The brand marketing and communication code of "the pride of domestic products"

Not long ago, the Xinjiang cotton incident caused by BCI led to a new boycott campaign by the Chinese people against a series of international brands such as Nike and Adidas. At the same time, domestic netizens' enthusiasm for consumption of domestic products has also been rising. Many netizens expressed their support for domestic sports brands, among which Anta, Li Ning and Huili became the top three domestic brands in terms of support rate.

For a time, under the atmosphere of "the rise of domestic products", domestic brands also became the target of scalpers. Even some ordinary products of Anta and Li Ning were sold at sky-high prices, which also attracted severe criticism from official media. This makes people think, apart from sudden events and specific environments that prompt consumers to behave irrationally, what is the real marketing and communication code of "domestic products"?

1. Domestic products become "national trend" Consumption changes and constants

In fact, before netizens started supporting domestic products, domestic brands represented by Anta and Li Ning had already shown signs of rising. Especially after Anta and Li Ning improved the overall aesthetic taste of their products, many consumers suddenly discovered that domestic brands, which were previously considered "rustic and low-end" from their names to product designs, can actually exude the flavor of trendy brands.

As for the brand level, domestic products need some new ways of playing to achieve the transformation into a "national trend".

Of course, national trend marketing can still adopt the marketing and communication methods commonly used by top brands in the industry such as Nike and Adidas, such as spokespersons, brand viral videos, event sponsorship, etc. However, the transformation from domestic products to "national trend" starts with the product, so the starting point of brand communication still needs to start with the product. In this regard, many domestic products have chosen to use private domain traffic to implement the DTC model.

The so-called DTC model, in simple terms, is to use the personal influence of KOCs in major content communities to promote products to users and use actual product selling points to promote users' awareness of products and even brands. This product-centric communication method does not have the enhancement of brand image that can be achieved through product display and in-store services in the brand's offline experience stores. However, this more practical way of communication can better cater to the needs and judgments of potential consumers when shopping - excellent and real "buyer shows" can often open up traffic entrances for bringing in goods.

It is worth noting that whether it is DTC, KOC, or private domain traffic, the core of these "new things" still does not deviate from the basic logic of the 4P theory. It is nothing more than that new ways of channels and promotion have emerged as the media environment changes, but the entire marketing chain has not been subverted.

2. The premium is due to excessive interpretation of marketing

Many people still have some misunderstandings about the phenomenon of "the rise of domestic products". For example, some people believe that Perfect Diary is entirely promoted by the private traffic of KOLs, while others believe that the premium of the Li Ning brand comes from the increase in marketing costs. In fact, these views only focus on the brand's performance at the marketing level.

Although Perfect Diary is suspected of selling its products in low prices and relying on private domain traffic, people feel that this domestic brand is somewhat inconsistent with the high-end level of "national tide". But Yatsen E-Commerce, the company behind Perfect Diary, actually attaches great importance to brand effect. Its recent acquisitions of international brands are an important signal that it is preparing to use Perfect Diary's products to completely open up the user market and then produce high-end brands.

In addition, many people believe that Li Ning is using the price speculation of limited edition sneakers to enhance the brand's market impression. But in fact, the sneaker speculation group and its market objectively exist. The essence of the hot speculation of Li Ning's limited edition sneakers is, on the one hand, the result of the interaction between market supply and demand, and on the other hand, the improvement of product strength brought about by Li Ning's own continuous investment in R&D costs.

So here we inevitably return to the first point of the 4P theory, which is also the core starting point of domestic product marketing - Product. Because products are the foundation, only after that can domestic products communicate and establish connections with users and establish a new brand image through various channels such as IP cross-border, content e-commerce, and social communication. In terms of specific marketing execution, there are also some basic principles and techniques in the transformation process of domestic products to "national trends".

3. Close the distance and maintain sincerity

In the minds of most consumers, domestic products are often synonymous with "low prices". Although low prices mean that consumers have a lot of choices, in fact, apart from the core demand for cost-effectiveness, consumers will not easily choose "low-priced" domestic products. This is also the dilemma faced by most domestic products.

To change this stereotype, in addition to launching higher-priced mid- to high-end products to expand target consumers' awareness of the brand. A more direct way is to use down-to-earth marketing methods to narrow the distance between users and the brand, so that users can understand that the product has high-quality characteristics in addition to the selling point of "low price".

For example, the cross-border IP gameplay can combine the circle attributes and brand tone of the target consumers, choose top-tier celebrities, big-name IPs, etc. for cooperation, and use the "borrowing power" approach to use the influence of top-tier celebrities and big-name IPs to empower your own brand.

Another example is the KOC content promotion commonly used by domestic brands nowadays. Although the cooperation partners are not as good as top stars or big-name football stars in terms of creating a certain star effect and helping the brand to quickly achieve sales conversion. However, in the niche range, you can also find KOC amateurs with unique brands and a sense of sophistication. In particular, this type of KOC relies on daily content sharing to maintain a very close communication relationship with the target consumer group. Therefore, brands can cooperate with them, starting from product quality and actual user experience, to communicate product selling points and output brand concepts to users, and also achieve the effect of "combining product and effect" with little effort.

In addition, when domestic brands are communicating “closely” with consumers, they need to pay special attention to the brand’s “personality”. From the perspective of consumers, domestic products usually have differentiated market competitive advantages due to their characteristics of "low price and better quality", but the "brand personality" of "low price and high quality" itself is not logically tenable. Therefore, when promoting the strength of their products, domestic brands do not seek to be all-knowing, but at least they should be realistic and sincere. The brands themselves should also always be vigilant about the risks brought to the brand by false and exaggerated publicity.

When we look back at the transformation process of domestic products into "national trends", we will find that the improvement of product strength is the foundation for domestic brands to nurture "national trends", and down-to-earth marketing methods are the environment that brands can create afterward. Against the backdrop of growing national self-confidence, when consumers develop trust in the products of domestic brands, they will also develop faith in domestic brands in their hearts. This is the brand pinnacle that "national tide" can achieve.

Author: Community Marketing Research Institute

Source: Community Marketing Research Institute