Nowadays, young people have become the main group in the domestic consumer market. In order to attract consumers’ attention, major brands use every trick in the book in marketing , with new methods emerging one after another, even resorting to “demonization” just to “make you smile”. Of course, in addition to doing marketing in their own positions, many brands have begun to expand their boundaries and engage in "cross-border marketing."
"Cross-border" itself is an important means in brand marketing , which can bring out the synergy of brands of different categories. However, some brands mistakenly believe that cross-border cooperation is just a gimmick, launching a joint product, and attracting consumers' attention, but fail to maximize the advantages of both parties. As a result, one person's self-entertainment turned into a carnival for two.
Some people say that social media is all about triggering self-propagation through topic events. Yes, that's right. However, no matter how big the gimmick is, if it has nothing to do with the core content, it will just be a show. Cross-border collaborations also have to consider whether they are suitable for core demands. Do you want me to drink a cocktail and remember that the mosquito that was smoked to death last night also drank the same liquid? Something Wang Xing said in an interview before makes a lot of sense. Although it was about the operational level, it also applies to marketing. "Cross-border is necessary, but too many people focus on the boundaries and ignore the equally important core." What I mean is that you see that my products span multiple fields, but in fact there is an insight inside that can be connected together with a rope.
What is the core of cross-border marketing?
This brings us back to the question of why we need to cross borders.
I don’t really like the concepts of cross-border IP, cross-border channels , cross-border products, cross-border resources, etc. that are mentioned in many articles nowadays. In fact, these are just means. There are thousands of methods, and it is too confusing to understand.
The essence of cross-border marketing is to solve the current problems of the brand, which may be the problem of brand rejuvenation, the problem of user volume, or the problem of insufficient application scenarios. When a brand or product has difficulty meeting the closed-loop needs of customers, it is necessary to introduce cross-border partners to improve user experience and acquire more valuable users.
According to different motivations for "crossing", cross-border marketing can be roughly divided into four categories: cross-brand boundaries, cross-user boundaries, cross-scenario boundaries, and cross-product interest point boundaries.
In every cross-border marketing, there will be one appeal that dominates, and the others are just auxiliary. The criterion for testing whether cross-border business is successful is whether the demands made at the beginning of the cross-border business are met. For example, when you first crossed over to other industries, you wanted to increase product sales. But after the crossover, user attention was high, but the monthly sales volume was only 5, and all the reviews were negative . This is not a successful crossover.
1. Cross-brand boundaries
Why cross-brand boundaries?
Because companies need to strengthen or optimize a certain brand image at this stage, they need to borrow the power of other brands to generate image premium.
The core demand is that the original brand image must be strengthened or improved after cross-border cooperation.
For example, as a dairy product supplier, why did Mengniu choose to become the global official sponsor of the 2018 FIFA World Cup , the strategic partner of China's aerospace industry, and the official marketing partner of the NBA in China? Because these cross-border collaborations can enable its brand development goals such as "focusing on the research and development and production of dairy products suitable for the Chinese people", "building a national brand", "quality, brand, innovation, and health" to become more popular.
In June 2017, the H5 of “ Minions Factory” went viral on WeChat Moments . This is a cross-border marketing between ofo and the Minions IP. Previously, ofo upgraded its brand name from "ofo shared bicycles " to " ofo small yellow bikes ", and is committed to providing global users with a more convenient, happier and easier riding experience, and creating a young and fun brand image.
In order to strengthen this brand image, on the eve of the release of " Despicable Me 3", the shared bicycle ofo teamed up with Universal Pictures to launch the "Minions" customized bicycle "ofo Big Eyes Bike", and also invited the funny Da Zhangwei to endorse it. There is no doubt that the mischievous image of the "Minions" adds icing on the cake to the ofo brand and wins the favor of young people.
In the past one or two years, many traditional brands have begun to try the "cross-brand" approach.
Faced with the young consumer groups that dominate the market, how to rejuvenate and break the original stereotypes of consumers has become a headache for many traditional brands.
Co-branding with young brands seems to be an effective breakthrough. Perhaps because they are still in the initial exploration stage, most traditional brands can only be regarded as "having some ideas". What I admire most is the various cross-border marketing of the "Forbidden City" , which has really revitalized the three words "museum" and is a typical example of "cross-brand boundaries".
You may think that the Palace Museum’s cross-border collaboration with various brands is probably an attempt to attract new users? People who have this idea have probably never been to the Forbidden City. When has the Forbidden City ever lacked traffic ? The Forbidden City is a museum that receives over 10 million visitors every year. If you don’t believe me, just ask your relatives and friends who come to Beijing what the first thing they want to do is. So, what makes the "Forbidden City suddenly so busy"?
In fact, in the eyes of many young people, the Forbidden City has a serious and old-fashioned image. One of the most effective ways to break this stereotype is to "be together" with brands that young people like to play with. Whether it is working with Tencent NEXT IDEA and QQ Music to create a music innovation competition, launching the "Watching Football by Imperial Order" H5 with NetEase News , or jointly launching the "First Cultural Relics Drama Conference" with Douyin , it has not only increased the influence of the Forbidden City itself among young people, but also promoted the Forbidden City's collections.
2. Cross-user boundaries
The so-called cross-user boundary means to acquire more valuable users through the fan groups and channels of partners.
The means can be reflected in crossing a more popular KOL , such as ICBC's cross-border cooperation with Papi Jiang ; crossing a more popular entertainment IP, such as Sephora and Marvel jointly launching a series of trendy beauty products and various popular film and television drama implants; or crossing the channels of the partners, such as NetEase Cloud Music and Nongfu Spring launching the "Le Bottle", etc. In fact, the means are varied, but the core is - "circling fans" .
Take the "Music Bottle" cross-border marketing as an example. This is the first large-scale marketing carried out by NetEase Cloud Music after it announced the brand upgrade to "The Power of Music". Faced with the crisis that Tencent is behind QQ Music and Alibaba is behind Xiami Music, NetEase Cloud Music has crossed over to the well-known fast-moving consumer goods brand Nongfu Spring, allowing it to quickly penetrate Nongfu Spring's online and offline channels. The power of music has spread to Nongfu Spring's huge user base.
In recent years, there is another brand in the hotel industry that has been "quite busy" - Atour Hotel . It is committed to creating a lodging brand and forming a lifestyle. Faced with the blockade of Hanting and Home Inn, how can mid-range hotels expand their profit channels? Yelu Yin, the founder of Yaduo, once said, "Today's economy-class fast-service hotels can no longer meet the consumption needs of the middle class, and IPization can increase the value of the entire hotel." But hotels are ultimately about customer flow, and what is hidden behind IP cross-border is the desire for traffic. In response to this demand, Atour teamed up with many first-line super IPs including Tongdao Dashu , Guokr.com , Qyer, NetEase Comics, Tencent QQ Super Member, Hupu, FlowerPlus, Rishiji, and Chaping to create the "Ador Wonderful Night" themed pop-up room. You have to understand that behind every room is a huge fan base.
3. Cross-scenario boundaries
For cross-scenario boundaries, the key is to see whether the cross-scenario memory can be extended or strengthened.
For example, Tencent Video previously crossed over with Yoshinoya. Because many people like to watch TV shows while dining. After Tencent Video realized this user habit, it created the "Watch Tencent Video at Yoshinoya" scene memory point in more than 300 Yoshinoya offline stores in Beijing, Tianjin, Hebei and Northeast China, and provided "Hi Music Season Exclusive Mobile Phone Holder" service to users.
I believe everyone still remembers the #Vegetable Market Meets Economics# launched by the Duoduo App across Sanyuanli Vegetable Market this year. At that time, it was a new book launch held to promote Professor Xue Zhaofeng's new book "Xue Zhaofeng's Economics Lectures". By cleverly combining specific scenes like bargaining for chicken, duck, fish and meat in the vegetable market with the economics in books, users can have a stronger memory of the scenes and deeply feel the economic knowledge hidden in daily life.
4. The boundaries of cross-product interest points
What is the boundary of cross-product interest points?
In short, cross-border cooperation can amplify product functionality.
For example, the Honor brand has joined hands with swimming champion Sun Yang and appointed him as its "speed ambassador." Sun Yang breaks records one after another at an astonishing speed, while Honor uses technological innovation to bring users a seamless experience. Speed is the most direct commonality between the two. Products such as Honor mobile phones have magnified the advantage of "speed" through cooperation with Sun Yang. In addition, Uber's "one-click call series" experience marketing is also a cross-border marketing that amplifies the product's benefits, such as one-click calling a lion dance team, one-click calling Tong Dawei, one-click calling the CEO, one-click calling a helicopter, one-click calling ice cream, etc.
In addition to clarifying these demands, what else do we need to pay attention to when crossing boundaries?
The first thing to note is that the two parties across the border are well matched.
Whether it is resource allocation or enterprise size, there must be a match, and the tone must also be consistent. Otherwise, for the stronger party, it will lower its brand image among the public. For the weaker party, it is easy to become a pawn of the stronger party. However, in the actual operation process, there are still many companies that are willing to "gild" themselves.
Secondly, we must focus on identifying the core commonalities between the two parties.
For example, in addition to the natural match of the "yellow" genes, ofo and the Minions also have youth, fun and interest as their common points of combination. At the time of the brand crossover between NetEase Cloud Music and Nongfu Spring, there was also a sentence that explained the connection between Nongfu Spring and musical stories, "It is not only water that creates life in the universe, but also stories. A planet with water is not lonely, and a planet with stories is complete." Only when both parties find the core common points can they attract users' attention to the greatest extent through creativity based on their respective demands and create a win-win situation.
In addition, cross-border marketing is the "venom" of brands.
The trader must have the ability to estimate risks and always be clear about what the cross-border goal is. If everything goes well, the effect of 1+1>2 can be achieved. However, partners or creative performances that do not match the appeal will not only fail to solve the problem, but will cause the brand to fall into a quagmire.
Finally, I would like to remind you that no cross-border marketing can work once and for all.
Whether it is advertising or public relations, it is a long-term investment in the brand. Going back to the reason for cross-border marketing mentioned at the beginning of the article, it is actually to solve the current business problems. Certain results may be achieved through cross-border cooperation, but this is only one step in solving the problem. Only by doing this in a long-term, targeted and systematic manner can enterprises make users feel a sense of three-dimensionality and depth, ultimately revitalize the brand and products, solve marketing demands and acquire more valuable customers.
Author: Simon Shusheng, authorized to publish by Qinggua Media .
