Top 10 Brand Marketing Trends in 2022

Last Sunday, we discussed with our friends on “Brand Trend Development and Suggestions for 2022” and came to some interesting conclusions:

1. New consumption cools down and capital returns to rationality;

2. Brand upgrading faces transformation (thinking, products, channels, brands) ;

3. Content marketing becomes a top priority for businesses;

4. More and more To B companies begin to attach importance to brand building;

5. Pay attention to spiritual consumption, how to connect your users through new products, new scenarios, and new content;

6. Brand self-broadcasting becomes the norm;

7. Celebrity marketing is cooling down, while digital economic marketing is rising;

8. Chinese brands going overseas has become a trend, and foreign brands are becoming "Chinese-ized" locally;

9. Segment consumer brands and focus on one consumer demand;

10. Pay attention to the consumption trends of those born after 2005 in the next five years;

Here, I will pick a few to share with you in detail:

TO B brands begin to focus on brand building

For most TO B brands, the Internet has grown from its initial booming development to its current relative maturity. The market dividends and traffic dividends of 10 years ago have failed, competition is constantly intensifying, and the method of indiscriminately acquiring customers and increasing traffic has long been ineffective.

Different TO B companies have also begun to explore their own ways of survival. Whether it is operating an independent brand, or making small attempts to enter the TO C market with a certain category, or creating a new brand and building a new team from scratch, it is a leap forward in the transformation of the company.

It can be said that in the current competitive environment with wolves in front and tigers behind, brand upgrading is the only way forward.

How to do it?

1. “Break” 5 patterns.

Break the thinking mode, break the business model, break the operating model, break the organizational model, break the behavioral model, and force companies from top to bottom to increase their awe of the market and begin to shift from IPM thinking (idea-product-market) to MRP thinking (market-demand-product) .

2. Grasp the three core points.

The operation of a To B enterprise is like a butterfly, with a butterfly effect.

Its core is three aspects: products, marketing and services. Among them, products are the torso, marketing and services are the wings. Behind this, strong organizational support is needed. These four aspects must work together without any shortcomings.

3. Establish a system of commercial expression of the brand.

A big characteristic of Chinese brands is that they are often very good at making products but not very good at telling stories. But we can’t do it secretly, we have to let the whole world know.

For example, for B-side users, it is necessary to amplify the brand’s core competitiveness in the industry: one is demand perception, two is product iteration, and three is value delivery, and solve the problems of "is the market big enough" and "why is it you" through storytelling.

For C-end users, most To B brands’ commercial expressions and discourse expressions are based on very rational and functional selling points of the products.

But today, many consumers actually want to see something more emotional when it comes to brands with relatively low visibility: for example, whether it is about the personality or how the brand can create emotional value. The brand needs to create a desire among consumers and think about how to translate professional terms into concepts that can create dreams for consumers.

Brand self-broadcasting: Take control of traffic in your own hands

With the falsification of traffic data, live broadcast "crashes", and product "crashes", more and more negative cases of live broadcast sales are being exposed to the sun. Brands are also increasingly aware that this emerging marketing form of live broadcast sales is not a "panacea" for all industries, and is no longer the irrational pursuit that was popular in the early days.

As a result, brands have joined in and self-broadcasting has become the norm.

Searching the Taobao live broadcast hot list, we can see that many popular live broadcast rooms are broadcast by brands themselves. Brands such as Estee Lauder, Winona, and OSM often occupy the top of the real-time live broadcast hot list, realizing a successful attempt at brand self-broadcasting.

So, what will happen to brands that enter the “cooling-off period” in live streaming sales?

1. Build a brand content matrix of short videos and live broadcasts

On the one hand, it has become a consensus to settle in the video account and form a closed-loop matrix with the brand's mini-program mall, WeChat Moments, official accounts, communities, etc. to accumulate private domain users.

On the other hand, brands organize employees, executives, or train their own anchors to conduct live streaming and selling products through platforms such as Douyin, Taobao Live, Kuaishou, and Video Accounts, which has become a current trend in live streaming.

2. Visualized live broadcast scenes and personalized content

Shouting and hawking in live broadcasts can easily lead to content homogeneity and audience aesthetic fatigue, so making it worthwhile for users to watch the content will test the brand's content creativity.

For example, Herborist brought "palace dramas" into the live broadcast room, leading a new way of live broadcast. This innovation of "role-playing" + "selling goods" not only creates more gimmicks for the brand live broadcast room, makes up for the lack of fun in the standard product live broadcast room, but also invisibly prolongs the length of time users stay.

Celebrity marketing cools down, traffic pattern reshuffled

In recent years, the successive downfalls of many top-tier and first-line stars have taught many brands an important lesson in endorsements.

After suffering multiple losses in revenue, image, stock price, etc., brands have begun to learn from their mistakes and no longer focus solely on celebrity endorsements and traffic. After all, positive value is 1 and traffic is 0. Without 1, no matter how many 0s there are, they are meaningless.

Correspondingly, as the "Generation Z" represented by those born after 1995 and 2000 gradually grows up, they have become the largest user group of social media. The "cultural circles" created by regional culture each have a unique language, cultural system, different popular systems, and even thick barriers in between.

"Bilibili 2D circle", "e-sports circle", "movie circle", "beauty circle", "ancient style circle"... There are thick barriers between each circle, and the focus is completely different.

This traffic pattern has also allowed virtual idols to become top-tier ACG stars and begin to endorse fast-moving consumer goods brands, such as Qian Miao of Tmall, Qu Chenxi of Watsons, Ou Ye of L’Oreal, and Hua Xizi.

On the other hand, brand endorsements have also begun to tilt towards young new forces in the sports world. Some new consumer brands have also joined the array of sports star endorsements. Brands such as Luckin Coffee, Yuanqi Forest, Kiehl's, etc. have begun to shift from entertainment stars to joining hands with sports athletes, such as Gu Ailing and Su Yiming who became popular some time ago.

Brands are no longer keen on competing for traffic stars in the entertainment industry, which also reflects a major shift in brand marketing thinking: from the past traffic thinking to brand thinking.

Brands are no longer simply pursuing ROI returns in endorsements, but have moved on to shaping brand image and long-term value.

Brands going global: Telling the stories of Chinese brands well

A few days ago, I saw a piece of news from my former employer: MINISO’s 5,000th store in the world opened in Boston, and the number of stores in the North American market exceeded 100.

There are also new consumer brands that we are familiar with, including Perfect Diary, Huaxizi, and Yuanqi Forest. Thanks to "high-quality supply chain + cross-border e-commerce infrastructure + efficient overseas digital marketing + policy support", they have successively taken the first step to expand their brands overseas.

It can be said that the "Belt and Road" initiative has driven Chinese companies to expand overseas. They are in different industries and on different tracks, but they are doing the same thing: Chinese brands are deeply connected with the world.

Here, I would like to quote Zhang Yuliang (Vice President of Greater China at The Economist Group)’ s interpretation: the challenges facing Chinese companies going overseas can be viewed from two perspectives and six dimensions.

① Two perspectives

First, the perspective from outer space. The difficulty of going overseas lies in its strong regional attributes and origins. One thing is very important. We must put aside our own context and culture and design products that can be understood and loved by people all over the world.

Second, the villagers’ perspective. After looking at the entire product from the perspective of outer space, take root and integrate into the local community, explain your product in a language they can understand, and obtain the product in their way.

② Six dimensions

The first is product function. For example, how delicious the food is, how useful the mobile phone is, etc.

The second is To C (end customer-oriented) brand. Such as the brand names Vivo, OPPO and Xiaomi.

The third is To B (for corporate customers) . Why dealers choose you?

The fourth is To G (for government customers) .

Fifth is the CEO’s brand.

Sixth is the Made in China Label .

Finally, I would like to add that we need to continue to export brand culture.

We need to think about how to tell the story of Chinese brands well and build a brand that consumers truly like and remember, rather than just making money.

Small categories with big booms: focus, focus, focus

Among the new brands that continue to emerge, one of the highlights is to enter the market with a single product or a certain niche category, especially to occupy consumer awareness in a certain category.

For example, several new domestic challengers in the market have stood out because they focus on unmet segmented needs, focus on a single product in a certain category, and create their own characteristics through differentiation, micro-innovation, and new channels:

For example, Yuanqi Forest has set off a trend of zero-sugar beverages, Pop Mart has driven the blind box economy, Xiaoxiandun has launched instant bird's nests, Ramen Says and Zihaiguo focus on one-person dining scenes, and Huaxizi is positioned as a Chinese style cosmetics brand... These brands either start from function, design, scene, or social currency, and have fought for their own niche track in the giants' existing market, solving a new problem.

Among them, in the sub-sectors, domestic food and beauty and personal care sectors are far ahead.

Let’s start with the food sector. Here are some of my findings and insights:

●Almost all categories are facing healthy industrial upgrades.

In line with the trend towards health, light meals, 0 sugar and 0 fat have become one of the key words in 2022, and many brand products tend to be nutritious, high-quality and healthy.

For example, as healthy living becomes a "politically correct" thing, Oreo launched a 0 sugar series – highlighting the concept of zero sugar; Mars launched a low-calorie series – the taste remains the same, but the portion is reduced; Yuanqi Forest Chicken Breast Sausage – information is transparent, and the calories contained in the product are written directly on the packaging, which increases the transparency of product information and makes it easier for consumers to choose and buy!

●Consumption scenario.

For example, focusing on the single-person dining consumption scenario, Ramen Says, Singles Food, and Zihaiguo are all representatives;

●The trend towards food convenience is obvious.

For example, Kongke (instant pasta) , Sandunban (premium instant coffee) , Xiaoxiandun (instant bird's nest) and Wangbaobao (freeze-dried cereal) all focus on providing delicious food in a convenient way.

Let’s look at the beauty and personal care sector:

●Big single products will ignite the market.

For example, Half Acre Flower Field's body scrub, Ice Heli's Quicksand Gold Women's Perfume, and New Zealand Mystery's Hydro-Gel Refreshing Primer all build a solid brand moat around core products, making category = brand.

●Create differentiation and provide market value more efficiently.

For example, MOODY's "small and medium diameter, short throw" cosmetic contact lenses and Zhiguan's flagship "amino acid scalp care" shampoo, are designed to continuously meet more segmented needs.

Content marketing becomes a long-term strategic investment for enterprises

What will be the key factors that determine a company's growth potential in the next 10 years? My answer is: content.

Why do you say that? In an earlier tweet, I said:

Content = making product and brand value perceptible;

Content = brand’s potential, height and thickness.

For enterprises, content has become the "third element of communication" besides products and services.

So how to do content marketing well? Here are the four suggestions I have summarized after years of exploration:

1. Content dissemination emphasizes continuity, in-depth development, and investment, thereby building one’s own public opinion field.

The public opinion field is your potential, status, voice and discourse power in a certain niche field! Focus on a specific content area and continue to cultivate it.

Compared with "short, flat and fast" marketing actions, long-term deep cultivation is more challenging, but the value provided to consumers is profound, and the content is memorable, recognizable and even guiding.

Water does not compete for the lead, but for the continuous flow. It will become increasingly difficult to build a brand by leveraging traffic dividends in the future. Brands need to delve deeper into content, persist in long-term content investment, and promptly awaken and activate consumers through every touchpoint, rather than focusing only on creating internet celebrity brands.

2. Pursue quality, ignore quantity, establish user thinking, and abandon fan thinking.

One trusted traffic is equivalent to 1,000 normal traffics.

Traffic thinking is already an old way of playing, and now the new way of playing is "super user thinking".

My understanding of "super user thinking" is not to pursue so-called traffic, but to keep calm and carefully polish the content, create a leverage effect through good word of mouth, and thus win more users.

3. Gradually forming content IP

Don't always think about pursuing new things, hammering here and there. As the saying goes, ten birds in the forest are not as good as one bird in the hand. Accumulating brand content into IP can make the brand form a clear memory point in the minds of users, and even drive brand sales and development.

For example, Tmall Double 11, Taobao Maker Festival, Pepsi-Cola Brings Fun Home...are all unique IPs formed through the brand's long-term content accumulation.

4. The enterprise of the future must be a media company

The enterprise of the future must be a media company that needs to drive users with content and establish emotional and warm connections with users.

It is necessary to have planning genes to form a corporate user community through valuable and high-frequency activities and interactions. This will allow users to help you spread and build your brand.

Author: Sister Mulan

Source: Mulan Sister