The underlying logic of product planning from 0-1!

Make product strategy and brand strategy. Some people ask for a Big Idea right away. NO! If you understand the underlying logic of branding, in 90% of cases, you don’t need to deliberately come up with creativity and you can still produce effective results. This result often happens naturally and in accordance with the trend.

What is the underlying logic behind branding? Remember the following major relationships: category strategy, brand strategy, product strategy, channel strategy, advertising strategy, and user operation strategy . Especially the last user operation strategy, its weight is constantly being strengthened in today's Internet era.

Category strategy is the first priority, and it is the priority consideration dimension for most companies when making products today.

Category strategy solves two problems:

1. Determine the market capacity of this product

2. It involves consumer perception, which is subtle and hidden, but must be discerned.

For example, the market capacity for ice cream is larger. Or is the market for frozen foods bigger? They actually occupy a scene like refrigerators and freezers, so the market capacity of frozen foods must be larger than ice cream. In this way, you can understand why the internet celebrity product Zhong Xuegao needs to constantly interact with users, continuously output content, and strive to become an internet celebrity.

The second one is about consumer perception which is also very important. For example, if you sell artificial meat and vegetarian chicken and tofu, the prices of the products you sell will definitely be different. Although they are essentially both deeply processed soy products, consumers' perceptions of them are completely different. Because of "price anchoring", no matter how much you exaggerate the latter, the price will inherently not be as good as the former.

It can be seen that the category determines the perspective and psychology from which consumers will accept your product. It can be said that almost all 2C products have category determinism, and the category positioning determines the entire logical direction of the product. Before making a product, think carefully about what category you want to get into.

Next, think about a series of questions: What tone should this brand image use and what attitude (values) should it embody? Brand association is critical, what is the core brand awareness? What is the core brand slogan? From tone - attitude - association - cognition - slogan, this is an externalized communication process from the inside to the outside, with a careful logical relationship.

A brand is considered a symbol. We know that it is meant to capture the minds of consumers. This requires operating in stages, and through the above-mentioned externalized communication logic, ultimately allowing consumers to remember what you want them to remember.

But remember, consumers will only remember what they are willing to remember, not what you want them to remember. So, don't try to challenge your habitual cognition unless you are really super rich and super free. Otherwise, if you want him to remember something, it is best to choose it within a certain habitual cognitive framework.

First of all, we need to name the brand. There are many directions for naming. The most direct direction is to choose a name that is highly relevant to your category, or a simple and easy to remember name, or a name that is very close to the lifestyle of your target consumer group. In recent years, Internet companies like to name themselves after animals, or the popular "X Xiao X" and so on. It was fine originally, but now it has become rotten because there are too many of them.

Next, we need to work on product strategy. At what price point should the product be priced and what are the usage scenarios of the product? What form of packaging is used? How do you set up your product items? It's all about details. For example, don't underestimate product management. Whether your beverage is bottled in 300ml or 500ml may determine its fate after it goes on the market.

In addition, does the product adopt a large single product strategy or a series combination strategy? Here I would like to talk about the product packaging design strategy. A company developed a coffee milk ball product, which is similar to the coffee creamer companion poured into coffee in KFC. Originally, this type of coffee creamer on the market is all vegetable cream, and contains trans fatty acids, which everyone knows are harmful to the body. However, the product developed by this company is also in the form of creamer, but through technological improvements, it has achieved 0 trans fat and 0 calories. It has also been upgraded and developed into a variety of flavors. When poured into espresso, it becomes coffee with different flavors. It can be said that it is very competitive.

But as soon as I saw it, I told the other party: You are losing money, the packaging must be changed. The reason is: due to the hardware limitations of the production line, the packaging container shape of their products is consistent with the appearance of those low-end creamer ball products. It is a very high-end new product, and it can even change its market segment and differentiate itself from other creamer products. But because of the packaging problem, the user’s first instinct will be to think that this is creamer. How can the price be designed like this? Whether it is the category or the packaging, there is no differentiation of its own characteristics, the true value of the product cannot be stimulated, the brand assets are greatly restricted, and the debut is the end.

Therefore, no matter what packaging design form you choose or its price design, each point has its reasons and interacts with each other.

Even if you have done the above product side well, when it comes to channels, which channel will you choose for your product? After all, it’s where the sales come from.

If you choose a convenience store, who should your products be placed next to? Is it the edge of a Starbucks coffee cup? Or instant coffee? Or Tetra Pak milk side? You have to know that if you place it next to products of different categories, the fate behind it will be completely different.

Choose to sell online. Is it a group buying channel, a live streaming channel, or a private domain channel? Different channels have very different demands for price design and packaging design. If the same packaging is sold online and offline, there will inevitably be competition. If it involves tiered pricing by agents, it will be even more difficult to manage.

Next is the user operation strategy. First of all, let me explain a premise: whether your category needs user operation or not depends on the degree of consumer involvement. The higher the degree of involvement, the more necessary user operation is. For example, it is definitely very effective for beauty brands, clothing brands, and car brands to do user operations, and its cost may be much lower than the customer acquisition cost of your advertising. However, if you are a hardware brand or an ordinary food brand, then this matter may not make much sense.

Nowadays, as public domain traffic becomes more and more expensive, it becomes very important to implement the above five strategies (category, brand, product, channel and user operation) well.

Of course, they are not in a linear order, but a complete organic combination. The packaging logic of your products is completely different when you sell them on e-commerce platforms and in offline stores. E-commerce is based on the logic of banners and detail pages, while offline is based on the logic of shelves and the logic of occupying terminal advertising space. Therefore, channels can also determine the form of the product.

For example, your product is aimed at college students. Then it doesn’t make sense to use convenience stores as a major channel, because convenience stores are where office workers often hang out. It can be seen that the target consumer group will also determine your channel strategy.

From the above content, we can find that the so-called 0-1 must be based on the characteristics of your product. Instead of just changing the packaging, the main premise of 0-1 is that your product must have a selling point. This selling point requires insight and exploration, and it must be in line with market demand and consumer pain points or scenarios.

If you say your selling point is just good-looking design, then there really is no selling point. Good-looking packaging design can bring in sales, provided that the product has substantial highlights. Relying solely on good packaging design to achieve hot sales can only satisfy some curious users, but it may not necessarily lead to repeat consumption.

Finally, let’s focus on advertising strategy. In fact, I want to tell you that there is no strategy in advertising strategy, or it can be said that there is no need for strategy. If the first five things are already very clear, especially the first four (category, brand, product, channel) are logically clear, your advertising will not go wrong no matter how you do it, so why do you need any big creativity? Look at the elevator advertisements under Focus Media. None of them are very creative, but every part of the picture reflects the careful calculation of the advertiser. Very rustic and low-end, but very market-oriented.

Many people regard creativity as too high-end. There are super creative ideas, but they are really rare. But what I want to say is: effective creativity is the product of clear appeal logic. It certainly cannot flash out from the mind, but flows out smoothly like water. Because the appeal is very clear and the logic is very rigorous, there are many creative paths: you can choose to output the association between the brand and category, you can also clearly find a group of people to promote the product, or you can do brainwashing education on quality... Of course, you can also shoot a very creative and stylish advertisement, you can also make some very solid terminal materials to assist sales, or you can do information flow delivery... There are too many.

When the direction is clear and the road ahead is smooth, it doesn’t matter whether you choose to wear Nike or Peak.

Why are advertising companies not as popular as they were a few years ago? One of the main reasons why business is not doing well is that in the current brand environment, many companies cannot figure out the first four elements, so the advertisements they produce are ineffective. Therefore, I always say, “No strategy, no creativity”.

This is one of the reasons why many "consulting + creative" companies have begun to regain the favor of enterprises in recent years, such as H&H, Junzhi, Xingruo and other companies, because they work on a project based on categories, brands, channels and products. Although these companies behave very differently from one another, their focus is consistent: effective product strategy comes first. For example: H&H proposed "super symbol", Xingruo proposed "branded products", Junzhi proposed "localized positioning", etc., all of which focus on strategic expression.

What does a brand need to do when it is launched? The correct answer is: All of the above must be done, from categories to brands, to products, to channels, to users, and finally to advertising execution. Even the people who collaborate with you in production, you have to be involved in such a large group. For example, in terms of R&D cooperation on the product side, for the coffee companion ball product mentioned earlier, the shape of the packaging container must be changed according to market logic and category strategy, but the factory may tell you: our production line cannot match it, and R&D may tell you: we have no way to meet your demand. But the only key to product strategy is to always meet the needs of market consumers. If the technology cannot meet the requirements, then we should work hard to find partners who can make it happen. Otherwise, why launch a product that you know is not up to standard? Do you have a lot of money?

Professionals like to talk about various models, and one of them is called House of Brand. This is the picture:

In fact, the reason why it is called a house is because there must be logic supporting it from the bottom to the top. Can the quality of a house that is not connected from top to bottom be good? It will collapse sooner or later, right?

So what is at the bottom of the category? What kind of core content supports your product? Who is your target audience? In what scenarios do these people use your product? So what kind of packaging form and style do you want to use? Ensure that you can get the best advertising in the corresponding sales channels.

The so-called advertising slogan that is finally presented is supported by the underlying logic beneath the iceberg, and cannot be achieved by just a wild idea. Even as small as an independent product, the PIS system has such a logical line to support it, which ultimately points to "brand value".

The above content is too real, but it is indeed the basic thinking when we do advertising, make products, and build brands today. I also believe that professional thinking may not guarantee that every product will be successful, but it can definitely guarantee that it is worth revising and ultimately gaining market recognition.

What if someone says, "We did it this way, but the product still can't be made?" One possibility: insufficient investment; another method: change the product.

After all, do your best and follow God's will.

Author: Xingruo Planning

Source: Xingruo Planning