Yunlian's Thought on Promotion #1: CP and TP Today we start discussing the promotion chapter. In the concept of marketing 4P, promotion has many meanings, including advertising, personnel promotion, pull activities, channel inventory pressure, terminal sell-through, gift rewards, vivid display, promoter skills, etc. I don't know if 20 issues can cover it all. Today we mainly talk about two concepts: CP and TP. CP is consumer promotion, targeting end consumers, or consumer education or consumer communication. In the end, it's about changing their minds or explaining a logical cognitive system, or making them excited in a specific scenario. In short, make them moved; if moved, they may act, or if moved, seeds are planted in their minds. Both effects are good, but of course, you need to clarify the purpose and logic, then formulate a plan and execute perfectly. The second type of promotion is TP, which targets channel partners, including two types: wholesalers, who mainly consider gross margin and turnover speed, and terminal retailers, who, in addition to margin and sell-through speed, also consider foot traffic and associated sales, the so-called customer aggregation effect. For terminals, the most important thing is to gather customers. With foot traffic, everything else follows; without it, even if you make money, it won't last. Popularity is the key factor. Promotion is a common need for both manufacturers and customers. Everyone hopes for creativity, innovation, spread, sales, word-of-mouth, interaction, etc. How to plan it? Stay tuned for the next installment!
Yunlian's Thought on Promotion #2: Gift Promotion Promotion is about spreading the benefits of your brand and product to the target consumer group. There are many ways to spread, and all can be considered broad media. Today I want to talk about a special media method: gifts. Gifts can be seen as a kind of premium, naturally with practicality. Buy and get a gift; people get benefits, feel happy, think well of you, and give you word-of-mouth. So gifts should feel valuable, preferably with perceivable and measurable value, like how much similar products cost. Of course, because you customize in bulk, the cost is lower, but for consumers, the perceived value is higher, making them feel good. Second, gifts should have meaning. As the saying goes, "It's the thought that counts." The gift's symbolism or packaging should evoke good things, like New Year blessings, many children, everything going well, etc. Most Chinese are superstitious; a good meaning makes them happy. Ancient Chinese liked to use homophones to imply good luck, like bats, apples, grapes, longevity peaches, etc. These ancestral practices can be used in gift design. Third, brand gifts should have the brand logo, so consumers often think of your brand when using the gift. Also, the gift should match your brand's tone. For example, my old employer Shell had many small gifts related to racing car models because they long sponsored the Ferrari team, while Pepsi's gifts were often related to music and football, as those are Pepsi's two brand pillars. In the end, gifts are to accelerate people's impression of the brand. Gifts are a medium. On this medium, you can spread brand content, but also consider practicality, making consumers feel useful, valuable, and unable to put down. Then your gift marketing is right!
Yunlian's Thought on Promotion #3: Themed Displays In FMCG sales, the most common is the hypermarket display, mainly related to location and area, but also to theme and vividness. Today we discuss these four aspects. First is location, the most important. In a hypermarket, foot traffic is uneven and has patterns. Obviously, the most traffic is at the entrance and checkout lines, then the most relevant areas. For beverages, the beverage area, snack area, fresh food area, etc., are the most relevant and good locations. Another good location is the main aisle. Generally, grabbing display positions is the basic skill of FMCG salespeople. The second element is the display area. A small one is a pallet display, usually enough for one SKU. Two pallets can hold two SKUs. Four pallets are quite large and can make nice shapes. Of course, there are eight pallets or even larger, mainly for momentum, so theme and vividness are especially important. I often see poorly trafficked stores with huge displays but just stacked goods, lifeless. In this regard, RT-Mart does relatively well; even if the manufacturer doesn't provide vividness, the store helps create atmosphere. The third element is theme, which is very important. Consider three factors: first, fit the occasion, like Spring Festival for festivity, Mid-Autumn for reunion, Valentine's Day for love; second, brand tone and appeal, especially aligning with brand advertising; third, and most important, attract consumer interest and participation, like special offers, anniversaries, games, good luck, etc. Once the theme is set, all promotion mechanisms and vivid displays should highlight it. Fourth is vividness: making it look good, unified image, attracting attention, using materials, often with salespeople, promoters, lottery mechanisms, interactive participation, etc. Details will be discussed next time!
Yunlian's Thought on Promotion #4: In-Store Sampling Among promotion methods, I always think the most effective is free tasting, because free is the most powerful, and tasting has scene, immediacy, and group contagion. Organizing sampling activities is a basic skill for marketers. Sampling roughly falls into two categories: one is organized at the terminal site, the other at target population gathering places. Today I discuss the first type. In-store sampling, as the name implies, is letting passing consumers try your product for free at the sales terminal. Because it's free, many people participate. Because it's tasting, people stop, feel, and evaluate, creating crowd retention, watching, scenes, and cross-influence. At this time, the promoter's guidance, brand story, selling point recommendations, brand materials, promotion policies, gift giving, and a series of marketing tools can come out. So sampling is actually an entry point. One sampling I remember vividly was a few years ago when I visited Gulangyu in Xiamen. There was a small shop selling dried meat. They gave large samples, and the taste was great. Of course, the price was not cheap, but because other shops gave only a small piece, while this one gave a big piece, they stood out. Everyone praised the boss's generosity. Actually, I had heard about it online before going. On-site, it was indeed as expected, and I felt great. Of course, I didn't leave empty-handed. People are emotional animals; influenced by the scene of everyone praising and by the combined impression of taste and feeling, the purchase decision was smooth. Even years later, I still mention it. Of course, the beautiful memories of traveling in Gulangyu mix with the brand. So the Buddha's five aggregates—form, sensation, perception, mental formations, consciousness—the final consciousness is related to the product, the on-site feeling, historical brand associations, behavior and habits. These factors repeat and finally form a deep brand impression. And this seemingly mysterious consciousness's trigger entry point was just a piece of dried meat. In-store sampling generally has several elements: first, well-trained promoters; second, promoters wear uniform clothing and props; third, promoters prepare unified scripts, including sampling and selling scripts; fourth, the sampling position must be next to the display or main shelf, making it easy to buy, with seamless connection from sampling to purchase; fifth, generally use gift promotion rather than price promotion, preferably for new products, with themes and stories, etc. Sampling is the promotion method I personally endorse most. Next time, I'll continue discussing sampling at target consumer gathering places. See you tomorrow!
Yunlian's Thought on Promotion #5: Crowd Sampling Yesterday I talked about free tasting at the terminal. It quickly achieves consumer contact, converts traffic into purchases, and boosts sales. It's the most effective, lowest cost, and highest ROI, so many companies choose terminal sampling, especially when a big brand launches a new product with special functional claims, like unique taste, rich nutrition, or mixability with certain foods. Then terminal sampling is particularly suitable because your parent brand is big, people trust it, and at the terminal, free tasting leads to immediate conversion. However, if you are an unknown brand launching a new product or relaunching an old one, terminal sampling may not be suitable for two reasons: first, your brand lacks awareness, so people don't trust it; in the complex information sea of a hypermarket, people may not taste your product, or after tasting, they may not convert because there's no brand foundation. Second, many unknown brands aren't even in KA channels; hypermarkets don't stock them, so terminal sampling is impossible. Sampling in grocery stores or restaurants is not entirely impossible, but due to limited foot traffic, sampling efficiency is extremely low, and personnel costs are hard to bear. So targeted sampling for specific consumer groups emerged: not at retail terminals, but at gathering places of target consumers, even with lectures. For example, I once consulted for a sanitary napkin brand. We went directly to middle schools, contacted student unions or youth league committees, gave lectures on menstrual hygiene to female students, and offered free trials. What's the difference from terminal sampling? First, the environment is clean and relaxed; the audience can hear and feel the brand's voice. Even if you're a small brand, as long as your brand story and product quality are commendable, you can quickly gain fans and a base. Second, the target group is concentrated, creating cross-infection and conformity, quickly forming first-mover brand advantage. This precise base-building model is very effective for new brands to rise quickly. Many differentiated high-priced brands, unable to afford mass advertising, target only niche groups, and can't go the low-price or value route, so the best method is to find target group gathering places, give samples, and educate consumers. This method is most used by health products for the elderly, like free blood pressure checks, free trials of therapeutic devices, etc. Another method is meeting marketing, which we'll discuss tomorrow. See you tomorrow morning!
Yunlian's Thought on Promotion #6: Meeting Marketing Yesterday I mentioned the next topic is meeting marketing. A few friends left messages, eagerly waiting, asking when I'd update. I want to say, I write one thought a day. This morning I had other things, so I'm writing now. Meeting marketing, as the name implies, uses meetings to achieve marketing goals. A meeting has a venue, which is the environment; a fixed time, which is crowd concentration; a theme and agenda, which is a process and logic of emotional and cognitive fermentation and change. Finally, you must understand the purpose and goal of the meeting. You spend money and effort; you must evaluate whether your goals were achieved. A meeting is actually an emotional guidance process, a process of cross-infection in a group. So rhythm, choreography, arrangement, content, and rendering are very important. It requires careful planning, preparation, rehearsal. Before, there should be suspense, so people are willing to sign up and look forward. On-site, there should be surprises, exceeding expectations, unexpected things. After, there should be topics to spread, worth remembering, and willing to be praised. The opening of a meeting is important, also called ice-breaking. It has two purposes: first, pull everyone from the external complex environment to the meeting site, hoping they focus, so the following process and content can be effective; second, break the deadlock, mainly for small seminars, getting people to speak and interact. A big meeting needs a clear theme, and all processes must revolve around it. Irrelevant content must be ruthlessly cut. So meetings must be focused, not too long, preferably within 90 minutes. Small meetings should be within 30 minutes. Meetings should discuss only one topic and end when consensus is reached. The host and keynote speaker are very important because all discussion and interaction revolve around the keynote content. So the keynote must be carefully prepared, with sound, light, and electricity coordination, PPT and video, to truly attract everyone to the speech. The design and control of the climax are particularly important. The climax could be a lottery, announcing new product prices, publishing sales policies, commending advanced individuals, team appearance and oath, etc. In short, when to enter the climax is pre-planned. At the climax, the whole audience is excited, so you push the meeting's purpose: selling goods, setting targets, recruiting members, etc. To sustain multiple waves of climax, you need some "shills," arranging prepared speeches or orders. The meeting's ending follows the climax. Once the climax comes and the goal is achieved, quickly end, or have drinks and meals, arrange tours, or visits. In short, don't arrange more leader speeches, or you'll be clueless. Meeting marketing's core is advance planning and rhythm control!
Yunlian's Thought on Promotion #7: Terminal Salespeople At the terminal, many brands station promoters or salespeople. Some are for experiential marketing, needing to show products and explain functions. Such products require expert-style selling, so they're also called brand consultants, like health products, OTC drugs, appliances, phones, etc. These promoters' income mainly comes from commissions; averaging one deal a day is good. Another type of promoter mainly organizes shelves, pulling goods from the warehouse, ensuring shelves, displays, and fridges are full, dates are FIFO, price tags are correct, brand materials are clear, and promotional prices and gifts are in place. Many FMCG promoters are like this. Of course, there's also a type that enhances brand image, mainly doing sampling. The most typical is Nestlé coffee promoters. I always think their promoters are the best from appearance to attire to training. Promoters should be younger and prettier, but it's not absolute. Like flight attendants, now there are older flight attendants or male crew. In the end, besides appearance, professional knowledge and warm attitude are more important. I find that in many industries, the best-selling promoters are mothers in their thirties, because they have maternal gentleness and care, easily touching consumers, less stiff and impetuous than young people, and less lazy and complaining than middle-aged promoters. Of course, ultimately, it depends on the specific industry and store characteristics to decide who is most suitable. The stability of terminal salespeople is very important. If a salesperson works in a store for over two years, she becomes the big sister of the store. She knows the store manager well, other brand promoters give her face, and she can integrate many resources. So a stable, excellent salesperson is most of the factors for good sales. How to recruit and retain good promoters? It's related to treatment and commission methods, and the management style of her supervisor, but I think ultimately it's related to the company's overall culture and brand vision. In the end, it's spiritual determinism. The top leader's mindset and philosophy determine what directors and managers he uses, and finally what promoters he keeps. A company's culture, in the end, is the style and shadow of the top leader.
Yunlian's Thought on Promotion #8: Price Promotion Today I ran around outside all day and just got home. I heard today is the coldest day in Shanghai. Indeed, I froze. Back home, I turned on the air conditioner, feeling really comfortable. Writing and sharing my thoughts and experiences with friends feels great! Today I want to discuss terminal price promotions, because it's the most effective method. Actually, when I shop now, I'm often attracted by price promotions. It's not really about saving money, because I don't know the original price. Greed for bargains is a subconscious, automatic reaction, not rational thinking. Especially for low-priced FMCG, it's impulse buying; the decision time may be less than a second. Yellow tags and end caps increase the probability of being taken. The most important thing in price promotion is the price tag, the price display. For example, hypermarkets use yellow tags for special prices. The most important thing is the price. Many brands add too much brand information to the price tag, which isn't efficient. Separating brand communication and price stimulus is better. Combining different functions is a good idea, but the effect isn't necessarily good. It's best to show the discount amount. There are roughly three ways: first, show the original price with a cross, then the special price. This works for low-priced items, like a drink originally 6 yuan, now 5.5 yuan. Just show that; anything else is verbose. Second, show both original and new price, but emphasize how much you save, i.e., subtraction. This works for medium-priced items, like a TV originally 6598 yuan, now 5980 yuan, saving 618 yuan. This gives consumers a reason to be tempted. Third, for rational, high-priced items like buying a house or car, directly show the discount percentage, because these purchases are rational calculations with long decision times, so percentages are better. Also, hypermarkets usually pair special-price products with displays and end caps. The greater your promotion, the more sales and traffic you bring, so maybe the display costs less or even free. So special prices often combine with end caps. For price promotions, either don't do them, or do everything right and create a sales explosion. That's "a bird that doesn't sing is silent, but when it sings, it startles." Don't always have small discounts, or people will think your brand is low-end. That's trouble. Another important factor: price promotions need a reason, so people understand your brand rarely discounts; today is special, very rare, I caught it, lucky me, so I should buy more, and more, not wasting this rare luck. That's the trick of promotion!
Yunlian's Thought on Promotion #9: Occupying the Mind Recently I've been studying the laws of human memory. Actually, marketing is about occupying the mind, competing for memory warehouse space. There are several key points: 1. Turn abstract into concrete, so the brand's main visual and key visual are very important, carefully crafted, and must be serialized and consistent; 2. Turn ordinary into extraordinary, always have extraordinary concepts, not clichés; 3. Turn rational into emotional, must resonate with the audience, creating shared emotions and feelings; 4. Turn unfamiliar into familiar, must find familiar symbols for association, like familiar things, animals, etc.; 5. Turn self-amusement into relevance, making people interested because they feel it's useful and relevant; 6. Use homophones for association, finding ways to evoke familiar images or idioms. These are common methods in brand promotion. Of course, each has my own case experiences, but due to time, I can't elaborate!
Yunlian's Thought on Promotion #10: Buy-and-Gift Offers Yesterday I talked about buy-and-gift promotions, like bundling, sampling, redemption at service counters, etc. These gifts are also a medium, a brand promotion channel. When I was at Pepsi and Shell, I paid great attention to developing brand gifts. These gifts fall into two categories: one reflects brand tone, targeting young people; the other reflects value and cost-effectiveness, targeting housewives. Today I discuss another type of buy-and-gift promotion: direct cash back or discounts, but not price. This method is widely used now and very useful. The first method is threshold discounts: if you buy a certain amount, you get a direct discount or a certain discount rate. This usually sets several thresholds; the higher the threshold, the bigger the discount. Many customers group together on-site to enjoy discounts. Promoters don't support but don't oppose this. For example, many clothing stores require two or three items for a discount, so customers group together. The second method is discount coupons, but they're for next visit. There are two types: one with a large discount but short validity, mainly attracting nearby regular customers to increase purchase frequency; the second with a small discount but long validity, with lower participation. Customers sometimes complain about coupons not usable immediately, but for regulars, they're very effective. The third buy-and-gift method is points, corresponding to points cards and membership cards. Now it's mainly QR codes and public WeChat accounts, or electronic membership cards bound to phone numbers, very convenient. Buy-and-gift promotions mean discounts are conditional, with thresholds, making customers feel valuable, better than direct price without thresholds. Especially for heavy users and VIP regulars, this differentiated treatment makes them feel respected and valued, increasing loyalty and preference, and increasing average order value and purchase frequency. This is very important.
Yunlian's Thought on Promotion #11: Festival Promotions Actually, promotion is giving consumers or channel partners extra benefits, whether physical or price. But it's best to give a reason, making the audience feel justified and lucky to catch such a good deal. So, everyone's feeling is related to themselves. It's useless if you say your reason; what matters is the audience internalizing it as their own feeling. So the most important and skillful part of marketing is guiding the audience to make this transformation: you put out something, visual or copy, of course, as hints. Different people will have different feelings. The question is, the most clever marketing is that although everyone's feelings differ, the final direction is consistent, pointing to the brand's appeal, like warmth, touching, happiness, fear, anger, etc. That's a marketing master. Below I'll use three personal examples to discuss festival promotions and how to design fitting themes to create consistent feelings among consumers. In 1996, I fully coordinated the national gas station retail business for Concord Oil. From planning, land acquisition, approval, construction, acceptance, operation, service, etc., we needed to do a large-scale promotion that year to publicize Concord Oil to drivers, government, and stakeholders. Because Concord had many related industries, retail was a window. We set the time for Mid-Autumn Festival and National Day, with the theme of warmth. After internal collection from over a thousand employees, we determined our brand slogan, which I hear is still in use: "Service to every drop, safety for a thousand miles!" We also designed points cards and stickers shaped like our logo. Everything was ready. That Mid-Autumn Festival, over a hundred Concord gas stations nationwide simultaneously put up slogans, decorated, gave drivers points cards and the first sticker, displayed redeemable gifts, and many other details like newspaper reports. That time, I felt the whole activity was quite impressive. Later, retail performance clearly improved, and we acquired other gas stations faster. That's festival promotion. That year was 1996, exactly twenty years ago! In 1998, I worked at Shell China, also as GM of Wuhan Shell. We had dozens of gas stations in Wuhan, maturely laid out, with fierce competition from state-owned and private stations. How to embed our brand, the largest company in the Fortune 500, into drivers' hearts? We planned a theme of "foreign style," and set the date for February 14, Valentine's Day. In 1998, Valentine's Day wasn't as popular as today. We pre-ordered many roses in Guangdong, air-freighted them the day before. Of course, the pre-order price was very low. On Valentine's Day, every driver who filled up at Shell got a rose. It quickly spread, and almost all taxi drivers switched to Shell that day, experiencing our different service. We planned many communication points, which I won't detail. Later at Pepsi, there were more examples, like Spring Festival, National Day, May Day, back-to-school season, etc. We planned many themed promotions. The key is clear theme, clear main line, clever mechanism, careful details, perfect execution, and tight rhythm. Those who have done it will resonate! Festival promotions: the key is to fit the occasion and touch consumers' hearts, not leaders' hearts. This is the most important and hardest!
Yunlian's Thought on Promotion #12: Order Meetings and Advance Payments Generally, before sales peaks, like before Mid-Autumn Festival, Spring Festival, May Day, Women's Day, summer vacation, etc., manufacturers study how to stock up and push inventory, and how to motivate distributors or retailers. There are two main aspects: first, brainwashing, making everyone believe that selling our brand moves fast, makes money, brings traffic, and elevates taste. This requires a whole set of logic and presentation materials; second, sales policies and promotion plans, the "dry goods." How to combine the soft and hard, wet and dry perfectly? The best way is to hold order meetings and collect payments on-site, thus occupying customers' funds, making them committed. There are roughly two types of order meetings: one is centralized, with many people and grand scenes, but it's hard to organize; customers come from afar, need accommodation, time-consuming, and costly. So such large meetings once or twice a year is enough. The second is small local meetings, usually at a restaurant, with simpler processes, mainly communicating promotion policies, on-site ordering, payment collection, and relationship building. These are simple and effective, and can be organized every one or two months. Collecting advance payments is a very good method. Of course, you need to give customers discounts. Some brands were very aggressive with advance payments, like Six Walnut, but in recent years, sell-through hasn't been good, and advance payment methods aren't as popular. Order meetings are a good method. It seems the manufacturer spends some meeting costs, but in terms of communication efficiency and ordering results, it's actually the most cost-effective, because you hit so many customers at once, with very high reach. Especially, meeting marketing can design interactive and emotionally driven segments, leaving deep impressions. This is much better than ordinary advertising and individual visits!
Yunlian's Thought on Promotion #13: Purchase Incentive Promotions In channel promotions, the most used and most expensive is purchase incentives, commonly known as inventory pressure promotions. Consumer promotions look flashy, but they're points and lines with limited coverage, so budgets aren't large. Inventory pressure promotions are a surface; even if only one or two points off, the total budget is staggering. Of course, in terms of outbound volume, it's the most immediate. So for anyone who has been a sales director, the most loved and hated is definitely inventory pressure promotion, because it's like a drug: you know it's harmful, but quitting is hard! Inventory pressure promotions fall into two categories: first, pressuring channel partners, like agents, then distributors, then wholesalers, then secondary wholesalers, etc. Of course, now manufacturers have fewer channel layers, with different names in different industries. In short, it's various purchase incentive policies for intermediaries to stimulate quick ordering. Such channel pressure policies are very short, no more than 5 days, and require payment before delivery, no returns. Generally, doing a few big pressure promotions a year is best. Many companies also fix pressure promotions at month-end, which becomes price, losing flexibility. That's the sales director's most helpless thing. The second type of purchase incentive targets terminals, getting them to order in bulk. Of course, this bulk is different from channel partners' bulk, because terminal warehouses are small; 50 cases is usually the max. Terminal purchase incentives should ideally link to two points: first, displays, meaning the 20 or 50 cases I unload go directly to the display, solving display at the same time; second, require the store owner to also run consumer price promotions or discounts, attracting consumers. Of course, these are hopes, not guarantees. So terminal promotions generally last longer, preferably over two weeks. In purchase incentive promotions, one of the most important issues is product mix, the so-called package. We'll discuss package promotions tomorrow. See you tomorrow!
Yunlian's Thought on Promotion #14: Package Purchase Promotions In business operations, the outbound situation of various products varies greatly. Some are very popular, even in short supply, but some are dead, no one wants them even with promotions and price cuts. Some products have high margins, some don't make money or even lose money, some are new products with no customer awareness but strategic significance, some are end-of-life products that won't be produced again, etc. These issues are exactly the same for distributors and terminals: customers have their own clear judgments when ordering, resulting in the Matthew effect: the good sellers sell better, and the bad ones are ignored. Is that really true? Not at all. I've studied this for a long time and found that so-called good or bad selling is mostly caused by channel partners. If you order actively, display actively, promote actively, and push actively, it will naturally sell well. This is determined by the store owner's personal cognition and preference. For consumers, most are novices. A few years ago, I tested consumers asking which company Mirinda and Fanta belong to and which sells better. Most consumers didn't know. We can't assume everyone is as rational as we are just because we know AC Nielsen data. This is my biggest discovery. The best way to solve this problem is to bundle goods and press them onto distributors, or distributors onto terminals. With inventory pressure, customers' minds change. In business, store owners' preferences are related to their pressure and interests. Package purchase promotions combine several products into a set. You can choose multiple sets, but you can't change the structure. Of course, the discount for the package is bigger than individual orders. Also, when designing packages, don't have too many varieties; around three is about right, otherwise customers get confused and can't calculate. This time these varieties are bundled; next time adjust. In short, don't maliciously pressure inventory, don't try to eat a fat man in one bite; solve problems gradually. Package purchase incentives, especially for terminals, are particularly effective. Why? Because the new or slow-moving products you bundle are usually only one case, breaking the whole into parts, so the store owner doesn't feel much pressure, but your big pressure is relieved. How great!
Yunlian's Thought on Promotion #15: Online Festival Creation A few days ago, we discussed festival promotions. What is a festival? Since we're about to welcome the biggest festival, Spring Festival, this question is worth thinking about. I think festivals have three meanings: first, a pause, like ancient pavilions, telling you to stop and rest at this point. This is insight into human nature, because there are few places to rest on the road ahead; only this place is relatively open, scenic, or winding, so a pavilion is built for rest. A festival is like a knot, dividing work and life into segments. This pause is very important, especially psychologically. Second, legends and cultural customs: since you stop, give people something to do, creating rituals and customs. I remember as a child in the countryside during New Year, the happiest thing was "kaoting" (I don't know if the character is right). Children on New Year's Eve afternoon would go to various homes to collect firewood, pile it on the street, and light it at dusk. Then adults and children nearby would come to warm themselves, even very old people. Everyone warmed and said, "Warm your butt, no illness for a year." This scene is deeply imprinted in my heart. Third, expectation: looking forward and preparing early. This anticipation is more powerful than the actual arrival. Today I mainly want to talk about e-commerce festival creation, obviously mainly Tmall's Double 11, then JD's 618, and Suning and Yihaodian also push their own festivals, I can't remember. Also, even on Tmall and JD, almost every day there are phone weeks, beverage weeks, retail weeks, New Year goods festivals, etc. In the end, they're all creating festivals. The meaning is what I discussed earlier: first, pause, letting you shop crazily that day, dividing shopping into two stages; second, besides low prices, remember something, like this year's Double 11 gala; third, expectation, with advertising resources spent on pre-festival hype. How to achieve these three mass effects requires careful planning and heavy investment. If festival creation succeeds, it becomes your brand asset. Others will also cause trouble or take a share, but in the end, your impression is deepest. The key is to innovate every year and invest more in merchants and advertising. For example, Double 11, JD, Suning, Gome, Yihaodian all have big promotions, especially JD with ten-day promotions, taking some share, but the final winners are Tmall and Taobao because they have originality and because they innovate and hype every year. This year's 91.2 billion is a dream number; I don't know what next year will be. Creating festivals requires great wisdom, and of course, big moves and big investments!
Yunlian's Thought on Promotion #16: Explosive Product Promotion The concept of explosive products comes from e-commerce. A successful explosive product brings traffic to your store and drives sales of other products. So every store dreams of an explosive product, and platforms support it. But since only a few products in a category become explosive, to create one, you need to consider category positioning, keyword positioning, cost-performance positioning, listing and delisting rhythm, promotion and publicity. Let me explain one by one. First, category positioning: an explosive product doesn't exist in isolation; it must be in a category, conforming to the general perception of that category, or related to it. This requires careful planning, both conforming to existing cognition and appropriately innovating with small touches. Of course, you can create a new category, but it needs redefinition and gradual acceptance, making it hard to become an instant hit. So which category to position in is particularly important. Second, keyword positioning: because online traffic and sales mostly come from search, and search involves keywords. Which keywords do you push? If your keywords are too common, you'll be buried in the sea, because there are many bigger brands. But if your keywords are niche, you might rank high, but the total search volume is limited. Also, your keywords must match your product's features, be unique, not lie, not exaggerate, otherwise even if you pull traffic, the conversion rate will be shockingly low. Third, cost-performance: generally, creating an explosive product often doesn't make money or even loses money, because all competitors want explosive products. Why you? Because your cost-performance is high. What is cost-performance? It's visible hard parameters, not emotional hype. Cost-performance is actually cruel: a competition of cost and strength, comparing low prices, gifts, investment. In the end, the one who endures becomes the explosive product. If you feel your strength is insufficient, just choose not to join. Fourth, listing and delisting rhythm: because e-commerce is about time. Often, being a few hours earlier than competitors decides victory or defeat. Or your customer service is online 24/7, while competitors aren't, so many customers are converted by you. Fifth, promotion and investment: why? This is what I always emphasize: people's cognition is a black box, guided, with information asymmetry. Some say the internet era has no information asymmetry. That's a big mistake. The internet, with massive information, makes information asymmetry even worse, because people are kidnapped by information and need sorting and guidance. At this time, experts are needed, and people trust experts. Brands should be such experts, not utilitarian, sticking to principles, and you'll gain trust and respect. Then the explosive product is not far away. Once the explosive product succeeds, your other products will also become popular. So explosive product promotion is big promotion, focused strategy, bet strategy, and comprehensive strategy!
Yunlian's Thought on Promotion #17: Universal Celebration Soon it will be New Year, and I'm going abroad for vacation. I estimate the following Yunlian thoughts will be intermittent, even some days without updates, and may return to normal after the New Year. Yesterday was the 23rd of the twelfth lunar month, Little New Year. Everywhere we go, we feel the strong New Year atmosphere: red lanterns, banners prohibiting firecrackers, various New Year goods promotions, various sentimental micro-films about going home to see parents. All bring you into a scene, evoke emotions, stimulate your dormant subconscious, making a deep impression of a brand and establishing brand associations. So the promotion method I discuss today is called "Universal Celebration," a bit like ancient emperors granting amnesty or celebrating with the people. It means planning to grasp the public's emotional needs for a festival, then designing the promotion theme to stick to people's livelihood, be vulgar, be earthy. Don't think these are outdated. Wrong! My recent research conclusion is that the more historical, local, simple, and folk, the more touching. People often disguise themselves, wearing thick masks, but everyone inside yearns to be a child, a simple commoner. Maybe only in a special scene, only at a special time, but at that special moment, if the brand captures it, it succeeds. Of course, "Universal Celebration" naturally requires big investment and big sacrifice. Actually, consumers are the smartest because they are the majority. My research shows that only the majority is the smartest, no reason. Like referendums and elections, they are the most scientific. So universal celebration promotion requires clear theme, fitting mechanism, heavy investment, wide spread, fitting folk customs, and combining vulgarity and elegance. If executed well, it will definitely produce great results!
Yunlian's Thought on Promotion #18: Market Mechanism These days I'm traveling in Europe, looking at European malls and supermarkets, comparing with the domestic market, and I have some insights. Many people wonder why Japanese toilet seats are made in China, but consumers still travel far to buy in Japan. Actually, shopping in Europe or the US may also get Chinese-made products. Why? I think it's a market mechanism. A good market mechanism will survive the fittest, screen quality, punish bad actors, and support brands. In France, I see that malls and supermarkets are not too many, laid out according to consumer needs, not for competition. This is very important. When people have real needs, they don't care much about price. When people shop because of low prices, it breeds too many cases of shoddy goods and counterfeits. In France, there aren't so many channels, and similarly, not so many brands, because many that can't be called brands are eliminated. What remains are brands. So everyone's promotions are very rational, fully considering consumer feelings, not vicious price wars. What is a brand? My understanding is roughly two types: one is for vanity and face, so premiums are high, but people still flock, like Chinese people in Europe buying luxury brands. Their brand itself means high premiums, but because of the brand, people chase. The second is giving a sense of security, like McDonald's or Coca-Cola, with low premiums but huge sales volumes, because worldwide, these brands give people a safe and reassuring feeling. Promotions here are relatively simple, generally price discounts. Maybe this is a return to people's real needs rather than greed for bargains, a return to quality needs rather than just cost-performance. Maybe China will become like this in ten years: fewer retail stores, fewer brands, fewer promotion methods, and people's purchase decisions won't be so tangled, because time is more precious, personal feelings are more precious, and experiences are more precious!
Yunlian's Thought on Promotion #19: Romance and Sensibility While traveling in France, I've been observing how marketing here differs from domestic. Overall, I feel there are fewer marketing tricks here, focusing more on brand and quality, but there are two big differences. First, I observed roadside billboards. The ads mainly feature a person's facial expression, with no story or usage scenario, just a smile. Why is that? Finally, I found the answer from a Louvre guide. She said art styles have gone through several stages. In the Middle Ages, paintings were mainly for preaching, not focusing on details, only describing Jesus's Bible stories. Later, in the neoclassical period, artists expressed Greek myths while paying attention to details. Then came the Renaissance and liberty, equality, fraternity, and art expressed more emotion and detail. The guide said this is called romance. What is romance? It's sensibility, inner surge, not focusing on story and background. For example, Mona Lisa's smile is a typical work by da Vinci. France is the capital of romance because people here are sentimental, live in the moment, and value personal feelings. The second difference is the service in stores. The staff truly focus on the customer, sincerely serving you, rarely directly pushing products, just attentive service, even one-on-one, making you feel like a god. This is really different from domestic staff who mainly push products. This is the power of humanity, truly feeling human dignity. These two differences—one is ads showing facial expressions and smiles, the other is service pointing to consumer needs—are quite core. These are my initial thoughts!
Yunlian's Thought on Promotion #20: Manufacturer-Dealer Collaboration Unconsciously, the promotion thoughts have reached the last issue. Because of the Spring Festival in between, there was a break, and I lost my touch. Finally, I'll talk about the integration and collaboration between manufacturers and dealers. We often feel that manufacturers and dealers are competitive and confrontational, like the often-mentioned Carrefour buyer's guide, not treating manufacturer salespeople as people, etc. But actually, it's not like that. In the big direction, manufacturers and dealers are consistent: serving consumers. Everyone hopes to improve sales performance, complete sales and profit targets. So collaboration and integration are very necessary. The premise of collaboration is that manufacturer salespeople should understand the dealer's promotion rhythm and needs as much as possible, because after all, dealers are closer to consumers. Also, dealers have many brands and complete categories, and they arrange promotions for each category based on seasons and festivals. Manufacturer salespeople should combine the manufacturer's marketing resources and brand rhythm, utilizing both dealer and manufacturer resources well, like combining mechanisms, consistent tone, and leveraging resources. The common practice is for manufacturer salespeople to give the dealer's promotion schedule and requirements to the marketing department, which plans the promotion plan and designs renderings for the dealer, obtaining confirmation and support on venue, time slot, cost, and mechanism. The best practice is joint promotions, or the manufacturer directly participating in the dealer's manufacturer week, or doing exclusive full-store promotions. Of course, both sides need to contribute resources, and do terminal displays, on-site promotions, roadshows, media publicity and hype, lotteries and free tasting, themed posters, even celebrity appearances. All require careful pre-planning and perfect execution, and finally serious summary and reporting. This is necessary for both manufacturers and dealers, especially summarizing the promotion costs and contributions to sales and brand, even calculating ROI, which helps sustain cooperation, because everyone needs to report! Promotion requires planning, negotiation, confirmation, preparation, execution, and summary. This requires processes and training!
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