Why is the effect worse when imitating the copywriting of brands like Durex?

Many copywriters like to pay attention to Durex’s copywriting, and even pursue and imitate Durex’s copywriting style. However, some brands also write advertising copy in the same style as Durex, which works for Durex but gets poor results for many brands.

For example, Durex once wrote:

"Opening Ceremony, Making Progress Every Day"

Let’s look at another condom brand that writes in a similar style to Durex:

"It is better to move your hands and feet than to freeze them"

I believe many people have guessed the result. Many adults can easily "get the message" after reading Durex's copy, and may even make another purchase. However, the copy written in this style by the Jessica's brand makes the target audience feel confused (some people think Jessica is a brand that sells shoes), and it does not produce the same effect as Durex.

Why is this?

Some people may answer this question like this: "Because other people's successful experience does not mean that you will be successful if you use it." It seemed to make sense, but I also felt that it was too general and not accurate enough.

In fact, a very important reason is that those who blindly imitate ignore the premise behind the brand copywriting - " Everyone is already very familiar with the Durex brand. When mentioning condoms, they will think of Durex, but the Jegus condom brand is currently only known by a small number of people in China."

Many people know that the Durex brand makes condoms and other products and has a good understanding of its product features. Therefore, Durex’s current copywriting no longer needs to tell consumers too much about what Durex is. It only needs to use different marketing methods to remind and stimulate consumers to make repeat purchases. The Jegus brand is not as well-known as Durex. The most important issue that the copywriter should consider at this time is how to let consumers know basic cognitive issues such as what Jegus products are and what they are used for.

Consumers have different perceptions of the two brands, so using the same copywriting strategy or style will naturally produce different results.

It’s like when Jack Ma says something random it gets circulated wildly by all major media outlets, but when I say the same thing not many people pay attention to me. Because people’s perception of Jack Ma and me is different, even if we say the same thing, the effect will be different.

Therefore, given that prerequisites such as brand awareness are different, it is certainly difficult to produce the same effect by simply imitating the copywriting strategies and styles of so-called successful brands. Before imitating other brands’ copywriting, you should first check whether the prerequisites such as brand awareness are the same.

So, what stages does brand awareness include?

I like to simply divide consumer brand awareness into four stages:

• Brand attributes: what the brand is;
• Brand selling point: What is the use of this brand or product to me ("I" refers to the consumer);
• Brand trust and loyalty: Is the brand trustworthy?
• Brand retention: Will the brand be often remembered by consumers or will it be the first brand that comes to mind when purchasing a certain type of product?

For example, Durex is currently in the "brand maintenance " stage:

However, the copywriting of Jegus has not yet solved the basic cognition of " brand attributes and brand selling points" and has been written in the style of the "brand maintenance" stage. Users will find the copywriting incomprehensible:

Let’s take a look at how to write brand copy at different stages of brand awareness:

1. Brand attributes - "what is it"

When it comes to a new brand or a new product, the first question consumers will have is to understand the attributes of the brand, and the most important issue that copywriting should solve is to make consumers understand "what" the product is .

One of the most effective ways to understand something is through analogy — connecting the new product to something we already know.

For example, when Apple launched the IP OD (MP3), since it was a new product category that had never appeared before, the most urgent problem to be solved at that time was to let users know what the product was. So the product copy of iPod at that time was——

"1,000 songs in your pocket"

After reading this copy, users will understand what this "ipod" is - it turns out that this new product called ipod launched by Apple is a device that can hold a lot of songs and is smaller than a pocket.

Similarly, if there is an AR glasses product, you can see the real scene you want when you wear it, and it breaks through the technical barriers of existing wired AR glasses and can realize its functions without any connection. If such a new product has never appeared before, the product copy can be written like this:

By associating the new product's functionality with a similar and familiar 3D cinema , it becomes easier for users to understand what the product is. (PS: I believe you can write better than me)

2. Brand selling point: "What's in it for me?"

When consumers already know or can easily understand the attributes of a product, the question that most people care about most at this time will be the brand selling point - "What's in it for me?"

Because people are generally curious about "what is this" when it comes to new things, but for known things they will focus on the question "what use is this to me". If you find that something is of no use or relevance to you, it is easy for you to ignore its existence and no longer pay attention to it.

For example, there are many different evening parties and other programs in the world every day, and it is impossible for us to watch them all. And if one's favorite people are on the program list - seeing Jack Ma, Stephen Chow and others are also on the program list, then people who like Jack Ma and Stephen Chow will be willing to watch the program. Because I watched this show "It Works for Me" - I can see the person I like appear.

The same is true for copywriting. For example, I saw a driver's license training company's copywriting like this:

"Learning to drive only costs 3888, the lowest price on the market!"

People who want to learn to drive and get a driver's license will probably feel weird after reading this text. Why? In fact, the reason why the target users feel strange is that "low price" is not what we care about most, and it is "of no use" to us. In fact, for many people who are planning to learn to drive now, what they care about most and find most useful is probably "whether they can pass the test and get the license faster." If the text reads:

I believe that most of the target users will think " this is useful to me" after reading this copy, and they will be willing to sign up even if the fee is a little higher.

3. Brand Trust - "Is the brand trustworthy?"

In today's information-rich age, consumers no longer easily believe marketers ' "good product claims." Consumers need evidence to prove what marketers say before they will believe and buy. This is why it is important to build brand trust and loyalty.

For example, Guazi.com previously said in its advertising copy that it “leads by far in terms of transaction volume.” When consumers see this ad, they will think: "This is a leading brand in terms of sales volume, so it shouldn’t be a scam." And this "leading transaction volume" is a certificate of trust from consumers in Guazi.com. (PS: I heard that the latest advertising law prohibits this kind of "No. 1 in sales volume" slogan. Marketers can use other credentials according to the characteristics of the brand)

Another example is the Diaoye Beef Brisket that became popular in the past few years. It is advertised that the secret recipe of the beef brisket was bought from Hong Kong God of Food Dai Long, and big names such as Li Ka-shing praised it after eating it. After seeing such advertisements, consumers will naturally think: If even a trustworthy celebrity like Li Ka-shing says it is good, then the product must be good. These are credentials of trust for the brand and product.

4. Brand retention - "re-emergence of stimulation or reminder"

When a brand or product is known to many consumers and has a certain level of brand trust and loyalty, if users do not receive information about the brand for a long time, they will soon be attracted to other brands and slowly forget the current brand. Therefore, at this time, the brand should focus more on maintaining brand awareness, and the marketing strategy needs to adopt the method of "reminding or stimulating" users.

When the brand's advertising copy appears again or when seeing people around them using the brand's products, it may stimulate consumers to increase consumption of the product, which can not only maintain brand awareness but also increase certain profits.

For example, many consumers now have a certain degree of trust and brand loyalty in Coca-Cola . Suppose I normally buy a bottle of Coca-Cola a month, if I see advertising information about Coca-Cola again, I will be stimulated and remember again, "If you want to buy authentic Coke or want to drink Coke, buy Coca-Cola." Now Coca-Cola often uses topics that consumers are most concerned about in its marketing advertisements. Many consumers will increase their consumption frequency due to being "stimulated or reminded", which naturally brings greater profits to the brand.

Like the well-known Wanglaoji herbal tea beverage brand, many consumers are already very familiar with the basic knowledge and brand trust of "If you are afraid of getting a sore throat, drink Wanglaoji". So now the Wanglaoji brand has begun to move towards a "stimulation or reminder" advertising strategy, such as a recent slogan of Wanglaoji:

"Drink Wanglaoji for an auspicious new year"

If this style of advertising copy had been used for Wanglaoji ten years ago, it would have been difficult for consumers to get the same advertising effect as it is today.

Summarize

Many small brands imitate the copywriting of successful big brands but to no avail. This is mainly because consumers have different levels of awareness of different brands, and the problems that the copywriting needs to solve are also different.

• When a new brand or a new product appears, the copywriter needs to answer the question of brand attributes to consumers - " what is this ".
• When a brand already has many similar products on the market and consumers already have a basic understanding of what the product is, the most important thing the copywriter needs to tell consumers is the brand’s selling point - "What's in it for me?"
• When consumers lack trust in a brand or product and give up on purchasing, the most important thing for the copywriter is to help consumers build a foundation of trust in the product and dispel their concerns.
• Just because users have a certain level of trust and loyalty in your brand and products doesn’t mean you can stop marketing. At this time, the copy should be more about maintaining brand awareness - tending to "remind or stimulate " users to remember the product again, thereby maintaining or increasing the number of consumption times.

Note: This article discusses brand awareness and summarizes it in combination with relevant knowledge of cognitive psychology for your reference only.