--- title: "How Should Brand Operating Models Adapt in the Internet Era?" description: "This article discusses how brand operating models should adapt in the internet era, arguing that traditional marketing's three-dimensional structure (product, advertising, distribution) has collapsed into a one-dimensional focus on consumer experience. It suggests that brands should prioritize creating exceptional experiences and leveraging word-of-mouth, while also exploring new models like micro-commerce and supporting individual entrepreneurs." author: "杨江涛" publisher: "New Distribution" email: "zhaobo258@gmail.com" telephone: "+8615854817671" published: "2015-11-06" language: "en" canonical: "https://xinjignxiao.com/en/articles/how-should-brand-operating-models-adapt-in-the-internet-era-b7a79416/" markdown: "https://xinjignxiao.com/en/articles/how-should-brand-operating-models-adapt-in-the-internet-era-b7a79416.md" original_source: "https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/t4GKvd5YAlDNMYmxWqEkUw" translation: "https://xinjignxiao.com/zh/articles/%E4%BA%92%E8%81%94%E7%BD%91%E6%97%B6%E4%BB%A3%E4%B8%8B-%E5%93%81%E7%89%8C%E6%93%8D%E4%BD%9C%E6%A8%A1%E5%BC%8F%E8%AF%A5%E6%80%8E%E4%B9%88%E5%8A%9E-b7a79416.md" attribution: "New Distribution — https://xinjignxiao.com/en/articles/how-should-brand-operating-models-adapt-in-the-internet-era-b7a79416/" usage_policy: "https://xinjignxiao.com/ai-policy.txt" --- # How Should Brand Operating Models Adapt in the Internet Era? > This article discusses how brand operating models should adapt in the internet era, arguing that traditional marketing's three-dimensional structure (product, advertising, distribution) has collapsed into a one-dimensional focus on consumer experience. It suggests that brands should prioritize creating exceptional experiences and leveraging word-of-mouth, while also exploring new models like micro-commerce and supporting individual entrepreneurs. Today's topic is how brand operating models should adapt in the internet era. Actually, this topic is not easy to discuss. I cannot talk about brands without considering the broader context. So when discussing brands, I will inevitably touch on some aspects of internet transformation. That way, it will be easier for everyone to understand. I come from a marketing consulting background, so I will share my views from a marketing perspective. Marketing in the internet era is very different from traditional marketing. In the past, marketing resources were dispersed, or three-dimensional. In contrast, internet-era marketing is one-dimensional. What is three-dimensional? Traditional marketing relied on three key factors: product, advertising, and distribution channels. These three parts operated as independent systems or blocks. Those who did advertising focused on advertising. Those who handled distribution focused on distribution. Companies focused on products. In other words, traditional marketing was carried out by at least three separate organizations. In the internet era, however, it is different. It has become one thing: consumer experience. Distribution is more about logistics and personal networks. If your product is good enough, that itself is advertising; you don't need to do separate advertising. For example, consider design. Previously, products needed external packaging, but good design can be integrated into the product itself, like Apple's products. I am in the marketing consulting industry. Two years ago, I predicted that this industry would not survive because it cannot exist independently. Just like advertising and design, it must be integrated into the product. Although some peers are still struggling to hold on, I know this path will eventually come to an end because in the internet era, everything is condensed into experience. Why is experience so important? Because it is a spirit that can be conveyed through personal networks. In the past, marketing was about tangible goods. This brings up the issue of different distribution channels, which of course involves micro-commerce (weishang). Currently, micro-commerce is like a rat crossing the street, with everyone shouting to beat it. But we cannot let one leaf block our view of the forest. Just like early e-commerce, many people said it was a scam, but today e-commerce is thriving. I believe the main marketing method in the future may be micro-commerce. But not the micro-commerce we see now, because current micro-commerce is mostly a replication of pyramid schemes on the internet. In the future, agents will be individual, whereas in the past, agents were organizational. Organizational agents only had a need to buy and sell products, not to use them. But now, individual agents are also customers, not just agents. These individual agents will share their usage experiences with friends around them. We know that many micro-commerce practitioners don't need to have products, but those who force people to stock up are mostly scams. For example, someone tries a product and finds it good. They can share it with friends. If friends buy it, that completes the trust agency. In contrast, traditional brands rely on brand reputation to convey trust. For example, Moutai relies on its own brand to impress all consumers. But in micro-commerce, there is no need for a brand at all. Micro-commerce relies on trust agency. So in this era, the function of brand is basically abolished. If you want to build a good brand, you should go all out to create a great consumer experience and leverage word-of-mouth for dissemination. We know how viral advertising works. If a piece of information has viral properties, it will spread quickly as if it has legs. This is the difference between media professionals in the internet era and those in the traditional era. Traditional media consisted of two parts: information and media push. But internet-era media has only one element. That element is information, information, information. Important things are said three times. As long as your information has viral properties, you can use the internet's replication feature to spread it everywhere overnight. Back to products. In the internet era, products also need to transform into information. This information is what we discussed earlier: consumer experience. If it has viral properties, your product can also spread everywhere overnight. So I say, in this era, making products is actually simpler: you need to create a product with style (you ge) that becomes the focus of discussion. Isn't that how Apple phones are? But the problem is our domestic innovation capability. Many innovations are only in models or in gimmicks. No one has been able to create an Apple. So the most scarce talent in this era is the product manager. So in this era, we don't need marketing experts, or even designers. Marketing experts like me are now developing products. I have to transform into a product manager, integrating my marketing ideas into the product, rather than creating a marketing promotion model outside the product. This era will overturn all our previous thinking. Back to brands. I even think that in this era, brand protection is unnecessary. That is, you don't need to register a brand. This was unimaginable in the past. If you sell things on the internet, think about it: it is indeed the case. E-commerce uses keywords to complete purchases, and micro-commerce uses links to complete purchases. In the traditional era, brand protection was needed because our products had to be distributed through many transaction points. So traditional channels inevitably generated brand protection. But micro-commerce requires a link. Note that I am not talking about pyramid schemes. I mean that every enterprise needs a public platform. If every enterprise sells to consumers through its own public platform, Think about it: is there only one link that can reach the whole world? That is, there is only one transaction point, so there is no need for brand protection, unless you sell counterfeit goods yourself. Now let's talk about how enterprises should develop in this era of economic downturn. I believe that the more depressed the economy, the more prosperous the internet industry, because the internet industry can operate at lower costs. This is like the 2008 economic trough, when e-commerce became increasingly popular. In an economic downturn, people are more careful with spending, but they still have to spend. So they will look for ways to consume with higher cost-performance. At this time, the internet provides them with ways to reduce consumption costs. So true micro-commerce is not about fooling others, but about using C2B information feedback technology to greatly reduce operating costs and pass on benefits to consumers. Every success has a payer. In the past, the payer was "wool comes from the sheep's back," which was a zero-sum game within the industry chain. In the internet era, the payer is what we know as "wool comes from the dog," and today's payer is often outside the chain. Within the chain is a positive-sum game. For example, why has e-commerce developed so rapidly? Because it has a payer, and that payer is outside the chain: the terminal. E-commerce goes from enterprise to consumer, bypassing middlemen and terminals, jumping over their walls. When e-commerce fights, the biggest casualties are physical businesses. It's like hitting a cow across a mountain, making those outside the chain pay. So whether a business model can stand depends on whether there is a payer. However, this payer is not necessarily within the industry chain; it is often outside the chain. For example, WeChat's payer is the SMS of network operators. In this era, invisible opponents are the most terrifying. Competitors in the same industry are often allies, like McDonald's and KFC. On the surface, they are rivals, but in reality, they are allies. In fact, behind all this is the most important secret: cost. The greatest value of the internet is reducing costs. Operations that hide cost issues are all gimmicks. For example, O2O should be the biggest scam currently. Because it caters to the need of many enterprises to move from physical business to the internet, O2O avoids the cost issue. It believes that online plus offline can achieve a good transformation. Look at JD.com and Suning. At that time, Suning had 500 chain stores, while JD.com only had a website. On the surface, Suning had much more resources than JD.com. But why did JD.com win and Suning lose? Of course, now Suning has been acquired by Ma Yun and is revitalized. But at that time, Suning was the biggest failure. Because Suning was doing e-commerce with heavy costs, the most important of which were physical stores and labor. This problem is not only Suning's, but also the problem of many enterprises and bosses today. Many who run physical stores also want to do internet. But their main motive is to support their stores, hoping to add another sales channel through the internet. This way of thinking itself has huge problems. These bosses have their own calculations. The calculation is how to support the store and staff. All their internet transformation is related to this. That is, they carry a huge historical burden. How can a boss with physical stores do e-commerce well? They rely on e-commerce to support the store! But indeed, they have to support the store because the rent has already been paid. The capital chain is locked by traditional business, and their thinking is also locked. Although they are enthusiastic about internet transformation every day, that is just an outward manifestation of anxiety. Many enterprises are the same: too big to turn around, unable to let go of their old marketing channels, and also unable to let go of their investments and equipment. So in the past two years, I rarely discuss these issues with enterprises because I know it's useless. In addition, many small and medium-sized enterprises have debt problems, so they have no time to take care of themselves. I prefer to talk with small and medium-sized entrepreneurs because they have no historical baggage and are full of drive. Moreover, many bosses have succeeded in the past and find it hard to step out of their successful experiences. They are mostly "loving dragons on paper" when it comes to the internet. In addition, many small and medium-sized enterprises have debt problems, so they have no time to take care of themselves. I prefer to talk with small and medium-sized entrepreneurs because they have no historical baggage and are full of drive. Moreover, many bosses have succeeded in the past and find it hard to step out of their successful experiences. They are mostly "loving dragons on paper" when it comes to the internet. It's not about creating a portal website, putting your products on it, and letting others help you sell. Instead, you need to turn yourself into an entrepreneurial platform to support others in starting businesses. The idea of selling things to others is outdated. You need to sell an opportunity to others. Chinese people all want to make money, not consume. Now with mass entrepreneurship, a housewife taking care of children can start a business with just a mobile phone. They all have micro-stores, like Weidian and Youzan, where they put all the products they have experienced. They earn commissions from selling your products. You need to know that they are starting businesses for themselves, not as salespeople for your company. So the developers of Weidian and Youzan are platforms for those small and medium-sized entrepreneurs. You need to use these platforms to satisfy those entrepreneurs. Provide them with profitable products so they can run their own stores. Look at Weidian. They can take your products and sell them directly in their stores, but they can block your company information. This is no different from traditional shops. Terminal merchants want to build their own store brand, not your brand, because that is a product of the centralized era. What enterprises need to do now is to support the thousands of eager small and medium-sized entrepreneurs and establish direct relationships with them. This way, you can fully reduce operating costs, and you can pass on the savings to consumers. At this time, you will find that the payer for your operating model is traditional business. In this era of economic downturn, the internet dividend will make your operating costs lower and make you more competitive. There is much more to say, but I will stop here for today's sharing. Finally, I would like to thank the Sutuo Network Micro-Community Alliance for their gracious invitation. I am glad to meet everyone. Acknowledgments: Mr. Fan Chaowei, General Manager of Sutuo Network Micro-Community Alliance **●****●****●********** **-END-** Content Selection Click on the title below to read directly: [Line Sales Representative Practical Operation Guide (with full PPT download attached)] --- ## Copyright and AI use This article is sourced from New Distribution. Search, quotation, summarization, and model training are permitted, but every use must credit New Distribution and retain the canonical source URL. Contact: zhaobo258@gmail.com · +86 158 5481 7671