In many marketing departments, brand-effect integration should be the most important KPI this year: how much money spent must bring how much revenue. Brand-effect integration has become the most headache-inducing problem for marketers in 2019. Two reasons cause this: First, the poor macroeconomic environment has led brands to tighten budgets, even wealthy clients are following the trend and tightening their purse strings. Second, the stimulation from new scenarios such as live-streaming sales, private domain traffic, and influencer seeding, which stimulate every marketer like drugs. At the end of last year, I wrote that 2019 is the first year of brand-effect integration. Maybe everyone only read the title and not the article. My point was that 'effect' is not just immediate sales, but the consumer's action after seeing marketing content, a broader and long-term brand-effect integration. Now it's the end of 2019, let's revisit brand-effect integration. I just ask one question: Can the brand-effect integration of immediate sales sell 20 billion in a year? A live-stream selling 10 million is equal to zero relative to 20 billion. As I often cite another example: WeChat has 1 billion daily active users, and an article with 100,000+ reads is equal to zero relative to 1 billion. Today, let's discuss a few keywords: the pros and cons of diversified scenarios, the misinterpretation of brand-effect integration, brand and long-termism. -01- The Pros and Cons of Diversified Scenarios To describe the marketing industry in 2019, I can only summarize it as a year of desperation, with myths, carnivals, and quiet exits coexisting. Old bubbles are punctured, and new bubbles are inflating. Let's briefly talk about diversified scenarios: brands now have more marketing scenarios and channels. Especially this year, various marketing channels for rapid harvesting and monetization have been endlessly touted. Li Jiaqi's 1.5 billion in sales during Double 11 became a myth, and various private domain traffic and influencer带货种草 have become channels that marketers flock to, because they can achieve brand-effect integration and rapid conversion. I've talked to the commercialization departments of several major platforms this year. In their eyes, I saw pressure and desire, all eager to see advertising revenue growth. Besides the major platforms, there are various influencer KOLs and vertical traffic, etc. Today, even with a daily media spend of 100 million on the internet, visibility is not too high. Diversified scenarios and channels are like an advertising fee black hole that can absorb unlimited advertising fees. On the positive side, for small and medium brands, there are more choices. Previously, there were only large channels, and the threshold for advertising was high. Now, small and medium brands can choose their own suitable methods, go deep and thorough, and live well. For example, just doing live-stream sales can reach over 100 million in a year, or doing private domain traffic thoroughly can also live well. But for large brands? Channels and scenarios have become fragmented. Previously, it was enough to win over CCTV, but now what do you need to win over? For large brands, diversified scenarios make marketing harder, and it's easy to fall into the trap of brand-effect integration. For example, Adidas's reflection a while ago: spending 3 billion USD on brand-effect integration didn't bring much growth. That's the trap for large brands. For large brands, brand-effect integration with immediate conversion is a false proposition. Because they cannot sell one by one; they must build the brand from a higher perspective, allowing the brand itself to attract a broader consumer base. **-02- **Anmuxi's 20 Billion: Doesn't Believe in Brand-Effect Integration Anmuxi's sales in 2019 exceeded 20 billion RMB, becoming a super sub-brand under Yili. The brand-effect integration approach cannot achieve this scale; it requires a more scaled strategy to achieve scaled sales. So let's interpret how 20 billion was achieved, hoping it helps everyone. First is the product. A good product is the foundation; without a good product, marketing only has a negative effect. There's not much to say about Anmuxi; I often buy it by the case. So I'll only talk about marketing strategy, not the product. **-03- **Brand Exposure: Large but Not Scattered If you want annual sales of 20 billion, don't care about a 100,000+ article or a live-stream sale. Fight as a group army: be bold and decisive in strategic direction, precise in tactical direction, and extensive in content dissemination, focusing on big goals. Let's look at Anmuxi. I like the slogan "Together Anmuxi" (一起安慕希) because it has a sense of action, vitality, and health. Actually, for FMCG brands like yogurt, marketing doesn't have much attitude; it mainly shapes brand tone and feeling, then focuses on big exposure. The purpose of big exposure is relatively simple: to appear frequently in public view, making the public perceive the brand as active, so they are more inclined to choose it when making purchase decisions. Two issues need to be solved: first, what to expose; second, how to expose. In terms of exposure content, Anmuxi tends to choose a tone of vitality and health, binding the slogan "Together Anmuxi" (一起安慕希), and mostly uses celebrities with a bright, healthy, and energetic tone. Then for exposure, nodes and channels: in Q1, before the Spring Festival, they launch saturated exposure, binding the flavor of the New Year. In Q2, they bind with "Running Man" for targeted big exposure. The exposure strategy should be "large but not scattered": the exposure volume is large enough, but not dispersed, maximizing visibility and giving consumers a strong stimulus in a short time. **-04- **Smooth Consumption Path For large-volume FMCG products, two things matter most in marketing: first, large but not scattered brand exposure, which is the air force. Second, the path for consumers to reach the product, which is the army. It can also be called channels, but in the context of new consumption, the consumption path is more accurate. For a product with 20 billion in scale, the consumption path must be diverse and smooth. The logic of brand-effect integration is: I want to sell to you now, and you must buy now. If I do a live-stream now, you must place an order immediately for instant conversion. But what if I don't need this product right now? What if I happen not to watch this live-stream? Then brand-effect integration relies on fate: I happen to need it and happen to see it to complete the transaction. The logic of branding is: tell you what it is, where to buy it, and you come to buy when you need it. To achieve large-scale, sustainable sales, it must not be immediate conversion, but rather give consumers the initiative to purchase whenever they need. Under this logic, the consumption path is particularly important. Offline channels go without saying, but online channels must be opened up. A few days ago, I attended an event discussing digital transformation of enterprises. Today's young people spend more than 6 hours a day staring at screens. With such long screen time, digital marketing and digital channels are the entirety of a brand. Without a digital path, you're basically off the battlefield. I don't know how complete Anmuxi's channel network is, but from a consumer perspective, I can definitely buy it when I want: at the convenience store at the door, supermarkets, hypermarkets, online e-commerce flagship stores, etc. **-05- **Cross-border Horizontal Expansion Big exposure and strong channels are the foundation, supporting the scaled sales of a product. Another question is: how to maintain sustainable growth? This year 20 billion, is there an opportunity to grow to 50 billion in the future? Horizontal expansion for FMCG brands mainly involves two points: new scenarios and new demographics. Find more usage scenarios, expand from one scenario to ten, which may bring tenfold growth, provided each scenario and demographic is thoroughly penetrated. Back to Anmuxi: from my perspective, their marketing strategy is mainly horizontal expansion. In Q1, the CNY Spring Festival campaign targeted new scenarios: "Strong New Year flavor, Together Anmuxi" (浓浓年味,一起安慕希). In Q2, they used Running Man celebrities to target new demographics. This year, Running Man added some young idols, combined with youth-oriented platforms like Douyin, making Anmuxi's brand tone younger and attracting the youth group. Starting from Q3, they did diversified new scenarios: cross-border new product combinations with Oreo, trendy items with Luckin Coffee; Kobe Bryant endorsed to test sports marketing, attracting sports enthusiasts; recently cooperating with Cristiano Ronaldo for continued expansion; signing Yang Chaoyue as ambassador for entertainment fan marketing, enhancing the product's youth and trendiness. To summarize briefly: First, strategic big exposure, large but not scattered, forming continuous strong brand awareness. This is expensive and doesn't bring immediate conversion, but it's very necessary. Second, smooth consumption path. The logic of brand-effect integration is "I sell now, you buy now," while the logic of branding is "you can buy whenever you need." So for large-scale FMCG brands, a smooth consumption path is very important. Third, horizontal expansion for sustainable growth. Continuously expand new scenarios and demographics; each new scenario is a new growth point. **-06- **Return to Brand, Believe in Long-termism Previously, I attended a strategic meeting of a traditional large brand. The CEO said: "I only have 500 million this year. Should I buy out a traditional channel or an online channel? Should I do brand advertising or performance advertising?" I didn't know how to answer; it was too difficult a decision. You can feel the anxiety of brand owners. Everyone is anxious about growth, about effectiveness, about whether the advertising money spent can bring growth. The more budget a large brand has, the more anxious it is, because the volume is already large enough, and how to grow next becomes an increasingly difficult problem. My current answer is to return to building the brand and return to long-termism. If you calculate the return rate over a short period, it's impossible to calculate. A brand wants to live 100 years; how can you calculate the conversion rate of a moment or the exposure within a week? At the end of last year, I wrote about brand-effect integration, saying we need to re-understand brand-effect integration: the path is to build mental paths, not QR codes or hyperlink paths. Effect is not necessarily selling goods; it's narrow to only consider selling. Effect is action: seeing an Adidas running shoe ad and thinking you should exercise, seeing Anmuxi's New Year ad and remembering to buy it when shopping for New Year goods. There are two types of brand-effect integration: one is immediate conversion, instant gratification. The other is long-term sustainable conversion, long-term gratification. For small and medium brands, you can do some instant gratification things to accumulate user base, such as live-stream sales or private domain traffic. You can even keep doing this and become a decent small brand. So my advice for small and medium brands is: find your suitable method, go deep, do it best, and don't spread too thin or blindly imitate large brands. For large brands, especially FMCG products like Anmuxi with low unit price but huge scale, the marketing strategy is completely different: you need to spread the foundation wide enough, with big exposure and strong channels, then use new scenarios and demographics for sustainable growth. Today, there are more and more marketing scenarios on the internet, and brand owners are increasingly dazzled. Where should advertising money go? What should be done? The more diversified scenarios and channels, the more you need strategic direction. Don't blindly chase hot topics and trends; have strategic focus. Many trends are good, but they may not be prepared for you. Source: Yang Bu Huai (ID: yangbuhuai01) If a tip is adopted, we will pay 400-2000 yuan. If you like this article, click [Watching] and share it with friends.