Six essential product strategies for planning and promotion in 2020

Introduction丨The “link between the past and the future” of product strategy

The underlying logic of marketing is value exchange , which is to discover or create consumer needs and satisfy them with product value.

From the perspective of communication, the basis of communication is content, and the basis of content is product.

Products play the role of "carrying on the past and opening up the future". They are the inheritors of consumer needs and the initiators of communication.

So, what does product strategy involve?

The four core elements of a product: users, scenarios, problems, and solutions

First of all, it should be made clear that the essence of a product is to solve needs and is the logic of value exchange. Taking this as the starting point, we extend users, scenarios, problems and solutions.

Users are not people, but a certain type of human needs, needs in specific scenarios.

A product is essentially a solution , and a product is a means for users to meet their needs. What users buy is not the product itself, but the product that meets their needs. What you buy is not the drill itself, but the hole you want to drill in the wall.

The logic of the scene is to restore the scenario when consumers use the product. All products are solutions for a certain scenario.

The solution is the outlet for the problem , and the product must solve a problem for the consumer.

Six elements of product development: population pain points, concept significance, RTB system, cost awareness, targeted channels, and communication anchor points.

Whether a product is worth developing depends first on whether the pain point is painful enough, whether it is a real demand or a false demand, and whether there is currently an environment for growth.

Didi meets people's needs for the difficulty of hailing a taxi, Pinduoduo meets people's needs for lower-priced goods, and Taobao meets the needs of merchants to open stores and users to purchase massive amounts of goods.

One of the factors for Huaxizi's rise is the rise of national self-confidence and the return to Eastern culture, which has a lot to do with the environment of the times.

The product is the content . Whether the content itself has a story or not, this story does not necessarily have to make the user cry. Most of the time, it is enough to make sense. The concept is to touch the hearts of consumers and thus move their wallets.

RTB supports this concept, which is both rational and emotional. Rationality talks about logic, and emotion tells stories . But whether it is sensibility or rationality, it cannot escape human nature. After all, all category innovations are extensions of people’s inherent concepts.

But there needs to be a balance, because all products are designed to make a profit today or tomorrow . Many people want to tell sexy stories, but not every company can or is willing to bear the cost of being sexy.

Targeted channels are the logic of sales. What channels is this product suitable for? Will the people in this channel buy it? Whether this channel matches the product concept, price and brand segment. Another question is whether this channel can accommodate the product.

The communication anchor point is to lock on the communication platform. Products need explosive platforms. Basically, everyone is trying to occupy the mountain, occupying the platform, occupying the KOL, and occupying the topic.

One core and five sources of product positioning

Product positioning is to clearly explain your own interests and what they are used for. This can be sorted out and verified using USP (Unique Selling Proposition) , which has the following three key points:

1. Emphasize the specific special effects and benefits of the product - What is the sales proposition?

2. This uniqueness is something that competitors cannot or have not yet proposed - it has its own uniqueness.

3. It must have strong sales power - this positioning, when translated into consumer language, must be provocative enough to influence tens of millions of audiences.

The USP is derived from the following five sources:

1. Benefits, problem solving or needs perspective

For example, PROYA's bubble mask is positioned as a "pore vacuum cleaner". In addition to its basic function of hydrating, it also provides cleansing, bubbles, quick sensory effects and fun features.

Another example is Hua Xizi's loose powder, which is positioned as "air powder". It is as fine as air and can better control oil, set makeup, hide pores, and create a soft-focus matte makeup effect. There has been a rumor circulating before that when Li Jiaqi was using Hua Xizi powder to touch up his makeup in the bathroom, people mistakenly thought he was smoking.

2. Specific scenarios

People often encounter a problem when taking cold medicine, which is that they feel sleepy after taking it. This is okay at night, but during the day it will affect their work or study.

Therefore, the brand slogan proposed by Baijiahei is "Treat colds with clear black and white", expressing the core message of "Take white tablets during the day and you won't feel sleepy; take black tablets at night and you will sleep soundly". This cuts into the selling point of the product from the perspective of the scene.

3. User Type

Smartphones have emerged, but phones specifically for the elderly (older people) are still selling well. I have to say that the long-press one-button dialing function is really great. You can call your relatives and friends directly by pressing 1-9. There are also large fonts, large buttons, long battery life, large stereo speakers, real-person voice broadcasts, and more.

For the elderly, this is good news. After all, smartphones are the intelligence of young people, and the intelligence of the elderly is elderly phones.

4. Fight against competitors

Yuanqi Forest’s product positioning is “sparkling water that won’t make you fat”, with 0 sugar, 0 fat, and 0 calories.

By comparing with other beverages, the calories are calculated based on a capacity of 100ml. A cup of Coke has 200KJ, other carbonated drinks have 160KJ, and Yuanqi Forest Soda Sparkling Water has 0KJ.

5. Category Freedom

The "liberation" here means "Chinese learning as the basis, Western learning for practical use", the so-called "liberation with the help of the east wind" makes sense.

For example, scented shower gel, which has become popular in the past two years, is made with the same idea as perfume. TT is using the concept of skin care ingredients to talk about hyaluronic acid.

Six-piece product portrait: qualitative, positioning, pricing, specifications, product features, business characteristics

Everyone has heard of user portraits, but rarely have we heard of product portraits. In fact, as a member of the brand, the product also has its own portrait.

1. Qualitative

What role does this product play in the enterprise? Is it a traffic product, a profit product, or an image product?

2. Positioning

What problem does this product solve for consumers?

3. Pricing

Is this product low-end, mid-range, or high-end in terms of price?

4. Specifications

What are the specifications or configurations of this product?

5. Product tonality

What style does this product present to consumers and what impression does it give to consumers?

6. Business characteristics

What percentage of the brand's sales does this product account for, and what share of the overall market?

The four quadrants of product selling point semantics: attractive, important, essential, irrelevant factors

Alimama analyzes product selling points based on two dimensions: consumers’ positive and negative experiences with the products. This helps it find the content system for product selling points, extract and select communication interest points, explore communication scenarios, and find communication objects and communication materials.

After analyzing the target group of a new category of chocolate, it was found that the chewy texture and good appearance are the product experiences that consumers expect, while the satisfaction of gift giving and office scenarios is more likely to become the product differentiation selling point.

Six tips for product launch: attracting traffic, boosting sales, building a closed sales loop, the relationship between traffic and sales, public opinion monitoring, and post-purchase feedback

1. Introducing traffic

The underlying logic behind the launch of all products is the introduction of traffic. Business can only come from where there are people. First of all, we need to pay attention to where the traffic that matches the products is?

2. Promote sales

What channels are used to achieve the harvest, that is, where is the final touch for consumers?

3. Build a sales closed loop

What is the closed loop from traffic to sales, how do the media cooperate, and how is the content arranged?

4. The relationship between traffic and sales

What is the ROI of the entire input-output, whether direct purchases and crowd introduction can form a model to guide phased investment.

5. Public opinion monitoring

In the process of building a closed loop, what kind of public opinion emerges and how do consumers view their own products and other people's products? Why buy you and not buy it, or buy it and not buy you.

6. Post-purchase feedback

What is the consumer's experience after purchase? Do they give positive comments to recommend it to friends or give negative comments to discourage friends?

Summarize

Product strategy is the underlying strategy of marketing, and all sales and content systems revolve around it.

The core of marketing is that consumers are willing to pay for your products willingly and repeatedly. Then, this willingness and repetition is the core essence that strategists have always been pursuing.

Author: Zang Feng

Source: Strategist Zang Feng