Since 2019, when I began researching new consumer brands (focusing on the food sector) and their strategies, I've been pondering: What kind of brands does the new consumer era truly need? What are the strategic elements of new consumer brands? Where are the core key points? How do these points relate to each other? How do we grasp the main contradiction? How can we more simply and directly grasp the core essence of new consumer brands?......
Over this past year or more, many new brands that have risen in the consumer sector, especially in food and beverages, have been seizing a series of keywords such as category dividends, product experience, content, traffic, private domain, growth, and so on.
How do these key elements influence or reconstruct brand strategies?
Under these elements, what kind of brand will a new consumer brand be?
When these questions are put together, with the accumulated momentum of my 414 days of research on new consumer brands, through case studies and commonality exploration of 100+ rising new consumer brands, and the summarization of key elements in their brand building, I have designed my strategy for exploring new consumer brands into a formula, which is:
Here, "differentiated positioning," "personalized products," "socialized content," and "lifestyle scenarios" are strategic factors. The larger the base of each factor, the larger the value after multiplication.
Multiplication is used because there is a compound interest effect among the four factors, not a simple additive combination.
"Personified brand" is the exponent. The larger the base, the greater the value after exponentiation.
But the premise is that the four factors in parentheses must be complete and have relatively large bases. If any one factor has a problem—for example, if "differentiated positioning" goes wrong, turning from 50 to 0.5—the overall multiplied value will be small. Even if the exponent "personified brand" is large, the total won't be large, and may even shrink with higher exponents.
So, in this formula, the larger the bases of the four factors and the exponent, the better.
Honestly, when I summarized this formula, I was so excited I almost couldn't sleep at night.
-01- The 4 Factors
Now, let me interpret the four factors in this formula one by one.
1. Differentiated Positioning
That is, where do we choose our track?
In positioning, choice is always greater than effort.
In positioning strategy, new consumer brands often start with category strategy, i.e., selecting the potential track to enter, but category selection often comes from consumer demand insight.
So I divide "differentiated positioning" into 5 core points: demand insight, category occupation, category reshaping, category innovation, and category segmentation.
(1) Demand Insight
The changes in the three elements of "people, goods, and scenes" have given rise to the new consumer era. Changes in people, especially the rise of young consumer groups, are the fundamental driving force behind the rise of new consumer brands.
Therefore, new consumer brand entrepreneurship often involves insight into the needs of new consumer groups. Here, demand insight comes from two levels:
One is to identify which categories' existing brands can no longer meet the needs of new consumer groups, or which categories' brands still have pain points that need upgrading;
Two is whether we can create a higher-experience category product to create products that the new generation of young people "want."
(2) Category Occupation
At the new consumer brand level, category occupation is not about occupying categories already dominated by traditional big brands, but to identify new categories that exist in the market but haven't exploded yet.
These new categories either inherently meet the value needs of new consumer groups or can be turned into popular products for new consumer groups through brand operations.
For example, self-heating hot pot existed before "Zihaiguo," but "Zihaiguo" occupied and ignited the category; sparkling water existed before Genki Forest, but Genki Forest secured the category and blew it up into a hot category. Similarly, there are Guanzhan Fish Maw, Zhong Xue Gao, etc.
(3) Category Reshaping
Currently, many new consumer brands adopt the category reshaping strategy most often, which is to redo existing categories according to the needs of the times.
For example, the old category of oatmeal, through "Wangbaobao," was transformed into a satiating meal replacement product for young people through non-puffed, large fruit granule, and other category transformation solutions. Brands using the same strategy include "Miker" rice wine, "Yungeng Wuzuo" brown sugar, "Yongpu" drip coffee, etc.
(4) Category Innovation
Daring category innovation is a huge driving force for new consumer growth and creates higher-spec product experiences for consumers.
For example, Satuday launched "instant coffee," allowing you to conveniently brew a cup of coffee with just water. Xiaoguan Tea's "one can, one brew" fast-moving tea drinking, Xiaoxian Dun's fresh stewed bird's nest, and Lamian Shuo's "self-cooking ramen" are all representatives of category innovation in the new era.
(5) Category Segmentation
Finally, there is category segmentation, which is to find new segmentation opportunities when the representative terms of popular or major categories have been occupied.
For example, when "Lamian Shuo" occupied the "self-cooking ramen" category, it left "Kong Ke" a more segmented category of "pasta." And "Wei Back," which focuses on fish skin snacks, is also a manifestation of a deep segmentation strategy.
2. Personalized Products
Products with unique personality and experience are the foundation of new consumer brands.
I am a firm advocate of productism, and I believe that the founding team of a new consumer brand should ideally be product managers with extreme productism. Without products with unique personality and experiential memory, no amount of traffic or excellent operations can bring repurchase rates, especially for new food and beverage consumer products that focus on repurchase.
I will discuss "personalized products" from 4 levels:
(1) Value Communication
That is, our product must have "value" that consumers need, especially want, i.e., a unique selling point. The USP theory is still not outdated in new product development, and such value points must be felt in specific use, creating an experience that makes consumers feel "great," and different from others.
For example, Satuday's 3-second instant solubility, Wangbaobao's large fruit granules and satiety, etc.
(2) Aesthetic Dividend
Appearanceism is one of the consumption motivations of consumers in the new era, especially Generation Z. This is inseparable from the new generation's pursuit of self-pleasing experiences, and high aesthetics bring aesthetic dividends and social currency to brands.
Satuday, Zhong Xue Gao, Yongpu, and even Huaxizi in the cosmetics field are representatives of opening the door to aesthetic dividends. Small cans, tile symbols, spaceship packaging, etc., have also become unique product personalities.
(3) Experiential Memory
That is, the entire process from when consumers see the product to when they use it should bring them unforgettable experiential memories; whether based on ritual communication or actual sensory feelings, such experiences should ideally make users remember after one use.
(2019 Bubble Mask)
So we need to think about what unique personality memory points our product gives users. It could be the product's development, packaging, details, symbols, or a certain value point, such as the 2019 Bubble Mask, the 2020 stinky Luosifen, etc.
(4) Sharing Motivation
Are users willing to share the product as social currency? When planting grass, can influencers quickly find the point to share? When listing on channels, can procurement managers feel the product will explode in their channels? Having this empathy for "active sharing" will better help us optimize the product.
(Creating the motivation for product sharing)
(5) Emotional and Spiritual Communication
Finally, for some categories, it's important that the product can help users express their inner emotions or spirit outward, thereby satisfying spiritual needs.
For example, "Single Grain" is a typical representative here, and the emerging low-alcohol fruit wine is also suitable for this strategy.
So, personalized products are based on the context of consumption upgrade, where new consumer groups have higher expectations for products and are willing to pay or share to have those expectations met.
Therefore, I believe product development is the foundation work in new consumer brand building. To forge iron, one must be strong oneself; the iron is the brand, and the body is the personalized product.
3. Socialized Content
Why is a brand's content capability increasingly important?
First, strong content capability allows brands to acquire extremely high customer traffic at minimal cost in an era of expensive traffic.
Second, new consumer groups who grew up watching ads are tired of advertising-style brand promotion and prefer brands to convey their attitudes and values through interesting and vivid content;
Third, private domain operations and growth require content to enhance brand-user interaction and stickiness.
I believe that so-called socialized content is about having a personified brand that, like a person, builds social relationships with users through content. Socialized content can be simply divided into 4 levels:
(1) Socialized content based on product experience.
This was the form of Jiang Xiaobai's packaging copywriting, and Zhong Xue Gao's chicken soup texts on ice cream sticks are all about creating brand content socialization and striking up conversations with users.
(2) Socialized content based on traffic operations.
Whether it's Xiaohongshu grass planting or Bilibili UP master creations, they all use content creation to convey brand or product personality, or values, to acquire user groups, such as Wufangzhai's salted duck egg event on Bilibili. Here, the brand or product serves as social currency and is also the content itself.
(Bilibili salted duck egg event)
(Zhong Xue Gao's grass planting)
(3) Socialized content based on marketing empowerment.
On one hand, co-branding activities: brands bring in external content to empower themselves, such as Zhong Xue Gao's co-branding with Wahaha, Lamian Shuo's early co-branding with "Qipa Shuo" Ma Dong's small shop, co-branding with 999 Cold Medicine, and co-branding with Bilibili for custom editions, etc.;
On the other hand, content created by the brand itself: such as Nayuki's "Hug Plan," which uses art to emphasize the power of hugging, hugging life, hugging oneself, touching the soul, and conveying the brand's beautiful values.
(4) Socialized content based on private domain growth.
Whether it's the robot constellation fortune analysis in live-streaming guru Li Jiaqi's private domain group, or Perfect Diary's Xiaowanzi persona interaction, the private domain operation ecosystem lies in using personified brands, through content creation, to interact socially with users in a real and interesting way.
So, in an era of advertising indifference, expensive traffic, and rising private domains, socialized content capability has become an important weapon for new consumer brands to break through the ice, and it is precisely because of the rise of content that batches of new consumer brands have been able to complete their rise at lower costs and gain room for growth.
4. Lifestyle Scenarios
Having differentiated positioning, personalized products, or socialized content is not enough. You must also find a consumption scenario exclusive to the brand or product, and in that scenario, consumers can feel a higher sense of life pleasure and meaning, that is, in this scenario, consumers become beautiful life experiencers through product consumption.
I have counted 100+ rising food and beverage new consumer brands (not to mention other industries), and almost all brands are striving to become part of a beautiful life, all building better scenarios for beautiful life experiences.
I categorize this into 3 levels:
(1) Scenario Migration
That is, migrating the scenario of good times to other scenarios, expanding the area of good times.
For example, "Satuday" allows the good time of drinking a cup of coffee to migrate to offices, carriages, and even airplanes; "Zhong Xue Gao" migrates the scenario of buying ice cream on the street to the home refrigerator; "Lamian Shuo" migrates the scenario of eating ramen outside to home DIY, which is easy, convenient, and more delicious.
(2) Scenario Upgrading
That is, the original life scenario is elevated due to the existence of this product.
For example, the scenario of eating instant noodles can now be upgraded to healthier and more delicious "Kaixiaozao" or "Zihaiguo"; the scenario of female colleagues eating fruit to lose weight can also be upgraded to more nutritionally comprehensive "Wangbaobao" or "Haoli" to solve it.
(3) Scenario Emotional Release
That is, the product cares for and accompanies user emotions in specific scenarios.
For example, "Weixun" defines a person's small drink, and Miss Berry, Lion Singing Song, Miker, etc., define emotional scenarios like "one-person drink" and "self-pleasing small drink." Single Grain also follows this scenario logic.
Regarding lifestyle scenarios, there may be far more than the three levels I mentioned above, but the essence of my mention is: If a new consumer brand can become an optimizer of user life scenarios and create a life scenario where users feel the beauty of life, such a brand will become a part of the user's life, following them like a shadow.
-02- The Exponent
Why is the exponent a personified brand?
First, users in the new consumer era, especially young users, need brand personification. Personified brands are easier to build trust relationships.
In my video account "Jie Ge Talks About New Consumer Brands," I discussed that the strategy of new consumer brand personification originates from the way young groups trust brands.
Traditional brand trust often comes from "outside," that is, through slogan-style advertising, education, designing trust certificates, etc., to seize consumer minds. It is an "enclosure" movement from outside to inside;
But trust in new consumer brands often comes from exploring "inside." Such a brand is like a living person, with its own real independent values, personality, attitude, and spiritual pursuits. Young people like it because they are infected by its authentic personality traits; we call this a personality IP; or the brand enters the user's heart, interpreting the user's inner emotions or personality traits, making the brand or product a projection of the user's inner self. So the former is revealing my inner self, and the latter is revealing your inner self, thereby achieving resonance of the inner self.
That is to say, the consumption views of the younger generation, the "back waves," are basically two levels:
One is, you have personality traits (including emotions, culture, beliefs, values, products, etc.), so I like you;
Two is, you understand my heart well, and you project what I want to express in my heart onto your brand and products.
Second, only personified brands can socialize, and only social brands can connect with users heart-to-heart.
When a brand has a personified IP, symbol, or companion/expresser of consumer spiritual emotions, the brand can truly open up social relationships with users, and it also provides a foundation for the brand's socialized content creation.
So why do some brands create personas? Why do many brands convey their values, attitudes, stories, even stubbornness? Why do many new consumer brands convey users' spiritual needs and comfort? The intention is to establish an emotional or spiritual "social interaction" between the brand and users!
I also remember a passage from Teacher Chen Chunhua at the "World Philosophy Conference" that particularly moved me. She said that the most important thing in business is the product, but what do we exchange with others through products? It's not price, not trade, not our game; it should be a process of heart-to-heart communication. The product is a process of "giving gifts." We are not selling something to others; we should give love, surprise, and reliability to others. This is the true inner essence of business.
So how to communicate heart-to-heart? Only brands that are real, with self-attitude and values, can communicate heart-to-heart. Brands without self-personality, that follow the crowd, often live as others, not themselves, naturally becoming a hypocritical facade that cannot communicate heart-to-heart.
Additionally, personified brands can establish long-term differentiation.
From the perspective of brand assets, whether it's category positioning, product innovation, or content socialization, they all serve the eventual accumulation of brand assets, and such brand assets should ideally be unique. The stronger the personality, the more valuable the brand assets.
And brand personification, in my view, is the biggest differentiation of a brand and the ultimate differentiation, because it involves the core of the brand. Followers can imitate my products, but they can never imitate my personality, because once you (the follower) imitate me, you are no longer yourself, and will eventually be abandoned by users for being hypocritical and unreal. There are no two identical people, nor two brands with the same personification. So a personified brand will be the protective wall for a brand to establish long-term differentiation, and the loss of personification is also the internal driving force for many brands' decline.
So "brand personification" ultimately solves the authenticity problem of "I am me, a different firework." The more authentic, the more trust. Of course, we hope the exponent that solves the trust problem is as large as possible.
-03- Mutual Causality and Mutual Compound Interest
In this formula, there is also a relationship of mutual causality and mutual compound interest among the 4 factors and the exponent.
The mutual causality is that any one of the 5 elements cannot be separated from the empowerment of the other 4 elements; the formation of any one element depends on the promotion of the other 4 elements.
Because of differentiated positioning, personalized products can be formed; because of personalized products, socialized content is more likely to be produced; because of socialized content, the brand can be more easily embedded into life scenarios; and these 4 elements will ultimately form a personified brand.
Similarly, if we start from personalized products and deduce backward, it is also an ecological path, cycling back and forth, and all 5 are indispensable. This is the relationship of mutual causality.
The mutual compound interest is that the true value formation of any one element is the result of the multiplication and compound interest of the other 4 elements. For example, a true "differentiated positioning" = "personalized products * socialized content * lifestyle scenarios * personified brand," and the same applies to others.
I designed this relational logic to express that if you can truly do any one of the 5 elements well, you must simultaneously do the other 4 elements well. Any one of the 5 elements is the result of the empowerment and weighting of the other 4 elements. To put it more deeply, the 5 things behind these 5 elements are essentially 1 thing.
-04- It's a Value Formula, Also a Cognitive Formula
Finally, I want to say that this formula is not only a value formula I summarized for building a new consumer brand, but also the 5 key elements highlighted, and even more so, a cognitive formula for grasping the core to understand a new consumer brand.
That is, when we understand a new consumer brand, it must conform to the 5 core manifestations of "differentiated positioning," "personalized products," "socialized content," "lifestyle scenarios," and "personified brand." Only when we clearly understand the composition structure of new consumer brands can we better move forward in the direction of new consumer brands.