In recent years, brand rejuvenation has become a hot topic. There are successful examples like Li Ning and declining ones like Huiyuan. While there are many methodologies, there are few substantive rules. Today, I'll talk about why brands need to rejuvenate and how to do it. -01- Does brand rejuvenation equal targeting the young? This question has been widely discussed. I believe brand rejuvenation ≠ targeting the young, because if that were correct, the logic would be "your target customers like products similar to themselves." If that were true, it would be hard to explain why so many young people buy Rolex, older people prefer Apple and Huawei, and middle-aged people drink Pepsi. In fact, for consumer goods with social attributes, customers prefer brands that align with their ideal personality, such as phones, bags, and clothes. For pure consumer goods, customers prefer brands similar to themselves, such as personal care products and furniture. Recently, I've observed a trend: certain categories that were purely consumer goods, like beauty and skincare brands SK-II, LANCOME, and LA MER, are also shifting towards the ideal personality (e.g., SK-II using Leah Dou as a spokesperson to emphasize individuality and freedom). Because in daily life, topics in this category become conversation pieces, and consumers discuss them more in social settings, thus gaining social attributes. This also explains why even home appliance brands like Gree and Midea need rejuvenation, as smart home appliances are now a hot topic among consumers. -02- Which brands need rejuvenation? Besides the categories with social attributes mentioned above, some large companies' past successful strategies also necessitate rejuvenation. The most common explanation is: brands need rejuvenation because the people they originally served are aging and no longer the main consumer force, so they need to cater to the young main consumer group. First, the middle-aged consumer group didn't suddenly enter the elderly market in recent years. Indeed, China's silver-haired consumer market has been expanding, but we haven't observed specific points where these middle-aged consumers suddenly switched to elderly consumption patterns. Moreover, why didn't the trend of brand rejuvenation appear before 2010, but only in recent years? After all, for brands with decades or centuries of history, ten years is just a small fraction. So I think the above explanation has some truth but is incomplete. The question is: there must be a deeper reason why so many brands are eager to rejuvenate. A brand, in a sense, is a tool for a product. The purpose of this tool is to attract consumers to buy from a category's many choices. If you're a history enthusiast, you'd study the relationship between ideology as a ruling tool and the ruler's goals. During the Warring States period, the goal of war shifted from hegemony to annihilation, requiring greater mobilization of national resources, so the ideology shifted from Confucianism to Legalism. By Emperor Wu of Han, the goal became maintaining supreme legitimacy, so it shifted back from Taoism to Confucianism. Whether in historical evolution or business logic, it's about "using a hammer for nails, not an axe" – tools serve purposes. Brands as tools change because the purpose changes. Let me state the conclusion: I believe the reason for brand rejuvenation is – previously, branding was for easy distinction and recognition; now, branding is for consumers to "fall in love at first sight." I think this is an interaction of changes in consumer behavior and thought – behavior change "shortening and restructuring of consumption paths" and thought change "enhanced aesthetic confidence." 1. Shortening and restructuring of consumption paths Let's go back 10 years or more, before online shopping became popular. How did people shop? They usually saw something in newspapers or TV ads, then went to supermarkets or retail stores to buy. From having a need to finding the product in retail channels and paying was a long process. (After all, retail stores weren't necessarily nearby, and you might not have time to go immediately) So the primary goal of brands in that era was to make you not forget them. What kind of brand is most memorable? Definitely the category leader. For example, when thinking of soft drinks, Coca-Cola comes to mind. But any profitable business attracts competitors. Latecomers in a category find it hard to be remembered simply by associating with the category. Our brains' most primitive and effective memory method is categorical memory. So competitors added adjectives to the category to achieve classification, like "young + cola" for Pepsi, "safe + car" for Volvo, by occupying and amplifying that adjective to make target consumers remember. (This is the positioning theory we often talk about) If you find the above too long, just remember this: In the past, consumers relied on mental memory for shopping, so brands either became category leaders or differentiated themselves to be remembered. In contrast, today's consumers are characterized by the entire consumption chain being real-time, even skipping the first two steps to directly evaluate and purchase. The reason can be explained by the vividness effect (or availability heuristic) in psychology. This effect means that due to limited cognitive resources and time, people don't consider all factors like computers before deciding; instead, they rely on the ease with which factors come to mind, with more vivid factors gaining more importance. A simple example: you're a tourist in a foreign city, looking for a well-reviewed restaurant on Dianping, but you pass a small shop with a delicious smell and a long queue, so you decide to go there immediately. In daily life, this manifests as vivid cases overshadowing other convincing evidence in consumers' minds. After over a decade of development, domestic e-commerce has fully exploited vividness at every touchpoint – from image detail pages, titles, to later soft articles, short videos, and live streams, constantly impacting big brands that rely on consumer memory. So the key to a brand's success becomes: making consumers fall in love instantly during a brief encounter at any touchpoint. 2. Consumption purpose becomes self-consumption In previous articles, I mentioned that the consumption motivation of this generation of middle-class consumers has fundamentally changed. If previous consumers needed a proper reason for every purchase (e.g., buying a high-end suit for business entertainment), now consumers spend to please themselves (e.g., buying a high-end suit to make their birthday happier). This change is also reflected in the decline of altruistic consumption markets. Harvard Business School has an insight: over the past decade, China's luxury market was highly correlated with gift-giving consumption. In 2014, due to policy changes, business gift consumption declined, and sales of imported high-end spirits and watches fell. The recent recovery in luxury consumption is more due to consumers' identification with luxury brands. Actually, not just luxury goods, but many niche consumption circles like Hanfu, sneakerheads, and fan communities follow a new logic: "What I think is good is good." Apart from other social factors, Chinese young consumers' aesthetic confidence has increased, and personal aesthetics have become the biggest factor in decision-making. The result of these two changes is that brands that previously thrived purely by buying traffic (bigger celebrity endorsements, sponsoring larger shows, controlling more channels) are now panicking. For example, White Rabbit candy's past success was due to New Year gift demand. In the era of scarcity decades ago, "seven White Rabbit candies could make a cup of milk" made it popular; they just needed better channels to sell. Similarly, Rejoice and Head & Shoulders, these large personal care brands, only needed to keep hiring big-name endorsements, expanding channels, and buying prime-time TV ads to grow. We see that most brands needing rejuvenation are leading mid-to-high frequency consumer goods, because they are most sensitive to consumer paths. -03- How to rejuvenate a brand? Based on what I've said, not all brands need rejuvenation. Those consumer brands that have gradually gained social attributes, and those that can no longer grow through pure traffic buying and channel expansion, need rejuvenation for new growth. As I mentioned, the core of branding used to be being remembered; now it's making consumers' hearts flutter. This might seem simple, but many can't wrap their heads around it. Because being remembered isn't hard – often just increasing exposure, more contact with consumers, or using simple repetitive messages to brainwash can achieve it. (For example, remember Hengyuanxiang's annoying ads? In the past, people remembered them and would look for the brand in stores. But now, when consumers search the brand on Taobao, many similar sweater brands pop up, with more attractive images and better value, and they're immediately drawn away. That's the difference) A brand that makes consumers' hearts flutter, to use a phrase from "If You Are the One," is a partner who won't ignore me, has an interesting soul, and can be shown off. I think it can be shaped from three aspects:
1. Communication with feedback 2. Creating conflict 3. Mixing new elements 1. Communication with feedback Cute culture is prevalent in mainstream culture, and Bilibili's rapid growth is a side proof. This gives many brands the illusion that to get close to young people, they need to embrace cuteness. But in reality, "cuteness" became mainstream not because it's good-looking, but because of deeper psychological needs. Research shows that "cuteness" is for gaining feedback and interaction, related to new forms of social connection. For example, when we see a cute puppy or baby, we can't help but tease them – that's the function of cuteness. Today's young generation interacts with strangers online daily. To interact most efficiently, cute culture becomes a useful bridge. So to summarize, young people like cuteness because they crave feedback in social interactions. Similarly, if a brand can continuously give consumers feedback, especially personalized feedback, it can easily be accepted by young consumers. For example, Xiaomi started by building and operating fan communities. Initially, by interacting with MIUI users on forums to improve the OS, they accumulated a large group of loyal consumers. Durex gained many customers by interacting with fans on Weibo through jokes. (PS. Durex is over 90 years old) Diao Brand's "Diao Xiong" on Weibo also made many young people like this old daily chemical brand. Young consumers most want to see their voices reflected in the brand's products or operations, rather than the old one-way propaganda. 2. Creating conflict Judging whether a brand can make young people's hearts flutter is essentially about whether it fits the values of this era. One of the biggest values of this era is that even opposing positions have no absolute right or wrong, such as domestic vs. imported, mainstream vs. niche, familiar vs. unfamiliar, luxury vs. cost-effective, retro vs. modern, etc. Many fixed ideas need fresh elements to break. For example, Li Ning's success with "Guochao" (national trend) lies in its strong contrast between Chinese elements and worldliness. Participating in New York Fashion Week showcased this conflict to the extreme. On a deeper level, it broke the cultural notion that Chinese elements can't go global, thus winning young people's favor. (Similarly, Huawei's "China quality" brand broke the idea that Chinese manufacturing is low quality, becoming China's black tech and gaining youth appeal; following this path are Perfect Diary's National Geographic series and M&G Stationery's British Museum series) A popular saying now is: Branding needs to tell a good story, and the reason is that conflict creates good stories. SK-II's successful rejuvenation started with partnering with Leah Dou – a luxury brand with a tattooed young person, blending tradition and individuality. Similar examples include Pechoin's "Four Beauties Not Happy" ad, which parodied the Four Beauties, also a conflict between retro and modern. There are also conflicts across time and culture, generational conflicts (like the "What is Peppa?" video – yes, Peppa is an IP over 15 years old), and conflicts between ordinary and dreams (Taiwan's Taishin Bank's "Dream Riders"). The pattern here is: using the brand's own tone to create contrast and conflict makes it more interesting to young people. 3. Mixing new elements If we ask what characteristics young people accept in a brand, I believe there's a simple but true answer: After using it, I feel I'm living well. This seems simple, but many old brands can't cross this hurdle because young people's aesthetics have changed. For example, many alcohol brands like Harbin Beer and Snow Beer. In the era of scarcity, being able to drink beer was proof that young people felt they were living well. But today's young people aren't satisfied with "a few beers and a plate of peanuts." To feel good, they might need to brew goji berries and chew ginseng. So what if the brand itself can't attract young aesthetics, like unhealthy categories such as beer or candy? In fact, one company facing this dilemma has made attempts – Coca-Cola. Coca-Cola's sales have declined since the 21st century, mainly because it's a sugary drink, and high-sugar drinks are seen as unhealthy by young aesthetics. So Coca-Cola first launched Zero, but it wasn't very effective. Then Coca-Cola started turning its brand into an IP, collaborating with other brands to launch clothing, beauty products, and other completely different categories. Similarly, McDonald's, as a fast-food brand, is considered unhealthy, yet it collaborated on fast-food-themed bags and beauty products. Also, White Rabbit and Vitasoy – these are crossovers many brands try in rejuvenation. Such crossovers with new elements give young people freshness and fun. But I think the real purpose of crossover isn't just to increase exposure through other brands, but to weaken the connection between brand assets and original products, preserving brand value. This makes it easier to integrate into young people's lives. -04- Summary I believe the fundamental reason for brand rejuvenation is that categories suddenly gain social attributes, consumer paths change, and aesthetic confidence increases, leading to greater influence of self-values on consumption decisions. The brands most affected are mid-to-high frequency consumer goods, because their old playbook was to make consumers remember, while the new core is to make consumers fall in love. I think whether for people or things, consumers' logic for determining preferences is internally consistent. So, analogizing what makes people fall for someone in daily life, brand rejuvenation can be achieved through feedback-rich communication, creating conflict to tell stories, and mixing new elements. Finally, a bold prediction: in the future business world, the most valuable asset will be IP. As technology advances and supply chains improve, substantive differences between products will shrink, and cost advantages will flatten. The final difference will be in added value – what we call brand equity. Therefore, brands separating themselves from products to become IPs is the future trend. Some might ask: is a brand IP without a physical product still valuable? Like if Coca-Cola lost its syrup, would those four letters still mean anything? I'd say this is what Harari mentioned in "Sapiens": what truly distinguishes humans from animals is our ability to imagine meaningful things from nothing. Think of the hugely popular movie IPs today. Source: He Yuanwai (ID: Yuanwai-HE)