Brand Marketing Promotion | Where will the “viral” spread of vulgar marketing lead to?

Introduction: I don’t know when it started, but the Internet has developed a strong interest in all kinds of “suggestive” content. What guides all of this is ultimately "human nature".

Frank Darabont said in "The Shawshank Redemption": "Life can be reduced to a simple choice: either be busy living or be busy dying." Vulgar marketing may be on the road to "self-destruction" in order to survive.

It is undeniable that in such an environment, vulgar marketing still has an irresistible temptation for many companies. The practice of companies gaining traffic through vulgar marketing can be said to be a set of "marketing seven injuries punch". The greater the degree of vulgarity of an enterprise, the greater the damage it will receive. This understanding is a consensus in today's marketing circle, but many companies still choose this "drinking poison to quench thirst" method to irrigate the company with "poisonous" attention traffic.

With the launch of the Internet cleaning campaign, "connotation jokes" were the first to be affected and were forcibly "purified". The content output by self-media was greatly purified and the Internet atmosphere was greatly improved. In such an environment, there are still fearless "jumpers" who are frantically testing the edge of "death".

So, why is vulgar marketing so persistent despite repeated bans, why is it always popular, and what is the essence of this marketing?

Vulgar marketing: Marketing that exploits "human nature" can never be isolated from humans

“Good news doesn’t travel far, but bad news travels far and wide.” The public has a natural enthusiasm for paying attention to “negative emotional” content, and corresponding “negative emotional” content has more advantages in being spread.

More and more companies are using more "obscure" or "suggestive" words when publishing content to attract more attention and make the content easier to spread. The application of vulgar marketing in today's market can be said to be spread across all walks of life, impacting the market in various forms and in an all-pervasive manner. Although it has been banned, it has never stopped.

Starting from the public's intentions, let's analyze the basis for the success of this marketing strategy. When browsing information, most netizens will spontaneously click on content that interests them. Based on this point, the mystery of why vulgar marketing is so popular is easily solved.

People are more inclined to read "obscure" and "suggestive" articles, which can greatly satisfy the dark side of people's hearts. This is a flaw in human nature. For example, on Weibo hot searches, negative content is more likely to become a hot topic and more likely to generate topics. For example, Wang Yuan’s smoking before could directly set off a fire on the Internet. For a self-media company, the report on national scientific research results is more attractive to netizens than the report on "20 female college students missing". Therefore, while netizens are criticizing various self-media or the current state of the Internet, have they ever reflected on their own problems? Why are more and more reports leaning towards negativity? All articles serve people, and they tend to produce content that people are interested in in order to bring benefits to their company.

"People will try their best to show a glorious image of 'truth, goodness and beauty' in front of others, and they will habitually deny the dark side, even if it has always been there." Someone once expressed this view on human nature. In the movie "The Invisible Man", "When others cannot detect, the demons within human beings will dominate human nature."

The question is whether the company's choice of vulgar marketing that exploits "human nature" is "ignorant" like a moth flying into a flame, or "fearless" like heading for the mountain despite knowing there is a tiger lurking there.

In recent years, they have "done" the vulgar "poisonous wine" and the "characters" of vulgar marketing representatives

“Character” illustration 1: Highlight moment of vulgar marketing “Uniqlo fitting room” incident:

In July 2015, this event, which was once widely reported and known throughout the country, was thought to be the best era for vulgar marketing, but unexpectedly, this moment was already the peak. In order to respond to the call of "Sword Net 2019", the details of the Uniqlo fitting room incident will not be elaborated.

Summary of the event: With the lowest cost, we carried out a marketing campaign with the greatest impact. While reaping the rewards of violence, they withdrew from the current situation and focused on "building brand concepts and shaping product value", embarking on the road of "detoxification".

“Character” illustration 2: The latecomer of vulgar marketing, Coco Tree Coconut Juice, “I have been drinking it since I was a child”:

During the 2019 Spring Festival, the most popular beverage in the industry was not Uni-President or Master Kong; nor was it Coke or Sprite; but rather, Coco Tree coconut juice. This Spring Festival, Coco Tree Coconut Juice, an old brand in people's memory, directly overturned the cognition of many people. This old brand, which should have been conservative and simple, was unwilling to be lonely during the Spring Festival and performed an "enchanting dance" for everyone.

The large-scale clothing advertisement, coupled with the slogan "I have been drinking it since I was a child", immediately sparked people's endless imagination. Is coconut water linked to breast enhancement? Can an old brand be so unique? How could Coco Tree coconut juice "ruin your childhood" so much?

While being widely controversial, Coco Tree coconut juice has also ushered in its spring of sales. During the Spring Festival of 2019, I always feel that I drink more coconut milk than in previous years.

Event summary: While Coco Tree brand coconut juice has attracted public attention, it has also brought huge profits to the company. From a marketing perspective, it was a success. Finally, under the review of the Internet Cleaning Campaign, Coco Tree Coconut Juice also received corresponding punishments, but compared with its profits, in general, the income far outweighs the cost, so it is a good deal. As for whether Coco Tree coconut juice needs to be detoxified in the future, we will leave it to time to verify.

“Character” illustration 3: The sacrifice of vulgar marketing, the “MiM” public account, they are a group of people who create panic:

The dead are gone, and the living should learn from them. The "suicide" who was madly testing the brink of death finally "died". Even though his operations "before death" were as fast as an antelope hanging on a horn and reached the peak in seconds, it was of no use!

Vulgarity is not limited to "sex", but also includes negative elements such as "cyber violence" and "panic". The "Mi M" public account had previously made huge profits by using content such as "cyber violence" and "creating panic". In the end, it was completely blocked by macro-control policies.

The "Mi M" notarized account is a sacrifice in vulgar marketing, and it also sounds a wake-up call for other self-media platforms. Let them know that the Internet is not a "gray lawless place".

Summary of the incident: The Internet is not a "gray lawless place". The content of speech should be based on reality and should not blindly guide the masses. Otherwise, the company will face the most severe punishment.

From the list of three types of vulgar marketing "characters" with distinct personalities, it is not difficult to find that the same marketing techniques will ultimately lead to very different results. What is the key point that determines all this? How should companies use vulgar marketing reasonably?

First of all, policy is the main factor that determines the consequences of companies engaging in vulgar marketing, such as the ban on the "Mi M" public account.

Secondly, grasp the correlation of negative impacts. Although the Uniqlo incident was the largest in scale, from the logic of the incident, it has no direct relationship with Uniqlo. For Uniqlo, the incident is more like a product placement. The difference is that in the past, product placement was driven by the influence of the carrier, while here, product placement drives the development of the carrier. Companies in this situation generally will not be directly impacted, so there will be no fundamental impact on the foundation of the brand.

Finally, if it is directly linked to the brand, it is necessary to grasp the scale. "Mi M" was eventually punished because of her failure to grasp the scale perfectly. Coco Tree Coconut Juice mainly uses the method of "suggestion" and plays "edge ball" of the rules. Therefore, while achieving marketing effects, the company will not be directly impacted.

Where will the “viral” spread of vulgar marketing lead to? Vulgar marketing is always easier to spread in such an online environment. However, different operation methods will result in different final results. Where does the road to “viral” spread lead to? Either a long road of detoxification and healing, or the end of the road. Based on the multi-dimensional impact of vulgar marketing, we analyze it from three aspects: the scale of vulgar marketing, the combination marketing methods with vulgar marketing, and the corporate brand image.

1. Sense of scale: a little vulgarity is pleasing to the heart, but too much vulgarity is fatal.

Connotational edge ball: Some vulgarity may exist if you think it exists, or not exist if you think it does not exist, or it may be implicit or suggested. Companies can greatly attract users' attention by promoting their products through content or advertisements that contain deep meanings. The feeling of being ambiguous is often more tempting than being "explicit". Appropriate use of this marketing technique will not have much impact on the company. Even if there is a certain amount of loss, it is within an acceptable range. Therefore, this path leads to the "slightly bumpy shortcut".

Vulgarity: This classification method is to make an intuitive explanation on the surface, but it will not be completely released. For example, many companies or organizations in our country will have a Japanese actress to attract the attention of the public and increase their own popularity. This type of approach will cause greater damage to the company or organization than the previous one. If they take a step forward, there will be no recovery, but if they take a step back, there will be a bright future.

Vulgarity: This is a way to gain benefits directly by spreading vulgar content indiscriminately. This type of method can only exist in a dark gray area because it has no bottom line, is explicit, and spreads bad content. If it is exposed, it will face "death".

2. Brand image and the same vulgar marketing: same person, different fate

Different companies, due to their different industries, face completely different results even if they use the same vulgar marketing. Many companies can't help but sigh that "same people have different fates."

Adult products like Durex have vulgarity as their soul. If they are not vulgar, they will not be able to survive. There is a kind of copywriting called "Durex". Sometimes it is a cross-border expert, successfully raising the popularity of both parties with vulgar content; sometimes it is a "mudslide" in the advertising industry, directly pitting its partners beyond all possibility. The cross-border joint advertisement between HEYTEA and Durex used vulgar content and explicit questions, which made the audience exclaim: "I can't stand it", "Who can stand this", "I have a traumatic impression of HEYTEA", "It's such a bad habit".

Even though some industries have a natural advantage in using vulgar marketing, the relationship between the two should be considered when using vulgar marketing. Otherwise, the "unjust" situation of "my friend dies, but I live" will occur, and I will have no friends.

For special industries, the use of vulgar marketing is really like a fish in water for them. The "viral" spread of vulgar marketing is like a smooth road to light for them.

3. Marketing mix: poisoning, healing, detoxification is that simple

If a company has already experienced vulgar marketing, and is a company with normal content, how can it "save itself" after being "eroded" by vulgar marketing?

It’s very simple, it’s actually “poisoning”. Just follow a set of “detoxification” processes: poisoning - detoxification - recovery/death from poisoning.

How to "detoxify": If an enterprise has been "eroded" by vulgar marketing and is in a "poisoned" state, using operational strategies to detoxify may allow it to enjoy the "benefits" brought by vulgar marketing and digest the "poison" that accompanies vulgar marketing. Why not do it!

①. Forbearance and re-emergence: For products that are particularly sensitive to seasonality, after using popular marketing to obtain huge traffic, you can lurk in the market and let the public dilute the "bad" impression, and then re-emerge when the season comes. Coco Tree Coconut Juice uses this method. During the Spring Festival, this method has brought huge profits to the company. On ordinary days, it keeps a low profile and kills the public's impression, waiting for the next quick attack.

②. Add content to dilute the impression: After companies use vulgar marketing to gain traffic and exposure, in the face of these "bad" internal factors, they can add more images to the brand to dilute the "bad" impact of vulgarity. This is the case with Uniqlo, for example. After gaining exposure, Uniqlo has always advocated the brand concept of affordable prices and a relaxed and casual lifestyle, continuously eliminating its previous "bad" influences. In later times, people would talk more about: "The quality of Uniqlo's clothes is really good and not expensive."

③. Drive in the right direction and detoxify directly: If an enterprise has been “poisoned” by vulgar marketing, it can be “detoxified” directly with an “elegant” antidote. Companies should participate more in public welfare undertakings, such as planting trees, making donations, building Hope Primary Schools, etc., and do some positive things. People are all made of flesh and blood, and they will see good things happening.

In the process of detoxification, the "erosion" of vulgar marketing faced by enterprises may lead to detoxification and rebirth, or some weakness, but in the process of cultivation, they will recover sooner or later. On the other hand, it is possible that he died of poisoning, and the macro-control of policies is irresistible.

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Author: Xiao 5

Source: PR Home