2019 Marketing Promotion Keywords

There is actually only one keyword for marketing in 2019: difficult.

Party A finds it difficult to adapt to the rapidly changing user tastes; Party B is unable to protect itself facing the jungle law of the industry; and users are unable to understand this bizarre media content environment. Coupled with the downturn in the macro economy, the advertising and marketing industry has been severely affected. Looking back at the whole year of 2019 today, compared with the screen-swiping frenzy in 2018, I believe no one will deny that the marketing industry has changed.

Some of the “predictions” we made in the first half of the year are now quite accurate. The era of screen swiping has passed, live streaming has become popular, and short video traffic has peaked... Of course, there are also places where we "predicted wrong", for example, there is not much movement in WeChat Good Things Circle, and WeChat live streaming has not caused much discussion...

As per our semi-annual practice, we have summarized seven key words for the marketing (and related fields) industry in 2019 to see what changes have occurred in the marketing sector in 2019. (We wanted to summarize ten key words, but there weren’t that many)

1. Return to rationality

From a macro perspective, downward economic pressure can be directly reflected in the advertising market. By observing the correlation between macro data and advertising market data, it can be seen that in recent years, macroeconomic fluctuations have been fed back to the advertising industry with almost no delay. It is also not difficult to see the flexibility and fragmentation of advertising today.

At the same time, the demographic dividend of mobile Internet has peaked this year. According to QuestMobile data, China's total monthly active users of mobile Internet in Q2 this year saw a net decline of 1.93 million for the first time, marking the arrival of the stock era of mobile Internet, and low-cost traffic is no longer easy to find. From the perspective of the capital market, not only is there no hot spot this year, but news about the difficulty of fundraising has been constantly reported in the newspapers, and everyone is tightening their belts to make ends meet.

The pressure of the macro situation is reflected in the business operation ideas of enterprises. For many Internet companies, they no longer pursue high valuations and high revenues, but instead begin to optimize their own profit models and operational efficiency. Compared with cash flow and user volume, many companies have begun to shift their focus to repeat purchases and word-of-mouth recommendations. In other words, companies have begun to pay attention to the cultivation of internal strength.

From the perspective of advertising and marketing, companies pay more attention to ROI and performance marketing. Pure brand exposure marketing is relatively rare. Compared with brand advertising with unknown effects, companies need performance advertising to give them a sense of security. From the financial reports of media-related companies such as Tencent and Focus Media, it can be found that media advertising (brand advertising) has declined significantly, while information flow advertising (performance advertising) has grown strongly.

In short, corporate management and marketing decisions are more rational than before, the use of marketing budgets is more cautious, and the overall marketing approach has become more conservative.

Of course, despite the poor macro conditions, it does not mean there are no opportunities. There may still be a lot of traffic dividends to be tapped in the sinking market, and grasping the needs of Generation Z may be a major opportunity for future product/brand upgrades. It depends on whether companies can seize it.

2. Marketing stall

In terms of hit products, there were very few in 2019. There are only a handful of hit products that have left a deep impression on us. Apart from the "What's Peppa Pig" at the beginning of the year that we have talked about many times (if the Spring Festival is used as the boundary, this case does not count this year's), we can only remember the Starbucks cat claw cup, the Uniqlo kaws co-branded model, and the National Day red flag avatar change that were widely screened. Of course, there are also NetEase's breeding manual H5, the circle of friends to exchange Lamborghini, and the elevator brainwashing advertisements that have a certain degree of popularity.

But what makes marketers laugh and cry is that this year's biggest hit "What's Peppa?" did not bring much sales conversion to the movie "Peppa Pig Celebrates the New Year". It can even be hardly considered an advertisement in the strict sense.

Among the other few poor examples of hits, many were even triggered by accidental factors. For example, Starbucks did not expect the cat claw cup to become so popular. The rush to buy Uniqlo kaws was actually more about the appeal of the IP itself, and changing the national flag avatar on National Day even risks violating relevant laws and regulations.

"We-media Queen" Mi Meng was banned

In other words, the marketing industry has not seen any replicable innovation in methodologies for creating hit products this year, so most of this year's hit products cannot be replicated in large quantities, and the fission propagation brought about by induced forwarding in previous years has been strictly controlled by WeChat. At the same time, the risks at the content level can no longer be ignored. In the first half of this year, the "Queen of Self-Media" Mimi Meng was banned, and in the second half of the year, HUGO was also banned.

In addition, although IP cross-border activities are still active, they are obviously not as strong as the national trends in previous years. Users may be tired of frequent cross-border marketing. Many insignificant "national trend cross-border activities" have not had any response this year (especially in the second half of the year), and the enthusiasm for cross-border marketing is cooling down.

3. Hype Bubble

On the one hand, overall marketing has stalled; on the other hand, marketing bubbles have emerged in vertical products and product hype has become more frequent.

Perhaps due to the cryptocurrency circle, hype techniques have become popular again. Blind box marketing, represented mainly by Pop Mart, has become a daily marketing method for many brands. Blind box marketing originated in Japan. The principle is similar to the Water Margin hero card marketing in the 1990s. It is surprising that it has become popular again today.

The picture comes from the Internet

Blind box marketing is usually a method of IP monetization, and is also mainly used in products such as trendy toys, celebrity figures, and anime ornaments. It is generally used as an auxiliary marketing method. However, by setting the lottery odds, merchants can successfully activate users' collecting habits and addiction mechanisms, and rare blind boxes of figures can be sold at sky-high prices among a niche group of people.

Not only blind boxes, but sneakers have also experienced a round of hype. Jokes represented by AJ are still circulating on the Internet (in fact, they were popular once many years ago). The business of shoe speculation has become very industrialized, and the shoes that are speculated are usually joint models or limited editions of Nike and Adidas.

The shoe speculation may be due to the rise of Generation Z, which has led to a certain explosion in the men's clothing category, or it may be the result of the joint speculation of many shoe merchants. In short, Hupu and Du App have played a significant role in promoting the trend, and there are even applications that specialize in detecting shoe prices.

In addition, Hanfu and Lolita skirts have also been sold at high prices.

The Hanfu circle itself is a mess. There are all kinds of opinions and factions about Hanfu. Overall, there is not much harmony within the circle. The annual Xitang Hanfu Culture Week initiated by Fang Wenshan is the main offline activity. In addition, for general knowledge, Hanfu is a very vague concept and does not have a strict definition like Kimono, so people in the Hanfu circle often quarrel.

The Lo skirt originated in Europe (Lo is the abbreviation of Lolita, as the name suggests), but it was severely Japanized in the process of dissemination, and began to be associated with anime culture such as "otaku culture" and "sister control". At the beginning, the "Lo skirt" was only popular among a niche group of people, but now it has slowly begun to spread beyond the circle.

Of course, the common point between Hanfu and Lolita skirts is that they are exquisite and delicate clothing, and both are sold at very high prices. Most of this small marketing hype occurs in these vertical interest areas and is mostly related to the interests and hobbies of Generation Z. Of course, some people also commented that this kind of hype is an act of "cutting leeks", and the young Generation Z is waiting to be "harvested".

4. Live Broadcasting

It would be really unreasonable if we didn’t mention live streaming sales this year.

Li Jiaqi gradually became popular through Douyin in January this year. Before that, he had been an anchor in the Taobao ecosystem for three years, but he was not known to the public. Li Jiaqi’s popularity can be seen as a channel dividend of Douyin, which has pushed the model of live streaming sales to the general public.

Whether it is the 618 in the middle of the year or the Double Eleven at the end of the year, live streaming may be the only highlight of the shopping festival. Li Jiaqi, who broke through the circle, and Wei Ya, the number one anchor of Taobao, have become the top CP among the anchors who sell goods. In addition, Simba, an anchor who originated from Kuaishou, is also not to be underestimated in his ability to sell goods.

Top anchors can use their traffic advantages to get super low discounts from brands. Coupled with the anchors’ own appeal, users will quickly place orders. Live streaming has become the most efficient way to bring goods. However, the product selection is still very critical. If the product selection is wrong, the anchor may "failure in live broadcast".

From the current perspective, Li Jiaqi’s identity is no longer just a live streamer who sells goods, but has more of an IP connotation. Li Jiaqi himself has also expressed his desire to create a global brand named after himself. Through Li Jiaqi and other anchors, the public has also felt the cruel work of the anchors.

Live streaming may have a significant impact on the industrial chain. On the one hand, the C2M customization brought about by the flexible supply chain and the fragmented user demands will force product development; on the other hand, more and more top anchors may consider building personal brands, and a group of "anchor brands" may emerge in the future.

The rise of live streaming has also allowed many traditional stars to start their careers as anchors. A typical example is Li Xiang, who has become a typical example of a star becoming an anchor. This also made the public start discussing the difference between celebrities and internet celebrities. Many people suddenly realized that the living conditions of some small celebrities are not good, and there is no work to take in the film and television industry. Live streaming/short videos have become a way for celebrities to survive.

But what makes these internet celebrities fear and anxious is that the life cycle of internet celebrities is getting shorter and shorter, user tastes are changing faster and faster, the internet celebrities themselves may become out of date at any time, and users get bored too easily. So what should they do next after becoming famous? This may be a difficult problem to solve, which is why Li Jiaqi and others are so diligent.

With the development of technologies such as 5G in the future, live streaming may bring some big surprises. As the beauty category penetrates into all categories, the power of live streaming will be further tapped.

5. Individual Energy

The rise of live streaming sales can be seen as the rise of individual energy.

Since the concept of self-media was invented, the commodity trading chain has been broken and reorganized. Commercial value is shifting to people. Users' consumption decisions will be seriously influenced by the opinions of self-media celebrities. Users and self-media are connected by the bond of trust, and the value of trust will become more and more important.

In other words, users have shifted from trusting the media and advertising to trusting self-media and recommendations from influencers. The emergence of self-media has also allowed millions of ordinary people to shine. As WeChat said, even the smallest individual has his or her own brand.

The most obvious phenomenon occurs in grass-planting communities such as Xiaohongshu, where planting grass and pulling grass has become a mature methodology for promoting beauty products. The new trend in 2019 is that the energy of self-media/KOLs at the waist level and below has been tapped, and these are the people the industry calls KOCs.

The rapid rise of brands such as Perfect Diary, HFP and even Zhong Xue Gao is inseparable from the promotion of KOC. KOC has become a traffic pool that has been ignored by brands in the past. The rise of these new brands can be seen as the result of innovation in marketing and communication thinking.

Even the marketing buzzword "private domain traffic" that was popular in the first half of 2019 is an awakening of brand individual consciousness. Against the background of high traffic costs, brands realize that traffic cannot be completely distributed and purchased through platforms, and building their own traffic pools is less expensive and more secure.

The rise of individual power is a long-term trend that has already happened. Many brand owners are also turning their employees into KOLs and actively participating in live streaming, self-media and other fields. In the future world, trust and personal charm will play a huge commercial role.

6. Scandals

The rise of individual power can be seen from the content of online communication. Even if an event is spread online by ordinary netizens, it may ferment into a huge social issue.

It is for this reason that today is an era of crisis public relations. Brands are facing various potential public relations crises. No brand is immune to public relations crises. What is important is how brands handle public relations crises and how they communicate with the public. Of course, on the bright side, the frequent occurrence of public relations crises has also urged brands to better serve their users.

The sensational Mercedes-Benz oil leak incident has attracted national attention, and every move of the business leaders has also been in the public spotlight. Liu Qiangdong's gossip, Li Yanhong being splashed with water, Li Guoqing's cup-breaking... the public has been fed wave after wave of gossip. In the second half of the year, there were many major incidents due to labor disputes. The NetEase Games incident and the Huawei incident both caused widespread emotional resonance.

The more a company faces a public relations crisis, the more it tests its values. Didi, which was at the center of public opinion in previous years, has been much more low-key this year. A public relations crisis is uncontrollable in terms of public opinion, and a vicious public relations crisis may even disrupt the strategic planning of the entire enterprise.

From the perspective of the marketing industry, many incidents of "watered traffic" have been exposed this year. This thing, which was originally an unspoken rule in the industry, has once again been discussed by the industry and the media. Unfortunately, there are not many solutions at present, and everyone is a link in the "brushing" industry chain.

In addition, there is also a regulatory crisis on content scale and user privacy. In addition to the blocking of big accounts such as Mimi Meng, Xiaohongshu, Jike, and Bilibili have all been taken off the shelves. The reason for this is most likely related to content orientation. Curiosity Daily, which is favored by media people, has been hit hard by content supervision.

Overall, public relations crises can erupt at various levels, including users, employees, and industry unwritten rules, making it difficult for companies to guard against them. Companies must also learn how to deal with public relations crises, and how to communicate with the public will become a skill that companies must acquire.

7. Looking forward to 5G

2019 is the first year of 5G commercialization. Although only a small number of people are currently using 5G, the technological potential of 5G is highly anticipated by all walks of life. 5G+artificial intelligence+big data may become standard configuration for all products in the future.

5G will significantly increase network bandwidth, allowing us to enter the era of ultra-high definition and delay-free experience, which will also affect brand marketing and the creation of advertising content. Similarly, the application of 5G will also trigger a wave of mobile phone replacement and stimulate the growth of the technology and digital industries.

But what is more concerning is whether the arrival of 5G will significantly lower the threshold for users to install apps, whether super apps such as Weibo and WeChat will be diverted as a result, and whether user traffic will be dispersed again? Based on our current observations, there seems to be an increase in the number of teams developing apps.

When talking about 5G, we naturally have to mention the Internet of Everything. Compared with 4G, in addition to the improvement in bandwidth, 5G can also support point-to-point device communication, which means that communication between 5G devices does not require transit. This is also a major reason why smart driving relies on 5G to achieve low latency.

In addition to IOT and autonomous driving, what interests me personally is the promotion of AR/VR by 5G. Everyone knows that although AR/VR has been hyped for many years, it has always been lukewarm. From a hardware perspective, there are no major problems that cannot be overcome. The main limitation is in the experience. Network delays and non-HD materials will be magnified on AR/VR devices, seriously damaging the user experience, and 5G can solve these problems.

I personally believe that AR/VR (or similar forms) will have a huge impact on many live experience products, such as concerts, travel, movies, shopping malls, social networking, etc. Will every family have a VR room in the future? Of course, these may be far away from now, but they are worth looking forward to.

Conclusion

2019 is about to pass. Although the marketing industry is in a state of mourning, there are still phenomenal brand cases such as Perfect Diary and Zhong Xuegao. Although the dividends have disappeared, there are still opportunities such as sinking markets and Generation Z that are worth exploring.

The era of wild growth and quick money making is about to pass, and the future will truly test the internal strength and brand power of enterprises. Statistics have proven that investing in marketing during an economic downturn will yield higher returns in the long run. This is both a crisis and an opportunity.

In 2019, most people see crisis, while a few see turning point.

Author: Qiu Jiawei

Official account: Spread Gymnastics (ID: chuanboticao)