Analysis of Alibaba Unidesk’s Marketing Model

Introduction

Only with ideas can you break the routine!

An experienced planner always has several marketing models at hand. Today, at the end of the Internet demographic dividend, the era of inventory has arrived, and "consumer-centric refined operations" has become the core mantra of corporate marketing departments.

However, most companies still "know but do not practice", and their marketing expenditures are still allocated in an extensive manner, blindly pursuing exposure without seeing the growth effect or finding a breakthrough point. Instead, "quick trial and error" has become another catchphrase, and they invest again and again based on the "confidence" of their bosses who are not experts, eventually falling into a vicious cycle without realizing it.

When I first entered the industry, I was very curious why most bosses only had the stereotype that the marketing department "only spends money but does not produce anything". It was not until I saw many similar operations that I understood that this was the industry and KPI.

The so-called "consumer-centric refined operations" are of course powerless without a steering wheel.

The period before and after the holidays is the peak period for brand placement. Many friends who have just been responsible for brand placement discussed together how to achieve real brand growth.

(1) Live broadcast that guarantees ROI?

(2) A large number of KOIs are released?

(3) Advertisements dominate the screen?

(4) Are Diamond Ads and Through Trains a money-burning business?

(5) Do activities stimulate consumers?

We can find that any of the above methods can increase GMV in the short term, but is this really the so-called "consumer-centric refined operation" and "increase in brand value"?

Let’s talk in detail about the two major marketing models proposed by Alibaba. They are:

AIPL model: the first to achieve quantification and chain operation of brand crowd assets

FAST model: a model to measure the health of consumer operations in terms of quantity and quality

1. AIPL model (the first to achieve quantification and chain operation of brand crowd assets)

(1) Introduction to the AIPL model

Everyone knows the term "brand crowd equity", and here's a rough explanation: the more people who know and identify with the brand, the more valuable the brand is.

The so-called "crowd asset" is a concept that is difficult to quantify . As a key link in supporting the implementation of Alibaba's omni-channel marketing concept, the AIPL model is a model that can quantify the brand's crowd assets in the Alibaba system .

A (Awareness), brand-aware people. Includes consumers who are touched by information about brands or products in any channel within the Alibaba ecosystem;

I (Interest), people with brand interest (i.e. people who have conducted brand preference searches). This includes people who click on ads, browse brand/store homepages, participate in brand interactions, browse product detail pages, search for brand terms, receive trials, subscribe/follow/join, and add to cart collections;

P (Purchase), brand purchasing population, refers to people who have purchased brand products (excluding loyal consumers);

L (Loyalty), brand loyal people, including those who repurchase, comment positively, and share.

(2) AIPL model function: linking brand and crowd asset operations

This function is similar to that of the AARRR model, allowing the cognitive population (A) to quickly transform into core users (L). Brands communicate with different types of user groups through corresponding content and channels in order to achieve efficient link conversion and accumulate core loyal users.

(3) AIPL execution module - strategic solution (core: exploring corresponding channels and channel operation methods)

question:

① The number of people in A is too small

Solution:

Increase resource input, launch brand advertising, and coordinate channel resources to attract new customers;

Most company brand departments assess exposure and clicks, so the communication-level data that media companies provide to clients are also these. Due to technical and resource limitations, users are usually only allowed to quickly complete the action of awareness → payment in a single event, which only explores and reaches the target audience at a shallow marketing level.

For example: We all know that offline advertising is extremely inefficient, but why do cities often place conspicuous advertisements of big brands (and most of these advertisements are mainly for product promotion rather than discount activities) and not give up this part of the budget?

Analyze consumer psychology; frequent and effective brand exposure can quickly establish consumer awareness. The significance of offline brand advertising is no longer to make consumers decide to buy products on the spot, but to make consumers aware of the product and brand, know how to pronounce the brand, and preferably think of your brand when consumers want to buy a certain product.

This is the importance of the A group.

② It is difficult for the I group to become the P group - the conversion rate is too low

Solution:

Once you have reached out, you need to convert. I groups can be divided into different label types according to the click channels. For example, those who are sensitive to promotional discounts can use activities to convert sales; some are reached through celebrity activities, so celebrity IP products can be bound to attract their purchases;

Consumers are people with different interest tags. Now that group A has been screened into group I, it is necessary to develop more sophisticated conversion plans based on their needs.

The following is a description of the fields in each module of Alibaba AIPL:

2. FAST model (a model for measuring the health of consumer operations in terms of quantity and quality)

(1) Introduction to the FAST model

 F ( Fertility ), refers to the total number of AIPL people index ,

The result of de-indexing the total number of consumers who have achieved AIPL status.

 A (Advancing) refers to the AIPL population conversion rate.

Improve consumer activity in multiple scenarios and promote positive flow of crowd links; After the multi-channel seeding crowd is accumulated, further screen high-quality crowds and reach them through advertising channels; accumulate crowd segmentation within the brand, conduct tiered operations on consumers, differentiate marketing, and promote the overall flow and conversion of consumers;

 S (Superiority), total number of high-value people - total number of members.

Members/fans are of great value to brands and can provide amazing explosive power for brand promotions. Through online and offline linkage, joint brand marketing, and the use of new retail scenarios such as Tmall U-first, Taobao Easter eggs, and smart mother and baby rooms, the brand's membership/fan base can be expanded, laying the foundation for subsequent membership/fan operations.

 T (Thriving), high-value population activity rate - member activity rate.

Take advantage of the big promotion to increase the activity of members/fans, stimulate the potential value of members/fans, and provide support for the completion of brand GMV goals; carry out tiered operations for members/fans according to RFM indicators, optimize activation efficiency, reach and punish thousands of people with thousands of rights, combine public and private domains, and empower member/fan operations;

(2) The role of the FAST model: more accurate measurement of brand marketing operational efficiency

For a brand, the voice of consumers is extremely important. When a brand guides consumers' attention, it actually focuses on consumer needs. In order to cultivate and expand loyal users of a brand, it is necessary to have a deep understanding of consumers.

To truly realize consumer operations, the most important thing is the use of data.

Only by knowing who the brand’s consumers are, what their needs are, and successfully reaching them can the commercial value of consumers be maximized.

At the quantitative indicator level, the FAST system provides the total number of consumers on the entire network (Fertility) and the total number of high-value people - members (Superiority); at the quality indicator level, it provides the population conversion rate (Advancing) and member activity rate (Thriving).

(3) FAST execution module - assists AIPL model in formulating indicators and multi-scenario marketing

Use scenario ①: Activity indicator formulation

When using the AIPL model to develop indicators, one should understand the core definitions of each module of the AIPL model.

While writing this article, Mr. Ju also researched relevant information. Interestingly, I disagree with the relevant information included in the MBA Think Tank. The following is the original information from the MBA Think Tank (the original reference comes from the official account - JS Planner):

A brand deconstructed the Double 11 GMV target and deduced the volume demand of different groups of people.

The idea is to first break down the total GMV target into new customer sales targets and old customer sales targets, and then break down the new customer sales target into sales of A and sales of I. Based on the sales conversion rate and average order value of A in previous promotional activities of the same magnitude, the volume demand of the A population needed this time can be inferred. By the same token, we can also infer the population size requirements of I, P, and L respectively. The specific disassembly ideas are as follows:

After estimating according to the above steps, it was found that there was a certain gap in the cognitive interest (A, I) link. Subsequently, by optimizing the marketing budget and adding a certain amount of marketing expenses, the transaction volume of new and old customers during the Double 11 period was exceeded, and the GMV increased by more than 2 times compared with last year's Double 11.

*Opposing view*

(1) New customer sales target - A sales definition

A (Awareness) mentioned earlier refers to the group of people who are aware of the brand, that is, the consumer group reached by the information in any channel; therefore, A should not correspond to the new customer sales indicator, but should correspond to the channel investment ROI indicator. The A conversion rate (if it is sales conversion) should be equal to the full channel ROI input-output ratio. And sales volume A should also be the overall sales volume of various channels during the Double Eleven period, rather than the target category of new customer sales volume.

(PS: If you think that the conversion of user A is to user I, rather than user P, then even the ROI indicator of sales does not exist~)

In addition, there is no strong correlation between the new customer conversion rate improvement ratio in the annotation ② in the figure and the overall conversion rate improvement ratio. It should be said that these are two data values. The overall conversion rate includes comprehensive values ​​such as new customer contact conversion and old customer contact repurchase. The new customer conversion rate of all channels should not be applied to the overall conversion rate measurement indicator.

(2) Sales volume from old customers - Definition of P sales volume

① Regarding the definition of the total number of P consumers, looking back at Alibaba's definition of this field, it should be users who have purchased products in 2*365+180 days, and L users need to be excluded. To put it simply, users who have purchased a product once through various channels within two and a half years are defined as P users.

Therefore, the description of the total number of consumers P in the figure is incomplete.

②The annotation ④ in the figure is the same as the above-mentioned new customer conversion rate improvement ratio. The overall conversion rate is defined by the old customer conversion rate, and the formula description is incorrect.

The above is Ju’s different opinion on JS planner’s article on the AIPL model. You are welcome to correct me. I think if you need to use a new model to define indicators, you should understand the detailed fields of each module in the marketing model before considering it.

Use scenario ②: Multi-scenario marketing

The APIL model and the FAST module correspond more to multi-scenario marketing. Unlike the so-called AARRR funnel operation model, the former two have a deeper definition of consumers. The APIL model is also more suitable for platform e-commerce, fast-moving consumer goods channels, etc., but not for social platform indicators of non-sales conversions.