Top 10 marketing keywords in 2018!

Usually at the end of the year, there will be various review articles, and this article is no exception... Today I will talk about my top ten marketing keywords for 2018 and five alternative words, and make an overall summary of the overall marketing hotspots and changes in the communication environment in 2018.

Keyword 1: Earthy

The emergence of earthy aesthetics in the past few years has shown signs of this with the emergence of emoticons for middle-aged and elderly people. Starting from last year and throughout the whole year, the earthy aesthetic has been pushed to the commanding heights and has become a phenomenon that cannot be ignored in Internet culture.

An important reason behind the popularity of Tuwei culture is the rise of Kuaishou app. The rise of elements such as social shake, shouting, Peppa Pig social people, and superme are all directly related to the influence of Kuaishou. Later, Douyin also took over the baton of Tuwei culture.

Earthy internet celebrities such as Xiong Ying Gao Fei, A Giao, Lu Chao, Huanong Brothers, food writer Wang Gang, and Handicraft Geng are all the rage on the Internet. In the first half of the year, there was the popularity of earthy love words that emerged with the rise of Douyin. At the end of the year, there were various internet celebrities of all sizes, such as Qiu Yong, who is "full of positive energy", and Heihe Kidney Sister, who says "Here comes my brother".

There are countless earthy-flavored phenomena that have become popular this year, and even the boundaries between "earthy" and "trendy" have gradually blurred in terms of aesthetics (such as Supreme). From the perspective of advertising and marketing, earthy content has become a new creative direction for content (such as earthy love words). In addition, the emergence of national trends may be more or less related to earthy culture, and the vaporwave style frequently used in poster design can also be seen as a revival of earthy trends.

Keyword 2: National trend

Domestic brands have collectively adopted a cross-border approach to rejuvenate their brands this year. Perhaps with the influence of some local culture, the national trend promoted by Tmall has become a fashion.

From China's Li Ning's Paris Fashion Week, to Lao Gan Ma and Wangzai's sweater catwalks, to White Rabbit lip balm and Liushen RIO cocktail... every once in a while, there are cross-border hits from old brands, which also highlights the desire of old brands to communicate with young users.

In fact, it is not only domestic brands that are becoming trendy and younger, but even the previously high-end luxury brands are gradually becoming trendy brands, as can be clearly seen from Burberry's change of logo. Almost all major brands have adopted a trendy and street-oriented approach to marketing to varying degrees, and the representative of street culture, "Supreme", has been particularly popular this year, even leading to the popularity of symbols such as "All Villains".

Not only consumer products such as Lao Gan Ma, Liushen, Li Ning, and White Rabbit, but also cultural museum brands are becoming trendy. For example, the British Museum's Taobao store has become popular, Douyin and the H5 of several major national museums have been screen-sweeping, and the Forbidden City Taobao, which has always been very fun... In short, behind the national trend is the collective rejuvenation attempt of brands.

Keyword 3: remembrance

This year is a year for those born in the 80s and 90s to collectively remember the past, because too many iconic figures have passed away.

In January, Dorothy, lead singer of the band The Cranberries, died. In March, iconic scientist Stephen Hawking and scholar Li Ao, who was known for his criticism, passed away. In August, Momoka Sakura, author of "Chibi Maruko-chan", and former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan passed away. In September, storytelling master Shan Tianfang and singer Zang Tianshuo passed away. In October, Chinese martial arts master Jin Yong and host Li Yong passed away. In November, Marvel's father Stan Lee, actress Anita Mui, and the author of "SpongeBob SquarePants" passed away... This list could be extended a lot in different sub-fields. People born in the 80s and 90s have more or less learned to say goodbye to the past this year.

Perhaps it is time for those born in the 1990s to reminisce about the past. In addition to various commemorative posters, many marketing themes in recent years have been nostalgic for childhood. "Memory killing" has become a tried and tested topic in marketing content creation, and has appeared in large numbers in H5 mini-games of various brands.

Keyword 4: fission

Fission as an operational means became well known to the public in several popular knowledge payment activities at the beginning of this year. Whether it is NetEase Xijing Class, Sanlian Electronic Magazine, or Xinshixiang Reading Club, fission techniques are combined with distribution, and through a series of WeChat operation tools such as group control robots and live codes, they have swept the circle of friends of marketers.

Although all fission distribution operating methods are intended to induce forwarding, brands are still playing hide-and-seek with WeChat in order to obtain cheap traffic. There is now a consensus that if an activity is not banned or restricted by WeChat, it actually means that the effect of the activity is not ideal.

Nowadays, with WeChat's stricter content supervision, the benefits of fission marketing are slowly disappearing. It is very difficult to carry out screen-sweeping fission activities again, but small-scale fission attempts will still become marketing attempts of various brands.

The idea of ​​fission is actually not brand promotion, but a growth method. The popularity of fission also illustrates the desire of most brands for traffic and customer acquisition. It is not difficult to understand why many CMOs (Chief Marketing Officers) have been replaced by CGOs (Chief Growth Officers).

Keyword 5: Nipple Fun

There is a theory in economics that the more economic downturn occurs, the more willing the public is to consume entertainment content. Perhaps due to the downward pressure on the economy this year, coupled with the popularity of short video products such as Tik Tok, the lipstick effect has become more and more obvious, as if we have entered an era of entertainment to death.

The screen is full of young men and women, and countless funny videos and funny jokes are flooding the short video platform. Not only the major MCN agencies, but even the official Douyin of various brands are mostly trying to operate by writing and performing jokes.

Douyin's excessive entertainment does have a significant ability to bring in goods. Earlier this year, Peppa Pig watches, Enchanting Flowers and other Internet celebrity toys became popular. Answer Tea became famous through Douyin's social dissemination. Douyin's content has also driven the tourism industry in Xi'an, Chengdu, Xiamen and other places...

On the other hand, online variety shows have long shown signs of being too cliché, a typical example being the "Tucao Conference" in which Li Dan, who said that "the world is not worth it", participated.

Keyword 6: Rectification

The tightening of content policies has brought about a rectification movement on the Internet. The rectification of Kuaishou, the permanent removal of the Neihan Duanzi APP, the temporary removal of Bilibili, the controversy over insulting martyrs by Baozou Manhua, the talks and rectifications by major news websites, the temporary closure of Curiosity Daily... content risk has become a risk point that cannot be ignored in online communication today.

The permanent closure of the Ergeng Canteen public account, the banning of Douyin influencer Wen Wan and Douyu anchor Chen Yifa, the detention of influencer Li Ge, and the exposure of self-media chaos by CCTV... This year's content control incidents are simply innumerable, and the content control efforts of platforms such as WeChat, Toutiao, and Douyin are the strictest in history, and the number of content reviewers is unprecedented.

Not only the Internet content industry, but also other industries are increasing their supervision and rectification efforts. The most obvious one is the Yin-Yang contract incident in the entertainment industry exposed by Cui Yongyuan, which directly led to an earthquake in the entertainment industry.

The increase in content risks requires marketers to control their values, avoid sensitive topics as much as possible, and produce content that promotes positive energy. On the other hand, they must also be prepared with plans for public relations crises at all times.

Content supervision is beneficial to many original and serious content creators. The crackdown on clickbait, black public relations and other behaviors may allow more high-quality content and creativity to appear in front of the public, and actively guide the entire content ecology and communication environment.

Keyword 7: Koi

From the daily superstition of forwarding good luck on Weibo to Yang Chaoyue's incarnation of a koi fish on "Produce 101", the Chinese folk culture of koi fish has seen an explosion on the Internet this year.

What pushed the koi culture to a climax were two Ali-affiliated Weibo lucky draws. During the 618 shopping festival in the middle of the year, Taobao held a Weibo Blue V lucky draw. The prizes were announced by Blue V merchants in the main Weibo comment area. The high prizes attracted a lot of attention, and netizens called the winners "the chosen ones." Before the National Day holiday, Alipay held another overseas travel-themed koi lucky draw that set off the entire Internet. The koi winner "Xin Xiaodai" became an Internet celebrity on Weibo, and various local accounts followed suit in lucky draws.

The koi lottery marketing technique has been around for a long time, but this year is indeed the year when major brands have used it to perfection. Many micro-innovations in the lottery have attracted users, making it one of the most iconic marketing techniques this year.

Keyword 8: Downward Population

The sinking population usually refers to users in third-tier cities and below, also jokingly referred to as "people outside the fifth ring road". They first entered the mainstream media's field of vision through Kuaishou.

The sinking population is usually young people in small towns, the elderly or rural population. The low cost of acquiring customers on mobile terminals has created a wave of demographic dividend for the sinking population. The rise of products such as Pinduoduo and Qutoutiao is closely related to the sinking population.

In previous years, promotion to lower-income groups in villages and towns was mostly limited to painting walls, but now, online promotion can directly reach these lower-income groups. Since this group has a lot of free time and is more sensitive to prices, brands usually do not use advertising to convert them. Instead, they attract new customers through gamification operations such as interest inducement.

Since the cost of screening and recognizing product advertising information is too high for most people, social sharing and dissemination (fission) among acquaintances represented by Pinduoduo has become an extremely efficient promotion model for e-commerce platforms. Coupled with the early entry into the market with high-frequency products such as fruits and fresh produce, Pinduoduo, which was established only three years ago, was able to go public.

Keyword 9: Generation Z

Those born after 1995 and 2000 can be roughly understood as the "Generation Z" in many media. Their social and consumption habits are very different from those of their predecessors. According to a survey report by China Youth Network, more than half of those born after 1995 are most eager to become internet celebrity anchors, followed by makeup artists, cosplayers, game reviewers, etc.

Not long ago, the "social jargon of the post-00s" was exposed on the Internet. For example, "cdx" means "dating", and "cqy" means "QQ friends"... It can be seen that the unique social culture of the post-00s has been developed. Compared with social networking among acquaintances such as WeChat, those born after 1995 and 2000 who are still in school prefer to use stranger social networking apps such as "soul" and "Yi Can". In short, Generation Z has its own generational barriers.

Many consumption reports show that those born after 1995 have gradually become the main consumer force. Not only product categories such as men's beauty products, but even luxury goods have become the consumption target of many people in Generation Z. In addition, the fan economy of popular stars in the entertainment industry is also mostly supported by the Generation Z group.

Compared with their predecessors, Generation Z is a generation that was born completely online. Not only do they have no worries about food and clothing in general, they also have a good awareness of paying. They will be the key target of major brands in the future.

Keyword 10: Internet celebrity store

The so-called Internet celebrity stores are naturally brands that have sufficient online visibility. Internet celebrity stores are generally the product of catering retail under the trend of consumption upgrading. The innovation of tea drinks in recent years has made Heytea, Nayuki and others stand out, while Luckin Coffee and Daancha are more inclined to social marketing. In the coffee market, Luckin Coffee and Lian Coffee have also emerged as Internet celebrity brands.

In addition to the already popular Haidilao in the catering industry, Yunnan cuisine Yunhaiyao, Chen Pengpeng Goose Meat Restaurant, Tai Er Pickled Fish, etc. have all appeared in the public eye. Certain food categories are also becoming popular, such as frog meat dishes and goose meat dishes, which have exploded in recent years.

Most of the Internet celebrity stores have exquisite soft-decoration spaces. In addition to the products themselves, photogenicness is an essential element. Visual upgrade is a major focus in consumption upgrades, especially in beverage stores.

However, many new entrants into the catering industry tend to overlook the essence of catering, overemphasize visuals and decoration, and underestimate backend capabilities such as products, supply chains, and capital chains. As a result, many internet celebrity stores are quickly closing down after a short-lived popularity.

Alternative word 1: lonely

2018 was the year when traditional advertising companies completely lost their luster. In the era of big data, the role of creativity was once questionable. For traditional advertising companies, there are big data users such as BAT in front and consulting companies such as Accenture involved in the advertising business in the back. It has become a consensus that the client should set up an in-house creative team. Even new media such as Xin Shi Xiang and Er Geng are competing for their jobs.

The Cannes Lions Creative Festival was overshadowed by many technology companies, and there were also constant moves within traditional 4A agencies. Ogilvy replaced Ogilvy's handwritten logo; JWT (the world's first advertising company) was acquired by Wunderman and renamed Wunderman Thompson; VML merged with Young & Rubicam (Y&R, the first 4A company in mainland China)... WPP's many merger moves made people begin to feel pessimistic about the future of 4A.

Growth, customer acquisition, Martech... More and more Internet terms have entered advertising companies. It has become a consensus to use big data to assist in the generation of creativity. Netflix's popular "House of Cards" a few years ago is a classic case. Now it seems that the traditional operating model of the advertising industry really needs to be adjusted, and perhaps it will also usher in disruptive innovation of new species.

Alternative word 2: Da Da

As H5 communication is gradually declining, it is not easy for the NetEase team to produce three or four hit products a year, among which Dada Studio is a topic that cannot be avoided.

From "My Instructions" and "Sleeping Position Competition" to "Death in 48 Hours" and "Philosophical Temperament"... not only has it achieved great results this year, but in previous years, NetEase should also be the company that has produced the largest number of screen-sweeping H5s. With its high-quality production and powerful traffic pool, NetEase H5 dominated the screen within 24 hours after its release, and was subsequently banned by WeChat. This has become a common scene for everyone.

The DaDa team will spend several months polishing an H5. The planners first ensure the topic and quality of the H5, and the tested topics are always successful. Everyone generally regards DaDa as NetEase’s internal H5 advertising company. However, H5 communication is becoming increasingly difficult. Will test-type H5 communication still be so effective in the future? Do we need to find new breakthroughs? This may be a challenge for the Dada team.

Alternative word three: traffic pool

Traffic pool is not a new concept, but perhaps it was the publication of a book called "Traffic Pool" by internet celebrity CMO Yang Fei that made this concept spread further. Yang Fei is the CMO of Luckin Coffee, a new retail coffee brand that has become very popular this year.

By building a brand to construct a long-term sustainable traffic pool, and then doing fission sharing and dissemination after a certain amount of traffic has been accumulated, this is actually the principle of "fish pond and bait" often mentioned in the Internet industry.

To put it simply, it means diverting traffic from the large traffic pond to build the brand's own small pond. The operation method is to give bait and let the fish swim over. The brand's thinking has also changed from communication to building its own user traffic pool.

Alternative word 4: rude

Users' attention spans are getting shorter and shorter, and media are becoming more and more fragmented, so most brands today use simple and crude methods when placing advertisements. The most obvious example is this year's chaotic used car industry and World Cup advertisements.

The main title in oversized font, the brainwashing music, the large number of repeated keywords... Although all of these may annoy users, they may indeed be effective based on the data. The advertisements on Zhihu, Mafengwo, and Boss Direct Hire during the World Cup caused many people to turn from fans to haters, but the advertising effect was good both in terms of the index and user growth.

In an age of scarce attention, it is unlikely that ads can tell stories, so simple and crude advertising slogans and art designs have become the first choice for brand growth.

Alternative word 5: Public relations crisis

Public relations crises happen every year, but it seems that this year there are particularly many major ones. BlueFocus, the No. 1 PR stock, faced its own layoff crisis. Director Zhang Yang also became famous because of a sex scandal. An article titled "The King of Vaccines" brought the vaccine industry to the forefront. The Hongmao Liquor scandal was even more shocking. The incident of the murder of a stewardess in a ride-sharing service had a significant impact on the entire Didi company. In the second half of the year, Liu Qiangdong's sexual assault incident became the biggest scandal of the year. Mafengwo's data transfer led to a discussion on the hidden rules of operations...

In this turbulent year, some people were busy apologizing, some were busy deleting posts, some were busy smearing their opponents, and some were secretly happy that everything was fine... The social communication of the Internet made it easier for negative news to be exposed, so some people jokingly said, "Don't mess with people who have public accounts."

Conclusion

2018 is a year of great changes. From the perspective of the broader international environment and economic situation, it is very different from previous years. The above keywords are just a basic summary of the marketing field. In any case, let's look forward to 2019.

Tomorrow will be better, that’s great. ——Lu Chao

Source: Spread Gymnastics