2019 College Entrance Examination Marketing Tips are here!

Abstract: With extremely high popularity, rich and interpretable content and a wide audience, the college entrance examination is a good material for marketing. How can brands seize this hot spot, take advantage of the popularity and attract traffic? Then we have to improve the koi metaphysics, chicken soup effect, story development and memory killing in leveraging marketing .

After ten years of hard study, today you are on the list of successful candidates.

Every year’s college entrance examination is a major event that attracts the attention of the entire nation. On June 3, a topic titled "Only 4 days left to the college entrance examination" became a hot search, sparking nationwide discussion. Some netizens gave thumbs up and encouraged the college entrance examination students, some netizens forwarded the method of "staying calm" in the examination room, and some netizens recalled the good and bad times of their own college entrance examination years.

According to statistics, the number of college entrance examination candidates in 2019 may exceed 10 million. With the attention of students preparing for the exam, parents of candidates and the general public, the college entrance examination has become the hottest event in June.

The meaning behind the college entrance examination is also thought-provoking. The college entrance examination means growing up, graduation, separation, and it also means that students are about to face the first hurdle of life choices and the first screening of themselves by society.

The college entrance examination is a good material for marketing, as it is extremely popular, has rich and interpretable content and a wide audience. So, how can brands accurately grasp user psychology and create eye-catching marketing campaigns leveraging the college entrance examination?

1. The three steps of leveraging marketing: hot spots, interpretation and audience

The earliest act of leveraging momentum came from Zhuge Liang's borrowing arrows with straw boats in Romance of the Three Kingdoms. Zhuge Liang successfully leveraged the enemy's momentum through precise control of the weather and terrain and insight into the enemy's psychology, completing a perfect leverage. The leverage marketing in modern marketing comes from the brand "secondary association" theory, that is, the brand increases users' attention to the brand through collaborative interaction with other elements, which is what we commonly call "riding on the popularity".

Riding on hot topics is a basic quality of modern marketers, but how to ride on hot topics well and cleverly is a question worth thinking about.

Here, the author summarizes the three steps of leveraging marketing:

First of all, the brand must choose hot materials, and the topic must be hot and explosive enough to transfer the heat to the brand itself.

Secondly, the brand must have the ability to interpret hot events infinitely and take paths that others have not taken.

Finally, brands should have a precise insight into user psychology and understand exactly who is paying attention to this hot topic and who are the audiences that can be directly monetized through this marketing.

Taking the marketing leveraging the college entrance examination as an example, the college entrance examination itself is an extremely hot material. Firstly, there are many people participating. Countless students preparing for the exam and parents who are eagerly looking forward to it are direct participants of this exam; secondly, there are many people paying attention to it. The "melon-eating" people who have had the experience of taking the college entrance examination are also paying attention to this exam.

Secondly, the connotation behind the college entrance examination is also very rich. The college entrance examination is both a "single-plank bridge" and a "broad road". It means both growth and separation. It represents both youth and maturity. The college entrance examination material itself has rich textual connotations and different audience types, which gives brands unlimited possibilities to interpret the word "college entrance examination" in marketing.

Finally, the audience psychology mechanism behind the college entrance examination is also worthy of brand consideration. Whether it is the grand event of thousands of people turning koi to pray for blessings, the anti-intellectual poisonous chicken soup of "studying is useless", or the onlookers' mentality of eating melons, it is a marketing point that can be explored.

As the college entrance examination approaches, how should brands carry out marketing through leveraging the opportunity? Here, the author summarizes some practical information.

2. Marketing Tips for Taking Advantage of the College Entrance Examination

The three steps of marketing leveraging the college entrance examination are as follows: insight into hot topics and discover the portraits of people paying attention to the event; mining materials and interpreting the material texts in different ways; and finally, controlling the audience's psychology and finding the breakthrough point for marketing realization.

Therefore, in this marketing campaign, how to understand the psychology of different audiences and monetize marketing traffic based on these psychological mechanisms is a question worth considering for brands. According to the above analysis, the main audiences of college entrance examination marketing are: college entrance examination students, parents of candidates, and the general public. How to conduct leverage marketing targeting these audiences? Here, the author summarizes the following routines:

1. The Metaphysics of Koi Fish: The Magical Power of Good Luck

A koi fish can stir up the entire traffic market.

The mysterious power of "good luck" lies in the fact that although there is no scientific basis for them, we still believe in them firmly, or as the saying goes, "It is better to believe it than not to believe it."

A picture on Weibo that says "Retweet...picture, you will get good luck" can easily be forwarded over 10,000 times. Yang Chaoyue can quickly become popular with her koi character. Xin Xiaodai quickly became an Internet celebrity after becoming the lucky winner of the Alipay lucky draw, attracting a large number of netizens to come and absorb the "lucky energy".

Behind the metaphysics of "koi" lies the principle of symbolic symbolism.

“If we cannot or cannot completely explain something rationally according to the conventional way, but we still believe or intuitively understand that it has some important, even mysterious (unknown) meaning, it is regarded as a symbol.”

This is how Swiss psychologist Carl Jung explained symbolism. We will find that whether it is the koi, the orange or the plate of fish during the Chinese New Year, they are all symbols with symbolic meanings.

"Good luck" is a symbol of success and smoothness. When people lack 100% control over a matter, they will turn to external forces, even mysterious forces, for help. This is what the Chinese often say: "30% is determined by fate, and 70% depends on hard work." We can still work hard for 70%, but we cannot control the 30% of fate.

Without paying any price, you can get a bargain, gain psychological comfort and relieve stress. "Good luck" has become a business that will not lose money. This is why when the critical moment comes, all kinds of "good luck" stores are packed, all kinds of koi photos are forwarded crazily in the circle of friends, and all kinds of people go to Xin Xiaodai's Weibo to leave messages to absorb "lucky energy".

Before every exam, big and small koi become active, and all kinds of “good luck” appear on the screen. The emoticon package of "Retweet this Yang Chaoyue, you can get third place without any effort, and you can even transfer to another school if you get first or second place" is all over the circle of friends every time there is a major or minor exam.

The college entrance examination, as the most watched exam in China and an exam that determines the fate of all Chinese students, naturally triggers the desire of countless people to try to get a "good start", and this also provides many marketing opportunities.

In the marketing campaign leveraging the college entrance examination, brands must also make themselves the lucky fish and create good luck for candidates and their parents.

During the college entrance exam, all major brands have launched “exam victory” charms. Baidu's copy is "You will get all the answers in the test, and you will get all the answers right", Sogou's poster reads "With Sogou in hand, you will get all the answers in the test, and you will get all the answers right", and the slogan of ChaCha melon seeds is "ChaCha gets all the answers". Durex's copy is full of creativity, "extraordinary play", a double entendre.

The auspicious copy, coupled with illustrations of "good luck" such as Confucius, koi, lotus, Manjushri Bodhisattva, and a poster design that resembles a "talisman", triggered a wave of forwarding before the college entrance examination, attracting the attention of countless candidates and parents.

Every year during the college entrance examination, the most popular restaurants are those with auspicious names such as "Zhuangyuan Noodles", just like Xu Fuji, Wang Laoji, and Want Want will play with the words "Fu", "Ji", and "Wang" during festivals.

KFC also accurately understands this psychology of users. In order to get a "good start", KFC transformed the restaurant near the test site into a "stable" restaurant and invited parents of candidates to wait in the store. At the same time, KFC also launched the "Holy" Coupon Hold event during the College Entrance Examination Victory Week, giving away one million sundaes. Just participate in the H5 interaction and receive the "holy coupon". All people who have taken the college entrance examination or are about to take the college entrance examination can receive a sundae to cheer for the candidates.

McDonald's was not to be outdone and launched the "McMax" hamburger, using the word "Max" to attract college entrance examination students and successfully occupying the breakfast market for candidates.

With the help of the magical power of "good luck", the brand has successfully become a harvester for candidates and their parents. Rather than saying that people are consuming products, it is better to say that they are looking for some other confidence for themselves through consumption.

2. “Chicken soup” placebo: whether it is “tonic” or “toxic”, some people will accept it

Chicken soup for the soul is omnipresent in our lives, whether it is the inspirational chicken soup of "Gold will always shine", "Nothing is difficult in the world if you set your mind to it", or the heartwarming chicken soup of "Life is not a race, but a journey", or even the toxic chicken soup of "After graduation, the top students have to work for the poor students". As long as someone makes chicken soup, there will be people who drink it.

“One of the most solid and central problems in cultural criticism is the problem of a lie: culture creates the illusion of a society that is valuable to human beings, which does not exist; culture conceals the material conditions under which human beings work, and it maintains, by soothing and hypnotizing, the bad economic determination of survival.”

The Frankfurt School was the first to realize the false environment created by chicken soup for us. They criticized this "false satisfaction" and believed that it was a capitulation of media culture to ideology. But in life, chicken soup does have its reason for existence.

Chicken soup uses emotion as its entry point, directing all real problems into the private sphere and fabricating a picture of a "perfect world" for the public. It is a simple and effective placebo for the soul.

When people are overwhelmed by the pressure of real life, the inspirational chicken soup of "as long as you work hard, you can succeed" gives people the courage to fight against reality. When people find out that they don’t have the talent or diligence to fight against reality, the toxic chicken soup of “you can succeed without working hard” once again brainwashes them.

To a certain extent, the influence of toxic chicken soup even exceeds that of the chicken soup itself. It has a wider audience, a stronger paralyzing effect, and can achieve a "Mimeng"-style traffic acquisition effect. This is why the anti-intellectualism of the "study is useless theory" was once so rampant.

The college entrance examination is a major hurdle that students face on the threshold of adulthood. It is a battle and a challenge, and it also brings with it endless pressure. In the process of leveraging marketing, the brand also gained insight into this psychological mechanism of the candidates and cooked pot after pot of "chicken soup" for the candidates and their parents. Let’s review the brand’s “chicken soup” method in college entrance examination marketing:

Inspirational Chicken Soup: You are already a hero when you take the exam

Haier: It is worthy of the ambition to change the world and the persistence of ten years. If you don’t try your best here, your youth will be in vain.

Mercedes-Benz: This is one of the few competitions where looks are not a factor.

Meizu Technology: Open the door and embrace your greatest battle.

Heart-warming chicken soup: It’s okay if you don’t do well in the exam

Benz: The college entrance examination can only determine in which city you will live in the next few years.

Didi Chuxing: Just take the right path and don’t worry about the future. There is more than one way to travel in life.

Benz: Some people say that the college entrance examination is a qualifying competition, but the winner is not determined by the ranking.

Toxic Chicken Soup : Weakening the Impact of the College Entrance Examination on Life

Xishaoye: College entrance examination = entering university, entering university = selling roujiamo, thinking about the significance of the college entrance examination, I suddenly feel less nervous.

Xibei Catering: Candidates, you must work hard this year. Do well in the exam, go to a good university, and come to our Xibei in 4 years! Become the pride of Xibei! Those who didn’t do well in the exam…

You can start working on the 10th, and after 4 years you will be the leader of your classmates.

Whether it is the "chicken soup" that comforts the candidates' emotions, or the "Mimeng"-style poisonous chicken soup, the chicken soup undoubtedly comforts the candidates and parents who are about to take the exam, and achieves a good communication effect.

3. Story Marketing: Hitting the User’s Pain Points with “Laughing Points” and “Tears”

What is hidden deeper than memory is emotion, and what is easier to remember than information is scene. The college entrance examination, as a material full of stories, also provides brands with space for story-telling marketing.

There are two keys to the success of storytelling marketing: one is to choose materials with rich connotations and stories, and the other is to tell stories by capturing people’s pain points.

The college entrance examination itself has very rich connotations. It not only means that students are about to face the first screening of society, but also means separation and growth. The college entrance examination is actually a process of "laughter" and "tears". In leveraging marketing, brands must also learn to capture people's "laughter" and "tears" points for marketing.

"Pain points" can stimulate the audience's "emotions" and stories can cultivate "emotions". Therefore, when doing cross-border marketing for the college entrance examination, brands should focus on touching the audience's emotions about the story and setting up scenes that can stimulate the audience's emotions.

In college entrance examination marketing, both "laughing points" and "tear points" should be good materials for story marketing.

“Laughing Point” Marketing:

During the college entrance examination, we will all encounter some ridiculous things, which make us feel very panicked at the time, but are very interesting when we think back on them afterwards.

Topics such as "The most impressive thing in the college entrance examination" and "The stupidest thing that happened in the college entrance examination" on Weibo sparked heated discussions among netizens. Small incidents such as forgetting to bring the admission ticket and almost oversleeping became the spice of the exam and stimulated the memories of countless candidates.

If a brand’s college entrance examination marketing can grasp these little interesting events during the college entrance examination and carry out marketing, it will definitely achieve good publicity effects.

“Tear Point” Marketing:

The college entrance examination is a very big event in life; it is also very small in nature, just a relatively important exam. But the college entrance examination is also a checkpoint in students' lives. Stepping over this threshold means growth and also separation.

It is the season of blooming phoenix flowers again, and it is also the season of parting. Such a separation naturally arouses endless sorrow in people. Not only will the candidates shed tears of farewell at graduation, but the spectators who have experienced the college entrance examination will also recall those years, those people and those events. Therefore, grasping people's "tear points" and touching their feelings of separation has become another magic weapon for college entrance examination marketing.

Here, Morning Glory Stationery provides a textbook template:

"After graduation, no one will lend me an eraser and not return it.", "In the last Chinese class, the teacher wrote down the names of all the students in the class.", "I used to sneak out of school, but now I sneak in.", "I bought used books at 40 cents per pound and sold them for 158.8 yuan.", "On the day of graduation, I suddenly felt that my homeroom teacher was not so annoying.", "From then on, there were only winter and summer in my hometown, but no spring and autumn.", "Homeroom teacher, look at your books again, and I will look at you again."

These delicate words and life-like descriptions seem to bring us back to our youth, where we savor the ups and downs of growing up with the college entrance examination students. It is very moving.

On a day like the college entrance examination that has both "laughing points" and "tears", the brand fully grasps people's emotions and pain points to create story-telling scenes for people, allowing the audience to dream back to their senior year of high school through the story-telling description, thereby deepening the brand's personality charm and enhancing consumers' impression of the brand.

4. Reminiscence, carnival of the spectators

If you think that the college entrance examination only belongs to the candidates and their parents, you are wrong. Every spectator who has taken part in this exam can become a participant in this carnival.

"Because real life is like a long roll of film, our memories and expectations are just a selection of the wonderful pictures in it."

“Memory, like expectation, is a tool for simplifying and editing reality.”

This is how memories are described in the book "Memories of Travel". Since people automatically edit and splice the beautiful and interesting things in our lives during the recollection process, memories always have a heavy filter.

The importance of the college entrance examination itself has made this exam leave a strong mark in the life of each of us. Coupled with the memory filter effect of "memories are always beautiful", the college entrance examination has become an unforgettable memory for each of us.

Bringing back a wave of memories from the college entrance examination has become a trick for brands to leverage the college entrance examination to conduct marketing. If you can add some creativity to the "nostalgia", it will attract more attention from the crowd.

In the college entrance examination marketing, McDonald's took the lead and launched a wave of creative interactive marketing of "nostalgia" - "You were more beautiful when you were 18? One click to go back to those years!"

By choosing the time of their college entrance examination and providing their own photo, consumers can create their own admission ticket online. It is worth noting that McDonald’s also provided different versions of admission ticket styles from different eras through its marketing campaign. Consumers can choose different forms of admission tickets according to the year of their college entrance examination. It is the 40th anniversary of the resumption of the college entrance examination. McDonald's has customized versions of admission tickets for the 70s, 80s, 90s and 00s to make consumers feel more involved and more likely to be swept up in the wave of memories.

The admission ticket is an item that is closely related to our college entrance examination memories. In addition to the admission ticket, what can trigger our memories are the mountains of test papers and thick exercises during the college entrance examination.

The design of the college entrance examination poster of Uni-President Laotan Pickled Cabbage Noodles is exactly the same as the "Five Years of College Entrance Examination, Three Years of Simulation" that makes students "terrified". The purple cover, the big golden characters and the caption "Five years of college entrance exams, ten years of bitterness" made users laugh and cry.

College entrance examination papers are great materials for leveraging marketing. Durex’s promotional materials imitated the design of the college entrance examination papers, including all necessary information such as admission ticket number, seat number, name, etc. In the precautions column, Durex "heartwarmingly" wrote a few things to note about the college entrance examination. These include "doing it fast does not mean doing it well" and "write the solution before doing it", which not only make the candidates feel considerate, but also let the onlookers recall how they took the college entrance examination that year.

OFO's marketing of college entrance examination questions is also unique, and the unique mock test questions make the onlookers laugh. The content of the copy is as follows:

In this context, the following words are used appropriately:

I’m so envious of the ofo legs that the young ladies show off! I definitely ride a yellow bike when I go out.

A. Extremely beautiful B. Two-meter-long legs

C、towering into the skyD、wasteful

The unique expression format of the Chinese language multiple-choice questions in the college entrance examination, the light-hearted and humorous language expression, and the clever implantation of brand information have made OFO's college entrance examination marketing achieve good communication effects.

3. Conclusion

Due to its natural "high attention" and "storytelling nature", the college entrance examination is not only an exam that attracts national attention, but also a good material for leveraging marketing.

In this article, the author summarizes some common tactics on how to seize the hot topic of the college entrance examination, take advantage of the popularity and attract traffic. In leverage marketing, identifying and understanding consumers’ psychology is the key to success.

Related reading:

1. All the creative marketing ideas for leveraging the college entrance examination are ready! Super practical!

2. How to leverage the college entrance examination for marketing?

Author: Fang Yun

Source: PR Home