“Advertisements that I advise you not to watch”, how to market in the post-epidemic era?

NetEase has become popular again because of a series of outdoor advertisements.

This set of NetEase Yanxuan's outdoor advertisements were placed around popular shopping malls in Hangzhou. The simple design attracted passers-by to stop and even sparked secondary dissemination online.

According to the advertising copy, these ad spaces were originally intended for NetEase Yanxuan’s promotional ads from 2.23 to 2.29, but due to the impact of the epidemic, the advertising content was temporarily changed to the above “warm reminder”. The pure text design on a white background is particularly eye-catching on the streets of Hangzhou.

This set of advertisements has sparked a lot of discussion inside and outside the circle in recent days. From what I have personally seen, the general feedback is positive. Everyone likes NetEase Yanxuan for making such a "change" in a special period and for its creativity. However, there are also a few negative voices. They believe that no matter how fancy the creativity and copywriting are, it is more like a show-off advertisement. I also have some thoughts of my own about this advertisement.

Under the epidemic, marketing budgets should not be reduced if possible

The first to be hit by the black swan of this epidemic was offline outdoor advertising. Cities across the country have been closed and traffic restrictions have been imposed, the number of people traveling outdoors has dropped significantly, and the value of traditional outdoor advertising such as buses, subways, shopping malls, and cinemas has been greatly affected. From the perspective of Party A, traditional large outdoor advertising players such as retail, catering, film and television, and tourism are basically in a stagnant state, and the amount of advertising will also be significantly reduced.

According to the "Marketing Trends and Insights under the Impact of the New Coronavirus" released by Blue Label, due to the impact of the epidemic, one-third of the companies surveyed stated that their marketing budgets in the first half of the year were reduced by more than 30%.

Although many companies are facing survival pressure under the epidemic, my personal opinion is that under such circumstances, the marketing budget should not be reduced if possible, but appropriate adjustments should be made to the creative direction and media channels.

At a time when most companies, including your competitors, are reducing or even canceling their advertising campaigns, it is actually the best time for you to increase brand exposure, but remember to choose the appropriate method. When the masses are generally in an anxious environment, it is easier for brands to establish a good brand impression by outputting positive values, and marketing costs generally decrease during special periods. If handled properly, it is easier to achieve big results with small efforts. Having already booked outdoor advertising in key locations in Hangzhou, NetEase Yanxuan did not cancel the advertising. Instead, it adjusted its creative direction, changing direct promotional advertising to warm reminders in line with the epidemic environment. This is completely reasonable in the general sense.

Advertising is not shameful, but marketing thinking has changed in the post-epidemic era

Some people say that even though NetEase Yanxuan changed the copy, it is still an advertisement. But I am also wondering why some people think advertising is shameful?

It is not shameful for a company to advertise; it is part of business. I also think that NetEase Yanxuan’s practice is a typical example of corporate marketing in the post-epidemic era.

Advertising is an inherently disruptive industry, but it is not shameful. The essence of advertising is to inform people of information. For those who need this information, advertising is something valuable. By the way, NetEase Yanxuan’s New Year promotion is still ongoing.

What impact has the epidemic had on brands, industries, and everyone? The epidemic has made everyone a "clean freak". The public pays more attention to and is more urgent about their health. For brands, taking the initiative to embrace social responsibility has become a consensus among major brands. This trend will not change in the short term, so in the post-epidemic era, the brand's creative direction will obviously be more in line with user needs in this regard.

Black swan events also bring about changes in media combinations, and the degree of integration between online and offline channels will be higher. These are all things that brands that are about to start their spring marketing should think about.

To be creative, it is more important to understand human nature than to understand advertising.

To put it bluntly, good creativity is about playing with human nature . At any time, being creative and understanding human nature are more valuable than understanding advertising itself.

Buddha said that human desires are five kinds: wealth, sex, fame, food and sleep. The seven deadly sins of Catholicism are pride, envy, wrath, sloth, greed, gluttony and lust. If you summarize, good ideas and good advertisements often make use of just these.

In this advertisement of NetEase Yanxuan, there is a psychological "pink elephant theory". It comes from a psychological test in which the test subjects were told not to imagine a pink elephant in the room - the experiment found that this was difficult to do, and once this signal was in the brain, it was difficult not to think about it.

Advising you not to watch this ad is in itself a hint for you to watch this ad. Judging from the results, this campaign not only did not result in any loss, but must have gained more, at least in terms of unquantifiable benefits in terms of brand favorability.

PR thinking beats marketing thinking

I have said more than once that the core of public relations is expression, and there are many ways of expression. Nowadays, many corporate demands do not necessarily have to be solved by shooting a TVC, making an H5, or issuing a press release. Therefore, public relations requires more creativity, or in other words, more public relations thinking is needed when doing marketing and creativity.

Do you think NetEase Yanxuan’s outdoor advertising is marketing? Definitely. After all, it still carries promotional information, has a big logo, and has involved a lot of KOLs in the secondary dissemination stage. But I think from another perspective, this is a great public relations move. Companies do not necessarily have to put profits above all else, sacrifice some profits, communicate their social responsibilities to the outside world, and demonstrate their brand’s sense of social responsibility.

During the epidemic, the public relations thinking of another case was more direct than that of NetEase Yanxuan. Faced with the shortage of medical supplies, many large and powerful companies have begun to "switch careers" to produce masks, alcohol and other supplies. Among them, SAIC-GM-Wuling built its own production line in just four days and delivered 1 million "Wuling brand masks", and built the first Wuling brand mask machine in just 76 hours. And shouted out the slogan "Wuling makes what the people need."

In the Internet age, all forms and media can become carriers of public relations. In special times, companies need more public relations thinking.

Author: Jun Xiaobao

Source: Jun Xiaobao