How to create a popular internet celebrity brand from 0 to 1?

Since last year, consumption has once again become a hot topic.

About 10 years ago, the core of the consumer sector was channels. The most talked about thing at that time was that channels were king. As long as the channel network could be built well, there would be no goods that could not be sold.

But consumption has also become a hot topic recently (maybe there are really no other hot topics during this period), in fact, some interesting changes have taken place in the channels.

On many newly emerging social platforms, such as Xiaohongshu, WeChat, Taobao Live, Douyin, Kuaishou and other traffic platforms, they have launched the product promotion function, which has brought huge traffic dividends to emerging brands and become an important emerging marketing and sales position for consumer goods.

Today’s article is about brands that have launched hit products in a short period of time on social platforms.

The definition of a hit product here refers to: it is sold out in a very short period of time, the sales in a short period of time may be the total sales of the past year, and it has received over 100 million views on social platforms such as Weibo... They are different from pure internet celebrities selling goods, they have their own brands and also have offline stores.

We sent interview invitations to these companies, and some of them responded to our interviews as soon as possible. Some of them are from the Jingwei Department, and some are from Yiwan College. We also find them quite interesting - for example, the Duanpian ice cream launched by Zhong Xuegao and the previously popular Ecuadorian pink diamond; for example, the interaction between Zhiguan's durian shampoo and Yi Yang Qianxi. What's interesting is that the four-character brother is also the spokesperson for other daily chemical cleaning and care brands; for example, the cumulative sales of Sanban's bird's nest toothpaste have reached 60 million, and it has received the support of 11 celebrities.

These companies have one thing in common: they are more familiar with traditional channels, but at the same time they are very familiar with one of the above-mentioned social channels. They can talk about the unique features of this platform and know how to make their voice heard on this platform through content.

We talked to them about how to build an internet celebrity brand from 0 to 1, how to become a hit-making machine, and how to choose the most cost-effective channel.

Below, Enjoy~~

Zhong Xue Gao Lin Sheng - Blackout Ice Cream: 20,000 pieces sold in half an hour, 140 million views on Weibo

Founded in March 2018, Zhong Xue Gao is a Chinese ice cream brand known as the Hermès of ice cream, with annual sales exceeding 100 million yuan.

In 2018, it became the brand with the largest number of notes and sales in the food field of Xiaohongshu.

During the 618 shopping festival this year, Zhong Xue Gao sold two million pieces of ice cream.

1. Why did Blackout Ice Cream become so popular?

1) Influential cross-industry partners

We have been trying to develop wine-flavored ice cream in the laboratory, and it just so happened that the head of our brand center and the senior management of Luzhou Laojiao met at a meeting, and they hit it off and decided to work together. Luzhou Laojiao is a very excellent and traditional domestic brand, and Zhong Xuegao is also a new domestic brand. We have also always wanted to do wine research and development, so there must be a good point of combination.

So we hit it off immediately and both sides contributed resources. They provided very good aged base wine, and we used innovative methods to turn it into the concept of wine-filled ice cream.

Therefore, this cross-border collaboration has a good combination point in terms of brand and is also a new innovation in the category.

2) Good products speak for themselves

The basis of cross-border cooperation among partners lies in whether the product is good enough, whether the product has breakthroughs, and whether it is differentiated, rather than superficial cooperation of putting both parties' logos together.

In terms of technology, we found a new method - there was wine-flavored ice cream on the market before, but no real wine-flavored ice cream. We inject real alcohol into the ice cream, removing all the bitterness and spiciness of strong liquor, but retaining the very rich aroma of the wine and the very strong sweet aftertaste.

In order to achieve these effects, the product department asked me to taste more than 30 different adjustments of this ice cream from research and development to the final launch.

3) Estimation of stocking

We only have 20,000 batches of Duanpian ice cream for two reasons:

1. 20,000 pieces is the minimum quantity, which can achieve a reasonable production cost performance;
2. We hope to control popular products; if consumers come because of a certain product or flavor style, they will definitely leave one day because of another product or flavor style. Their interests shift very quickly.

We hope that everyone will remember the entire Zhong Xue Gao rather than a single product. We only have 10 SKUs now, and it will not exceed 15 in the future.

It is important to control the rhythm. We hope to have seven or eight long-lasting classics, and the rest will be continuously updated and iterated. The core products of old products are used to consolidate old users, while innovative products are used to attract new users.

For Duanpian ice cream, we defined it as a topical product from the very beginning. Whether it sells out in half an hour or a day, we have no control over it. If it is not sold out within a month and the shelf life has expired, we will destroy it.

4) Cost-effective communication method

The method of promotion this time was to give the product to opinion leaders and let them spread the word. Everyone thought it was great and were willing to spread it a second or third time. In the end, #白酒断片雪糕# had 140 million views on Weibo.

Finally, when the Duanpian ice cream was launched on September 9, it was sold out in 30 minutes, just as I expected.

2. How did Zhong Xue Gao create its best-selling products?

In the final analysis, if you want to create a hit product, you must first achieve a breakthrough in the product, then a breakthrough in the content, and finally create external momentum.

1) Product breakthrough

Product breakthrough means that the product must be different from other brands and make a breakthrough that users will talk about. For example, Zhong Xue Gao’s straw biodegradable sticks, the highest content chocolate ice cream, and the very bitter matcha ice cream…

Behind product breakthroughs is actually the supply chain, and the supply chain is the barrier to creating explosive products - how to achieve unique formulas, unique processes, controllable quality, and managed output. We put our greatest resources and energy on the supply chain, and I personally spent more than 50% of my energy on it.

First of all, Zhong Xuegao’s supply chain team includes executives from the production and supply chains of multinational companies and some senior technical personnel from the largest ice cream company in the country. They are all very front-line teams.

Second, we adopt the OEM model.

The most common OEM model is to rely on the OEM factory. The formula is from the OEM factory, the production is also from the OEM factory, and everything is done based on the existing conditions of the OEM factory. Finally, the quality control is also done by the OEM factory, because this is the most worry-free and lightest approach.

But in order to improve the quality, we invested in our own production lines, some equipment, directly managed the OEM factories, and participated in the management of all aspects of production.

Also, the procurement is our own. We have a large on-site and management team, which means that a large part of our production is independent.

Third, R&D. Most of Zhong Xuegao’s R&D is independent.

There are many interesting things in Zhong Xue Gao’s product library, and we will bring them out one after another. Innovation is not a flash of inspiration, but persistent creativity.

Finally, our cold chain is basically in our own hands. From warehousing to trunk line transportation, to packaging, and then to shipment, we were responsible for all the processes ourselves at first. Now we have found better brand partners in Guangzhou, Chengdu, Beijing and other places, but we have detailed the logistics and shipment standards of Zhong Xuegao and the communication mechanism between the two parties.

2) Content breakthrough

Content breakthrough and product breakthrough are inseparable.

The prerequisite for content breakthrough is that the product has a breakthrough, so that there is more material for content breakthrough.

3) External promotion

Before Zhong Xue Gao went public, we analyzed the mainstream promotional platforms and media in the market and believed that Xiaohongshu had appeal and was the most compatible with us, so we tried every possible way to impress it.

Most people just regard Xiaohongshu as one of the channels for communication. You get what you pay for. The more money you pay to Xiaohongshu, the more work it will do. We hope that every staff member of Xiaohongshu can try Zhong Xuegao’s products. It was so exaggerated that when Xiaohongshu people held morning meetings, the tea they brought in was all Zhong Xuegao.

Our team has in-depth communication with people at different levels and departments of Xiaohongshu, constantly talking about our ideas and vision, and striving for more support and resources from Xiaohongshu. Many of these were not gained through money, but rather because our ideas and products impressed others and made them willing to support and train us.

In the end, it took us just over three months to rank first in the number of notes, topics, interactions, and sales on Xiaohongshu.

Similarly, now everyone is saying that Douyin and Kuaishou are important, but whether you can truly invest in them is very crucial.

Zhiguan Tang Liang - Durian Shampoo: 140 million views on Weibo

The Zhiguan brand was born in 2016 and is a leading brand of amino acid cleansing products in China, with sales of hundreds of millions in 2018.

In 2016, Zhiguan was the first in the country to launch a full range of amino acid cleansing products, becoming the leader in China's amino acid cleansing products.

The popular product "Fluffy Little Purple Bottle" sold 100,000 bottles in the first five minutes of "Double Eleven" in 2018, and more than 200,000 bottles were sold on the same day, becoming the number one fluffy shampoo online.

1. Why is durian shampoo so popular?

1) Big brain cross-border

When making the annual communication plan at the beginning of the year, the Zhiguan brand team came up with the idea of ​​cross-border cooperation with a cocktail company. After communicating with Tmall’s store manager, they were also very interested, so we organized a cross-border event.

It just so happened that this cocktail company was going to serve a durian-flavored cocktail, and someone had a brilliant idea and suggested coming up with a durian shampoo to play with.

Most people’s first reaction is – who would put durian flavor on their head?

But after some research, I found that some people love durian while others hate it. Both the love and hate are extreme, and there are strong conflicts and topics. Cross-border products themselves require a lot of imagination and are quite bizarre.

In addition, durian is very functional and nourishing. People in Guangdong say that one durian is equivalent to three chickens. The products contain plant extracts, which is also the route that Zhiguan has always adhered to.

Due to various reasons, the cross-border cooperation with this cocktail company failed. But both we and Tmall thought durian shampoo was interesting, so we decided to launch a durian-flavored shampoo.

2) Products should be original and surprising

Therefore, we need to solve two problems from a technical perspective first - make it likeable for people who like it, but after use, it will not cause problems for people who don’t like it, and it will not cause social distress to users.

The entire research and development process was still very bumpy.

We found an international fragrance company ranked among the top three in the world to create the fragrance. But when the taste was first prepared, my colleagues in the office were not impressed.

Later, a classmate got inspiration from durian-flavored foods and decided to try using food-grade durian essence. The effect was obvious, and durian lovers in the office all said in one voice: "This is the taste."

We were also worried that we would be beaten if we went out wearing a durian scent, so we used durian scent in the top note, fruity scent in the middle note, and milky scent in the base note. When washing your hair, it smells like durian, and after washing, it is left with a milky scent, which will not cause any social problems. Add to that our best-selling volumizing shampoo and you have it all.

Durian-flavored shampoo is contagious, and the final product must be useful to users.

Afterwards we thought that if we just launched a "stinky tofu-scented" shampoo for the sake of publicity, the effect would probably be much worse.

3) Estimation of stocking

At that time, we only placed the first order for 3,000 pieces. Because durian is not a regular product and is controversial, everyone feels it is better to set a more conservative number.

The number of 3,000 orders is basically an insurance value. If they cannot be sold, you can use the store traffic for activities or give them away as gifts, and the risk is controllable.

At the beginning, the supplier required a minimum order of 10,000 pieces. Our supply chain colleagues went to talk to them and finally agreed to make an exception.

4) Leverage the power of the platform

After the product came out, we decided to use Weibo as the main platform for promotion, as topical content works better on Weibo.

Since the durian shampoo project was a collaboration with Tmall, Tmall provided resources to help promote and market the product, which is much better than spending our own money. As a result, it received 100 million Weibo views on the first day.

On the one hand, durian-flavored shampoo itself is a hot topic; another thing we didn’t expect was that the celebrity Yi Yang Qianxi once joked, “I hope to come out with a durian-flavored shampoo” - after our product was released, many netizens @ him on Weibo, saying “The shampoo that the four-character brother wanted has arrived.”

5) Some reflections

We also reflected on this later and realized that only by de-commercialization can we achieve better communication, and we should remove the brand when communicating on Weibo. Zhiguan’s brand information should not be amplified, because if the brand information is added, the traffic will be restricted and you will not be able to like or comment.

Secondly, topical products should be more forward-looking. Durian shampoo brought a lot of traffic, but because we didn’t have much stock of durian shampoo, we only released about 500 orders every day and took them off the shelves once they were sold out. In the end, the product was sold out before September 9th. You can actually be bolder in stocking up.

At the same time, the traffic brought by durian shampoo can also be used to better boost the sales of normal goods.

3. 6 key points to build an influencer brand from 0 to 1

In the daily chemical cleaning and care market, which is already dominated by giants and almost monopolized, the rise of Zhiguan is essential for six reasons:

1) Selling points need to be buried at the product level

Everything that can be packaged on the marketing side is actually buried in the product, so the product must be made well, must be innovative, and marketing must be put in the forefront.

We have a 5D product scoring standard internally:

• Desirable (makes people want to buy);
• Distinctive
• Decisive (simple and clear);
• Visually Display
• Driving Equity.

2) Product technology research and development requires strong enough technical implementation

We have established our own R&D center, and the combined experience of our R&D staff exceeds 50 years.

3) Strong supply chain

Most of our supply chain colleagues come from Procter & Gamble. The packaging process for the skin care products we launched some time ago was very difficult because a certain big brand also used a similar process, but the probability of the product bottle mouth cracking was very high and it could only be inspected manually.

Our engineer in charge of the packaging process discovered that there was a problem with the mold design and made timely adjustments, and the final product integrity rate was very good.

4) Strong marketing capabilities

We need to innovate in channels, have new channels, new ways of playing, and make good use of various new media.

We started our business in 2015 and produced the product in 2016, just in time for the dividends of social media. We started with a public account, which helped us get through the cold start period.

Now, Douyin is the platform with the largest traffic, and Xiaohongshu is the most important word-of-mouth platform. These two peaks must be conquered.

5) Follow the trends and gameplay of e-commerce platforms

A large amount of data can be seen in Tmall’s backend, and a good grasp of the selling points and trends of product categories can be obtained. We require brand and product teams to work together on the Tmall platform to plan activities and promote products.

In the past, when we were in a big company, we used one campaign idea on all channels. Now, Tmall is our most important channel. We need to design products and marketing activities around the Tmall platform and its major marketing nodes. If we can find an entry point that Tmall also likes, the product will be half successful.

6) Maintain good user relationships and operate private domain traffic well

For example, the social networks, official accounts, WeChat, Weibo, text messages, etc. of old users are all the same. The main thing is the attitude towards users. We treat users as friends.

In general, fast-moving consumer goods have relatively high requirements for the team from top to bottom, and what is implemented is a complete system from top to bottom.

Canban Yinkuo - Bird's Nest Toothpaste: Cumulative sales reached 60 million

Founded at the end of 2017, Canban is positioned as a daily chemical and personal care brand for young people. Annual sales exceed 100 million.

Less than a month after its launch, it achieved sales of 70,000 units and nearly 6 million yuan.

On Double 11 in 2018, sales on that day exceeded 10 million.

1. Why is bird’s nest toothpaste so popular?

1) Unique memorable points of the product

Traditional toothpastes are differentiated by their functions, such as stopping bleeding, whitening, freshening breath, etc. But when efficacy becomes the basic value, whether or not a new product form can be created is crucial.

Taking the popular bird's nest toothpaste of Sanban as an example, we have innovated the product category of toothpaste and changed the taste sensation of traditional toothpaste. Because among all daily chemical products, toothpaste is the only one that goes into the mouth. Other products emphasize more on smell and skin feel, but oral products are put into the mouth, which will bring about taste memory.

This is also our biggest difficulty in the process of product development. In the past, traditional toothpastes were made within chemical formulas and systems. We jumped out of that barrier and looked for formulas and flavors from the flavors in chewing gum and from the flavors in food and beverages. We also tried the taste and the taste that remained in the mouth after brushing the teeth.

It took about 8 and a half months from research and development to the final launch of the bird's nest toothpaste. I tried it for a long time. Sometimes I brushed my teeth 50 times a day, and for a while my teeth were numb from brushing.

Finally, the taste of our toothpaste after brushing is quite different from traditional toothpaste, which is the core point that leads to repeat purchases and spread of the word.

2) Trendy packaging

After the product was developed, we also put a lot of thought into its packaging. Because the core demands of new consumers are different from those of the previous generation in that they want things that are different from what the previous generation used, so there needs to be adjustments in appearance and design concepts.

If the product is upgraded and a method is found to improve its selling point, design, packaging and functionality, it will become a huge lever. This lever can be used to gain access to more people through the traffic dividend of the past two years.

For example, the shape of the Sanban toothpaste is very similar to sunscreen, and the concept of stamps is used to make the toothpaste packaging. In the entire visual three-dimensional experience, this toothpaste looks like a life and entertainment product. There are a lot of cross-border elements, which can make consumers feel that we are a very trendy and cool brand.

3) Estimation of stocking

We ordered 60,000 bottles for the first batch. Because we think the taste of bird's nest is particularly suitable for girls. It has a light fragrance without being greasy, and feels very graceful and gentle, which girls should like more.

In fact, our ideal situation is 10,000 bottles, but suppliers will not produce 10,000 bottles, so we consider it based on production capacity, including the minimum amount that suppliers can produce.

In addition, if a product becomes popular, there will be a cycle for restocking. We are a new brand and perhaps not so many people are willing to wait, so the best golden period will be missed, so we increased the quantity to 60,000 bottles.

The number of 60,000 is the middle value between our most optimistic and least optimistic estimates. Our most optimistic estimate is that if all 60,000 bottles are sold out after it becomes a hit, it will become a hot-selling product; but even if it cannot be consumed, if we can turn it around in two to three months, this is a relatively safe factor.

4) Echelon-style star bombing tactics

In terms of communication, we approached celebrities to promote this product.

There are several ports for traffic: one port is the current Internet celebrity traffic, which is a more direct type of traffic that brings goods; the other is celebrities. Celebrities’ ability to bring goods is not as strong as that of Internet celebrities, but the leverage effect they bring is better.

If many celebrities endorse a product at the same time within a certain period of time, it will be a better endorsement for the product. People will think that the brand is quite strong and can support the price. So our first wave of communication chose celebrities as the group.

However, when choosing stars, they are also divided into different levels. Popular stars are very expensive, so in order to save the marketing budget, we have formed a echelon - one first-line star with multiple current variety show stars; variety show stars have traffic within a certain period of time, and if they become popular after this period of time, they will continue to have traffic, and if they are not popular, they may disappear.

Every company that wants to play with traffic should have a nose for traffic. During the period of advertising, we began to explore a large number of variety shows, such as "Longing for Life", "Super Mom", "Here Comes the Goddess" and other variety shows on Mango TV at the time, looking for potential young actors and actresses who have the potential to become popular but have not yet become popular.

At that time, Jackson Wang was not that popular yet. The first season of “The Rap of China” had just started airing, and Jackson Wang had just become a backup singer. He Jiong had just started to support him. So we went to find him. Although he wasn't famous at the time, the show was still popular. It was on the hot topics and trending searches every day, so we took advantage of this wave of traffic and gave it a push.

In addition, the bombing tactics of concentrating multiple stars at the same time is far more effective than the tactics of adding fuel to the fire of multiple stars over a long period of time.

So we found a total of 11 stars at that time, from the end of May to the beginning of June last year, and created a pretty good momentum, but didn't spend much money.

At that point in time, variety shows had traffic bonuses, and Xiaohongshu also had traffic bonuses, so the method of using the first wave of celebrities to bring in the first wave of brand traffic and sales was very effective.

Our first batch of 60,000 tubes of toothpaste sold out in the second month. Up to now, the cumulative sales of bird's nest toothpaste have reached 60 million.

2. How do new consumer products control new traffic?

1) Seize PR traffic

Now many companies are discussing the traffic of Tik Tok and Kuaishou, but I think these traffic are too expensive, and their coverage is very small, covering only the fans of those internet celebrities themselves.

What we do more is public relations-type traffic, that is, creating events.

From the end of May 2018 to June 2019, we were on the hot search list 11 times in one year. For example, when we were looking for Zhang Xuanrui, Daughters’ Love had just been aired not long ago, and we thought he would definitely be a hot search because he is handsome, talented, and sunny.

Therefore, we signed a one-time contract with him very early on, and then kept an eye on the broadcast trends of the program. Once it became a hot topic, we would bring out our product. In this way, we could create an exposure of tens of millions with very little money.

2) Mining head traffic

In addition, it is also very important to tap into head traffic, which requires a sense of traffic.

Recently, we signed Lisa, a member of the Korean girl group BLACKPINK. She has 37 million followers on Instagram, but has never opened a Weibo account. After her Instagram was widely copied in China, Lisa became very popular among young people in China.

So we learned early on through the actions of Weibo marketing accounts that she was going to be popular, and signed her for a cooperation contract at a very low price. Because of our collaboration with Lisa, we were on the hot search again, with 170 million readings of the topic on Weibo. She has nearly 3 million likes on Instagram.

Stars of Lisa's level have a huge influence throughout Asia. She has basically never cooperated with Chinese brands on a global scale because all her endorsements are for international brands and luxury goods. Canban is the only brand she cooperates with in China, so in terms of the entire brand endorsement, everyone positions Canban as a high-end brand.

Since signing Lisa, the influence of our products in countries like Thailand, Indonesia and Malaysia has increased dramatically, and they are selling very well.

Our earliest sales in Thailand and Indonesia were through local agents, and there were relatively few channels in the early days. But after working with Lisa, due to her influence in Southeast Asia, Canban's influence also increased suddenly. The agents were also very confident and began to discuss channels with some of their local e-commerce companies, small supermarkets, and convenience stores.

In general, controlling new traffic requires a lot of ingenuity and methods, and requires a lot of energy and time.

Author: Jingwei Home Page

Source: Matrix Partners China (ID: matrixpartnerschina)