---
title: "10 \"Don'ts\" in the Era of Big Brands"
description: "Five years ago, the author proposed the arrival of a new era in China, the \"perceptual consumption era,\" and urged enterprises to reform their marketing strategies. Now, with the rise of the middle class and the dominance of international brands, the author names this period the \"Big Brand Era\" and offers ten practical \"don'ts\" to help Chinese companies survive and thrive."
author: "包·恩和巴图"
publisher: "New Distribution"
email: "zhaobo258@gmail.com"
telephone: "+8615854817671"
published: "2015-03-04"
language: "en"
canonical: "https://xinjignxiao.com/en/articles/10-don-ts-in-the-era-of-big-brands-f741e7f6/"
markdown: "https://xinjignxiao.com/en/articles/10-don-ts-in-the-era-of-big-brands-f741e7f6.md"
original_source: "https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/_zuqremjx03MWQYdJEE9rg"
translation: "https://xinjignxiao.com/zh/articles/%E5%A4%A7%E5%93%81%E7%89%8C%E6%97%B6%E4%BB%A3%E7%9A%8410%E4%B8%AA-%E4%B8%8D%E8%A6%81-f741e7f6.md"
attribution: "New Distribution — https://xinjignxiao.com/en/articles/10-don-ts-in-the-era-of-big-brands-f741e7f6/"
usage_policy: "https://xinjignxiao.com/ai-policy.txt"
---

# 10 "Don'ts" in the Era of Big Brands

> Five years ago, the author proposed the arrival of a new era in China, the "perceptual consumption era," and urged enterprises to reform their marketing strategies. Now, with the rise of the middle class and the dominance of international brands, the author names this period the "Big Brand Era" and offers ten practical "don'ts" to help Chinese companies survive and thrive.

Five years ago, when I published my second book, "Brand Invasion," I proposed that a new era was quietly arriving in China, which I called the "perceptual consumption era." At the same time, I reminded enterprises to make early changes in their marketing strategies and proposed the "Six-Sense Rule for Building Strong Brands" centered on "customer experience." Later, with the rise of the middle class, the "choice violence" brought by "excess choice," and the rise of mobile internet, consumers' lifestyles and purchasing behaviors changed dramatically. Big brands, represented by international brands, came to dominate various industries. My worries and predictions from five years ago have almost all come true, bringing unprecedented difficulties and setbacks to small and medium-sized enterprises. Even a large number of Chinese local first-tier brands, represented by Li-Ning, have fallen into trouble, with their fate uncertain.

Last year (2014), I named this severe era the "Big Brand Era" (in fact, the "Big Brand Invasion Era") and launched a series of articles around the topic "Survival Strategies in the Big Brand Era," hoping to provide some reference and inspiration for Chinese enterprises and entrepreneurs in need of survival and development.

After the series was published, it resonated with many entrepreneurs and attracted attention. Many entrepreneurs gave me thumbs up, expressed agreement, and some even rated it as "a must-read for today's entrepreneurs." This made me very gratified.

However, compared to the overall situation, this effort is insignificant. The survival state of Chinese enterprises is still very poor, especially in marketing strategy, where most enterprises are still in a "chaotic" state, and the "uncertainty" of future development remains very prominent.

So, in the Big Brand Era, what exactly should we do with our brand management? At the execution level, what should we do and what should we not do? Today, based on my years of consulting experience, I propose "10 Don'ts" for your reference.

1. Don't "hang yourself on one tree"—boldly create new categories
In the Big Brand Era, a category is like a big tree, with world-class brands hanging from every branch. Even if you find some local brands in the details, they are first-tier brands that have been cultivating this category for many years.

Take the car category as an example. In this category, the low-end market is dominated by international brands such as Volkswagen, Toyota, Honda, Hyundai, Kia, Ford, Peugeot, Fiat, Buick, Chevrolet, Nissan, and Mazda. The mid-to-high-end market is still dominated by international brands like BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Audi, Lexus, and Jaguar. Although local brands like Chery, Geely, BYD, and Brilliance can be seen in the low-to-mid-end market, they are just "squeezing in" and have not shaken the "dominance" of international brands.

So, the question arises: If you are in the car business, how do you enter this market? Develop a similar product and blindly follow? Or develop a distinctive product and blaze a new trail?

Tesla from California gave us a satisfactory answer: create a new category. They used IT concepts to create a pure electric luxury sports car, effectively distinguishing it from existing fuel cars, and became the focus of world attention.

Imagine: If they had developed an ordinary fuel sports car instead of an electric one, no matter how excellent, would it have caused such a sensation? The answer is self-evident.

A new category is a newly planted tree. The farther it is from the old category, the easier it is to survive. Moreover, you have the opportunity to become the master of this tree from the "root." Why hang yourself on one tree?

2. Don't try to please all customers—know how to focus
Diversification, all-around, and full-out strategies have misled countless Chinese entrepreneurs and killed many strong brands. Former Chunlan and today's Haier are both victims of this strategy. Today, we won't comment on Chunlan's death; let's mainly talk about Haier.

The slogan "Haier, Made in China" once evoked pride in all Chinese people. Haier's high-quality products and good service also won the trust of Chinese consumers, making Haier the number one home appliance brand in China. However, Haier did not hold on to its advantageous assets in consumers' minds. It expanded horizontally recklessly, from white goods to black goods, from home appliances to electronics, and from electronics to biomedicine. Today, there is almost no field Haier does not touch, and no product it does not make. What was the result? It greatly diluted its inherent brand recognition, creating an impression in people's minds of "having everything but being strong in nothing."

Consumers' impressions are always reflected in corporate profits. If consumers have a good impression of your brand, your company must be highly profitable, like Apple today, with profit margins above 20%. If consumers have a bad impression of your brand, your company must have thin profits, like Haier today, which, under operational pressure, has to "cut off its arm to survive," compress middle management, lay off employees, and live a very miserable life.

Therefore, I sincerely hope that our entrepreneurs must know how to shrink focus, hold on to positioning, and penetrate vertically in people's minds, rather than develop horizontally, and never think about blooming everywhere. In the Big Brand Era, focus is gold, protection is truth, and everything else is fleeting clouds!

3. Don't think about doing the same thing better than others
"Good quality and low price" and "cost performance" are not unfamiliar terms to Chinese enterprises. Most enterprises focus on this, thinking every day about "how to make better products and sell them at lower prices." So, they believe in the slogan: "The lowest price for the same quality, the highest quality for the same price."

The most typical case in this regard may be the challenge of Unilever's "Clear" against P&G's "Head & Shoulders" a few years ago. At that time, Unilever boasted that "Clear" would "kill" Head & Shoulders within 3 years and become the number one brand in China's anti-dandruff shampoo market.

I remember the TV ads were quite aggressive, hiring Xiao S as the spokesperson, with the slogan roughly: "If someone deceives you again and again, what would you do? Dump him."

However, ten years have passed, and has Clear's market share surpassed Head & Shoulders? No. Clear is still Clear, and Head & Shoulders is still Head & Shoulders. The market pattern has not changed because of Clear's challenge.

In the Big Brand Era, this is even more so. All brands adopting the "better" strategy will lose competitiveness. In this strategy, for every brand that comes up, one will die.

Because the focus of future competition is no longer on "better" but on "different."

4. Don't survive in the cracks—"following" will never lead anywhere
In the past 20 years, Chinese enterprises, and even some international companies, have adopted the "follow" strategy: whatever others do, they follow. Some in the industry even proposed the concept of "imitative innovation," encouraging enterprises to continue climbing on the "follow" path.

As a result, there has been a lot of redundant construction in various industries in China. Whatever sells well, everyone makes it, and they fight in the dead end of "similar functions, similar quality, similar style" until the industry is dead.

In previous years, the "shanzhai" (copycat) products that were all the rage in China were the "peak" of the "follow" strategy, not only disrupting market order but also harming ordinary people.

What is following? It is a "brain-dead" way of survival and an existence that tramples on "dignity." In this world, no one who is both "brain-dead" and "cowardly" can be respected, let alone achieve great things.

In the Big Brand Era, this blind following has ended its life. Enterprises surviving in market cracks will soon go bankrupt one after another. The market entry threshold is getting higher and higher, and the chance of casual success is getting lower and lower.

5. Don't imagine customers like low prices—in the market, there is only "look down on," not "can't afford"
The cost leadership strategy is the first major strategy in Michael Porter's competitive strategy theory, which once played a positive role for internationally renowned companies like Dell and Southwest Airlines.

In the past 20 years, many Chinese enterprises have also adopted this strategy, achieving success for many brands, such as Hasee computers, Chery Automobile, Sanlu milk powder, and Galanz microwaves.

However, in the Big Brand Era, this strategy has run into trouble. Problems such as profit issues, quality issues, and consumer satisfaction issues have erupted one after another, even becoming uncontrollable.

The "melamine" incident of Sanlu milk powder is a typical tragedy of "quality problems" under the guidance of "low cost," which is well known.

Compared to Sanlu, Chery Automobile is in a slightly better state. At least so far, there has been no quality case that has brought a catastrophic blow to the company. However, Chery's profitability is appalling, with losses for several consecutive years. The once "national car"-level "Chery QQ" has lost its glory, and the entire company's operations are struggling.

What do these living cases tell us?

They tell us: In the Big Brand Era, there is no "can't afford," only "look down on." Costism has come to an end. The focus of future competition is not "reducing costs" but "increasing costs."

6. Don't just bury your head in making good products—a good concept is more valuable than a good product
In my years of consulting work, I have met many "pragmatic" entrepreneurs who are not only honest and down-to-earth but also many are technical experts. Their grasp of product quality and function has reached international levels.

However, unfortunately, it is precisely these good products with international standards that encounter the embarrassment of "not selling" when they hit the market, leaving them confused.

Today, I will reveal the answer: In the market, there is no truth, only customer perception. In the market, a good product may not necessarily be recognized by customers. We cannot just make a good product and expect consumers to chase after it.

Talking without doing is fake; doing without talking is silly. The same goes for brand management. You must not only make good products but also be good at using concepts to enter consumers' minds.

Do you still remember that Arawana blended oil once launched a concept called "1:1:1"? I can tell you with certainty that this concept established Arawana's leadership in the blended oil market.

COFCO's Fortune (Fulinmen) is not inferior to Arawana in quality, is it? I don't think so. But Fortune has never been able to beat Arawana. Why?

Because in the market, in consumers' minds, a good concept is better than a good product. Marketing is always a battle of minds and brands, not just a battle of quality and function.

Please remember this.

7. Don't think "having a positioning means having a market"—the market is driven by the right brain
Another notable feature of the Big Brand Era is the shift from "satisfaction" to "liking." That is, the first obstacle for consumers to buy a product is not "I'm not satisfied," but "I don't like it."

If a brand is good in quality and function, even if it is unique, but its appearance, design style, and emotional appeal do not meet consumers' wishes, it still won't sell. Because, don't forget, the "choice violence" I mentioned at the beginning means consumers today do not lack choices.

Therefore, I want to tell everyone: The market is driven by the right brain. In today's market, emotion often drives reason, and pleasure drives function. Relying solely on rational "brand positioning" is no longer enough to survive. You must also take into account the "brand personality" that drives consumers' feelings, emotions, and sentiments.

Adidas and Nike have no big difference in "positioning," but why can't Adidas beat Nike? The problem lies in "personality." Nike's brand personality is more prominent and carries more weight in consumers' right brains.

If you want to delve deeper into this issue, it may involve the cultural differences between the two countries. Adidas is German, and Nike is American. When it comes to "quality" and "rigor," Americans may not beat Germans, so American cars can't beat German cars. But when it comes to "feeling" and "creativity," Germans may not beat Americans, so Adidas can't beat Nike. Because when buying a car worth 500,000 yuan, people have to be more rational; but when buying a pair of sports shoes worth 500 yuan, there is no need to be so rational. Under the premise of similar quality, feeling is more important.

The market is driven by the right brain. It was true in the past, and it will be even more so in the future!

8. Don't think a LOGO is enough—a visual system is not a visual hammer
Above, we talked about "feeling" and "right brain drive." Here, we must talk about the visual system. Because driving the right brain cannot be separated from vision.

When it comes to the visual system, everyone's first reaction is the LOGO. Some even narrowly think that the visual system is just the registered trademark.

This is understandable. Because a good LOGO does bring visual distinction to a brand. When we see Nike's "√" LOGO, we do feel it is more dynamic and aggressive than Adidas's "?" LOGO.

However, I want to tell everyone that a brand with only a good LOGO is far from enough. You must also make your visual system form a strong conquering power. That is, whether your visual system can make people remember it at a glance is very important. This is what we call the "visual hammer."

Now, in the market, almost all brands have their own visual systems, but not all brands have a strong "visual hammer."

In the marketing field, the relationship between "positioning" and "vision" is like the relationship between a nail and a hammer. No matter how good the nail is, if the hammer is not good, the expected result cannot be achieved. Well-known brands like Walmart, Budweiser, China Telecom, and Founder Technology all belong to this type: big nail, small hammer.

Therefore, for a brand to become a truly strong brand, a LOGO alone is definitely not enough. You must also create a powerful "visual hammer" for yourself. Marlboro's "cowboy" image is a powerful visual hammer. Its influence in smokers' minds far exceeds the Marlboro LOGO itself, giving Marlboro a distinctive brand personality.

In fact, there are many such visual hammers, such as KFC's "Colonel," Coca-Cola's "bottle," BMW's "front face," Burberry's "plaid pattern," and so on. Their superb practice of creating "visual hammers" is worth learning from.

9. Don't always think about advertising—learn to start with PR
In the "rational consumption" stage, the core means of brand communication was advertising, and most enterprises won market victories through advertising wars. That's why CCTV produced so many "advertising kings." However, in the "perceptual consumption" stage, people almost no longer believe in advertising; they trust their own experiences and recommendations from friends and family. When buying things, they either experience it themselves, ask friends if they have consumption experience, or if not, search online to see what "Dianping" says.

Especially with the rapid rise of mobile internet today, Dianping may have more influence than CCTV, and friend recommendations may be stronger than celebrity endorsements. Therefore, the way enterprises communicate also needs to change.

You rarely see brands like Starbucks, IKEA, Xiaomi, or Huawei advertising on TV. But these brands are equally well-known and favored. The reason lies in PR activities; they are all PR masters.

Last year (2014), the "big bet" between Xiaomi chairman Lei Jun and Gree chairman Dong Mingzhu caused a sensation. Almost all Chinese people learned about Xiaomi and Lei Jun because of it. However, ask everyone: How much did Xiaomi spend to achieve such a publicity effect? Everyone may suddenly realize that this kind of publicity is free.

In the marketing field, there is a saying: "No news, no PR." That means: If a PR activity does not generate news effect, don't do it. A good PR plan must attract media attention and public interest. If you achieve these two points, brand communication won't cost money.

The Big Brand Era is an era where word-of-mouth reigns. In this era, "finding trouble" event marketing and "news-generating" PR activities are far more effective than a high-budget advertising film. Therefore, enterprises must recognize this situation and shift their brand communication from advertising to PR, from TV to mobile, and from fame to word-of-mouth.

10. Don't fight alone—learn to leverage trends
The Big Brand Era is an era of interconnection, group competition, and resource integration. In this era, we must know how to cooperate with others, integrate resources, and promote each other. The only thing we cannot do is fight alone.

At the brand communication level, we must also understand this principle. We should be good at leveraging trends, grafting all resources that can be grafted, and expanding influence is the right way.

Before 2003, the number one brand in China's dairy industry was Shanghai Bright. However, after 2003, this history was rewritten: Yili first, Mengniu second, and Bright couldn't beat them no matter what.

How could this happen?

Whether in product quality, sales channels, capital strength, or employee quality, Bright Dairy's overall operational capability is not inferior to Yili and Mengniu. But why can't it beat them, and why is the gap getting wider?

The answer to this question lies not in enterprise management but in marketing capability. Yili and Mengniu are good at leveraging trends, specifically the grassland culture. Bright Dairy cannot compete with them on this. Because people across the country believe that good milk comes from the grasslands, not from Shanghai.

In fact, there are many such examples, such as KAPPA leveraging the trend of "Italian fashion," Budweiser leveraging the "World Cup," Nongfu Spring leveraging "Thousand Island Lake," and Xibei Youmiancun leveraging "A Bite of China." These are all very wise practices.

Last year, when I consulted for a tourism real estate company in Jingdezhen, I also leveraged the trends of Jingdezhen's ceramic culture, Huizhou architecture, and "Wuyuan" and "Poyang Lake," proposing the concept of "Jiangxi Tourism Golden Triangle," which won high recognition from the client.

Leveraging trends is a "take-ism" for my own use, a "labor-saving" that moves a thousand pounds with four ounces, and a "platformism" that accelerates development. People often say, "Those who follow the trend prosper; those who go against it perish." Borrowing this, I also say:

In the Big Brand Era, those who leverage trends prosper; those who fight alone perish. In this era, our strategic design should not only consider "what I have" but also think about "what I can have." We must learn to plan all "obtainable resources" for the enterprise.

In this world, vision always determines realm, and pattern determines outcome!

[Highlights from Bao Enhe Batu in this article]
01. A new category is a newly planted tree. The farther it is from the old category, the easier it is to survive. Why hang yourself on one tree?
02. In the Big Brand Era, focus is gold, protection is truth, and everything else is fleeting clouds!
03. The focus of future competition is no longer on "better" but on "different."
04. What is following? It is a "brain-dead" way of survival and an existence that tramples on "dignity."
05. In the Big Brand Era, there is no "can't afford," only "look down on."
06. Talking without doing is fake; doing without talking is silly. The same goes for brand management.
07. The market is driven by the right brain. It was true in the past, and it will be even more so in the future!
08. The relationship between "positioning" and "vision" is like the relationship between a nail and a hammer. No matter how good the nail is, if the hammer is not good, the expected result cannot be achieved.
09. In the marketing field, there is a saying: "No news, no PR."
10. Leveraging trends is a "take-ism" for my own use, a "labor-saving" that moves a thousand pounds with four ounces, and a "platformism" that accelerates development.

Reply with the following keywords to categorize and read related professional articles: Sales Supervisor, Second-tier Management, Regional Manager, Distributor Management, New Channels, City Manager, Competition, 2015, Manufacturer-Dealer Game, Product Slow-moving, Terminal Visit Management, Route Management, Deep Distribution, Internal Management, Sales Skills, Profit Improvement, Recruitment, Distribution, Daily Management, Team Motivation, Trade Promotion, Sales Misconceptions, New Product Launch, Township Market, New Product Pricing, Sales Target Achievement, Forcing Orders, Market Visit Inspection, Baijiu, Beer, Sales Increase, Agent Products, Channel Stuffing, KA, Terminal Merchandising, New Market, Market Operation, Learning, Book Recommendations, Inventory Management, Sales Novice, Consumer Promotion, Execution, Old Products, Expired Product Handling, Model Market, Investment Promotion, New Media, Distributor Development, Performance Appraisal, Assessment, Annual Planning, Shopping Guide, Morning Meeting, Display, Transformation, Stock Pressure, Festival, Distributor Cost Control, Channel Operation, Marketing Theory and Laws, Brand Truth, Order Meeting, Team Management, Training, Debriefing, Debriefing Report.


---

## Copyright and AI use

This article is sourced from New Distribution. Search, quotation, summarization, and model training are permitted, but every use must credit New Distribution and retain the canonical source URL.

Contact: zhaobo258@gmail.com · +86 158 5481 7671