Ye Maozhong's Marketing Strategy Notes

1. Tribute to Mr. Ye Maozhong

There is one thing I have to mention. I have not been in the field of marketing, branding, and management (operation) for a long time, just a few years. In line with the Yugong spirit of "no matter how tired I am at work, I must read reports and materials when I get home", I will be able to write something to share with everyone after a few years. I usually don't have a celebrity complex, but after entering this industry, in addition to often reading various reports by an anonymous person, I also have several teachers, including Drucker, Trout, Xiaofeng, Kongshou, Zangfeng, Runzong, etc., among whom is Mr. Ye Maozhong.

I first met Mr. Ye Maozhong relatively late, in September 2021. I happened to see the conflict theory while reading a document. After some searching, I found that the gentleman had shared it for free on his official website. I felt the same way while reading it, but due to my busy schedule, it took me about a month to finish reading the entire book on October 2nd.

Originally, I had no intention of writing anything related to "Conflict" because I found that the content of Mr. Ye Maozhong's book was already very complete, and I could not add anything to it at my current level. But with the recent news of Mr. Ye Maozhong's unfortunate passing away, I feel it is necessary to share this book. (This article will quote a lot of content from the book "Conflict". The overall content is a summary and some of the author's own understanding. The main content is not original to the author, please note)

I call the marketing concept mentioned in this book: the connection between rationality and sensibility. A tribute to the book "Conflict", which is a solution for the positioning of enterprises, products and brands, and also a tribute to Mr. Ye Maozhong.

2. What is “conflict”?

There are two kinds of suffering in life: one is that desires are not satisfied, and the other is that they are satisfied.

—George Bernard Shaw

• The nature of conflict

Human beings are emotional creatures with seven emotions and six desires. They have truth, goodness, and beauty, but also greed, anger, and ignorance. It is rare for someone to achieve enlightenment just by saying "Amitabha". When we do marketing, we are also doing research on people. The essence of marketing is to understand needs, and needs can be understood from conflicts.

Conflict represents opposition, the incompatible nature of things in the general secular cognition, such as capitalism and communism, nature and man-made, likes and dislikes; from the whispers deep in the heart to the rationality in the face of desire, the laws of conflict can be found.

When looking at conflicts, it is often easier to see the opposite side from a third party's perspective.

• Categorizing sources of conflict
• Conflicting information: This is a disagreement about facts or data.

Example: The well-known “donkey-elephant dispute”. During elections, each party conveys information that is favorable to itself to the public or spreads factors that are unfavorable to the other party. The public processes and interprets this information inconsistently, which is why we know that the public is susceptible to demagoguery.

• Conflict of Interests: This conflict centers around underlying concerns, desires, and needs. To resolve these conflicts, you need to ask, "What are you focusing on?" rather than arguing about who is right or wrong.

Example: My best friend and I, one likes to play tennis and the other likes to play basketball. Every time we try to invite each other to play, we usually refuse. Conflicts of interest can clarify the characteristics of interest to a certain group. It is difficult to get someone with different interests to do something you are interested in, even if you are good friends.

• Structural conflict: is always accompanied by limited resources, and the ultimate resolution of the conflict often depends on individuals with decision-making authority.

For example: The brand department and the marketing department are old enemies. Sometimes when the marketing department hopes to increase the budget for product discounts, marketing, and partner expansion to seize the market, the brand department does not want the brand value to decline due to too many promotional activities (such as: Huaxi Biology). When conflicts arise between departments due to interests or directions, organizational managers are needed to coordinate and allocate tasks.

Note: The ability of professional managers is very important. Managing a company requires reasonable resource allocation and coordination. I have seen some large companies matching resources to the wrong things during joint projects (they started to set up marketing departments before the development of core functions and the construction of business foundations reached the node), which ultimately led to the failure of the project.

• Relationship conflict: related to history, communication style, and trust.

Example: Relationship conflicts in business operations are mainly related to organizational team management, so I will not go into details here. Relationship conflict can increase members' stress and anxiety levels, thereby limiting their cognitive functions; in addition, relationship conflict can provoke antagonistic behavior among members.

(5) Value conflict: This is the most difficult type of conflict to resolve because it is closely related to values ​​and there is no room for negotiation.

Example: You must have had a quarrel with your parents, right? If we analyze this matter, we will find that this is a conflict of values. Elders often impose their past experiences on you. Regardless of whether the experience is right or wrong, the reason you quarrel is precisely because of the conflict in your values.

Different values ​​form different groups, and these groups have their own unique characteristics.

• Left brain/right brain - the conflict between rationality and emotion

Returning to the marketing section, I think the book "Conflict" focuses on the conflict points and connections between rationality and sensibility. The book mentions the concept of "the left and right brain correspond to rationality and sensibility", which is a theory verified by the split-brain experiment of Dr. Sperry, an American psychobiologist, for which he was awarded the 1981 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.

In psychology, the left brain is called the "rational brain", which mainly processes abstract information such as text and data, has abstract thinking functions such as understanding, analysis, and judgment, and is characterized by rationality and logic;

The right brain is called the "emotional brain", which processes specific information such as sound and images, and has functions such as imagination, creativity, inspiration and ultra-high-speed reaction (ultra-high-speed memory and calculation), and has the characteristics of sensibility and intuition;

Whether you are good at using the rational left brain or the emotional right brain, we cannot deny the sensibility and rationality represented by these two brains. As Mr. Ye Maozhong said, they exist simultaneously in our thoughts and behaviors, which often leads to inconsistencies between rationality and sensibility when we analyze and judge things. This is one of the sources of conflict.

The origin of conflict is often between restrained rational needs and impulsive emotional needs, and between limited needs and unlimited desires. The essence of marketing is to resolve consumer conflicts - to form effective marketing, you must first understand consumer conflicts.

Conflict is inevitable; once conflict occurs, demand is created, which provides possibilities for marketing.

3. Exploiting Conflict

There are two paths of attack for conflict resolution:

Attacking the left brain - relying on product truth (performance, packaging, price, etc.), it is a competition of material and technology;

Attacking the right brain - relying on brand truth (psychological feelings, value resonance, brand added value, etc.), is spiritual and

psychological competition;

• Attacking the rational “left brain”

When deciding whether to pay, the rational "left brain" usually considers the product's practical value, packaging, performance and service, that is, the truth about the product.

Attack the left brain and resolve conflicts. The truth of the product must get to the heart of the consumer's conflict with a fatal move; propose solutions quickly, fiercely and accurately so that the consumer's left brain will rationally agree or even admire and give up resistance.

Taking several industry scenarios as examples, the details are as follows.

• Education and training industry

Chinese parents generally hope that their children can win at the starting line and usually enroll their children in extracurricular tutoring classes. When parents decide to enroll their children in classes and start choosing an institution, they will be concerned about factors such as the qualifications of the recognized teachers, the price of the class, the results after tutoring, and even the location of the class from home.

• E-commerce industry (Pinduoduo)

Pinduoduo’s advantage is non-standard products and its feature is low prices. Although its quality has been criticized, its price is really affordable, so it is deeply loved by the target customers. Relying on these two weapons, Pinduoduo has quickly broken through the encirclement of major e-commerce platforms such as Taobao and JD.com since its establishment in September 2015. It has now become the largest e-commerce platform, with the number of users far ahead of JD.com and slightly ahead of Alibaba.

In contrast, Taobao's original advantage was non-standard products, but since the birth of Tmall, Taobao has unreservedly given Tmall's standard products back to it, causing Taobao to become "Tmall in a Taobao shell." Now that Taobao has lost its advantage in selling non-standard products, it has started to develop Taobao Special Edition, which is essentially the "Taobao of the past." However, in this market, sellers of non-standard products have already chosen other channels, and latecomers have quietly taken the lead.

To attack the consumer's left brain, you must clearly answer - what the product demands, what conflicts it solves, or what conflicts it creates; rather than just describing the product's strength, this is the fatal product truth.

• Attacking the emotional "right brain"

The emotional "right brain" guides target customers to pay by relying on brand truth (psychological feelings, value resonance, and brand added value, etc.), which is a spiritual and psychological competition.

Attack the right brain and resolve conflicts. The truth of the brand must hit the heart of the consumer's conflict with a fatal blow; propose solutions steadily, accurately and ruthlessly so that the consumer's emotional right brain can understand, trust and be moved; that is, it must lead to the truth, goodness and beauty of human nature;

The book summarizes the eight basic needs of the right brain, as shown above. Choose a suitable attack on the consumer's right brain, let us appreciate a case. (Similar activity designs can be searched for reference: Jike App's North-South War)

Let’s take a look at an example of values.

This is the story of Apple. Steve Jobs created a classic brand truth for Apple - Think Different.

Hats off to those crazy guys,

They are unique.

They are unruly.

They stir up trouble.

They don't fit in.

They see things differently.

They don't like to stick to the rules.

They are also unwilling to settle for the status quo.

You can praise them, quote them, criticize them,

Question them, praise them or denigrate them,

But we can’t ignore them.

Because they change things.

They invent, they imagine, they heal,

They explore, they create, they inspire,

They move humanity forward.

Maybe they have to be crazy.

Can you stare at a blank piece of paper and see a beautiful painting?

Can you sit quietly and compose a beautiful song?

Can you gaze at Mars and think of the magical space wheel?

We create opportunities for these guys.

Maybe they are crazy in the eyes of others,

But they are geniuses in our eyes.

Because only those who are crazy enough to think they can change the world,

Only then can we truly change the world.

To attack the right brain of consumers, you must clearly answer the brand’s appeal and what conflict it solves; not just the brand.

The output of brand image is a fatal brand truth.

3. Collaborative Operations - The Left and Right Brains Fight and Help Each Other

Attacking the left brain to resolve conflicts, relying on product truth;

Attacking the right brain to resolve conflict, relying on brand truth

If conditions permit, attack both the left and right brains at the same time.

I also believe that marketing success is not due to the prominence of a single factor, but is the product of the combined empowerment of multiple factors. The above two sections explain how to better connect with customers rationally (left brain) or emotionally (right brain), while this section explains that quickly closing a deal with a customer requires collaborative efforts.

As is often seen in common TV commercials, when the product's effectiveness is mentioned in the advertising slogan, celebrities or models who match the product's tone are often invited to demonstrate the situation. Mr. Ye Maozhong believes that if conditions permit, the left and right brain should be attacked at the same time, but with more emphasis on one aspect.

4. Discovering Conflicts – Strategic Level (Positioning)

The greater the conflict, the greater the opportunity

The greater the conflict, the greater the need

The bigger the conflict, the stronger the selling point

If marketing cannot find conflicts and resolve them, it will become increasingly difficult, like milking a stone!

Whether attacking the left brain or the right brain, or working together and helping each other. Before designing content, you must understand the needs and identify conflicts. As the saying goes, first nail the stake and then tie the donkey, first spread the bait and then fish, whether the project will go far or not depends on the underlying foundation.

Strategy is the direction and guidance for business operations. The first step in formulating corporate strategy must be to start from the market demand point: as the saying goes, from the strategy itself to the key strategic initiatives, all are aimed at resolving customer conflicts rather than solving the company's own problems.

Before I invest and launch a project, I will try my best to use exhaustive methods to analyze the market, policies, users and competitors, striving to discover market needs and gaps, for fear of suffering from "marketing myopia."

(1) Market-centered: Is the market big enough? Are there many competing products? How is the market competition? What conflicts exist in the market?

(2) Policy-centered: From product conception, prototyping, development, to commercialization, consider whether there are policy conflicts and how to avoid possible risks.

(3) User-centric: What group’s needs can my product meet? What are the conflicts among users?

(4) Focused on competitors: What conflicts have not yet been resolved by competitors?

The size of the market is determined by the degree of conflict. Some companies are too obsessed with finding market segments and may sacrifice the possibility of market scale and suffer from "marketing myopia."

Philip Kotler said: "Marketing is about creating profits while meeting customer needs"; the greater the consumer conflict, the greater the market opportunity; isn't it because unicorns have solved huge conflicts and have been able to carve out a path for themselves?

Case: Xiaohongshu

Phase 1: Discovering good things abroad (2014)

Xiaohongshu was launched in March 2014. Its initial slogan was "Discover good things from abroad". It is obvious that the core scenario of Xiaohongshu at present is to share and introduce high-quality overseas products. From the perspective of the social environment, with the improvement of the quality of life, the upgrading of young people's living standards and the development of consumerism, more and more people have the demand to buy overseas goods.

These core users have obvious conflict points: 1. They like overseas markets and pursue high quality; 2. They do not know what they are buying, do not know where to buy it at a better price, do not know how to get a tax refund, and do not know whether the purchased goods are genuine.

It is by solving users' core conflicts that Xiaohongshu has entered this vertical market.

Phase 2: Good things from all over the world → Discovering good life from all over the world (2015-2016)

Xiaohongshu has reaped the benefits of its overseas shopping and sharing community function. During this stage, Xiaohongshu continued to optimize its community content and cultivate community culture, sharing authentic notes about food, clothing, housing and transportation, allowing users to experience a fresh and personalized life.

At this stage, the community direction of Xiaohongshu is no longer limited to product recommendations. The activeness of the UGC community has demonstrated its power. Experts and KOLs actively share their lives, and users see the lives they yearn for through them.

What user conflicts are resolved at this stage?

• I like overseas life and yearn for and pursue a high quality of life;
• However, I currently do not have enough capital or energy to enjoy such a life, nor do I even know how good such a life is.

Stage 3: Marking My Life (——Today)

Xiaohongshu's strategy has changed again. In the previous stage, the goal was to encourage KOLs and influencers to share different lives, while this stage clearly emphasizes user scenario social interaction, hoping that users can actively share their lives.

This is an interesting development, because at this stage, Ju was also in the Internet industry and had talked with friends from major companies such as Meitu, NetEase, and Baidu. At this stage, everyone was working hard to create China's "Instagram".

During this stage, Xiaohongshu adopted a celebrity strategy and attracted a large number of target users - female users aged 20-39 in first- and second-tier cities. With this strategy, Xiaohongshu quickly exceeded 100 million monthly active users.

What user conflicts are resolved at this stage?

• I hope to have a platform where I can share my interests in life.

2. However, it would be best if not too many colleagues on this platform know me, and there is an interest community with common interests to communicate with others.

5. Create conflict - with consumers, competitors, and yourself

Create consumer conflict – break consumer expectations and do things beyond their expectations;

Create consumer conflicts - they must be acceptable to consumers and within their reasoning.

(1) Three Centers

Think from the perspective of "three centers" to find the entry point for creating conflicts:

Consumer-centric - Creating psychological conflicts among consumers

Focus on competitors - create conflicts with competitors

Self-centeredness - creating self-conflict

(2) Consumer-centric

Either give consumers an exclamation mark or give consumers a question mark!

① “Exclamation mark”: the wrapped Arc de Triomphe

From September 18 to October 3, 2021, the Arc de Triomphe in France was wrapped tightly in silver-blue cloth. This is the last work of land artists Christo and his wife, and it is also the first time that the Arc de Triomphe in France has been completely wrapped since its construction. Some people are extremely indignant about this and criticize it as an insult to the martyrs; others are overjoyed and believe it is an interpretation of freedom. In any case, this work, which cost more than 14 million euros and lasted only 16 days, attracted widespread coverage from major media outlets around the world. In other words, it is very likely that everyone has unconsciously participated in the interpretation of this ultimate romance.

Please forgive me for using extreme examples to verify my ideas. I think the meaning of giving consumers an "exclamation mark" is impact, which is an energy that is different from their daily concepts. This energy will have an impact on your cognition, regardless of whether it is positive or negative. Unexpectedly, but also reasonably, I think the moment you are exposed to the information, you will be shocked and unforgettable, and this is the purpose.

② Question mark: Make consumers curious

I think the word "question" corresponds to "answer". The question itself is a doubt about something. It is because of the doubt that we become interested and then we seek the "answer".

This section of the article cites the example of a hornet's nest.

Mr. Ye Maozhong designed a combination activity. Due to limited space, only the details are shown. Readers are requested to think about it on their own.

• Part 1: Go to Mafengwo before traveling

• Part 2: Mafengwo Advertisement: I am going on a trip and will be back tomorrow

• Part Three: Tang Monk also goes traveling!

4) Part 4: Tang Seng went to Russia to watch the World Cup!

(3) Conflicts among competitors

To create an opponent is to create an opportunity. Only by turning the most powerful "idol" into a "great opponent" can you use your opponent to create your own greatness.

We oppose everything the enemy holds, and we support everything the enemy opposes.

I think competitors can be roughly divided into four categories:

① Direct competitors;

② Indirect competitors;

③Alternative competitors;

④ Potential competitors;

The figure below organizes several case ideas to help readers understand this chapter.

(4) Conflict of the Self—Microscope or Telescope

Enterprises can create conflicts for themselves in two directions: vertically and horizontally:

Microscope style - creating self-conflict vertically, just like looking through a microscope, requires continuous in-depth exploration of consumer conflicts, continuous iterative innovation, and pursuit of ultimate product value.

Telescope style - creating self-conflict horizontally, just like looking through a telescope, seeing farther and more comprehensively; not only seeing current conflicts, but also seeing future conflicts, and planning product matrix in advance;

The book cites the cases of Kodak and Fuji.

Readers of a certain age must know the ceiling of the two film companies, Kodak and Fuji. However, Kodak is now bankrupt, while Fuji is thriving.

Due to the popularity of smart cameras, the film market has shrunk rapidly. In 2010, global demand for photographic film fell to less than one-tenth of what it was ten years ago. But Kodak did not give up its film business, while Fujifilm made breakthroughs in both vertical (microscope type) and horizontal (telescope type).

Microscopic : Fujifilm abandoned film as its cash cow, but based on the core technology of film, it re-understood conflicting needs, expanded product boundaries, found new application scenarios for its products, and became a high-performance film for making LCD panels for TVs, computers, and smartphones; today, FUJITAC occupies 70% of the protective LCD polarizing film market;

Telescope type : I had a wild idea and thought of applying the cutting-edge technologies in collagen and nano-product development accumulated by Fujifilm in the process of more than 70 years of film development and production to anti-aging beauty products. In 2007, I launched the Astalift cosmetics series, focusing on collagen and anti-aging.

In 2010, while Kodak's sales fell by 48%, Fuji's revenue increased by 57% thanks to its proactive transformation.

Until the day Kodak went bankrupt, it produced the best quality film.

Nokia's mobile phones can still crack walnuts.

Competition in the market is brutal. Don’t be eliminated by conflicts. Make up your mind to make the right decision before the conflicts escalate.

4. Postscript

Everyone on earth knows it——Arctic Velvet

If you have any questions, go to Zhihu - Zhihu

Steaming is better for nutrition - real skill

Ganji.com, everything is available - Ganji.com

Men should be a little harder on themselves - Septwolves Men's Wear

Go to Yiche.com, you will know all the prices and you will not suffer any loss when buying a car - Yiche.com

"Three Cleans, Three Washes, Three Pickles, and Three Presses" Process Standard - Wujiang Zhacai

Visit Heilan Home twice a year, Heilan Home men's wardrobe - Heilan Home

On January 13, 2022, Mr. Ye Maozhong passed away due to health problems, leaving behind memories of these well-known advertising copy and cases.

I read some recent articles about him by Shuying and found that the comments on this gentleman were mixed. Some people expressed regret and pity, some were indifferent, and some cursed him. But I respect him.

What I respect about him is not his talent, because that kind of thing will be overwritten by reading a few more books. What we respect is that he can casually mock himself as "this guy" and that he is willing to put such an excellent work "Conflict" on the official website for everyone to read.

As the saying goes, no one is perfect, but where there are people, there is the world. At least I have personally read the book "Conflict" and would like to pay tribute to Mr. Ye Maozhong!