Brand promotion: Lixia marketing copywriting creativity is here!

This issue mainly brings you some marketing directions for the beginning of summer on May 6 this year. We will start from the theme to find the entry point, and then analyze the creative ideas of major brands’ posters taking advantage of the trend!

1. Find the best theme elements first

As usual, I will first list and analyze the theme elements of the Beginning of Summer theme, then analyze and make suggestions for use based on the characteristics of different elements, followed by creative use of the elements (combined with analysis of posters from major brands that leverage this theme). I hope it’s useful to you all!

1. Theme elements

Theme name: Beginning of Summer

Color: Dark green

Features: The weather is getting hotter, saying goodbye to spring and welcoming summer

Customs: Weighing, etc.

1. Thematic element analysis

As I have often mentioned before, the name of the theme element is the most characteristic of the element, so the name can definitely be used as a suitable entry point. At the same time, saying goodbye to spring and welcoming summer is also a unique feature of the Beginning of Summer. Of course, it cannot be ignored, and it can also be used when the weather gets hotter.

However, the element green is too common and the effect of conveying the theme is poor - green can be used in spring, summer, Arbor Day, Qingming Festival, and the Beginning of Summer. Therefore, I do not recommend using it alone. Please pay attention to the display effect of the brands mentioned below.

(Replacing the word Qingming with a theme with green elements at will does not feel out of place)

Some friends may say at this time that weighing is also a custom unique to the Beginning of Summer, should it be included?

First of all, we need to make it clear that each element in the theme is itself an element related to the theme, which allows the audience to identify the organic components of the theme. Therefore, it stands to reason that the elements with the highest or relatively high correlation with the theme characteristics - the so-called characteristic correlation refers to non-homogeneity, the most obvious difference from other theme elements, which allows the audience to know at a glance that they are elements of the theme - should be the most able to highlight the theme and the more suitable they are.

But we have to consider the issue of information symmetry: just because the creator can understand it doesn’t mean the audience can understand it. To put it simply, even if the element can represent the theme, the audience does not know this and there is information asymmetry, so the element cannot be selected.

This is what the “weighing” above is like. It is true that weighing is one of the elements representing the beginning of summer, but in the current audience environment, how many audiences know that weighing represents the beginning of summer? In this case, if you choose weighing as the entry point, the audience may not even know that your topic is the beginning of summer.

For example, "Avengers 4" is currently in theaters, and most of the leverage or publicity is based on Iron Man, Captain America, Thor, and Hulk (in the theme of Avengers 4, the latter characters are the theme elements), not only because they represent the Avengers, but also because they are well known to the audience. Even though Nebula and Gamora play important roles in the series and are the main characters of Avengers 4, it is rare to see Avengers 4 using them as the entry point for leveraging or promoting them.

2. Then start sharing your creative ideas

All the following ideas are entry points or directions, not final products, please note!

1. Name-Homophonic Pun

(1) Homophone of "li"

link: noun link, verb connection.

Example: "link a summer" is used to indicate social communication and can be used in social software and telecommunications networks.

lip: lips

Example: Using "lip summer" as the entry point, you can plan a summer list and recommendations for lipsticks and lipsticks.

live: living

Example: Using "live summer" as the entry point, a series of posters on household items with the theme of "living in summer", including air conditioners, electric fans, refrigerators, mosquito repellents, etc., are suitable for electrical appliance brands.

Reverse: Reversal

Example: Taking "Against Summer" as the entry point and a series of product posters with the theme of "Reverse Summer" can be used on skin care products (including sunscreen, whitening, antiperspirant, etc.) or household items (as above) or snacks.

(2) Homophone of "Xia"

Next: to download or a measure word.

Example: The mobile poster "Li Xia" means immediate downloading, showing the brand characteristic of fast network speed. Chun Zhen used the quantifier "xia". The name of the small yellow car is a pun on "Yixia", which indicates its easy riding feature.

1. Name-Parody

Paradigmation is actually to re-imitate and modify the words and sentences that are familiar to the audience according to their needs. The purpose is the same as choosing the more relevant theme elements, which is to enhance information communication with the audience and amplify the effect of information transmission. The carriers are generally famous idioms, poems, lines and lyrics.

In the theme of Beginning of Summer, I took "summer" as the starting point and used lyrics as a carrier to demonstrate creativity for the brand Master Kong.

Example: Plan a series of posters with the theme of "Our Summer Song". The text is roughly as follows:

• In the quiet summer, the sky is dotted with stars, and I feel a little missing in my heart, missing instant noodles. (Quiet instant noodles)
• I still remember yesterday, it was a hot summer day, and the breeze was sweet and crisp. (The crispness of the wind)
• Time accumulates, this fruit of midsummer, the aroma of orange juice in memory. (Orange juice in midsummer)
• The joy outside the window, this bottle of pure water without impurities, gives me a very summery feeling. (Seven-Lixiang's Pure Water)

There are many famous poems and lines related to summer, and you can think about it in this direction. Generally, literary brands are suitable, such as reading, music, or fun brands.

1. Name-Character Decomposition

Splitting characters (splitting words) is also a form of modification, which means breaking characters or words into separate parts for use. Generally speaking, in commercial copywriting, since commercial copywriting emphasizes the combination of text and images, character decomposition is no longer limited to splitting a character into each meaningful character, but can also form a new image by visualizing each part of the character.

Example: The two characters Lixia are combined by combining the horizontal line of Li with the horizontal line of Xia.

Example: Traditionally, the word "Lixia" is split into "immediately" and "summer", reinterpreting its meaning.

Example: Split characters + words. First, split “粒” into “立”, and “立” and “夏” are split into “立夏”.

Example: After splitting the two characters, they are recombined through graphic design: Li (juice cup) and Xia (watermelon).

Name-General

Word decomposition + homophonic pun: Not only can it stand for once, but it can also stand for the whole summer (sex toy brand).

Word decomposition + imitation: Set up a room, it is just right for sleeping in the hot summer (air conditioner, bedding brand).

1. The weather is getting hot-series posters

What are the effects of hotter weather? We can work from the direction of preventing heatstroke and relieving fever, and the finished product can be made into a series of posters.

Example: With the theme of "Guide to Heatstroke Prevention in Summer", make a series of poster displays, including: electric fans, air conditioners, shorts and short sleeves, pesticides, watermelons, ice cream, etc.

Example: You can combine the above heatstroke prevention manual with Internet terms to make it more interesting, including eating melons, iced bread, happy fat house water, melted ice cream, and making waves.

Other posters on display:

1. The weather is getting hotter - comic strip

Strip comics are a finished product that breaks the isolation of the picture and solves the problem of internal logical connections among series of posters. The strong story-telling enhances the audience's reading interest, and the key lies in the scene setting.

Demonstration: I used "bad summer" as a scenario to talk about the problems ordinary people encounter when summer comes, and finally combined it with product display.

(Scene – Product)

• Air conditioner smell - air conditioner cleaner
• The watermelon is not ripe yet——Watermelon soda
• Soapy water is too sweet - Sugar-free cola
• Electric fan grows dust - bladeless fan
• Mosquitoes flying everywhere - electric mosquito repellent liquid

1. Farewell to spring and into summer

Example: Metaphor. Say goodbye to the shyness of early spring and welcome the frenzy of summer. Comparing spring and summer to the stages of love indicates that love is heating up, which is suitable for brands related to fun and emotions.

Example: homophones. Leave the "lip" and go to the "down" to proceed to the next stage. Plan a poster based on this direction, but don’t make it too explicit, which is suitable for erotic brands.

Analyze brand posters:

1. Mazda, elements include name, green, watermelon, farewell to spring, using the method of splitting characters.
2. Durex, elements include the name and farewell to spring, using word splitting + pun.
3. Chun Zhen, the elements include the name, green, watermelon, and farewell to spring, using puns, Chun Zhen - innocence.

Here are two counterexamples:

There is no doubt that creativity needs to combine theme elements and brand characteristics. If one of the two parts of a finished product fails to allow the audience to accurately receive the information, then the finished product is too universal or even a failure. In some cases, the theme elements are not prominent enough (such as the color green mentioned below), while in others, the brand characteristics are not prominent enough, such as the two posters below.

What difference does it make if the brand name is hidden? Whether it is the entry point (say goodbye to spring and welcome summer) or the composition and writing style, they are very similar.

The above is a comparison between different brands of the same theme, and there are also universal problems in different themes of the same brand.

For example, if we analyze Jiang Xiaobai’s Spring Equinox and Qingming posters together, or even the Beginning of Summer poster above, they are very similar in terms of entry point, composition, color scheme, and elements. If we hide the text, change the Beginning of Summer to the Summer Solstice, the Vernal Equinox to the Beginning of Spring, and the Qingming Festival to the Rain Water, will there be a strong sense of incongruity?

1. Customs-Weighing

The above is very clear. I personally do not recommend doing this, but to demonstrate the effect, you can take a look at the following posters that use this entry point. In fact, the effect is really not that good.

1. Color - Green

The above explanation is very clear. I personally do not recommend doing this because the element green is too common and the effect of conveying the theme is poor. Green can be used in spring, summer, Arbor Day, the Vernal Equinox, the Summer Solstice, and the Beginning of Summer. Therefore, I do not recommend using it alone. You can think about a question. Change the text of the poster below to Summer Solstice and see if there is any sense of incongruity?

Author: fat c

Source: Weird Brain Hole