5 key words for brand promotion strategy in 2019!

Faced with the explosion of mobile digital media, the former main channels for brand cultivation need to reflect on themselves: In the process of growing and developing by relying on advertising revenue, how deeply do the media understand the evolution of advertisers' marketing strategies and the demand for brand communication innovation? Does the media’s own brand building direction match the evolution of social consumption needs?

In the past year, the global market has been struggling with economic fluctuations, and brands of all sizes have been up and down in the storm. The survival environment of traditional industries with overcapacity has become more severe. It is not just the mass media industry and the traditional advertising industry that have been subverted by the market situation. But no matter what, there is only one way for companies, organizations and brands to go - to be themselves! Trends come and go, but the fundamentals—quality products, clever storytelling, memorable experiences, and responsible living—never go out of style.

For the mass media industry, understanding the evolution of brand development strategies and improving one’s own brand value building capabilities are important business strategies that go beyond the level of technological competition. Looking around the world, various brands are actively exploring ways to innovate and upgrade their brands in order to maintain sustainable survival and voice. The relevant developments are generally inspiring and instructive for the domestic traditional media industry and advertising industry, and are worthy of our continued tracking and research.

Ford, Uber and Lyft make unprecedented promise to share the streets

Ford is responsible for developing common traffic data standards for real-time control of road demand and availability. For the first time, cities will be able to responsibly manage restricted roads in real time, reallocating road space and reducing carbon emissions.

Uber is responsible for providing global vehicle speed data for free. Cities can accurately identify areas of speeding or dangerous driving, redesign streets and save lives.

Lyft will then publish its own urban vehicle speed dataset to create a common framework for shareable passenger pickup and drop-off times, and will work with Uber to develop aggregated data that can be provided to major cities around the world to help governments understand where rental car trips are most needed to reduce congestion.

The domino effect of open source brand strategies is beginning to emerge, with brands such as PepsiCo, Coca-Cola, Unilever and H&M signing commitments to eliminate the use of non-recyclable plastics by 2025. HP and IKEA have joined a global corporate alliance of 10 companies to close the plastics entering the ocean, expanding control over marine plastic pollution by developing the first global ocean plastic supply chain network, and making more impactful efforts to eliminate the pollution crisis facing the world; Dell is also working with Next Wave Plastics to release their brand proposition. In 2019, I believe more companies will follow this trend.

Jaguar Land Rover positions itself as the leader in the classic car market

Jaguar Land Rover has renamed its heritage business Jaguar Land Rover Classic and is offering a parts catalogue for classic cars that have been out of production for decades, helping customers restore all Jaguar and Land Rover models that have been out of production for more than a decade.

Google changes its name to Alphabet

For emerging industries, brand reconstruction strategy is also an important part of corporate business strategy. For example, Google changed its company name to Alphabet. The newly established brand structure aims to enable each department to develop into its own independent brand. Google has concentrated those currently unprofitable businesses beyond Internet products into Alphabet, while the traditional search, digital media and advertising businesses continue to maintain the name Google, aiming to increase investors' awareness of the corporate structure and different businesses and enable each department to develop into its own brand.

In fact, Google's Android operating system has been updating the names of various applications in alphabetical order since 2009. Alphabet's brand architecture enables Google to define clear operating goals and business structures for each subsidiary, while keeping the Google brand focused on its core businesses - the Internet, software and online advertising.

Of course, the word Alphabet has been trademarked by a number of companies around the world (including fashion companies, accessories companies, décor retailers, a hotel, an international car management company, a signage company and a design firm), so is there a possibility of legal disputes with similarly named organizations in the future? This remains to be seen.

Increase brand exposure: Reach millions of fans and users in your target market through high-quality, influential content.

Engage in conversations and educate users: Use influencers to provide content and engage customers through social channels, emails, and blogs.

Influence purchasing behavior: Showcase influential content and reviews on your website and product pages to help convert potential customers.

Improve brand visibility: Publish original content on influential social channels, video blogs, websites, and improve search engine rankings.

Target the right influencers for your brand: Find out who is talking about your brand, what they are saying, and how influential they are, by category, location, language, demographic, keyword, and influence level. See exactly where you stack up against your competitors and stay on top of industry trends.

IKEA: Taking self-service to a whole new level

The IKEA pop-up restaurant opened in Shoreditch, London on September 10 last year and lasted for 13 days. The theme of the event is “Diners will cook their own food.” In addition to free use of ingredients and restaurant facilities for registered participants, diners can also invite 20 friends to sit down and enjoy the delicious meal together. Of course, for reasons of hygiene, health and safety, diners won’t be cooking entirely alone. They will operate under the guidance of the head chef, who will instruct them in classic Scandinavian recipes. In addition to the chef's technical support, the restaurant also provides waiters and dishwashers for customers!

One thing is for sure, this campaign has everyone talking about IKEA and wanting to stock their own kitchens! While raising awareness among Brits about having more control over their time, IKEA has shown how staying true to its brand values ​​provides opportunities for growth. The pop-up restaurant was a great way to achieve both goals while also reinforcing the brand’s motto: “Everything is possible if you seize the opportunity.”

Dyson: “You have to tell your customers why you are different.”

"Most hair dryers still use big, bulky motors that fit on your head. Ours is different. We've rethought it." - James Dyson

4. PLAY･Interesting Interaction

——Adding fun and interactive elements to brand marketing can help gain more recognition and enhance influence.

Why is square dancing so popular across the country? The only reason is that everyone is playing! Playing is a deep-rooted desire of human beings. In an increasingly stressful social environment, everyone hopes to relieve stress, escape reality and hope to feel better. According to statistics, 44% of computer game players believe that the biggest benefit of games is to improve mood. Consumer spending on video games is growing — some estimate that global consumer spending on games will grow to $180 billion by 2021, with an annual growth rate of 10% from 2017-2021.

Playing games can break through the bottleneck of audience size - Nielsen (2018) reported that the average American spends 11 hours a day listening to, watching, reading or interacting with media. It provides new space for brands to build brand loyalty with rich and engaging content.

This reality means that organizations in whatever field they operate should pay close attention to “play.” Brands should add an element of playfulness to their marketing mix to gain greater impact. In an ageing society, play isn’t just for kids – we all know the important relationship between play and health, and recent research shows that play plays an integral role in a person’s mental health.

For an organization, “play” can make its members happier. Happy employees lead to higher productivity and happier customers. In an age of radical transparency, a company’s internal culture is its brand, so the team needs to be at its best for the business to thrive. ”

In order for a brand to gain high recognition and love, we must first make the brand lovable.

Carlsberg: Easter chocolate pop-up store, a communication offensive without paid media

If Carlsberg did is a series of marketing communication activities launched by Carlsberg in recent years, which has helped to strengthen the brand's position in the minds of consumers, but also demonstrated the connection between the brand and its consumers.

Carlsberg took advantage of the public holiday of Easter in 2018. In order to show that Carlsberg can indeed be part of the Easter celebrations, Carlsberg launched the "If Carlsberg do Chocolate Bars" flash marketing campaign that won social praise, with the core element of Easter - candy as the theme. A huge flash chocolate bar was built on the wall of the Truman Brewery. The event lasted only one day. In terms of details, the operations team made no expense spared, using chocolate to create a series of utensils in the store. To show that Carlsberg is indeed part of the Easter celebrations, guests visiting the pop-up bar can get a pint of chocolate, of course, shaped like the Carlsberg cup at a football match!

Carlsberg UK recognised that Easter was a big beer-drinking day for consumers and that the British public loved both beer and chocolate, so the two elements were combined to create the best bar possible.

“Probably the best in the world…” is the brand concept that drives Carlsberg to constantly explore what it can do and what it can do best. The achievement of this well-timed marketing campaign is that it has found another beneficial way to enhance its brand experience. The brand has established a good emotional connection with consumers through creative activities and consumer self-communication, while also showing how marketing strategy and brand strategy complement each other.

5. SHOW: Show fashion

——Updating the brand logo every few years is a necessary brand management operation. It must be meaningful and fashionable in both color and shape.

1. Simplicity: Abandon irrelevant decorations and pursue a simpler and uncompromising visual beauty

The current design trend is to simplify things, either by dumbing down an existing brand or logo or redesigning it to make it simpler, and some companies that have given their logos a fresh look are happy with the results. This trend may be at least partly a reflection of the current state of digital interface design, as spreading digitalization will only become more important for all large companies.

2. Response: Based on the popularity of mobile platforms, automatically maintain the best screen display status

The demands of digitalization have had a significant impact on the way logos are designed, but not just in terms of simplification. Responsive logo design is becoming increasingly important due to the increase in mobile platforms. When the terminal browser window is resized, many traditional logos become less beautiful at smaller sizes, and clarity and readability need to be improved.

Dynamic identity for brands is a trend in which a logo adjusts its imagery based on the data interface to which it is attached and changes depending on whether the user is logged in or out. Based on this, the brand logo must have a look that can cope with different interface requirements.

3. Nature: Make the brand image more textured to reflect its true meaning

Brands need to ask themselves: How can you be yourself if you use the same font as a hundred other brands? Especially if one of them is a real asshole? Therefore, brands need to create custom fonts that truly look like their own that no one can copy.

4. Classic: Classic design stands the test of time, rather than following the trend of the moment.

As design trends change, brand identity systems may evolve, and a more classic logo design will stand the test of time rather than following a temporary style trend. In this regard, Coca-Cola’s brand identity transcends any trends, while Pepsi keeps trying to change and be fashionable.

Carlsberg's new brand design system is very anti-trend. It is designed to be permanent, or to outlast any previous iteration of a designed system, which is part of the idea of ​​sustainability.

5. Fun: Diverse personal styles, mix and match multiple brands, and play with fashion

The fashion world has been a leader in teasing once-hallowed brand logos. The past year has seen brands heavily and publicly engage in creative collaborations, such as the one between American fashion designer Virgil Abloh and Nike, which produced a playful new take on the classic swoosh.

Another example from 2018 was the collaboration between H&M and Moschino, with the resulting logo “H&MOSCHINO” appearing on T-shirts, underwear and accessories. There was a similar mashup between Moschino and MTV to create an 'M[tv]OSCHINO' logo.

For a Swedish fast-fashion brand and Italian couture house to dilute their respective identities in this way would have been unthinkable a decade ago, but the appeal of remix culture is strong and these collaborations are at the heart of fashion brands’ ongoing efforts to make themselves relevant to a new generation. For Gen Z, personal style choices are not necessarily dictated by a specific subculture but rather by a fusion of all contemporary cultures. What really matters is standing out as an individual with a unique perspective.

6. Transparency: Use color gradients to add extra interest

If simplicity is at the heart of logo design in 2018, designers are trying to add some visual interest through color variations. Some well-known brands that have used gradients in their logo redesigns include Disney Plus, Firefox, and Trivago.

7. Gradient: A deconstructed gradient, a key feature that big brands want to express

The different green stripes of the new Waitrose logo are a deconstructed gradient. The spacing between colors achieves a sense of transparency, a key feature that brands want to convey.

8. Vivid: Enhance the emotion conveyed by the logo, and go beyond 2D with colorful new 3D

Bright colors have definitely been at the top of the graphic design trends list over the past few years. The trendiest logo designs in 2019 are expected to continue to be bright color combinations. Bright colors easily adapt to different brand connotations and can enhance the emotions conveyed by the logo.

Although businesses generally prefer 2D logos, colorful 3D logos will also become fashionable in 2019.

9. Retro: Let the logo become a visual element, and activate traditional techniques on the small screen

It should be said that the design technique of using logos as decorative elements to form the background of the picture has long been unused, but with the popularization of mobile terminals today, this i-form has been rediscovered. The reason is that the dynamic nature of the picture, the rapid iteration of images, and the audience's preference for interesting and fun tastes have brought new value to some traditional picture forms, because the fashionization of other visual elements has activated the originally dull and boring composition style.

On the other hand, the organic combination of the two-dimensional poster illustration form of early 20th century Europe and contemporary brand logo elements creates a new fashion aesthetic experience that transcends time and space.

Conclusion: Brand operation enters a new era of "market" operation

The fragmented era has made the traditional meaning of "market" continue to ferment. Traditional marketing concepts and thinking frameworks must be truly integrated with today's brand strategy, because brand culture is increasingly important in promoting actual marketing. Today's brand value has been integrated with technology and covers the value of the two dimensions of "market" and "field":

First, there must be a “city”. Consumers have real needs, the value chain is profitable, and the business has potential.

Second, there must be a “field”. Relying on influential platforms, build a cohesive circle and spread inspiring content.