How can brands leverage hot topics for marketing? 6 key points

There are many explanations and contents about leverage marketing in marketing , but the leverage marketing discussed in this article today specifically refers to a way of communication that conducts brand marketing by riding on hot topics. This method is not only low-cost but can also quickly ferment topics, saving the initial preparation and warm-up time, which can be said to be a great achievement with little money.

Leveraging marketing saves time and money costs, and brings the benefits of brand promotion to many companies. Therefore, this communication method has been widely adopted by enterprises in marketing communication. By making people pay attention to hot topics, the brand's cultural value and emotional appeal can be successfully conveyed to the audience inadvertently, thus achieving the goal of making more people know about it and making those who know like it more.

So, when a social hot spot emerges, should a brand take immediate follow-up action? First of all, you need to know some principles to help you make decisions.

1. Is it positive? Try to avoid natural disasters, social tragedies, political events, ethnic conflicts, etc. It is best not to take advantage of the THAAD incident or the vaccine incident, it is best not to dramatize national heroes, and be extremely cautious about obvious violations of privacy such as the Uniqlo video ;
2. Is it associated with the brand? If you can't find the connection, don't just make up the numbers and take advantage of it. It is better not to forcefully associate hot topics with brands. For example, when taking advantage of the college entrance examination craze , Swiss Balco, one of the few watch brands in the industry that was able to stand out in the college entrance examination marketing war, filled the main body of its poster with text to resemble a watch. The copy repeatedly uses the Internet slang "表(不要)" to list and kindly remind students of the things they need to pay attention to before the exam, which not only shows creativity but also forms a connection with the product.
3. Whether it is reasonable and legal. Many brands will directly use celebrity portraits when taking advantage of celebrity popularity, which is an infringement of copyright. It is always unreasonable to blindly take advantage of Qingming Festival and Dragon Boat Festival if you are not selling rice dumplings.
4. Whether it will arouse the audience's emotions. Remember that cyber mobs exist, and even if you do something right, linguistic ambiguity can lead to a brand disaster;
5. Whether it is stuck at a critical moment. If general hot spots cannot be linked within six hours and the entire case cannot be disseminated within twelve hours, there is no need to do it. Of course, although the Internet is invincible only by speed, we cannot compromise quality just because of speed.

We know that every brand has core value and extended value, so if a hot event does not match your brand tone, you need to consider whether to follow it or not. But the reality is that we have found that many companies have become distorted in their pursuit of hot spots. How can we explain this? The operation department follows hot topics and makes posters in order to get noticed by leaders and complete KPIs. It seems that when a hot topic appears, other brands are chasing it but you are indifferent, which is dereliction of duty. It is really ridiculous and pathetic to think about it.

Now that we know whether we should follow a hot topic, let’s summarize and sort out the six key points about brands using hot events to conduct marketing:

1. Only with differentiation can you get attention

Brands use hot topics for good communication, not to show their presence or join in the fun. When doing hot spot communication planning, we must first grasp the hot spot trends, find the intersection of hot spots and audience interests, and find the intersection of hot spots with brands and products. This is also the prerequisite for everything.

This requires us to:

1. Deeply understand the brand and products and gain insights into users ;
2. Find the (different) angle of entry (differentiation).

For the same hot spot, different brands can stand out by combining their own brand characteristics and approaching from a unique angle. It is meaningless to simply follow the trend. Media platforms will not recommend the same hot topic or the same approach repeatedly.

According to brand positioning and market planning, the brand's extended value can be expressed in a differentiated way and truly connected with hot topics, so as to be needed by the audience to the greatest extent.

For example, when it comes to the topic of father, there are always endless memories. Everyone has the back of his or her father in his or her memory, which is warm and touching, and sentimental and tear-jerking. For example, the photo of a Taiwanese father holding an umbrella that moved the world. It is the most beautiful back view in the world and the deep fatherly love. But when a brand takes advantage of the trend, it cannot just be from the perspective of giving gifts to fathers, as that would be too cliché. Gillette planned a theme event for Father's Day to show photos of fathers, father-son photos, and photos of the era, initiate or participate in topics, and make an H5 mini -game so that everyone can generate pictures and share them together.

Second, the purpose of riding the trend is to make the audience have a brand impression

What is the purpose of taking advantage of the hot topic? Many people would say that they take advantage of hot topics in order to spread the word and gain more readers and forwarding rates. As long as the content becomes a hot topic, it will most likely be forwarded or reported by the media , thus occupying the most prominent exposure position.

But the reality is: although there were reading volumes, forwarding rates, and exposure at the time, once the hot topic passed, the audience remembered nothing. The reason is that this kind of copywriting that takes advantage of hot topics is usually for the sake of being hot and for the sake of being overwhelming. It just reached a crazy state of chasing after the popularity, but did not expose and spread the brand's core and values.

In other words, in hot events, people actually pay attention to the hot topic itself and do not notice the brand behind it. Therefore, you only make the audience more aware of the hot topics time and time again, but you fail to make your brand clearer to the audience.

The final result is: there is a lack of correlation between the hot topic and the brand. The hot topic becomes popular, but the audience remembers nothing about the brand.

Therefore, as a way to take advantage of the popularity, operators should consider: Will the audience remember your product or brand as a result? Will your audience automatically think of your message when they choose related products or services?

Therefore, the most important thing about riding on a hot topic is not to force it just for the sake of being hot, but to think through a series of things and make the best use of each hot topic. The goal that must be achieved is to make the audience have an impression of the brand or product. It's not just about stirring up emotions, or just laughing it off, or just scolding.

At 4 a.m. on September 9, 2017, an explosive news came out that Xue Zhiqian announced that he had reunited with his ex-wife Gao Leixing. Weibo was instantly dominated by Xue Zhiqian, it was definitely a hot topic! Major brands have also launched copywriting to take advantage of the situation, including Gionee , Meiling, Haier , Qia Qia , and Elephant.

The copy on Elephant's official Weibo is: Please love me more deeply for the rest of my life... The "deeper" joke comes from Gao Leixin's Weibo: "So many shallow and faint turns are a sign of deep love that others cannot understand... So, please be nice to me for the rest of my life." Combined with the product attributes of condoms, the brand leaves a deep impression on people.

We take advantage of hot topics to make the audience remember the brand.

Being remembered is the best state. But first, we should create a brand impression for the audience. The ultimate goal of riding on the hot topic is to serve the brand communication, let the audience have a brand impression, and increase the popularity of the brand.

3. Use well-known brands or friendly companies to build momentum for yourself and get twice the result with half the effort

Whenever a new iPhone is released, major brands will quickly start to seize the "hot topic" work. Taking advantage of the popularity of Apple's new products, they can use the iPhone's brand popularity that is originally understood and accepted by the public to promote their own brands.

I believe everyone knows Weilong spicy strips . As the leader in the spicy strips industry, Weilong can be said to be one of the most successful brands that leverages marketing momentum. It has entered the public eye with the help of Apple's design style. From the initial grocery store snacks to the current style transformation, Weilong released a new spicy strip, Hotstr ip 7.0. The name is fashionable and technological, and the poster design is minimalist, which is 90% similar to the poster of Apple's press conference, giving people a sense of confusion that "Apple actually released spicy strips." After the release of this spicy strip, netizens were amazed and self-media were flooded with news. Spicy strips were no longer a nepotism item, but instantly became a luxury item. From imitating Apple's simple design to currently trying different design styles, it can be said that Weilong is indeed very dedicated in brand marketing, and the results are very significant.

March 7, 2016 is the 100th anniversary of BMW. While BMW is actively preparing for its birthday activities, Mercedes-Benz unexpectedly also does not miss such a hot topic. The two brands that love and hate each other always generate various topics.

On March 6, a picture went viral in the WeChat Moments in China:

"Thanks for 100 years of competition. The 30 years without you were actually pretty boring."

What an intriguing passage! What does Mercedes-Benz want to say?

Mercedes-Benz was born 30 years earlier than BMW, so I am the elder brother and the senior...

100 years of competition with BMW is not boring, this is love...

Well, many people automatically forwarded the message on Weibo and WeChat Moments. I really think that Mercedes-Benz has done a great job in leveraging the momentum this time!

4. Pulling the emotional trigger can impress users

In order to achieve the best dissemination effect, content that leverages hot topics must be able to touch the readers' emotions. To borrow a phrase from Professor Li Guowei, the first skill of creating good content is to stand from the perspective of readers' interests and create a connection of "interest" and "emotion" with the target readers.

Only when the value of content triggers readers' interests or emotions will readers have the motivation to interact and share.

Buying tickets to go home for the Spring Festival is a difficult problem facing those who return home. To address this pain point, Tongcheng Travel released a video advertisement before the Spring Festival last year, telling the story of buying tickets in a warm way.

Every Chinese has a myriad of emotions regarding the Spring Festival. Therefore, Tongcheng abandoned simple and crude advertising methods and introduced its products to consumers in a gentle and persuasive way. The advertisement interprets three twists and turns of ticket-buying stories from the perspective of ordinary people, deepening the audience's sense of involvement. Structurally, the film uses a reversal technique. When you are anxious about not being able to buy a ticket, the usually harsh and indifferent people silently help you arrange your itinerary. Many people have emotional resonance when they see this, and tears flow unconsciously.

Vipshop also launched its own micro -film to leverage its brand marketing on the eve of the Spring Festival: Happiness is being together. In the advertisement, in order to cater to their children's needs for the Internet, the elderly parents let their daughter and grandson stay at home for a few more days. They went to great lengths to install the Internet at home and bought a smart TV. A few words from the young people can cause a big fuss among their parents. As the younger generation, we should also take action and buy New Year's goods. The lines in the play, "A casual remark from us can cause our parents to make a big fuss," and "When we grow up and our parents grow old, it is easy to ignore their love" are still fresh in our memory and deeply touching.

5. Riding on the trend is not about self-entertainment, but about interacting with the audience

Simply put, it is the ability to generate topical buzz. Although people are individuals, the world is a collective. No one can survive alone in society without being part of the collective. This is also the reason why community product types are enduring.

As a company or a product, when expressing and spreading its own value, it is not only a one-way operation, but also a process of interactive communication with the public.

Hot information itself has a sense of "user participation". Hot topic marketing must also fully consider user participation and let users regard your brand as a topic. Only then can the brand's hot topic marketing be considered successful.

The "Star Wars" series is an absolute classic in the minds of many movie fans. It has been 40 years since the first work. As one of the greatest film IPs in human history, the new film "Star Wars: The Last Jedi" has attracted countless brands to take advantage of it. Even big brands like Pepsi are cooperating with it to launch a series of marketing activities to leverage the momentum, resonating with the young consumer groups who currently advocate "individuality" culture and satisfying the individual needs of young people. This time, the company is taking advantage of Star Wars 8 to update its packaging, launching limited edition Pepsi-Cola Sugar Free Star Wars series cans and Star Wars-themed brand advertisements.

But this time the packaging is not just for viewing, Pepsi also customized a Star Wars themed H5 for it. By scanning the QR code, the phone screen will turn into a sci-fi starry sky. By rotating the phone to find the limited edition can, you can test which character in Star Wars best matches you.

PepsiCo is the first to combine the three-dimensional starry sky panoramic interactive technology in H5 with the Star Wars theme in leveraged marketing. This method not only enhances interactivity and sharing, but the immersive starry sky displayed after scanning the code can also stimulate users' emotions, achieving a perfect combination of vision and interaction.

6. In addition to brand awareness, reputation and loyalty are more important

Leveraging marketing is not only a technique, but also a way. Therefore, leveraging marketing cannot only focus on the immediate effect of hype, but must gradually achieve a double harvest of corporate brand and product sales through resource integration from a strategic level.

Many brands follow hot topics and leverage marketing to gain a lot of publicity and attention. They gain popularity, but because some implementation links are not done well, the audience feels fooled or disrespected, which in turn triggers a negative reversal effect, which is not worth the loss.

Therefore, while companies are leveraging marketing to increase their visibility, they must also improve and maintain their image. What companies should pay most attention to is how to build a high reputation through a series of marketing leveraging opportunities, and seek truth and innovation in product, service and corporate image building, and ultimately form brand loyalty.

In addition, leveraging marketing should organically combine product innovation and publicity and promotion through in-depth research and careful planning, inject new competitiveness into corporate products or brands with innovative ideas, and enhance the effectiveness of publicity and promotion with the unique selling points of products. Through this marketing method that does not require too much funding, companies can be placed in a more advantageous competitive position, which is also an important goal pursued by companies in their marketing activities.