JD.com 618 Post-Battle Review: A Textbook Marketing Case

This year's 618 Mid-Year Shopping Festival finally came to a close in a lively atmosphere. After 8 years of accumulation, it broke out in full swing this year. JD.com also generously announced its 618 performance for the first time:

During the shopping festival from June 1 to 18, 2017, JD.com placed cumulative orders worth 119.9 billion yuan and sold over 700 million products. Among users who made their first purchase on JD.com from June 1 to 18, the number of female users nearly doubled compared to the same period last year.

On June 18, sales in the first hour exceeded 250% of the same period last year. A large number of categories in the 3C field quickly exceeded the billion yuan sales volume, with the computer and office category taking only 2 minutes and 50 seconds, the digital category taking 5 minutes and 30 seconds, and the mobile phone category taking 3 minutes and 7 seconds. Among them, mobile phone sales increased by 405% year-on-year within one hour.

Even though e-commerce promotions have been going on for more than a decade and all kinds of tricks have become common, JD.com can still achieve such high results, which shows its strength.

There is no doubt that JD.com has now made 618 an established context. It has transformed from an ordinary store anniversary promotion day into a festival recognized and participated in by the whole nation.

It has to be strong enough to be taken for granted. In the context of the overall e-commerce market environment where business growth is slowing down, product layout is basically completed, and marketing routines are becoming increasingly clear, how to expand the user base, attract more consumers, improve user consumption stickiness, and increase GMV are the core issues facing every e-commerce company and are also a test for every marketing operator. Compared with previous years, JD.com’s marketing actions this year are indeed continuous, louder and more innovative.

The author only shares his observations and thoughts on JD.com’s 618 promotion event from an observer’s perspective for the purpose of communication.

It is mainly divided into the following parts.

1. The logic behind the change of slogans

This year, JD.com’s 618 theme slogan is “Break the busyness and enjoy the good things”, which follows the 2016 “Change now, quality carnival!” with quality as the core theme.

Break the busyness. People are busy going to work, getting off work, and living all day long. It is a busy and breathless life. Break it and do something different. Put down the busyness. You should enjoy a good life.

The entire theme commercial is completed in one go, with a great rhythm and a very accurate insight into consumers. The author believes there are two points.

First, in the context of consumption upgrading, consumers have higher demands for product quality and services. There will be more and more middle-class consumers in the future. As their spending power increases, price is no longer the primary issue that consumers consider. Expressions like "JD 618, crazy grabbing in Red June" and "Shopping party, endless savings on all products" that emphasize "saving money and buying" have become weak and difficult to attract the public's attention. It will be the norm for e-commerce companies to emphasize good products, selection, and quality in terms of theme setting.

Second, in the fast-paced modern life, consumers are busy running around for survival and are exhausted both physically and mentally. JD.com’s concept of “breaking the busyness” at this moment is precisely a kind of comfort. It has changed the previous idea of ​​single product value output to emotional two-way communication with users, describing a beautiful life scene for consumers.

2. Overall Marketing Strategy

Under the theme of "Break the busyness and enjoy the good things", JD.com has laid out a marketing front for a month in advance. It is really not easy given the long span, wide range of resources to coordinate and the complexity of operational management. The author summarizes its marketing strategy into three points.

1) Through a category-themed promotion every two to three days, all major categories of JD.com are fully covered. We focus on creating five core theme days: Disney Brand Day, China Brand Festival, Super Flash Sale Day, God Coupon Day, and Live Broadcast Day. As small peaks of the entire long line, they increase layer by layer, igniting the heat of discussion on the entire network, constantly throwing out new stimulating points to attract users' attention, and triggering attention, dissemination and conversion.

2) Starting from June 2, there will be a celebrity + big brand special event every day, with online and offline cooperation. Through the "e-commerce + live broadcast + social + celebrity" model, resources from all parties will be integrated to effectively create hot topics and events for the 618 Shopping Festival.

3) At the market channel level, we work both online and offline, placing advertisements through WeChat Moments, Weibo, Toutiao, Tencent Video, and other online high-precision user groups and high-frequency business products, and providing 360-degree coverage of the target user group in offline subways, bus stations, cinemas, elevators, etc.

Overall, this round of advertising and marketing communications probably has no budget set. The number of celebrities invited, the breadth of channels covered, and the amount of investment are unprecedented. At the same time, the effect of such heavy-weight publicity is also very direct. Many people feel that their lives are filled with 618, and the festive atmosphere created is quite successful.

Secondly, JD.com's open attitude towards 618 this year is unprecedented. JD.com has opened up the use of the 618 brand logo. The direct benefit of this open and inclusive attitude is that any industry and any company can promote and use 618. E-commerce 618 has become the national 618. Finally, JD.com accumulates online traffic, embraces users, and achieves mutual benefit and win-win results.

3. Execution of marketing activities

Because the entire activity is highly complex and requires coordination of many resources, the execution of the entire process must be carried out at a project block level. In order to restore the overall implementation process of JD.com's 618 event as much as possible, the author will narrate it layer by layer in chronological order and select key activities for sorting out.

The entire event schedule is as follows.

It is mainly divided into five parts: warm-up, opening, halftime, 618 Carnival Day and encore.

1. Preheat

This year's 618 preheating came earlier than in previous years. For JD.com, the main purpose of the preheating is to tell consumers: JD.com's 618 Mid-Year Shopping Festival is here!

In order to strengthen the brand symbol of 618, JD.com has intensively launched a large number of advertisements online and offline to continuously attract users' attention and occupy their minds. The preheating process is as follows.

1) Exam simulation questions

On May 17, a mock test question for JD University's entrance exam quietly appeared in full-page editions of mainstream newspapers in more than 20 cities across the country, including the Xinmin Evening News, Beijing Youth Daily, Shenyang Evening News, and Chengdu Business Daily. Basically, this kind of full-page advertisement can attract users' attention and trigger their thinking at the first moment. The suspense left by the QR code below often induces users to explore more content. Attract users to challenge the most brain-teasing questions online. On the surface, it is interacting with users, but in reality it is attracting new users by issuing coupons.

2) Theme promotional video

On May 22, JD.com released the promotional video "618 Together in the Middle of the Year", officially kicking off JD.com's 618. The theme of "Break the Busyness and Enjoy the Good Things" came out immediately. These 8 words closely link emotional communication and quality e-commerce. It has to be said that this theme is both down-to-earth and of practical value.

Passionate drummers, couples in love, female boxers, overtime workers, skateboarders, taxi drivers... time that can't be stopped, anxiety that can't be stopped, changes that can't be stopped... and the busyness of all these stories is just for that brief emotional explosion at the end: to break the busyness! It's time to break the busyness of the first half of the year, it's time to take a breath and give yourself a break in the middle of the year!

I believe that many people have completely forgotten that this is a marketing advertisement when watching the video content, and are unconsciously drawn into it, and the emotional catharsis is refreshing.

3) Offline advertising

After the release of the theme promotional video, JD.com immediately released a main screen with the slogan "Break the busyness in the middle of the year and celebrate 618 together". Whether taking the bus, subway or elevator, everyone can see the eye-catching three big colorful words "618".

2. Opening

After talking about the warm-up, let’s talk about the opening.

Let’s first sort out the opening marketing rhythm.

• From May 25th to May 31st, a special carnival event will be held on the site on May 25th, and a PLUS carnival feast will be launched.
• 5.26-5.28 Global Shopping Special 5.28 LEGO Festival.
• 5.29-5.31 Smart Life 5.31 Book Category Day.
• On May 25, JD.com held a press conference to announce the official launch of the 618 year-end shopping festival.

JD.com’s 618 opening marketing strategy can be described in four words: “simple and crude”. The purpose of hard-wired implantation in 618 is to allow consumers to "besiege" and complain, creating a hot topic for discussion.

For example, there is a magical short video that uses specific life scenarios to reinforce the number 618. When playing mahjong, you win if you draw 618; you remember 618 most clearly when memorizing multiplication formulas; you wait for a whole day at the bus station just for bus number 618... Such a naive and nonsensical expression is presented, and the onlookers can't help but complain after watching it.

In addition, on May 27, Li Dan and Chi Zi released a magical video called "The 618th National Radio Gymnastics: Mid-Year Calling" using the break-time gymnastics scene, "One, two, three, four, I'm 618! Two, two, three, four, I'm 618!" In short, the advertisement is so direct and hard, without any ambiguity, but the melody of the video music has been lingering in the mind!

Overall, the opening of the entire off-site marketing communication is bold, novel, magical and unconventional. By reinforcing the 618 numbers, we continue to inform users that the 618 Mid-Year Shopping Festival is coming! This kind of brainwashing advertising has an immediate effect and reaches people's hearts.

3. Midfield

First, let’s sort out the rhythm of the midfield activities.

• June 1st Disney Brand Day + Home Appliances Special
• June 2nd - June 3rd Home Life Special
• June 4th - June 6th Clothing Special + 6.6 China Brand Festival
• 0 Yuan Home Appliances Special Sale on June 7-8
• June 9th Fresh Food Special + Super Flash Sale Day
• June 10th Home Life Special
• JD Supermarket Special from June 11th to 13th
• June 14-June 17 3C Special + June 14 Coupon Day + June 17 Celebrity Live Broadcast Day

Unlike the opening, when one may only need to reach consumers with information about the 618 Mid-Year Shopping Festival without considering the actual marketing conversion, the halftime means that 618 officially enters the rhythm. Both JD.com and merchants will gather together and make efforts at this stage.

When evaluating the comprehensive strength of an e-commerce company, the platform’s ability to aggregate brand resources will be largely considered. Ultimately, how many brand merchants are willing to play with JD.com, how much brand channel resource support can be provided, and how much price concessions can be given. Judging from the data, the number and influence of brands participating in JD.com’s 618 event this year are sufficient, which will be discussed below. Brands’ demands on JD.com are for more resources and exposure.

Therefore, for JD.com, on the one hand, it needs to integrate brand resources to maximize exposure and help brands increase sales revenue; on the other hand, JD.com is responsible for gathering online traffic, continuously attracting user visits, improving user stickiness, and maximizing sales conversion.

In order to increase the potential energy of 618 step by step, there must be a line that can link the entire 618 together, and this line is the gameplay of big brands + big stars. Next, let’s take a look at how JD.com’s China Brand Festival and “Big Brands Flirt with Ace” events were carried out. I believe that this is a textbook-level marketing case.

1) China Brand Festival

On June 6, JD.com held the China Brand Festival, focusing on the three sections of "Chinese Design", "Chinese Quality Manufacturing" and "Chinese Heritage", and bringing together 63 sub-industries and 2,800 selected brands.

Any national activity of this kind is often the face of a company. If it is done well, everyone will be happy, but if it is not done well, it is very easy to shoot oneself in the foot. Therefore, from top to bottom, all efforts must be made to maximize the influence of the event. In a certain sense, 618 may not be outstanding, but the China Brand Festival is something that must be outstanding. JD.com has obviously made all preparations from the beginning of planning.

From the perspective of marketing strategy, the loud slogan of "China Brand Festival" was used to create suspense and attract user attention. Business leaders, spiritual leaders, and celebrities were invited to take the stage to explain the spirit of Chinese products, dig deep into brand stories, and give extended brand connotations. Use emotional expression methods such as nostalgic marketing to arouse user resonance and participation, and finally enhance user participation and interaction through a variety show format of video + live broadcast, so as to bring the event to a climax and enhance the influence of the event.

The specific implementation aspects are as follows

a. Channel Advertising

There are splash screen ads on the APP homepage, information flow ads, etc. everywhere, not to mention the promotion in offline mainstream newspapers and advertising columns, and even outdoor ads appear on the streets of Hong Kong.

This round of mid-season marketing advertising has a characteristic, which is that it tends to be emotional communication. For example, the nostalgic poster below, with elements such as Forever bicycles and rubber bands that exist in people’s childhood memories, suddenly brings the user closer, making them feel both friendly and easy to accept.

b. Double micro interaction

On Weibo, dozens of brands launched a joint campaign with the hashtag #MyAwesomeChineseBrands# on the same day, creating a spectacular scene. At the same time, the brand is overwhelmed with its own promotions and soft articles from various KOLs.

c. Brand employer short video

On the site, major brands have also put in their best efforts, offering the most affordable prices and the highest quality goods. Brand leaders have personally promoted products and recorded videos to send their blessings and expectations for the 618 performance, giving the site a feel of a festive party.

d. Interview with bigwigs

JD.com invited 10 business leaders including Li Ning, Haier, and Pechoin to create the interview program "National Brand Leaders Speak", sorting out corporate spirit, brand concept, and brand story, using feelings and emotions as the language to communicate with consumers.

e. E-commerce live streaming

E-commerce live streaming mainly focuses on shaping product usage scenarios and timely interaction with consumers. JD.com has created three live variety shows this time called "Awesome! Domestic Products", "Super Sale", "Magic Cafe", singing, dancing and cooking competitions, guests testing products on the spot, sharing shopping experiences, idol fan clubs answering sharp and strange questions, netizens' barrage of interactions determine every move on the stage, and the deeply interactive format makes the promotion extremely entertaining.

At the same time, JD.com has joined forces with 50 brands and 50 beautiful anchors to form a 24-hour non-stop live show "National Beauty Shows National Products". Through the format of live broadcast + variety show, product introduction and experience sharing become more efficient, directly stimulating consumers to purchase goods.

The effect of such event marketing was also significant. On that day, the sales of the top 100 Chinese brands soared by 200%.

2) Big names flirt with big names

The big brands’ activities of flirting with the ace are to attract users’ attention through the combination of celebrities and brands.

JD.com has fourteen ace endorsements, and each day a different brand will invite a celebrity guest to interact live. Users can open the JD app homepage and scroll down to see a 5-second celebrity endorsement video. You can also get 1 brand coupon.

At the same time, each brand has a celebrity live broadcast event every day.

Before the start of the 618 Ace Live Broadcast, JD.com launched an H5 event online called "Celebrity Live Broadcasts Are Waiting for You to Chat". In addition to the most direct excitement of watching the live broadcast and receiving millions of red envelopes, you can vote for the interactive content of the stars' live broadcasts, whether it is to let Jiang Xin make Jiang's dishes, let the Queen Ada Choi show "Hong Kong Mandarin" tongue twisters, or let the male god Wu Zun show his matching skills. These interesting and novel interactive gameplays effectively narrowed the distance between brands, celebrities and fans, and greatly enhanced users' sense of participation. Combined with the investment and promotion of KOLs, the live broadcast event was successfully promoted.

This live broadcast of the big star's show attracted nearly 10 million fans, with the highest number of views for a single live broadcast reaching over one million.

3) Live broadcast day

On June 17, JD.com held a celebrity live broadcast event. More than 30 celebrities including Angelababy, Da Zhangwei, Chen He, Chen Feiyu, Jiang Sida and others performed a 12-hour non-stop live show on JD.com! This feeling is like a countdown to welcome the New Year. With celebrity interaction, it is natural to recommend products. People can add products to their shopping cart while watching the live broadcast. Live broadcast has become a sales conversion tool for JD.com’s 618. Teacher Li Guyi sang “Unforgettable Tonight” and JD.com “Knows How to Have Fun in the City”.

4. Encore

After the 618 shopping festival, JD.com held a number of events including the PLUS DAY carnival, super product day, and thanksgiving returns for various categories. Leverage the 618 hotspot to extract brand marketing value. At the same time, we deliberately produced a "JD 618 Bill Review" to further expand the influence of the event.

4. Execution of product operations

Having talked about the execution phase of event marketing, let’s take a look at the actions of product operation.

During the 6.18 event, JD.com made detailed optimizations to the entire product experience process. The design of the homepage, event page, and single product page also highlighted the idea of ​​maximizing marketing conversions, and the execution process was very thorough and detailed.

1. App download/update

As early as May 18, JD.com had made product preparations for this year's 618. First, the word "618" was marked on the icon, and new users who downloaded the app were given an intuitive welfare incentive - "New users can get a 188 yuan coupon for free."

In addition, JD.com’s specific 618 event schedule appears in product updates, so old users can also know it in advance.

2. Home page

1) New member welfare package

After the user enters the homepage, JD.com pushes a large gift package exclusively for new users even when the user is not logged in. At the same time, the first screen also launches a variety of benefits such as limited-time discounts and snap-up items exclusively for new users to attract new users. The red envelope grabbing function is prominently displayed in the upper right corner, attracting users to click and enhancing user interaction and participation through mini-games. At the same time, three additional sharing opportunities are set to encourage users to share and spread the word.

2) Page design

There are several points worth noting about the design of the homepage.

First, the 618 main venue has changed from being placed in the middle tab position of the bottom bar last year to being placed below the banner. After users enter the homepage, the visual center point falls on the main venue, which increases the arrival rate of the main venue.

Second, the middle position of the bottom bar has become "Me" - a content community, which will be discussed in detail below.

Third, the location for collecting coupons is also at the core visual focus, satisfying the user's need to collect coupons before shopping.

Fourth, JD.com’s flash sale venue serves as a major entrance to attract traffic.

3) 618 Shopping Guide

The 618 shopping spree winning strategy is a highlight. The "Remind Me" function directly records important moments that consumers are concerned about in the calendar for reminder. By opening my calendar on the site, I can clearly and completely see the day's activities and not miss any activities I care about.

4) MiMe Community

The MiMe channel consists of several columns including selections, live broadcasts, attention, lists, communities, and Q&A. The birth of the MiMe community also marks an important layout of JD.com in upgrading its content shopping guides.

Currently, content shopping guides have become a new trend on e-commerce platforms, transforming from simply selling goods to "recommending goods based on people". Consumers' shopping decision scenarios have also evolved from paying attention to the description on the product details page to paying more attention to content shopping guide information and recommendations based on subscription relationships. The MiMe community brings more exposure and transactions to brands through precise content diversion.

For example, the author observed that an article published by a kol had more than 50,000 readings in a short period of time, becoming a highlight in the maternal and child special topic of the day. In addition, through the kol’s own real experience, the advantages of the product were fully demonstrated, thus bringing sales conversion to the brand.

3. Event page

The scenario design of the activity page is still very good. Taking the mobile phone special event as an example, in addition to the common crazy flash sales and hot-selling methods, JD.com also provides users with a variety of selection dimensions, such as family care, work helpers, and support groups. The support group here is a community where users can get some advice and selection guides when they don’t know how to choose a model.

Such a sophisticated operational strategy naturally improves consumer decision-making efficiency.

4. Product details page

On the product details page, 618 elements create a festive atmosphere, short video ads of the products enhance the presentation, and discount information marked in red stimulates users to place orders immediately.

In order to attract consumers to buy, let’s briefly talk about two techniques.

1) Hot product strategy

The effect of attracting user traffic by creating hot-selling products is often the most obvious. Among all product categories, fast-moving consumer goods are the most common to be created as hot-selling products, of course, there are also large 3C items and other products that general users are most familiar with and sensitive to prices.

Take Clear shampoo as an example. In Tmall Supermarket, the price of Clear shampoo is 47.5 yuan for 750ml, while JD Supermarket markets it in a combination of 750ml*2 and free gifts. In comparison, the preferential strength is clearly visible.

But this is not the most important thing. Below the hot product, we will see another 550ml CLEAR shampoo. If the price is roughly calculated compared with the hot product, it is not cost-effective. In this comparison, consumers feel the profit and accelerate the decision-making and purchasing process.

There are hundreds of thousands of reviews for this popular product alone.

2) Full discount strategy

In addition to attracting hundreds of thousands of user traffic through word-of-mouth spread through a hot product, the full-discount strategy is also a powerful tool for increasing APRU.

Take the example of Sassoon. According to the data monitoring of Huihui Assistant, its general selling price is around 63.8 yuan. In JD.com's 100 yuan off for purchases over 199 yuan promotion, it is obviously not cost-effective to buy one bottle, and buying two bottles will not reach the discount standard of 199 yuan. At least 3 bottles must be purchased to reach the discount amount. In this way, the user's APRU value has increased by 3 times.

5. Shopping Cart

There are endless prompts such as 618 exclusive discounts, interest-free white slips, free shipping for placing a large order, xx yuan price reduction compared to joining, purchase with a premium, recommendations for you, etc. The purpose is to shorten the time users spend on purchasing decisions, improve order conversion rates, and at the same time increase sales as much as possible in the last link of shopping settlement.

In addition to the basic and necessary marketing strategies mentioned above, JD app content also has other fancy ways to play. For example, you may get an Easter egg by searching for any brand name, and receive a brand-exclusive discount red envelope. For example, you can share the product with your friends and return to the JD APP to receive a free JD Bean red envelope.

In short, JD.com has done solid operations in every detail of the consumer shopping process.

5. Some surprises and conclusions

The above is the complete operating logic and specific operational details of JD.com’s 618 event that the author observed.

As I write this, a question suddenly lingers in my mind. During the one-month 618 event, there were countless activities, large and small. Was there a key activity or event that became a turning point in this marketing front, after which the entire market rose sharply.

This is a screenshot I took while watching JD.com’s live broadcast in the afternoon of June 18th. From the curve chart, the data was rising slowly before June 18th, and then on the day of June 18th, the data began to increase sharply, which is in line with the law of data growth and is not surprising.

The author also checked the Baidu Index performance of JD.com's 618. Although it cannot accurately represent the users' attention to 618, it can at least reflect the consumers' attention range to a certain extent, and we can see the popularity effect brought by previous marketing events.

In this table, I selected 3 peak points and the corresponding time of decibel.

A-June 1st, B-June 6th, C-June 10th.

Looking back at the event schedule, there is the Disney Brand Festival on June 1st, the China Brand Festival on June 6th, and the day before June 10th is the Super Flash Sale Day.

The first small peak of the entire curve was on Children's Day. In the following five days, the public discussion heat slowly declined until June 6, when the data for China Brand Day rebounded slightly. However, it remained stable until the 8th. On June 9, the Super Flash Sale Day began. In just one day, the data curve rose sharply and the search index entered a new level.

This is a chart that surprised me, because logically speaking, the publicity efforts invested on June 6 should have at least created a turning point to a new level, but it did not.

In reality, most people are more concerned about discounts and flash sales. The four words "super flash sales" are enough to instantly kill activities such as the "China Brand Festival" that may not be closely related to themselves.

So, back to the essence of marketing, everyone is talking about consumption upgrading and e-commerce upgrading, what does that mean?

Does this mean that we don’t have to worry about the price, as long as we put out carefully selected good products, consumers will come naturally?

Or, does it mean that regardless of concepts such as e-commerce upgrading and consumption upgrading, price is always king?

Suppose the entire 618 event theme is "super flash sales" and "low prices", would you be interested?

The answer to the question is not either this or that.

Price is like a layer of outer covering. For now, it will always be the only way to attract attention. But in reality, what people really pursue is never the low-price gimmick, but the eternal value of the product. The change that consumption upgrading has brought to marketing is a shift from the single product value output of the past to two-way communication between users and products. Consumers are naturally willing to pay a premium for a brand that tells a good story, good products that are recognized by the public, and a platform that carries the concept of good products. This represents the spiritual pursuit of consumers.

This principle is just like when you go to a supermarket to buy vegetables. The supermarket will use lighting, high-end display cabinets, and package the fresh fruits and vegetables very beautifully. When you go to the vegetable market to buy fruits and vegetables, smart merchants will always give you some extra gifts after settlement.

The nature of doing business seems to have never changed.

It has simply transformed from a stall into an e-commerce forest controlled by an invisible hand.