How do intermediate brands survive in a weak consumer era? On）

In the context of consumer weakness and inflation, consumption tends to polarization trend: High-end consumption (such as luxury) is less affected, while moderate and low consumption will have a downward trend, low-end market will have its own space, so the most affected is the midrange consumption. Then, the intermediary brand positioning is necessary to adjust their brand orientation (such as to go to the high-end) or to maintain the original positioning, adjust the marketing strategy? How to survive the middle-type brand is the biggest decision of middle enterprise.

Under the situation of the downward pressure of the national economy, the real estate regulation and the industrial upgrading meet the bottleneck. And in the investment, consumption, exports of the three driving economy in the carriage, consumption is the weakest level. In the context of a slowing economy, the risk of consumer weakness is also increasing.

From the brand point of view, second-tier brands, middle-scale enterprises, domestic independent brands are in the consumer weakness of the cusp of the middle-type enterprises, from the industry, with the economic downturn is relatively high (high income elasticity, high price elasticity) of the industry, such as real estate related industries, as well as building materials, home, bathroom, paint and other industries, Under the influence of real estate regulation, its growth is curbed, and then, such as the clothing industry (with the rising cost of the shop, the industry concentration is low, advance order, etc.), are intermediate-type industries.

In such a consumer weakness and inflation background, consumption tends to polarization trend: High-end consumption (such as luxury) is less affected, while moderate and low consumption will have a downward trend, low-end market will have its own space, so the most affected is the midrange consumption. Then, the intermediary brand positioning is necessary to adjust their brand orientation (such as to go to the high-end) or to maintain the original positioning, adjust the marketing strategy? How to survive the middle-type brand is the biggest decision of middle enterprise.

What kind of marketing strategy should companies follow in the age of consumer weakness? Thinking of the way out, in the face of consumer weakness, according to common sense, in the weak era enterprises should reduce costs, implement a contraction strategy, reduce costs, obtain cash flow, in order to self-protection. But perhaps in other companies, consumer weakness is precisely the opportunity to shuffle the industry. Some enterprises to follow the strategy to see the industry boss how to do. In fact, whether it is economic prosperity or economic downturn, every enterprise or industry has space, are the opportunity to shuffle the industry, the key to see how the enterprise uphold the marketing thinking. So, those who face the weak consumption of the industry, how to develop their own marketing strategy and tactics?

Market problems and strategic logic of new business

In the new business environment, what are the structural factors that inhibit the use of consumption potential?

The essence of consumer weakness is to dislike consumption, so in the era of "annoying consumption", what needs to be started in order to effectively activate the consumer demand?

What are the new characteristics of Chinese consumption under the condition of national and globalization?

How much has the internet changed the way people live?

What is the endogenous motivation to support the sustainable growth of Chinese brands?

Facing the uncertain future, how to grasp the certainty factor to realize the optimization and continuous construction of the brand management logic and order?

Kam Kun Brand Research Institute found:

Consumers need a brand and do not need a brand: soft transmission.

Consumers like luxury goods but also like cheap goods: Hot products.

Consumers like specialized brands and want one-stop shopping: Big mix.

Channel Business likes Low-cost marketing and wants to sit and sell goods no longer difficult: new tradesman.

Brands want to quickly surpass their competitors and do not want to be overtaken by rivals: Easy mode.

These five difficult problems are not only the major problems faced by Chinese enterprises, but also the real embodiment of intermediate enterprises in the very environment, which is the most effective survival way for middle-type enterprises in the era of weak consumption.

Brand Soft communication

Brand awareness to a certain extent, the consumer's choice of preferences. In the past, consumer awareness of the brand's channels are mostly from such as television, magazines, newspapers and other hard media published ads. But now, the product is richer, the brand is also more overflow, in the face of dazzling products and dazzling brands, consumers pay awareness is no longer as in the past and refreshing, the factor is also because of the often big brand negative news to consumers to improve the alertness of advertising products. So the brand is no longer only the threat of competition, but more is the challenge of the consumer's own choice consciousness. But no matter how consumers choose, they will eventually pay to buy a product, then what is the motivation of their procurement? What is the way to influence their motives? It is clear that soft communication is now the most effective and the most long-term means for enterprises to act on consumers.

"Consumers need a brand and do not need a brand" how to understand? The first thing to know is how to build a brand. In the new millennium before the domestic network is still in the embryonic stage, the most effective enterprise to build the brand is also the most expensive choice is the TV hard wide, through television advertising consumers can be in a short dozens of seconds to understand the brand and produce a preliminary choice, we can say that this is the consumer "need brand." However, because of advertising and advertising and the failure of the example is not uncommon, Qin Qi wine is a good example, although not dead in advertising, but also because the spread of television media let it from the collapse, if it is put in today may die sooner.

With the development of network times and other industries such as film and television, the carrier of soft communication is becoming richer and more effective. The consumer's choice of subconscious collection of multiple brand information, but the brand information is very vague. If today's young consumers in the purchase of notebooks, most will be "soft transmission" effect, in the consciousness has collected some vague information constitutes its own choice of intention. If you choose Acer because you hear it cost-effective, or in the online forum to know ASUS performance is good, or to see a fashion movie Lenovo computer frequently appear, and so on. This is "Consumers do not need a brand", but through the recessive publicity to let consumers themselves to establish a more subjective understanding of the brand. This subjective understanding is because the behind-the-scenes "originator" of the soft transmission has been successful, not rigid, not consciously to the brand information into the consumer consciousness.

How to understand the soft propagation in a systematic way? Through the research of the Jin-kun Institute, "soft Communication" is analyzed as "soft three-non", "soft three" and "soft three-type".

If the intermediary enterprises can understand the "three soft law" and successful use of the mystery can enhance their own soft power, the consumption of the arrival of the era of the weak is just alarmist. Today many famous brands do not see their hard advertising, but still in the industry to do the wind. such as home, 2002 when the establishment of the face of Jinjiang star in the Economic hotel industry, the old brand, at that time, he was not even a middle-class enterprise, but now it took customers from the industry veteran's mouth, and the then with the value of 1 billion of dollars of motel can be said to 30 percent of the offer "preferential" acquisition. Why is it that Raleigh's home textile is so popular with investors when it's a successful IPO when other brands have died? Raising money for the first time is more than 500 million yuan. These are the myths that happen in the middle-type enterprise, and the analysis reveals that the myth is actually soft spread out. So if you have mastered the "soft transmission", it can be said that intermediary enterprises also let their own brand to establish the mainstream of the Times on the right track.

Create Hot Products

In any one area, any kind of product or a group of people, there are measured classification, and in each level there must be relative to the well-known and recognized brands, the brand in the consumer group is hot products.

In the big city you asked young people in their early 20 years of age what brand of perfume they knew and liked? The answer in the frequency of the higher there must be Armani, Channel, Gucci and so on. And when you ask older consumers, their answer may be mostly six gods, although it is not a perfume consumer product, but it can be known in whatever area, what grade of products have one or more well-known consumer hot products. And now the domestic younger generation consumer's consumption ability gradually and their income loses the inevitable correlation, perhaps the daytime body surrounds the Armani fragrance, the home washes the bath may spray on six gods toilet waters to drive the mosquito. This is one of the thinking, consumer weakness in the era of hot products more compressive resistance. Middle-type enterprises should also create hot products to combat the weak consumption situation.

All say "hot products", then how to create a "hot product". Kam-kun Brand Research Institute pointed out that: enterprises for products with advanced research and development power and design force, the product itself to consumers with the temptation and price force, product output with superior channel Force, the sale of hard work, the whole process can have excellent communication power and advanced management power. As long as these few Mengmen through, not become hot products are difficult. But this is not simple, from the beginning of the research and development force and design force is to first test the strength of the enterprise, if their own qualifications are not enough to create hot products can be said to be whimsical. Each hot product is able to be in the same industry in the ranks, are due to the enterprise's own research and development and design strength to give competitiveness. If the unique design of consumers more attractive, the only technology to reduce the cost of products more competitive price and so on. If the entire consumer trade, channel power and sales force can keep up, good products can achieve best-selling, long sales, high prices, high sales, shallow to see is the profits rolling, in-depth look is the product continues to be embraced by consumers. Of course, the whole process must be through effective communication and strict process management to achieve. Any of these aspects of neglect will bury the whole product "hot" force.

Middle-type enterprises to understand that the market economy is everywhere, everyone to spend, and daily consumption. The effect of weak consumption on hot products is not as big as expected. Every guest, start up can be said to be a typical middle-type enterprise, the popularity is not high and by the impact of logistics costs. But it is still in a short period of time to create a hot product belonging to the guests-men's shirts. Aging itself has a wealth of electrical business experience, at the same time keenly aware of the business man's shirt design needs, in addition to the absolute price competitiveness, the advantages of electric business channels and delivery personnel training, the whole process of publicity and management are contributing to the sale of all customers products factors. A small piece of milk, Yili sold 100 million from 10 to 1 years now sells 1 billion, which can be said to be a myth. To know the dairy industry chain is very long, from cows to milk production, and then to the back of the processing, transportation, sale, each link is time-consuming and laborious. As long as the strict requirements of output, effective publicity and excellent sales capacity, any intermediary enterprises can build their own hot products.

Forget positioning, start mixing

KFC is no longer unfamiliar to Chinese consumers, it is already a big foreign fast-food brand in China, but think of KFC only to provide fast food? Do you sometimes go in for a meal and you don't think it's a bit of a public-health room or a public nursery? In your memory, you may find that many people come to the table to go to the bathroom or sink, and most children first walked out of the hands of adults to go to the play area, it can be said that the people who enter the shop is not only for hamburgers and french fries.

Today, whether catering, clothing or electronic consumption, their awareness is not only to provide a single professional services, but will provide a lot of "ancillary products" to enable consumers to experience more thoughtful service, this "provide" can be physical, can also be psychological. So be sensitive to consumer's additional recessive demand. Understand that consumers like professional brands, but they are also willing to enjoy more services. This is the "big mix" that middle-type enterprises need to understand.

First, a single product to establish a single channel platform, and then expand to many products, and then multiple products to cover multi-channel, the formation of products and channels of mixed, mixed, mixed platform model, this is a typical mixed business model. The business empire, built on a hybrid theory, is easier to get to different consumers and even to the consumer tribes, and it is easier to deal with multiple or multiple competitions.

Many intermediary enterprises are through this "mixed" mode to expand their marketing power. They have used the "big mix" to capture more consumer concerns, start with a major product or service, and then spread the needs of various consumers to provide the relevant products and services.

The donkey mother started with the scenic spot ticket discount as the main selling point, opened "swims" the electric business Road, quickly obtained the fruitful result. In a short period of time to become the tourism industry leader in the business, then the Enterprise innovation "1 N" mode, enrich the product content. Consumers can not only enjoy the tickets to the scenic spot ticket concessions, but also access to other more tourism-related services, such as tourism consulting and tourism destinations surrounding entertainment information search and so on. Today's mother donkey is not only rely on ticket concessions to attract consumers, and more consumers may simply query their travel information, but can imagine that they may be in the Donkey Mother Travel Network will have a different "harvest."

In fact, many successful brands behind the back as long as you think you can see the "mixed" shadow, but also understand why they have a wider range of customer sources. Do Tigers sell only trousers? Do seven wolves sell jackets only? KFC is a foreign fast food but why did you buy soya-bean milk fritters? Is Tencent still the little penguin today? Think of the Spring Festival gala essay Uncle Zhao's identity: Sketch actor, Errenzhuan actor or entrepreneur?

Enterprises from small to big, why must continue to buy, buy or agent other brands? This will not bring a crisis, such as consumer scepticism about the professionalism of the business. Since 2004, Raleigh began to implement Multi-Brand operation, in addition to operating its own brand "Raleigh" "Excellent Home", but also agents of a number of internationally renowned home textile brands. At the same time agent so many brands will not bring human resources, channel resources can not keep up with the problem? In the face of a variety of questions, if the intermediary enterprises can be enlightened, you should start to consider the "mix" with other services.

Roledo Brand Matrix

Raleigh Industrial chain Platform business model

Everyone says that the market is like a battlefield, indeed, mixed mode is not only practical in today's business environment. In the U.S. military's 2005 National Defense Strategy Report, the U.S. Marine Corps Combat Development Command researcher Foulanc Hoffman first proposed a "mixed war". In 2010, the US Defense Assessment Report of the United States of America cited this theory again as an important guiding ideology of the report.

What is the reason for the birth of the "mixed War":

The diversity of combat opponents. including States, non-State actors, religious forces and groups, terrorist organizations and even individuals, who may be jointly or individually attacking the weaknesses of the United States.

Ii. diversification of the means of warfare. Includes conventional and unconventional military capabilities, particularly terrorist attacks, cyber attacks, ambushes, improvised explosive devices and clandestine assassinations of criminal activities.

Third, the integration of combat forces. It includes the combination of State and non state subject, material and psychology, combat force and non combat force.

It can be seen that all sectors of the community began to advance to the "big mixing" era, intermediate enterprises if only to provide a single professional services, not to meet the needs of diversified consumer demand, it is difficult to spend the current weak period of the past. Remember "Consumers like specialized brands and want one-stop shopping".

(To be continued)

(Shi Qiang is the founder of Shanghai Jin-kun Culture Development Group, the Shanghai Modern Service Federation, the Secretary of the Special Committee, the Shanghai Municipal Government brand experts committee.) Public micro-letter: Kam-kun brand marketing; Weibo: @ Kam-kun stone strong, @ Kam-kun brand marketing; Email: shizhangqiang@sohu.com