A global epidemic has disrupted the entire advertising industry. According to the results of multiple surveys targeting parties A and B, the most direct impact of the epidemic on the advertising industry is not only the general contraction of party A's budget, but more importantly, it has disrupted the original marketing rhythm. The established brand strategy and promotion rhythm need to be significantly adjusted, and the market launch in the first quarter is basically invalid.
An ultimate question that brands discussed more during the epidemic: Is it true that brands cannot do marketing during the epidemic? It seems that if a brand has any marketing moves, they either have no effect and are taken advantage of, or they are accused of being unworldly and cold-blooded...
As the proportion of people resuming work in the whole society gradually increases, another more realistic question arises: Can brand marketing still be done while the epidemic is not over yet?
In the past two days, I have sorted out 35 brand marketing cases that are relatively representative during the entire epidemic. Let’s take a look at how they did marketing during the epidemic and how they can help marketing in the post-epidemic era.
First of all, we need to clarify what "marketing" is.
The concept of marketing is too broad. According to the most official statement, marketing refers to the process by which companies discover or explore potential consumer needs, allowing consumers to understand the product and then purchase it.
If you want users to understand and purchase a product, this process can be long or short. This can be achieved immediately through discount promotions, or by building brand awareness through long-term advertising. It can be said that marketing involves both "immediate drudgery" and "poetry and distant places".
To put it simply, marketing is about building connections between users and brands. The question is, how can we establish this connection during this special period when the epidemic has not yet ended?
During the epidemic, the entire social economy has been negatively affected, and it is understandable for companies to engage in marketing. However, it is obviously necessary to accurately understand consumer insights during the epidemic, change thinking, and replace advertising thinking with more public relations thinking and operational thinking.
Highlight the social attributes of the brand Make marketing for yourself and for society
During the epidemic, most brands have this awareness. It is important to understand that marketing is both self-help and contributing to the social value of the brand, especially for large companies, which have frequently shown their brand power to everyone during this epidemic.
The People's Daily has established itself as the leading official media force, and a group of simple-style "Come on, hot dry noodles" posters set off the first round of screen-sweeping. Although China UnionPay 's CNY theme "China is not afraid of difficulties" is not directly related to the epidemic, it has inspired every Chinese during the epidemic.
Baidu 's "Don't be afraid, there are always people trying to give answers" and Zhihu 's "Thirty-Three" recorded every moment worth recording during the epidemic. This is the value of being a platform.
Of course, there are also works that are more brand-specific. Xin Shi Xiang, which is good at "playing with" users' emotions, teamed up with Kuaishou to launch the short film "Wuhan at Four in the Morning". Wuhan is still the same Wuhan, and Xin Shi Xiang is still the same Xin Shi Xiang. What a familiar formula.
NetEase Yanxuan replaced its promotional advertisements on the streets of Hangzhou with friendly reminders, saying bluntly, "I advise you not to look at it."
Salute to the ordinary yet shining soul, Kuaishou understands best, all my friends 666. Alipay , which has always been the most "naughty", sang rap in the form of vlog. The internet celebrity traffic policeman and rapper, @做警察天_Lord贺, sang an entertaining and educational song "Leave Home Safe", which brainwashed many people.
Baidu saw another pain point behind the epidemic and joined forces with a group of brands with animal logos to release a poster called "100 Reasons to Say No to Wild Game". What a pity! It would have been so exciting if the Ali Zoo had joined in.
Look, marketing with brand social responsibility is not only meaningful, but also obviously more acceptable.
Music has always been one of the best carriers of creativity and emotion. Musicians are also taking action in their own way during this period. JJ Lin and Stefanie Sun collaborated on "Stay with You", Jay Chou, Vincent Fang and Jacky Cheung joined forces to sing "Waiting for the Storm to Pass", G.E.M.'s "Ordinary Angel", Lay Zhang's "It Will Be Okay", Li Ronghao's "Same Root", Laojiu's "Going to War"...
In addition to musicians, Midea Air Conditioner also produced a public welfare song "Windless Watch" inspired by the "Windless Guardian Team" who deliver Midea air conditioners to the front line.
Keep users busy Drive away the damn boredom
From a marketing perspective, the enhancement of a brand’s social value is still somewhat like “poetry and distant places”. In special times, the brand favorability and reputation rooted in users’ hearts are quietly planted. Even if the value cannot be realized in the short term, it will be fulfilled one day.
There are still some brands that cannot let go of the "present reality". Their insight comes from the "boredom" of people who were forced to stay at home during the epidemic.
Data from Bilibili shows that people have a huge demand for content that can relieve mental stress and drive away boredom. From January 23 to February 5, the number of videos with the "boring" tag on Bilibili saw explosive growth, with a two-week increase of 306.%; the number of videos depicting "indoor" activities increased by 90%; and the number of videos with both the "boring" and "funny" tags increased by 905%.
How bored are your users? A rumor from a few years ago caused the whole nation to stand up at home and even alerted NASA to come out and refute the rumor; the seemingly simple " mask pancake " forced netizens across the country to become "special pastry chefs"...
Does anyone still remember the "Little Bottle Graffiti Competition" ? Nongfu Spring quickly took action to follow the trend, followed by Starbucks, Heytea and other brands...
Toutiao set the best example by signing up Xu Zheng at lightning speed and inviting people all over the country to watch Lost in Russia for free. It not only created many "firsts", but also allowed netizens who were at home during the Spring Festival to find a rare way to entertain themselves.
A movie obviously cannot soothe the restless hearts of netizens, and " cloud disco " has become the new fashion. TAXX SHANGHAI, one of the earliest live broadcasts on Douyin, had a maximum number of online users on the first day of the live broadcast, with a total reward income of 7.285 million sound waves (728,500 yuan). The live broadcast lasted for 4 hours and topped the Douyin live broadcast hourly list for 4 hours.
The popularity of "cloud disco" gave Modern Sky an opportunity, and they found Bilibili to co-organize the online Strawberry Music Festival, with more than 70 bands and singers participating. Heytea and Mixue Ice City made their recipes public and taught online how to make Heytea and milk tea at home...
The long vacation gave birth to NetEase Dada ’s iconic H5 that swept the screen. The reason behind the sweeping of “100 Things You Must Do in Life” is that the epidemic has allowed people to be trapped at home while giving them more "spiritual freedom" to think about life and consider how to plan the rest of their lives after the epidemic ends.
Before we knew it, we have welcomed February 29th, a day that comes once every four years. Does anyone still remember that February 29th four years ago belonged to Leo? Weibo is also busy with its users, recalling four years ago, looking forward to four years later, and fulfilling a special four-year appointment.
Brands need "perspective eyes" to heal the soft hearts behind disasters
Seeing so many separations of life and death during the epidemic has made people particularly emotional and their hearts particularly soft. Find a brand with a pair of "X-ray eyes" and see the softness of people's hearts. Warmth and peace of mind have become the most stable brand insights in special times.
"Mountains and rivers are different, but the wind and moon are the same", "Even if I have no clothes, I will share my clothes with you", "The green mountains share the same clouds and rain, and the bright moon is never in two places"... The anti-epidemic materials sent by Japan inadvertently made these poems popular. Japan is not the only country that can write poetry. Although we are unable to travel, Ctrip still brought three-line poems written to China by tourism bureaus in nine places at home and abroad. The most tender words carry the most sincere blessings. The mountains and seas will be safe, and the world will be at peace.
The epidemic has changed everyone’s lives. We can’t go to restaurants to eat, we can’t have gatherings, we can’t travel... But behind every "cannot" is a "desire" for the end of the epidemic, and every "desire" is closely related to a search question. Based on this insight, Quark App launched a series of posters.
Perhaps the thing that can heal people's hearts the most in this world is food. Because of the epidemic, Fotile andShengjia, the old partners who have cooperated for 18 years, canceled their original anniversary event and healed the hearts of all Chinese people with a real cooking video.
Speaking of heartwarming little beauties, we have to mention the "heart-warming and stomach-warming" 999 Cold Relief . The heartwarming chicken noodle soup from Cross-border Ramen continues the cross-border spirit of 999, and its effect has been doubled because of the current epidemic.
There will be retaliatory demand after resuming work Get early insights to seize the first wave of dividends
We are all mortals, and we only learn to cherish things after we lose them.
We have long predicted that after the epidemic is over, the most suppressed industries such as catering and tourism will usher in a retaliatory rebound. On Weibo, topics such as what you most want to eat and where you most want to go after the epidemic is over have already been frequently mentioned. NetEase obtained such data results after processing relevant topics on Weibo.
Brands that have insight into this have already begun to take action.
Shanghai local self-media " Shanghai Food Guide " recently used the themes of the first hot pot, the first cup of milk tea, and the first barbecue after resuming work, gathered related popular catering brands, and planned a series of topics through lucky draws. It is estimated that it has attracted a lot of fans through this.
The expected screen-sweeping case also appeared in the milk tea industry. The milk tea brand " Ren Cha Zai " launched a giant 5L milk tea in Shanghai, and the young ladies who love milk tea fell in love with it collectively...
Another food that has become a hot topic during the epidemic is snail noodles. Topics such as #Snail noodles haven’t been shipped yet#, #Snail noodles freedom#, and #How much do Chinese people love snail noodles# were ranked at the top of the hot searches on Weibo. Facing the call from 60 million netizens, Ali Family Bucket, led by Taobao , directed and acted out a snail noodle redemption, with 40,000 packs of snail noodles to pamper fans.
Apart from food and drink, the market most severely suppressed by the epidemic is the tourism market. While OTA leader Ctrip has suffered losses in revenue from air tickets, train tickets, hotel reservations, and tickets, it recently launched the "Book a Future Trip" campaign. Although the campaign is just a commonplace "pre-sale" tactic, the idea of "booking a future trip" itself shows its insight.
Summary
There are so many possibilities for brand marketing during the epidemic. Can brands do marketing next? The answer is obviously "yes". But what is more important is to have a more accurate insight into human nature and the needs behind the business. Short-term commercial interests give way to long-term brand value. Brands should actively embrace corporate social responsibility and think more about what they can do for society.
The "boredom" of staying at home is a common feeling among most people during the epidemic. This "emptiness and loneliness" will probably not completely disappear in the short term. How to eliminate this boredom? There is often an opportunity behind a simple and direct insight.
Behind an epidemic that has affected such a large area, there must be many consumers who have suffered from "PTSD". At this moment, people's hearts need to be comforted and treated gently. I believe that many brands will set their brand theme this year in a direction that warms people's hearts.
Although the epidemic is cruel, it will eventually pass. Brands that have the conditions may wish to think ahead and put their marketing strategies in place, which may not be a bad opportunity.
