[Li Jiaoshou] Why does it get worse the more we learn marketing from big brands?

"A very strange phenomenon is that we like to learn what others do after they succeed, but we don't like to learn how they succeeded in the past."

First look at the copy on this crowdfunding campaign, what do you feel?

If you’re like me, you’ll find this copy “weird.”

Why?

Because after you look at it, you have no idea what category to put this product into.

If it is a "Bluetooth speaker", it means it is something with a budget of around 100-300 (the regular budget for speakers), which means I would think of buying it when I want to improve the sound quality, but why would I use a speaker to charge my phone?

If it is a "charger", it means it is something under 100 yuan (the regular budget for chargers), which means I will want to buy it when my phone loses its charger, but why should a charger be able to play music?

In this case, I have no idea what to compare it with, and I can't tell whether it is expensive or cheap.

In fact, when we see anything, we will first classify it.

For example, if you see something with four legs and a flat wooden surface in a room, you will instantly think it is a chair and it is used for sitting.

Therefore, the first task for any new product or brand to establish "basic associations" is to first have a "category" in the user's mind.

Such a "category" implies the purpose a consumer hopes to achieve through the product, which means that the consumer knows how much of his time and shopping budget it will occupy.

For example, a few years ago, the Mogujie APP was introduced to the outside world as an unclear "My Buyer Street". However, in the public's perception, "Buyer Street" is a category that does not exist at all. This makes it difficult for unfamiliar users to know why they should use Mogujie and when they should use Mogujie.

If Mogujie is a "shopping sharing community", it means that I can see what the experts are buying, kill time, and maybe find some interesting products or make friends. In this way, it helps me accomplish the same task as WeChat and NetEase News (killing time).

If Mogujie is a "shopping guide platform", which means I come to see what's worth buying when I want to buy something, I would require it to be more objective, neutral and knowledgeable. In this way, it helps me complete tasks similar to those of Baidu, asking friends and review websites.

If Mogujie is a "brand e-commerce ", it means that I come here to buy things, and I will require it to have a wide range of products, high quality and low prices, and fast logistics. In this way, the tasks it helps me complete are similar to those of Vipshop, Tmall and JD.

When users categorize products differently, naturally all consumption behaviors will be different.

For example, consumers once classified donkey-hide gelatin as a "female blood tonic" with limited consumption and believed that such things should not be expensive, so the price was 80 yuan per pound. Later, through marketing, consumers classified it as a "tonic product like ginseng and deer antler", sales increased, and the price also rose.

In short, when any new brand establishes "basic associations", the first question to answer is: How do I want users to classify me? What time and budget of users are occupied?

When doing marketing, we often emphasize "differentiation", but in fact, before appealing to differentiated characteristics, we should first look for "commonalities" and classify them into an existing category in the user's mind.

2. Reason for purchase: Why did I choose this product?

If “classification” is about creating commonality, then “reasons for selection” is about establishing differentiation.

"Okay, I know you use this speaker to listen to music (classification), so why don't you choose this smart speaker when there are so many speakers?"

The answer to this question is what we call "reason for choice".

If there is only classification but no reason for selection, it is equivalent to not establishing a complete "basic association".

Just like the advertisement for the "Fifth Season" drink mentioned earlier, we all know that this is a drink for drinking, and the advertisement is also very nice, but why should I choose you?

When this problem is not solved, simply adding a large number of "additional associations" is almost meaningless.

For example, before I entered the marketing industry, I saw an advertisement that moved and amazed me: the advertisement of Tatung Bank.

The ad tells the story of several 80-year-old Taiwanese grandfathers who started training again in order to fulfill their dreams from their youth, and eventually rode motorcycles around the island to commemorate their youth.

But now it seems that this is a 100-point content, but it may not be an excellent advertisement.

(Note: There is a difference between content and advertising. Good content is about resonating with readers, attracting readers, and being creative, while good advertising is about what marketing problems it solves.)

Malaysia's Public Bank is at a disadvantage compared to giants such as Citigroup and HSBC. The key at this time should be to provide a "reason to choose Public Bank" (such as "better service" and "faster speed"), establish a complete "brand basic association", and then consider whether to enhance its image through "additional associations".

However, when the reason of "choose Popular Bank instead of Citibank" is not implanted in the mind, adding a lot of emotion will hardly induce purchase.

Therefore, if your brand does not have complete "basic associations", don't spend a lot of energy doing things that simply add "additional associations".

This is not to say that additional associations such as being moved are meaningless. If the brand already has a solid "basic association" and users know why they choose you, then as long as the exposure and touching moments are increased, users will easily think of this reason again, thus triggering a purchase.

For example, I already knew that "drink Jiaduobao if you are afraid of getting a sore throat" and I believed it. At this time, Jiaduobao already had a complete "basic association" in my heart. Then it made a public welfare marketing video to encourage Chinese people to have "independent spirit and free thinking". I was deeply moved. At the same time, I saw the three words "Jiaduobao" and based on these associations, I thought of reasons for choosing it, such as "fear of getting a sore throat".

Then next time you eat hot pot, you will be more likely to remember to drink two cans of Jiaduobao.

For example, the following two ads are exactly the same, and both feature “additional associations” (write a touching sentence). If a test is conducted, Ctrip ’s conversion rate will definitely be higher .

Both brands have completed the work of "establishing categories" (the latter is a brand I made up, and you know it is a travel platform), and then both made the same copy, but why do I judge that the former has a higher conversion rate?

Because the word "Ctrip" comes with a reason to choose - when you see "Ctrip", you will think of "this is the largest online travel platform". When you think of this reason for choosing, you will naturally increase your purchases in the future.

When you see 3Trees Travel, although you know it is a travel company, you can't think of any reason to choose it, so no matter how many times you are moved by the words above, it is difficult to actually buy it.

Therefore, if Sankeshu Company (although it does not exist) learns Ctrip’s marketing tactics, it will probably be waiting for death.

Before the advent of the smart era, there was a very innovative TV auxiliary product called TIVO, which emphasized "watching what you want to watch most when it is most convenient for you."

If you just say this, although you give a reason to choose the product ("convenience and freedom"), users cannot imagine how they will use the product next, so it will be difficult to sell.

This is because: everyone is very afraid of the unknown. If others cannot imagine the situation after they take a certain action, they may not take that action.

Therefore, a basic association that a brand must establish is: to enable people to see your name and imagine themselves using your product.

At that time, Tivo's CEO Ramsey proudly said many times: "98% of users said that they could not leave Tivo once they used it", but this could not cover up the reality that Tivo had difficulty in acquiring new users and ultimately failed.

If this is the case, and users can think about what will happen after using the product, the situation may be better:

Humans are animals that are very sensitive to "expectations", so your product must be able to help people build expectations smoothly.

I have read a study before about the biggest difference between the human brain and the computer. Scientists found that the biggest difference is not abilities such as "creativity" and "thinking", but the ability to perceive the future.

When solving a math problem, if a person knows that he will be executed tomorrow and knows that he will be alive and well tomorrow, his efficiency in solving the problem will be different.

As for computers, no matter how advanced their artificial intelligence is, if they know that they will be smashed to pieces tomorrow, today's calculations will not be affected.

So, as long as your product is sold to people, you must build their perception of the future. Let him feel how he would use the product.

A reality that is difficult for many marketers to accept is that the golden era of marketing where “I can trust you if you promise” is long gone.

In a fiercely competitive market, if what you say cannot be trusted at first instinct, it is equivalent to nothing.

Therefore, for new brands, "the most basic trust" is a necessary "basic association".

Previously, Li Jiaoshou talked about a seafood takeaway company that delivers seafood to the kang. One of its important selling points is "freshness". In order to explain this selling point, someone proposed a solution to tell consumers:

"We use live seafood, while many seafood restaurants, although they look alive, often use frozen seafood."

Why do I think this is totally unreliable?

Because no one will build trust in this selling point - no seafood store is willing to admit that its seafood is dead, and consumers have no direct observation evidence (instead, they see the fish in the fish tank), so why do you say that your seafood is fresh?

Yes, everyone is saying that they are fresh, why do you say that you are fresher than others? Is it because of the word "fresher"?

If a new brand has been classified and has reasons for choosing it, and users can think of how to use it, but are unable to build trust in your promises, then a complete "basic association" has not been established.

So how do you build trust?

Due to space limitations, here are a few simple tips:

(1) If you occupy an “empty space”, users are more likely to trust you

For example, in order to highlight the freshness of the seafood served on the kang, it would be easier to build trust if the emphasis was placed on "seafood that has never been in a fish tank" (ps. it is processed directly at the seaside).

Because users can always see fish tanks in seafood stores, "seafood that has never been in a fish tank" is an "empty space" that others do not emphasize.

(2) Users are more likely to trust someone if the person speaking will harm their own interests

For example, if you make a robot that takes care of children, and a nanny stands out in the advertisement and says "it really takes care of children patiently", it will be easier to build trust.

Because this kind of robot essentially steals the nanny's job and harms their interests, and we subconsciously think that "people who say things that hurt their interests are generally not liars."

(3) Users are more likely to trust a product if it describes a specific process rather than an abstract result.

For example, in real estate advertisements, “After I went out, I marked the 20th tree” is much easier to gain trust than “community with high greening rate”.

Because people are more likely to believe facts that are easy for them to verify.

(The other N ways to build trust will be analyzed in a later article and will not be described in detail here.)

In short, if your information is not directly trusted, it cannot be considered as establishing a “basic association”.

Conclusion

There are many things we can learn from big brands, such as actively communicating with consumers and maintaining advantageous public opinion, but we should learn how big brands succeeded in the past, rather than what they did after they became successful.

A startup brand that is completely unknown to others, without establishing basic associations, begins to imitate big brands that already have complete basic associations to create "additional associations" to impress consumers and package their image, which often lacks results.

Because the methods a stranger uses to establish acquaintance are often very different from the methods an acquaintance uses to improve his or her image.

illustrate:

Learning marketing from big brands does not necessarily mean failure. This article just gives more advice: don’t blindly imitate successful brands, but learn more from their success in the past.