The brand marketing strategy behind “half price for the second cup”!

Why do dessert ads always say "Second half price"?

Such eye-catching advertisements can be seen at McDonald's , KFC and other dessert stations, with tempting cones and prominent copywriting :

You can't wait to buy one.

But if you think about it a little, you will find that if you only buy one, you will not be able to enjoy the "half price for the second cup" discount. It is better to persuade your friends to buy 2 together. Not only can you enjoy the discount, but you can also strengthen your friendship, killing two birds with one stone.

That is to say, you originally only wanted to buy 1, but in order not to miss the "second cup half price" offer, you asked your friend to buy 2 together. But in fact, the discount of "second cup half price" is only 75%!

Why are your shopping decisions affected by merchants’ marketing strategies? Why doesn’t McDonald’s just write “75% off” instead of going around the bush and writing “Second cup half price”?

The reason is that the brain's way of thinking is very complex. The interpretation and analysis of a single event often requires mobilizing the power of different areas, thereby activating thinking in different systems .

So, what systems does the brain have?

Today, we recommend to you 5 books that can help operators move from novice to advanced operators. The following content is the essence of the book "Thinking, Fast and Slow".

About this book

Daniel Kahneman, author of Thinking, Fast and Slow, has an impressive resume. He is a member of one of the smartest peoples in the world - the Jews; when he graduated from college, he received a double degree in psychology and mathematics from the Hebrew University, which is known as the "Harvard of the Middle East", and is a top student.

Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman

Later, he and a colleague jointly won the 2002 Nobel Prize in Economics. What is even more rare is that Daniel holds two titles, economist and writer, and his achievements have been widely recognized by his peers.

Nassim Taleb, author of the best-selling book "The Black Swan", praised the book as a milestone work of "social thought", comparable to "The Wealth of Nations" and "The Interpretation of Dreams".

Steven Levitt, author of "Freakonomics", even called him " one of the most original and interesting thinkers of our time ."

In 2011, Thinking, Fast and Slow was named one of the top ten books of the year by the world-renowned media The New York Times .

The book is divided into five parts and 38 chapters, explaining the five aspects of brain decision-making principles, heuristics, cognitive limitations, the impact of economy on decision-making, and the impact of memory on the self.

Next, we will combine the contents of the book and use specific cases to introduce the contents of "Thinking, Fast and Slow", as well as its reference value for operations.

Everyone's brain is a dual system

Going back to the previous example, why does McDonald’s “Second Item Half Price” advertisement look like a “50% off promotion” in the eyes of many foodies, but is actually only 25% off?

According to the book, this is the result of the action of two different systems in the brain: System 1 and System 2 .

Brain System 1 relies more on intuition when operating, and judges things more from the appearance. It is easily influenced by the surrounding environment and its own emotions. It just follows its feelings and does not care much about the answers and consequences. It does whatever is comfortable and convenient.

This type of people are more emotional, and can be called "people of temperament."

Typical example of System 1: “Shopping addicts” on Taobao .

System 2 of the brain operates more rationally, through thinking, comparison, and summarization, and attaches importance to experience and data analysis .

They are used to seeing the essence through phenomena, will not follow others blindly, focus on independent thinking and rational thinking, will not easily believe in feelings, and will not easily believe in others. They only believe in rational results. They can be called "deep thinkers."

System 2 typical: value investors in the stock market .

Knowing the difference between these two types, when we are writing product copy, we need to adopt different strategies to attract different types of potential users.

For example, the incident of Xin Shi Xiang selling courses that went viral some time ago, compared with the previous incidents of NetEase and Sanlian, Xin Shi Xiang was obviously better in promotion . There are two highlights:

1) After A shares the picture to Moments , B scans A’s QR code and makes a purchase, then A can earn 40% of the profit; if C scans the QR code shared by B and makes a purchase, A can earn another 10% of the profit. This operation greatly stimulates the enthusiasm for forwarding and sharing.

2) The price mechanism is unique. Generally speaking, the cost of buying courses online is controllable, and the more people buy, the cheaper it is. However, Xinshi goes the opposite way. The more people buy, the more expensive it is.

Users who are familiar with Xin Shi Xiang know that the previous two screen-sweeping classes, “ Escape from Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou” and “Book Throwing Campaign”, coupled with the founder Zhang Wei’s personal lectures, made this screen-sweeping class very attractive.

The above two points, plus "promotion", "sales leader", "celebrity endorsement", etc., are what the brain's System 1 is most concerned about, while it doesn't really care about the quality of the course.

However, it is very difficult to mobilize the brain's System 2 to place an order. People who use System 2 to make decisions are more rational and restrained. Unless you can impress them from the bottom of their hearts, it will be difficult to convert these people into users.

Nike has a classic advertisement. On a huge billboard at a busy intersection were four words:

In comparison, the Nike logo is very small, sitting quietly in the lower right corner.

This sentence can be translated as:

We all dreamed of changing the world, but as time goes by, we become the ones who are changed by the world.

Standing at a busy intersection, I looked up and saw this realistic advertising slogan, which made me feel a little sad. As time goes by, the distance between me and my dreams widens.

At this moment, my eyes slid to the Nike logo in the lower right corner, and the slogan "Just do it" that I had seen countless times came to my mind again. The regret for the passing time and my own lack of fighting spirit surged into my heart, which was even stronger than the contrast between the black letters on the white background on the billboard.

I can't help but think : Yesterday is gone, I must seize today, it's time to remind myself to wake up, take another step and be my true self.

So I awakened myself in my heart, and my favorability towards Nike as a brand increased a little bit. Similar is the advertisement of Nongfu Spring:

They also did not point out how good the water quality is or how natural it is, but instead portrayed themselves as a "porter", telling users that our factory does not process water, it only packages it. This actually highlights the naturalness and purity of the water .

What psychology do popular products capture? (superior)

1) Cabet effect

The "Cabe Effect" was coined by Cabe, the former president of AT&T, which means that giving up is sometimes more meaningful than fighting for something.

Some time ago, the news reported that Geely Automobile acquired 9.69% of Mercedes-Benz shares and became the largest shareholder. This is also the largest merger and acquisition case of an independent brand to date and has become a model for national automobiles.

But Geely's road is not smooth. Founder Li Shufu started out by making motorcycles. When I first entered the automotive industry, I made a bold statement:

However, few people in the market buy it.

Later, there was some improvement, but it was constrained by the multi-brand strategy, with overlapping prices and serious internal friction. After acquiring Volvo , as a joint venture brand, it also encountered problems in China, resulting in costs not being reduced and sales not being increased.

It was not until early 2014 that the group announced that it would "return to one Geely", cut brands, merge Global Eagle, Emgrand and Englon into one brand, Geely, focusing on building quality and saving channel and marketing costs.

Over the past four years, Geely has won the official car for the G20 Summit, acquired Proton, launched the new brand "Lynk & Co", and acquired shares of Mercedes-Benz. The "One Geely" strategy has achieved great success.

When we are making products, we cannot be greedy and should concentrate our superior resources to keep 1-2 projects. We can then expand after the projects mature, customers are satisfied, and the team grows stronger to avoid excessive dispersion of energy in the early stages .

2) Anchoring Effect

Once after boarding, the broadcast said that the plane was overloaded. If anyone was willing to give up this flight and change to the next one, they could get a voucher worth 20,000 yuan. This was obviously just a joke, and some passengers did laugh.

But when the real compensation of 200 yuan was announced for the second time, no passenger responded. The flight attendant had to raise the stake to 500 yuan several times before a passenger agreed.

Although the staff amused the passengers, since they had first announced that they could compensate passengers who changed their tickets with vouchers worth 20,000 yuan, the passengers' psychological expectations had already been set at this level. When the official compensation was announced, naturally few people were willing to accept it.

The best way is to first state a lower number after determining the compensation, and then gradually increase it . Since the passengers' psychological price is set relatively low, more people will be willing to change their flights, which is a win-win situation.

3) Sunk costs

Sunk cost means that when we make decisions, we should not only look at the current benefits, but also how much we have invested before.

For example, when buying a camera, since one body can be matched with different types of lenses to meet the shooting needs of different people, merchants always price the body separately and then recommend matching lenses to you.

However, if you buy the camera body alone, you cannot take any photos at all, and the price of an entry-level camera body is usually higher than the lens, so consumers always think: I have already spent thousands of dollars on the camera body, so I can afford the lens. So I bought the camera body and lens together.

In addition, in order to make it convenient when going out for field trips, you also need to purchase a series of items including camera bags, memory cards, cleaning kits, tripods, spare batteries, etc.

Each accessory may seem worthless, but when added together they cost around 1,000 yuan. This not only meets consumer demand, but also uses the "sunk cost" effect to increase merchant profits. It's really smart.

Merchants take advantage of the different division of labor between the two systems in the brain and formulate targeted marketing strategies , thereby successfully achieving marketing.

What psychology do popular products capture? (Down)

1) Broken Window Effect

A psychologist at Stanford University conducted an experiment: he parked a new car on the side of the road, and it was still intact a week later; but after he broke a window, the entire car was stolen a few hours later.

This is the famous "broken window effect" in psychology, which tells us that once a problem occurs, we must remedy it in a timely manner .

At the beginning of last year, a female passenger was beaten and disfigured while traveling in Lijiang, which caused an uproar on the Internet.

What is incredible is that instead of investigating the matter promptly and impartially and objectively, the official website of Lijiang retweeted a Weibo post that defamed the victim, claiming that the victim "does not deserve sympathy." Angry netizens immediately "bombed" the comment section of the official Weibo post.

What’s even more infuriating is that when a netizen later posted on Weibo saying “I will never come to Lijiang for tourism again”, the ancient city’s official Weibo account replied “You’d better never come. It doesn’t matter if you come or not!”

It was a textbook example of a public relations failure, overturning netizens' usual views of this tourist city.

In sharp contrast to Lijiang Tourism is Haidilao , which serves its customers to the utmost.

In August last year, photos of rats in the kitchens of several Haidilao branches in Beijing and of customers using colanders to clean drains caused an uproar in public opinion.

However, just three hours later, Haidilao officially issued a sincere apology letter.

Two hours later, seven notifications were released, including "allowing netizens to verify the results of the incident on the official website", "reassuring relevant employees to continue working and not worry about losing their jobs", etc.

Netizens left messages on Weibo: Haidilao deserves full marks for this crisis public relations .

In the face of crisis, why was Lijiang criticized by netizens, while Haidilao was able to turn the tide ?

As consumers, netizens share common interests with them. If A is beaten for no reason when he goes to Lijiang, there is no guarantee that a similar incident will not happen to B after he goes there.

The authorities did not consider how to maintain a fair tourism environment , but instead blamed the victims, hurting the interests of netizens and damaging their own reputation, which was their own fault.

As a benchmark company in the catering industry, Haidilao is well aware that loopholes in food supervision are difficult to eradicate. Today, as food safety issues are constantly exposed, consumers have become very sensitive to food safety issues.

Haidilao deeply realized this point and publicly announced the handling notice around the three themes of "I will take the blame, I will correct the mistake, and I will support my employees," and successfully resolved the crisis.

2) Halo effect

If you like a person's personality, you will also like his voice and his clothes. Correspondingly, if you hate someone, no matter what he does, it will be difficult for him to gain your favor, and this is also very obvious in products.

Take Apple as an example. Many people began to respect the company out of respect for Steve Jobs and their love for the simplicity and thinness of Apple computers. They then began to like and buy other Apple products including the iPhone and iPad.

For another example, if you hear mostly negative comments about Gree's Dong Mingzhu and psychologically reject this person, then you will not have a high opinion of Gree as a company and will not choose Gree's products when purchasing home appliances such as air conditioners.

Therefore, when the company leader is tied to the brand image, the risk is extremely high, such as Chen Ou of Jumei and Jia Yueting of LeTV .

Why does good marketing dilute the product?

I believe many of you are familiar with the following copy:

These copywritings have one thing in common, which is that they do not directly say that the products are of high quality and affordable prices . Instead, they all seem to intentionally avoid mentioning the products and draw consumers' attention to other aspects. because:

Starbucks doesn't sell coffee, it sells atmosphere .

What Apple sells is not computers, but style .

8848 does not sell mobile phones, but the status symbol of successful people.

So why do this?

① Products will be constantly updated, but the company's brand positioning will never change easily

If a company only introduces the product when launching a new product without taking the opportunity to promote the company, the high advertising costs will not be able to realize the full value.

② Unconventional advertising can help you stand out from your competitors

Just imagine, comparing Apple's "the only difference is everything is different" and OPPO's "5 minutes of charging, 2 hours of talk time", which one would you prefer? In today's world of severe product homogeneity, if you can make consumers stand out and highlight their individuality, marketing is already half successful.

③ Convey company values

Good companies can create products that satisfy consumers, and outstanding companies can command consumers' respect: Apple represents high-end products; Rolls-Royce represents a distinguished status; and Nike represents praise for athletes.

Another example is the slogan of the operation agency: Don’t let operators grow up alone.

The message conveyed to users is: the operation community builds online and offline vertical communities for operators, so that we can share resources and keep each other warm.

A good brand will make users forget the product and remember the added value.

How to use "Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs" for marketing?

Consumers are exposed to $1 billion worth of advertising every month, and see and hear as many as 30,000 ads. It will become increasingly difficult to attract consumers' attention through advertising.

Therefore, businesses must put more effort into copywriting in order to attract consumers' attention .

There is a concept in psychology called " Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs Theory ", which describes the core needs of people at different stages to form a " pyramid of needs". At different times, different products and copywriting should be promoted in a targeted manner to achieve the desired results.

1) Physiological needs

Representative works: Nongfu Spring/Baishuishan/ Durex

This revolves around basic human survival skills, and food, water, and warmth are all essential elements during this period.

When writing copy, you can focus on "safety", "hygiene", "delicious", "purity", etc. For example, Nongfu Spring’s advertisement:

As mentioned before, although the entire advertisement does not mention adjectives such as safe and pure, when we read this sentence in our minds, we can appreciate the mystery if we think about it carefully.

This copy not only highlights the characteristics of water, but also creates a good image for the brand. This is the epitome of good copywriting.

In contrast, the video ad of Baishuishan uses the famous “heart-shaped line” story as the main theme:

The story is beautiful and touching, but the user’s inner OS is like this: Descartes’ love is great, but what does it have to do with me drinking water? At the same time, Baishuishan’s price is set at the mid-to-low end. How can you feel superior when you drink water at 3 yuan a bottle? The slogan of "the noblest in water" is also not worthy of its name.

When it comes to needs like "sex", Durex is recognized by the advertising industry as the best copywriter.

The outstanding thing about Durex's copywriting is that it can express the product characteristics through shape, sound, and meaning, and Durex's copywriting is particularly good at riding on hot topics.

For example, when Apple launched the Air Pods headphones, Durex released a poster combining its flagship Air series products with the Air Pod headphones. This is “formal integration.”

When Didi acquired Uber China, Durex released a poster combining the initials of the two companies, which is a "phonetic combination."

For example, the “100 million small goal” that was once widely circulated, Durex released a poster that combined numbers and functions, which is a “combination of meaning”.

Every time a hot topic arises, Durex is able to re-attract users' attention, prompting a large number of users to forward and comment, and increase product exposure as much as possible. This is the power of copywriting.

2) Security requirements

Representative work: Pacific Insurance

At this level, the key is safety and security. However, unknown events such as earthquakes and accidents are always inevitable.

But in order to avoid the situation of "one day, I am old and have no one to rely on ", the security industry and the insurance industry were born.

The most typical example is the copywriting of Pacific Insurance:

The message conveyed by this copy is that the annual premium paid for purchasing insurance is actually not much, and all premiums are stored by the insurance company for you.

Once an accident happens, all the insurance premiums will eventually converge into the Pacific Ocean, forming a safety barrier for you to rely on.

Although the copy contains a certain amount of exaggeration, it is also reasonably acceptable. The sharp contrast between "a drop of water" and "the Pacific Ocean" allows users to face the uncertain future with a sense of steadfastness.

3) Emotional needs

Typical case: NetEase Cloud Music

After people have solved the problems of food, shelter and safety, they will develop to the third level - emotional needs. The emotions here are mainly family love and friendship.

NetEase is a giant Internet company with a huge number of users and different types of products: for example, NetEase News with “attitude”, NetEase Yanxuan with “good life is not that expensive”, and NetEase Cloud Music with “the power of music”.

Music is a natural outlet for expressing emotions . Many people may think of their youth, the promises they made and the exes they loved when listening to the song. As the melody of the song progresses and their thoughts surge, please comment on your truest feelings.

Therefore, the comment section of NetEase Cloud Music became the biggest highlight. In the spring of 2017, NetEase teamed up with Hangzhou Metro to launch a wave of "heartfelt" copywriting.

For example, the sentence at the top of the picture:

After watching it, a big-eyed beauty will unconsciously emerge in your mind, and her every frown and smile is full of love.

But these 19 words instantly froze my memories to the day when we first met, when I saw her for the first time in the playground with her head turned back and smiling, with her hair tied in a ponytail. The picture gradually became clearer, replaying frame by frame, but it is a past that we can never go back to.

After leaving campus, the pressure of life and work is overwhelming. People come and go in the subway, but the pace of life never stops for anyone.

When NetEase released some "heartfelt" copywriting on the subway, it resonated with thousands of users who have stories to tell. This is the power of music and even more so the power of copywriting .

4) Respect needs

Typical case: English MINI

Respect here includes self-respect, respect from others, and a sense of accomplishment .

Learning is an anti-human process that requires you to overcome laziness and concentrate on doing it.

But this is not a big deal for students. For office workers, every day spent fighting laziness means one more day of determination wasted.

How many times have you envied others for being able to communicate smoothly with foreigners? How many times have you dreamed of traveling abroad alone? How many times have you felt that the subtitles didn’t convey the meaning, but you couldn’t understand the original sound?

When it comes to respecting needs, Dong Ni English has done a perfect job. Everyone has different learning goals, methods, and time investment. For example, some people want to take the IELTS, while others just want to learn New Concept 2.

But there is currently no targeted teaching plan for English teaching. What should we do?

Dong Ni English solves this problem very well. When you open the Dong Ni English App for the first time, the novice guide will tell the user that there is an English proficiency test. After the test, you will be given a tailor-made English learning plan, fundamentally avoiding the "one-size-fits-all" drawbacks of traditional education.

In addition, learning English is difficult because of the lack of feedback.

I spent the whole morning reading, but I had no idea how many words I had learned or how many lessons I had watched. This is like a person swimming in the sea. He knows that the shore is on the other side, but he doesn't know how far he has swum, let alone when he can reach the shore.

Dongni English knows you very well. It quantifies all data such as learning time, check-in time, total number of texts, etc., and presents it through data, making the user's progress "visible", thereby gradually cultivating the user's self-confidence.

In addition, after you start a paid course on Dong Ni English and complete the tasks as planned every day, the "Dong Ni English" logo on your personal homepage will light up, and there will be a total ranking for the check-in time, score, etc.

If the user performs well, he or she will have the opportunity to be on the list, thus creating a sense of superiority .

The brain's System 1 is emotional and insensitive to data; the brain's System 2 is rational and accustomed to quantifying results.

Dong Ni English grasps this point, with both emotional and quantitative parts, which attracts a large number of users.

5) Self-actualization

This is a state reached by a few saints such as God and Confucius. People who have reached this level have forgotten their ego, have no desires or demands, and are basically immune to any marketing methods, so we will not discuss it for now.

Summary

1) Keywords of this book

Two systems, psychological effects, Maslow's hierarchy of needs theory

2) Viewpoint refinement

① Remember that the brain operates alternately through two systems. Product design should be either rational or emotional, and should be targeted.

② The birth of every excellent copy is inseparable from a deep insight into life and human nature.

③ Understanding the user’s psychology can make your marketing more effective.

④ People’s needs will change at different levels. Marketing cannot remain static, but must keep pace with the times.

3) Quotes

① We always overestimate our understanding of the world and underestimate the randomness of events.

② Emotional details control the rational overall situation.

③ The phenomenon that the degree of liking something can be increased by continuous repetition is an extremely important physiological phenomenon.

④ Rhyming proverbs are more profound than those without rhyme.

⑤ Vivid pictures and fresh examples of personal experiences are easier to recall than things that happened to other people, simple words or statistics.

Source: Operation Research Society (ID: U_quan)