The brand goodwill of the Flash

In the age of social media, goodwill, human-friendly brand must be able to rise.

KLM launched a global event called "Let Happiness Spread" in November 2010, and at airports around the world, KLM dispatched unexpected gifts to selected passengers. Once the passengers who are about to boarding the KLM on the check-in site Foursquare community, there will be KLM staff online Search The passenger's background information, choose the right gift, this person was accidentally sent to his gift before departure. A European passenger, for example, mentions on Twitter that he had just finished his trip to New York, and the KLM staff presented him with a Lonely Planet New York travel guide.

This is a marketing approach that has recently been popular in the world, "a random act of goodwill" (Random Acts of kindness) or, for the moment, "goodwill marketing": The brand launches a marketing offensive that gives consumers unexpected, random surprises by online and offline means, The expression of a brand of goodwill, blessing and understanding, so as to obtain consumer recognition and acceptance, and then through SNS social circle spread.

In the 2010, Goodwill marketing was adopted and practiced by many enterprises under the impetus of social media. If as a consumer you are in the office, walking on the road, returning home, accidentally received a gift from a company. This gift may have something to do with your mood at the time, and it comes from a brand that you often come into contact with and may not have any good feelings for. Here we share some of the "goodwill Marketing" initiatives launched by some brands in recent months.

· A Finnish travel company randomly selected families in December 2010 to give a tour package for a holiday in Thailand. The travel video with the videos is broadcast on Christmas Day through TV and Internet.

· In February 2011, Heinegen Beer produced a video "1 million Hugs", choosing a group of Dutch female models to visit Amsterdam's bars and embrace male customers enthusiastically. The video is a celebration of the millions of Heinegen fans on Facebook.

· In December 2010, talk show queen Oprah Winfrey, in the opening of the last season's show, announced that 300 audience members would collectively be given the opportunity to travel to Australia. In the first one months of the show, she presented 2012 versions of the Beetle to all the spectators present.

· A Spanish travel agency in February 2011 chose a Brazilian who had lived in Barcelona for three years, leaving the city to thank the city for flying balloons with a string of theatre tickets. This video was viewed 350,000 times online.

Behind these unexpected and warm surprises, you can see a clear thread of change in the relationship between the brand and the consumer. Any brand can become a brand new competitive power if it is good at understanding and grasping the change, and embodies in the marketing action.

First, today's consumers increasingly want to see the human side of the brand, and look forward to the brand not only a minimum of social responsibility, but also to show a good value concept, as well as the concern for environmental protection. A 2010 survey by Young & Rubicam, an advertising agency, found that 71% of respondents "made it clear that they only buy brands that are consistent with their values." Independent PR firm Edelman 2010 Research also showed that in 2006 U.S. consumers determine the corporate reputation of the factors, "performance" ranked third, and by 2010, "performance" is the lowest, ranked the most before the "transparency and integrity." According to another survey by Edelman, 87% of British consumers want businesses to be able to place the brand's commercial and social benefits equally important. Visible, consumer expectations of the brand, has far exceeded the pure product function and use value level of demand, and more expect the brand to assume the mainstream values and ethics.

Second, information asymmetry between consumers and brands is greatly leveled. Now with the help of micro-blogging and other social media, consumers can share, discuss various topics, and even take some action, which has become the normal life, brand as a part of consumer life, can not avoid being evaluated, discussed and spread the fate. So of course people want the relationship with the brand not to stay in the "You speak to me" stage, they need to interact more, and this interaction must be real and interesting.

Similarly, with social media, the brand's mastery of the consumer situation has reached an unprecedented level. People disclose personal information, preferences, emotions and itinerary every day through platforms such as microblogs, and the protection of personal privacy seems to be forgotten. For brands, this is a really good thing to do, they can always listen to the needs and desires of consumers, ready to respond, at any time to communicate.

Twitter is believed to have 200 million registered users, 95 million updates a day. Foursquare in 2010 to sign up to 380 million, more than 2009 3,400%, Sina and Tencent Weibo users have broken billion. People's perception of social status, in addition to pure wealth and power, but also the online social status, the number of fans as the main indicator of social status, can be publicly shared and display knowledge, talent, influence and so on. If netizens are more open to each other in SNS, then people have reason to demand that they serve their brand. Consumers have never expected a perfect brand, but rather a humane, amiable and approachable brand, even if there is such a flaw. Moreover, in the brand growth process, consumers also have a strong willingness to participate and develop.

For brands, goodwill marketing can soften and close the relationship with consumers, and now SNS interpersonal network width and fluency, enough to make a successful marketing plan to spread quickly. But the actual operation is not easy. Send a small gift, express some concern, good is good, but how to create a spread of value of goodwill opportunities, and not be seen as hype?

Before taking action, you have to ask yourself a few questions. 1. Be straightforward. Are you sincere and heartfelt? 2. Creativity. Will you play New tricks? 3. Meaning. What are you trying to say? Can you show compassion, humanity, or even a particular personality? 4. Fun. Is it easy and fun? Can you make consumers happy and pleasantly surprised?

So does goodwill marketing have a stage in China? The lack of trust in domestic consumers and brands has escalated to hostility, hostility and hostility. Baidu and Tencent have embarked on the position of public enemies, to a certain extent, the two internet giants are completely not adapt to the microblogging era how to establish real and interactive relationship with users. So it can be said that goodwill marketing, looks very beautiful, but Chinese enterprises need to use caution. You do not want to spend money out, smiling face also lost, turn consumers continue to scold you? For those large enterprises, first of all to understand how to establish a new type of cooperative symbiosis with consumers, the relationship between growing together, take this step, it takes courage and determination. And for the small and medium-sized enterprises, emerging brands without any historical baggage, this is an opportunity to emerge. Weibo era, the winner must be those humane, well-meaning, representing a new way of life and penetrate the new dissemination of the law of the brand.

(author Xu is a marketing strategy consultant, executive director of run policy consultant)