, and they took a completely different strategy.
Gifted Le Mei main "You Are my gifted beauty", patted a very moving advertisement, touched the hearts of countless girls, if there is also a circle of friends, also will be able to brush the circle of friends.
and incense fluttering on the main "around the Earth XX Circle", looks very esu, also can not impress anyone. But the result is that the incense floated in the war victory, but the United States and Le Beauty is down. "You Are my gifted beauty", on the surface touched a lot of people, but actually did not effectively convey any "positioning information" (even if there is, may also only slightly hinted "lover-specific" this location).
and incense fluttering "sales around the earth XX Circle", conveyed the "I am the industry first" this effective positioning, so that users clearly understand where it is in the end, and then a large number of people through the herd effect of natural purchase.
The important purpose of advertising is to give potential users a clear idea of where you want to fill, not to advertise the product.
The key to success is not to see whether the ad is compelling, exciting, or touching everyone, but whether it's in the potential user's heart that holds the position you want to occupy.
Many people feel that a certain positioning is very touching my own, so choose it as a brand slogan, but can impress you and the consumer words more go.
For example, Lee called the Beast before encountering an e-commerce APP company, selling high-end living goods, slogan is roughly "Do not follow, do their own", the founding team felt particularly impress themselves, but also have a lot of user response really like this sentence.
But you and your users like it, does not mean that it can become slogan--target is to effectively communicate positioning information, rather than let everyone moved.
If both sides like to do, then I suggest that this sentence directly to the GAO Xiaosong "life is not only the current drift, as well as poetry and distance", and then you carry out a questionnaire test, you may find:
This time, your team and consumers, may be more easily Gao Xiaosong this sentence to impress!
If this move on the line, we do not need to learn strategic positioning and brand marketing, only need to constantly find inspiration in the lyrics on the line.
This is certainly not possible, because these verses do not explain why you are more likely to impress the consumer than the competitor, and give the consumer a reason to choose you without choosing a competitor.
So, the problem of pure brand image packaging is here: No location information is conveyed.
4, according to their own standards to divide the market
The problem with brand image packaging is that they like to divide the market according to their own standards.
In a large number of brand planning books, brand white papers, brand strategy proposals, Li called the Beast saw the most one sentence is: "We locate the city's new middle class."
As to why it must be the positioning of this group, why to take the positioning of the Group division rather than the location of the situation division, and so on, can not answer.
And Lee called the Beast before the article said, should follow the "how your products meet user needs" to define the market, rather than simply use their own standards to imagine a market. (for example, a milkshake is a market that "helps people who drive to work in the morning, solve breakfast with one hand.") ）
Lee called the Beast before a company to do social networking, said to be Henan province's largest workplace social software.
What's the problem?
The problem is that it is a market that is divided by its own standard assumptions, not by consumer standards.
When users use the workplace social software, will they distinguish which province the software is in? Unless the social habits of Henan province differ greatly from other provinces, or if the Internet firewall is built in Henan Province to prohibit provincial software, the division of the market is meaningless.
It's like a student who says he is "the best of the students in Tsinghua's 44-yard shoes," almost meaningless. Because this is according to the student's own standard, but is not the enterprise employing Unit's standard division.
Therefore, the traditional "brand image packaging" problem is: often first according to their own standards to assume a group, and then within this group to find consumer insight, and this is often ineffective.
5. A single means of superstition
Simple "image packaging" often think that as long as the user touched the consumer, users will buy, too superstitious single means.
So we see a large number of advertising proposals, are advocating "the main emotional card", "to produce a sense of empathy", whether it is recalled between lovers, or the son in a foreign land to the parents of the missing, or the wife to support the husband's dream ...
Embodied in a variety of slogan, it is flooded with: Let love happen, let warm forever accompany, for the Dream of life, Heart seamless Love unlimited, do not follow, do their own, such as all kinds of moving expression.
But in fact, "touched", "impress" is not a necessary condition to purchase, more than a slogan must solve the problem.
Why?
A lot of research on advertising found that: in the enjoyment of products, low level of user thinking and product representation of a relationship, emotional advertising will produce a better persuasion effect.
For example Tiffany's diamond ring, represents the relationship, is also a pleasure product, hit emotional appeal, very suitable.
And in the emphasis on the use of functional products, users think highly and unrelated to interpersonal relationships, emotional ads produced very poor, far less than the rational appeal of advertising.
For example, to the room with a lock, "more people choose the home lock brand" this kind of information, far more than "love the family, will protect her" much more effective.
In fact, whether or not to hit the card, is to determine the brand positioning, based on the relative complexity of the screening criteria for the final selection of the results (Lee called the Beast will be specialized in how to choose), rather than to get a new product, immediately began to conceive how to move consumers.
Not all consumers need to be moved.
Conclusion
I believe that even when it comes to the present, most people will still prefer to "do not follow, do their own", "more care, more seafood" this position. Actually, I am, too, because these words are as pleasing as the lyrics themselves.
But this does not prevent the positioning of a brand of the demise, but also does not prevent you like the travel agency's copy, and eventually still go where to pick the other one, because the market law is so realistic, it does not take your personal preferences for the transfer.
The goal of brand strategy is not to find ways to enhance the brand image to move more consumers, but to identify a favorable position for competitors and to accurately communicate this position to potential customers.
Many so-called brand strategy, in fact, is just "brand packaging." Simply brand packaging, ignoring the real brand strategy, will make a brand lack of continuous competitiveness. Only with a clear vantage point and a cautious packaging on that basis would make sense.
Therefore, we have to do "brand strategy", rather than simply "brand packaging."
Marketing-Brand Packaging: You moved the user to cry is useless
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