How to promote a new brand?

The relationship between brands is like the relationship between living organisms, with symbiosis, competition, and interaction. Even the invasion of a single strong brand will cause great damage to the entire brand communication ecological environment or suppress the development of other brands.

Starbucks entered the Chinese market with great force, like a lion occupying its territory, sweeping the Chinese market and making it difficult for other coffee brands to emerge. It wasn't until 2018 that Luckin Coffee, with a huge amount of money, was born. The newly-adult lion sharpened its claws and challenged the former overlord, trying to take away its territory.

Natural selection, competition for survival, path dependence, environmental synergy, everything that happens in the natural ecological environment is actually happening between brands. Darwin's theory of evolution is also applicable in the history of brand development. Brand communication has ecological attributes.

If we view the brand itself as an independent “person” and brand communication as an ecosystem, how will we understand all this?

1. The triple attributes of brand communication

The famous scholar Zhi Tingrong decomposes the mass communication ecosystem into internal ecosystem, external ecosystem, and original ecosystem, which correspond to the information attributes, social attributes, and organizational attributes of mass communication respectively.

Brand communication itself relies on media and people. The characteristics of the brand communication ecosystem can also be found in mass communication ecology, but it is slightly different from the media ecosystem.

Assume that the brand itself is a "person" with human natural and social attributes. So when we come into contact with a brand, we will first look at its appearance and behavior; when we are willing to make friends with it, we will understand its character; when we really enter its life, we will learn about its social circle.

This is the embodiment of the triple attributes of the brand communication ecosystem.

The information attribute of brand communication is the instrumentality and structurality of the brand, which has aesthetic characteristics and can be seen from its appearance and "personality"; the organizational attribute of the brand is the series of activities of the brand as a living organism and can be seen from its activities; the social attribute of the brand is the energy exchange between the brand and the environment and can be seen from its social interaction and entry into its circle.

These three are progressive and progressive, from the outside to the inside, and consumers' understanding of the brand gradually deepens based on this. Brands are like people. Beautiful appearance makes people like them, and profound connotation makes people addicted. If a brand "talks and laughs with great scholars and associates with everyone", people will be more willing to have long-term relationships with it.

2. Construction of Brand Communication Ecosystem

If brand communication is viewed as an ecosystem in nature, then brand communication will go through three ecological cycles based on the media.

Within the ecosystem, the brand will go through the first cycle based on value goals to build the brand's appearance and personality. Outside the ecosystem, brands will extend their reach, establish interactions with consumers and other brands, and establish the second cycle of the brand ecosystem. The third cycle of the brand ecosystem is built on the entire media and social environment, enabling the brand to truly have independent personality and cohesion.

The construction of a brand communication ecosystem relies on the information attributes, organizational attributes and social attributes of the brand itself.

1. Construction based on information attributes

The information attribute of brand communication is formed in the first cycle of the brand communication ecosystem, with "expression" at its core.

Primary brand information expresses the attributes of the product, such as Wanglaoji’s “Drink Wanglaoji if you’re afraid of getting a sore throat”. Advanced brand information tends to showcase the brand’s own personality, culture, and values. Attract consumers from a cultural perspective, such as the "refinement" and "elegance" culture promoted by Chanel, and the "elite" and "quality" image left by Armani.

There is no way to tell the difference between these two ways of expressing brand information, as they are essentially based on products. In the affordable market, the main factors influencing consumer spending are the product's functionality and cost-effectiveness, so promoting the product itself is very important. However, in the high-end or luxury market, slight differences in quality and price are unlikely to influence consumer decisions. The brand’s own “character” and “culture” are more attractive to consumers, which is why every luxury brand has its own unique character.

"Positioning" is the keyword for a brand to build itself based on its information attributes. The core of positioning is to occupy a favorable position in the minds of target consumers, demonstrate one's unique advantages, and show one's "difference" and "personality".

Here, product positioning is particularly important. In product positioning, brands must first consider the product's pricing and target group.

In the low-price market, the expression of product information is mainly based on the attributes and price of the product itself. The premium brought by brand culture is difficult to attract consumers and bring more added value to the products.

For example: among shampoo brands, Pantene conveys the message of "softness" to consumers, Head & Shoulders conveys the message of "anti-dandruff" to consumers, and Bawang strives to express its "anti-hair loss" function. In the affordable market, product attributes and prices are important factors in determining consumer purchases.

In the high-end market, it is difficult to distinguish between good and bad product quality. Brand culture and values ​​have become a major factor influencing consumer purchases, and consumers are more willing to pay a premium for brand culture.

The Apple advertisement "1984" is called the greatest Apple advertisement in history by many advertisers. The content of the advertisement is as follows: A group of people with shaved heads and wearing prison uniforms live the same life in a cage day after day, and are subjected to cultural "brainwashing" every day. One day, when everyone was watching the "mind controller" on the screen talking nonsense with a dead look, a female athlete broke in and smashed the screen with a sledgehammer. The advertisement ends here and the Apple logo appears on the screen.

The ad did not mention the product at all, but it caused a sensation once it was aired. Apple challenged the computer giant IBM and appeared in the public eye as a rebel and innovator, sparking heated discussions among the public. Apple's cultural image of "rebellion" and "innovation" has also brought Apple a lot of profits.

2. Construction based on organizational attributes

From the perspective of management, an organization refers to a social entity with clear goals, fixed structure, and a benign coordination system.

Because brand communication is mediated by media and carried out by enterprises, the organizational attributes of brand communication have both the organizational attributes of media and the organizational attributes of enterprises.

Based on the organizational attributes of brand communication, brands can be built from both inside and outside the brand.

In the internal construction of the brand, the brand's dissemination is based on the enterprise, and is effectively circulated and extended within the enterprise and the brand. Companies can build corporate culture based on brand culture and unite employees into a whole.

More importantly, based on brand culture, brands can develop a series of brand extension strategies, allowing the brand to expand from a single market and a single product to multiple fields and markets, linking up internally and externally and forming a brand linkage strategy. The construction of the IP industry is based on this logic. The world-famous big IP "Marvel" has built a series of products based on Marvel, extending its tentacles to the film market, music market, game market, etc., to maximize the benefits brought by the linkage between brands.

In the external construction of the brand, the construction of the brand communication ecosystem is mainly formed through interaction with other brands. The interaction between brands and other brands is mainly carried out through competition and cooperation.

In order to determine the brand's competitive advantage, the brand first needs to focus on the market and seek vertical markets that can be developed. Secondly, it needs to strengthen the brand's recognition and appeal to consumers. The reason why Station A and Station B can carve out a path in the fierce competition among video websites is that they focused on the niche market of "2D" enthusiasts from the very beginning and established their own characteristics based on the 2D subculture. The representative images of Bilibili are also "22 Niang", "33 Niang" and "bilibili Small TV" which are constructed based on the two-dimensional culture.

Cooperation between brands helps brands leverage other brands’ platforms and customer advantages to form a virtuous symbiotic system. Cross-border cooperation is a new form of brand cooperation. The White Rabbit Toffees-flavored lipstick jointly launched by MAXAM and White Rabbit Toffees is a phenomenal case of cross-border cooperation. Since then, cross-border cooperation between brands has seen a small boom, with various cross-border collaborations emerging one after another.

3. Construction based on social attributes

The first level of a brand’s social attributes is “social”, establishing an emotional connection with consumers, and the second level is to enhance consumers’ sense of identity and belonging to the brand.

The first essential of the social attributes of brand communication lies in "social". The social function of brand communication embodies dual attributes. The first attribute refers to the social interaction between the brand and consumers formed by the company conveying specific content to consumers through brand symbols. The second attribute is the social interaction between consumers formed by consumers obtaining a common specific identity and sense of identity through brand symbols.

Therefore, brand social interaction is mainly achieved at two levels. The first level is the social interaction between brands and consumers, and the second level is the social interaction between consumers.

For example, Nike’s brand symbol is a simple “hook” that symbolizes the wings of the Greek goddess of victory. It is full of speed and explosive power, dynamic, and light. The symbolic meanings of “speed”, “passion”, and “youth” are attached to the brand.

The "socialization" between Nike's brand symbol and consumers is mainly achieved through two levels. The first level is to implant Nike's brand connotation into consumers' minds through the brand's marketing strategy and consumers' purchasing experience. For example, Nike's "speed" and "fashion" are spread to consumers in advertisements.

The second level of interaction is realized among Nike fans. The pursuit of "speed", "comfort" and "fashion" are the common consumption values ​​of Nike fans. Under the guidance of the consumption process and brand operators, effective value communication and exchange can be formed among consumers, and the bond between them and the brand is strengthened by deepening the connection between them.

Based on the social attributes of brand communication, brand building has higher-level requirements, namely, to strengthen consumers' sense of identity and belonging to the brand.

The most typical example of a brand’s “sense of belonging” attribute is reflected in the “fan circle” and also in the operation of celebrity personal brands.

Regardless of age or gender, as long as they like the same idol, fans can quickly reach a consensus on values ​​and become friends. After Cai Xukun became popular because of "Idol Producer", as long as you claim that you are "IKUN" (the code name for Cai Xukun's fans), you can quickly gain a group of brothers and sisters and enter the specific social circle of "IKUNs".

3. How to build a brand communication ecosystem?

Based on the above analysis, the following suggestions are put forward for the construction of brand communication ecosystem:

1. Position the brand based on the product itself and determine your competitive advantage.
2. Enhance the brand's recognition and personality, focus on vertical markets, and lock in target consumers.
3. In the affordable market, brand promotion should focus on the product itself; in the high-end market, brand promotion should focus more on brand culture and enhance consumers' sense of belonging to the brand.
4. Strengthen cooperation with other brands and form a virtuous interaction.

When we view brand communications as an ecosystem, we gain a deeper understanding of brands. How to build a brand communication ecosystem is a question we should think about.

Author: Small matters of operation

Source: Operational matters