How does Zhihu build its brand?

How does a brand , starting from its brand name and logo, become a well-known brand known to everyone and have the love of thousands of loyal fans?

There are many internationally renowned brands, such as Starbucks and Coca-Cola , as well as popular online stores in recent years, such as Heytea , Luk Kin Coffee, Luckin Coffee , etc. They are also popular on Luoji Siwei and are widely seen on Zhihu. Have you ever conducted in-depth research on the growth process of these brands?

An interesting "medical consultation" activity just ended in Chengdu recently. This "Unknown Clinic" is equipped with six popular departments, including "Internal Medicine", "Surgery", and "Dentistry". In addition, a "Life Therapy Room for Single Patients" has been added in the Chengdu station to treat "Anxiety Disorder of Young People Living Alone"

You can feel that it is full of creativity just by hearing the name. From an online knowledge content platform to an offline "clinic" in the form of Beijing, Shanghai, Tianjin, Chengdu and other city centers, it adds interactivity and fun to answering questions and solving problems for "new knowledge youth". The brand is called Zhihu. In 2018, because of Liu Haoran's endorsement, more people knew "If you have any questions, go to Zhihu"!

1. What has Zhihu done to shape its own brand?

1. Brand image: Liu Kanshan

In recent years, more and more companies have launched anthropomorphic images, animal images, nicknames, etc. Zhihu’s official cute pet "Liu Kanshan" is a typical example. It has become the favorite of many "new knowledge youth" and an endorsement image for users to communicate with brands.

Liu Kanshan has his own encyclopedia , his own friends, and his own TV series. He also interviewed Empress Fucha in "Story of Yanxi Palace", made a guest appearance in the American TV series "Silicon Valley", and participated in the Strawberry Music Festival... Come to think of it, the coffee cup I use is still Liu Kanshan's. The brand image of this brand has become increasingly rich.

Other brand references: Coca-Cola - Polar Bear.

1. Brand slogan: If you have any questions, go to Zhihu!

In the process of brand positioning, in addition to considering user, channel , and product positioning, you need to find a sentence that people can remember at first sight and generate the urge to act. If you can take into account both user characteristics and usage scenarios, it will be an excellent brand slogan. For example, Zhihu launched the slogan “If you have any questions, go to Zhihu” in 2018, which combines user needs and usage scenarios in one sentence.

Before we use Zhihu, let's think about why you open Zhihu. It is to find the answers you want, and there are one or more questions in your mind. Simple and easy to remember slogans with action verbs have a strong driving force for conversion !

Other brands for reference: Wanglaoji - If you are afraid of getting a sore throat, drink Wanglaoji!

1. Brand ambassador: Liu Haoran

In addition to Liu Kanshan, Zhihu also has Liu Haoran, just like a pair of "Liu brothers"! (Read my article "Liu brothers "Liu Haoran + Liu Kanshan" are very powerful, ranking first on Zhihu App Store social list")

In 2018, Zhihu got a spokesperson who perfectly matches the brand in terms of temperament, popularity, personal character and brand style.

Why do brands choose spokespersons?

A spokesperson is also a symbol of a brand, just like a logo or a cartoon character. However, the most important thing about using a celebrity as a spokesperson is not just the fit with the identity, but that most brands hope to convey their brand value to their fans and more people, which will become easier and faster.

Furthermore, when using spokespersons to place advertisements, factors such as the reach, excitement, and conversion rate of the communication will be improved.

In addition, the star’s ability to convert fans and bring in goods is also an important factor.

1. Brand activities : Unknown Clinic, Q&A concept convenience store, Salt Club

The operation of a brand requires many details, such as member management, fan relations, brand activities, public welfare marketing , etc. Among them, "brand activities" are an important way to enhance brand awareness, activity, and fan stickiness.

"I don't know the clinic"

The “Unknown Clinic” launched by Zhihu is such an activity, but its presentation method is different from other traditional activities.

Before this creative activity, there was an adjustment in the thinking of Zhihu's brand marketing , which was to change the sense of distance of the original brand with the starting point of "making knowledge popular, making knowledge vivid, and making knowledge cross-border". "I Don't Know Clinic" is an important manifestation of "making knowledge vivid".

When talking about the planning and execution process of the “Unknown Clinic”, Zhihu Marketing and Public Relations General Manager Lai Yuan said:

"The first time we did the 'Unknown Clinic' in Beijing, we relied mainly on local resources. Our exhibition in Beijing lasted only five days. At the beginning, people came because they saw the pre-heating news. Later, some people came because they saw the news shared by their friends on social networks . This continued until Tuesday and Wednesday, when many people took taxis here after work. After the first station was completed, we paid special attention to every detail. It was not flashy. The Beijing station accumulated a lot of word of mouth. After that, many shopping malls and commercial real estate in Tianjin and Shanghai took the initiative to contact us for cooperation..."

This is the process of creating a brand activity from scratch, paying attention to details and accumulating word of mouth. This is also the process of brand growth.

Lai Yuan, General Manager of Zhihu Marketing and Public Relations

「Question and answer concept convenience store」

In early May 2018, Zhihu created a question-and-answer concept convenience store “A Store of Q&A” in Beijing U-Town Shopping Center. This concept store, which is dominated by white, blue and transparent colors, not only has a wide range of daily necessities, including food and beverages, daily necessities, clothing, etc.

All products have also been reshaped by Zhihu, with the packaging uniformly changed to "Zhihu blue" and come with various "questions" that arouse curiosity.

Each product has a popular question on Zhihu. For example, it is written on the umbrella "How to improve your mood on rainy days?", and on the drink bottle it is written "Where is the sea so blue and transparent?". Scan the QR code next to this sentence to find the most popular guide to brighten your mood.

In this convenience store, ordinary commodities become interesting "daily necessities" that satisfy curiosity. Every customer who enters the store may focus on a certain area because of a certain problem and learn something unknown that has never been discovered before.

Salt Club

In addition to the "I Don't Know Clinic" and the "Question and Answer Concept Convenience Store", Zhihu also has an annual event called "Salt Club", which is a "high-salt value" event with an explosion of knowledge. The 2018 "Salt Club" is already the fifth one. Through different brand activities, more and more Zhihu fans are participating in it, thereby triggering more potential user groups.

1. Brand crossover: "Problematic hotels"

"Cross-border" is very effective for brands at all stages. Choose non-competitive products of the same type or brands with the same users and tone to cross-border. Cross-border can be achieved from products, users to activities. For example, Zhihu and Atour Hotel launched the "Problematic Hotel".

This hotel is not simply "named" but has the Zhihu style and the Zhihu style "deeply rooted in its bones"... From the rooms to the restaurant, from the Zhihu questions and answers on the walls to the laundry room with Zhihu content about clothing care and other life experiences. A hotel space full of knowledge, isn't it interesting!

In Yaduo Zhihu's "Problematic" hotel, there are many questions and contents from Zhihu, which are closely related to the theme through the decoration of graphic materials and the implantation of audio-visual content. At the same time, you can also buy Zhihu Liu Kanshan related peripherals in the hotel. Guests staying in Zhihu movie and travel theme rooms can complete the interaction through a customized "invitation answer card", and receive souvenirs from Zhihu when leaving the hotel, so that knowledge can be not only seen, but also heard , touched and delivered.

By vividly presenting knowledge in a cross-border way and delivering the core highlights of Zhihu's Q&A products in various scenarios, it is not only interesting but also practical, allowing users in various scenarios to feel the brand through experience.

2. What are the characteristics of Zhihu’s brand building?

1. Brand content

When Zhihu crosses over with different brands, it conveys the brand through content. For example, in the "Yado Zhihu Hotel" scenario, users can immerse themselves in the hotel's various application scenarios, and each scenario is appropriately related to the Zhihu content. This way of presenting the brand through content gives different user groups different feelings, with surprise, fun, and a brand becomes alive.

1. Content branding

The novel, interesting, practical and fun content in Zhihu brand activities has formed different "activity brands", such as "I don't know clinic, Q&A convenience store..." In the process of brand building, it is necessary to continuously strengthen, deepen and repeat the dissemination of brand memory points. This memory point is the brand slogan, or the brand's theme activity...

The formation of "content branding" is more conducive to the rapid development of a brand, and it is easy to spread and copy!

3. Why is this kind of brand building effective?

1. Go first

Many people overlook the importance of brand positioning. The birth and application of positioning theory have given different brands vitality and created different potential energies. For example, Wanglaoji was initially only sold in South China, mainly in Guangdong. How did it become a national bestseller? How did it break through users’ “common sense perception” that herbal tea is medicine, cleverly use the word “fear” as a preventive measure, and integrate into consumption scenarios such as hot pot? The phrase “If you’re afraid of getting a sore throat, drink Wanglaoji” became an instant hit!

In response to people's needs for knowledge and questions, Zhihu, which has knowledge Q&A as its core product, launched the "If you have any questions, go to Zhihu", which is similar to the former.

"Having problems" is a user demand, and "going to Zhihu" is a behavioral conversion. The word "going" represents the characteristics of an online product and also conveys a sense of urgency for action. In the response between the beginning and the end, when users have problems, "going to Zhihu" is the solution.

Zhihu's product positioning is a question-and-answer community. Users can ask questions on Zhihu when they have questions...

Positioning is not just a slogan. It can be divided into user positioning, brand positioning, product positioning, etc. Ultimately, what content and products do you use to influence consumers, and how do they describe your brand in their minds? What is important about positioning is what your brand looks like in the user's mind and how do users interpret your brand? If you think about this question carefully, you will understand what I just said about Wanglaoji and Zhihu.

1. Scene Integration

Use different methods and multiple dimensions to present and implement brand positioning.

After Zhihu launched the slogan “If you have any questions, go to Zhihu”, it has given a deep interpretation to the concept of “problem”. “Problematic Hotel” and “Unknown Clinic” are both discovering and digging into various problems, and telling consumers in different forms what the brand does. What are its characteristics?

1. Endorsement Diffusion

There is not much to say about the endorsement strategy. As introduced in the previous section, brands that mainly target a general population are very suitable for endorsements by celebrities who are well-known to the public. Endorsements can also help differentiate brands from competitors, increase brand awareness, improve brand favorability, and increase social activity.

Taking Zhihu as an example, let’s communicate with everyone about the brand building process. There may be other ways to create an “Internet celebrity brand”, but among the core rules, “positioning first, scene integration, and endorsement diffusion” are all very effective ways, and “brand IPization and brand sceneization” are also worth learning from.

When talking about the changes in Zhihu's brand marketing system, Lai Yuan, general manager of Zhihu's marketing and public relations, said:

The essence of marketing is to solve the problems that companies are currently facing. For example, the problem that a new brand needs to solve is to build its brand awareness. When it reaches a period of rapid development, the problem to solve is to achieve the fastest growth in the shortest time. Some brands need to solve the problem of rapid growth but poor brand reputation, so they may need to improve their brand reputation. Different marketing methods serve companies or brands to solve certain problems at this stage.

For Zhihu, from 2016 to 2018, especially after 2017, we entered a period of rapid growth. Although Zhihu has been established for quite a while and has gone through a long period of accumulation, we are still a content platform, so accumulation is very important.

Since last year, the natural growth rate of our users has been very fast. This is a huge potential energy. At this time, marketing plays an amplifying role. It is an accelerator, which makes the already rapid growth even faster.

We will hire a spokesperson this year, do promotions , and also develop brand-level products. Whether it is the "I Don't Know Clinic" or other offline activities , we will upgrade them. This is in line with the current size of Zhihu.

Building a brand from 0 to 1 is definitely not something that can be achieved overnight. From products to marketing to operations, every step needs to be done solidly.

Do you know this brand building method?

Source: weijiadong2013