Influencer marketing is undoubtedly the hottest topic in the marketing circle this year, especially after China's first-generation internet celebrity Luo Yonghao started live-streaming on Douyin. Recently, I discussed with a friend that the current route of influencer marketing seems wrong. Most products treat influencers as a sales channel, using discounts and promotions to sell more products. But in fact, I think influencers should take the brand route, solving specific problems in specific scenarios.

Because of the "follow" function on social media, many influencers have built large fan bases over time. Many companies naturally establish a conversion funnel model, turning the influencer's fans into product consumers. They prefer to work with top influencers like Li Jiaqi and Viya, cooperating at ultra-low prices. It seems that influencers earn advertising fees, fans get deals, and companies get sales.

But as far as I know, many companies' influencer marketing is a loss-making venture. They spend slot fees and sacrifice profits, while influencers not only earn slot fees and sales commissions but also use the company's products to benefit existing fans, increase loyalty, and attract more fans. It's like many companies fund and support the influencer's fan base. Moreover, the price expectations set by low-price promotions in users' minds may cause long-term damage to the brand.

In my paid course "10 Marketing Thinking Methods to Help You Grow at Low Cost" with 36kr, I explained that the Chinese word for marketing, "营销", can be split into two parts: "营" (ying) meaning influence, and "销" (xiao) meaning sales, which is conversion. Interestingly, many companies view influencers as a sales channel, like supermarkets or e-commerce platforms, using various promotional means to sell more products. In contrast, the "influence" aspect is rarely touched by companies.

In fact, if we remove the "internet" and look at "influencers" alone, historically, many well-known brands have used influencers to promote products. The difference is that these brands used influencers to enhance brand value, counter competitors' low-price promotions, and ultimately increase sales. The most famous example is Coca-Cola and Santa Claus, which instinctively come to mind when thinking of the color red.

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Santa Claus promoting products? Coca-Cola's strategy during the Great Depression

In the 1930s, Coca-Cola faced internal and external troubles. The Wall Street stock market crash starting in 1929 plunged the U.S. economy into the Great Depression, and Americans' purchasing power plummeted. People favored low-priced goods. Pepsi-Cola, born in the same era as Coca-Cola, was on the verge of bankruptcy, but after New York businessman Charles Guth took over, he adopted a half-price sales strategy. At that time, Coca-Cola sold 6 ounces for 5 cents, while Pepsi offered 12 ounces at the same price, quickly gaining favor among cola lovers.

On the other hand, the U.S. lifted the Prohibition that had been in effect since 1920. Coca-Cola had long positioned itself as a substitute for alcoholic beverages. Some media even questioned, "Now that people can drink authentic beer and 'real men's' whiskey, who would drink those 'non-alcoholic sodas'? The answer is both open and certain: Coca-Cola's glory days are numbered."

Without the alcohol substitute label, Coca-Cola could maintain sales in summer with its icy, refreshing, sweet taste, but in winter, these advantages became disadvantages. In fact, in 1929 and 1930, Coca-Cola ran promotional ads, but with little effect. By 1931, Coca-Cola decided to try something different: they chose Santa Claus to help boost sales.

Although Christmas has a long history, the celebration of Christmas dates back to the early 17th century. To celebrate the snowfall, people decorated their homes with evergreen plants, gradually forming the Christmas tree culture. At that time, the main colors of Christmas were green and white, representing greenery and snow. The Santa Claus of that era was also a tall, thin elf draped in robes and animal skins.

Coca-Cola believed Christmas was a key marketing node, as families would gather and share joy, perfectly aligning with "happiness," the brand symbol Coca-Cola was striving to build. Therefore, Coca-Cola signed artist Haddon Sundblom to create a Santa Claus image drinking Coke.

Sundblom found inspiration from the famous poem "A Visit from St. Nicholas," which described Santa as a warm, kind, and large figure full of humanity. At Coca-Cola's strong request, Haddon changed the green robe image, using Coca-Cola's red-and-white brand colors to design Santa's red coat for the first time.

Thus, the first Santa Claus image appeared in the Saturday Evening Post: an old man in a red robe with a white beard, always smiling, one hand removing his hat, the other holding a glass of Coca-Cola, uttering the famous slogan introduced in 1929: "The Pause That Refreshes."

To enhance the family atmosphere, Haddon Sundblom also created a pair of twins and a dog for Santa. He drew inspiration from his neighbor's sisters, but to balance the composition, he turned one of the girls into a boy. The black dog was also modeled after a gray poodle from next door, just changing the color to black.

Subsequently, Coca-Cola ads appeared in Ladies' Home Journal, National Geographic, The New Yorker, and other magazines and newspapers, all of which were well received, and sales multiplied during the Christmas season. More ad exposure also made Santa Claus deeply rooted in people's hearts, and red replaced green as the main color of Christmas.

Coca-Cola did not protect the Santa Claus IP at the time, allowing more brands, organizations, and individuals to join in creating Santa Claus-related content, so that now people associate Christmas with the ever-smiling, bearded, red-clad Santa Claus.

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The overlooked brand value of influencers

Is Santa Claus an influencer? Of course, he is. He is an influencer who has been shaped over hundreds of years and countless stories, with a specific image in people's minds. When cooperating with such influencers, many companies could choose a distinct Santa image and add "only 5 cents" or "original $1, limited time 5 cents." Coca-Cola, however, did not emphasize price but continued its previous strategy, reinforcing the keyword "happiness."

"Happiness" is a feeling. If you just add the word "happiness" to an ad, users find it hard to understand. But by using Santa Claus as a symbol of happiness, it lowers the cognitive threshold for users, subtly transforming the product from a beverage that brings pleasure to a cultural symbol that brings a joyful atmosphere. At that time, during the Great Depression, daily life was full of hardships, and the happiness represented by Coca-Cola could alleviate this anxiety.

By the mid-1930s, Coca-Cola had become a national enterprise in the minds of Americans, accounting for half of all carbonated soft drink sales in the U.S. It's worth noting that its competitors included not only Pepsi but also Dr. Pepper, 7 Up, and other equally historic beverages.

It was also because Coca-Cola became a national enterprise that during World War II, it became a war necessity for the U.S. military, expanding worldwide with the troops. It can be said that Santa Claus was a crucial investment in Coca-Cola's brand building.

A century later, the internet replaced newspapers and magazines. Although the internet hasn't fundamentally changed human needs, it has brought products and users closer. The so-called product experience has extended from the product itself to a 360-degree, inside-out experience. When social media first emerged, I communicated with many companies; they preferred to publish discount and promotion information to gain larger sales at relatively low cost.

However, I have always believed that the core value of social media for enterprises lies in "relationships." It provides a simpler, faster, and deeper interactive platform, allowing enterprises to truly establish "relationships" with users.

Users can gain a deeper understanding of the product's design philosophy, production details, values, and the core team's style, which subtly influences and sticks with users, turning them into loyal fans. To this day, social media has gradually polarized: one part focuses on discounts, promotions, and giveaway information, while the other part has gradually become loyal fans of many brands.

From the perspective of communication efficiency, live streaming is a step further from text, images, and short videos. Brand owners can communicate with users in real time, gaining a deeper understanding of the product's core value, which is the motivation for users to pay a higher cost for the product.

Influencers undoubtedly accelerate this communication efficiency, lower the cognitive threshold for users, and build stronger relationships between brands and users. This value can be illustrated by how Colombian coffee, with its higher quality and price, defeated cheaper Brazilian coffee.

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Coffee Uncle promoting products? Colombian coffee goes global

Before World War I, almost all coffee Americans drank was Robusta coffee beans imported from Brazil. These beans had poor taste but were cheaper. Colombia grew another type of coffee called Arabica, which was higher quality and richer in flavor but also more expensive.

Before World War I, Colombian coffee was supplied to the European market. Due to the war, Colombian coffee couldn't be exported to Europe, so it had to open the U.S. market. However, due to price factors, Colombian Arabica coffee sold far less than Brazilian Robusta in the U.S. So in 1959, the National Federation of Coffee Growers of Colombia decided to create an influencer to help promote their products.

In 1959, the Federation partnered with the famous American advertising agency DDB (Doyle Dane Bernbach) to jointly launch a coffee farmer character named Juan Valdez.

To add Colombian flavor, DDB also paired him with a faithful mule named Conchita. Thus, Uncle Juan and his faithful mule, a completely fictional set of characters, became the spokespersons for Colombian coffee.

DDB found a Colombian-American actor living in New York, José F. Duval, to play Juan Valdez. Ten years later, Colombia invited a real coffee farmer, Carlos Sánchez, to play Juan Valdez.

Carlos Sánchez, wearing a white straw hat, an Andean wool poncho, a leather bag slung across his body, comfortable canvas shoes with laces, and leading the mule Conchita, presented an authentic Colombian coffee farmer image. He appeared in various TV shows and variety programs, through which people learned about Colombian coffee culture. Carlos Sánchez played Juan Valdez for 37 years.

Within the first five months of launching the Juan Valdez brand, Colombian coffee consumer awareness increased by nearly 300%, gaining excellent word-of-mouth. This success also shocked DDB, which described: "We have never received such rapid market response. When we started, we thought it would take at least two or three years to achieve what we have today."

The president of the National Federation of Coffee Growers of Colombia, Gabriel Silva, believed that the creation of Juan Valdez was the most successful example in the history of campaign planning. The Colombian government also attached great importance to Juan Valdez, awarding him the Silver Cross of National Merit.

In 1981, the Federation decided to design a new logo based on the popular Juan Valdez, making him the true symbol of Colombian coffee.

In 1983, Juan Valdez appeared on screen again with his mule. The Federation invested $1 million to produce a series of campaign films depicting how Juan Valdez carefully selected coffee beans on his high mountain plantation, then led his mule along rugged mountain paths to transport bags of beans.

This marketing campaign was also a great success. By the 1980s, Juan Valdez's character was widely popular in the U.S. and most European countries. Consumer recognition of the brand was unshakable, so the Federation launched a new series of TV campaigns specifically to educate the public about coffee.

To attract young people, Juan Valdez wore traditional coffee farmer clothing and engaged in dangerous, trendy activities in campaigns, such as hang gliding, surfing, and snowboarding. Juan Valdez also went global; in 2010, he even participated in the Shanghai World Expo in China.

In 2005, a U.S. research team conducted a national survey of important American figures, aiming to determine who were the most recognized figures in American public life. The survey showed that 80% to 90% of Americans could recognize Juan Valdez. In the UK, this number was nearly 100%. More importantly, over 50% of respondents could immediately associate Juan Valdez and his inseparable mule Conchita with Colombian coffee.

That same year, Juan Valdez won the Best Campaign Image Award jointly issued by Yahoo and USA Today, and had the honor of leaving footprints on Madison Avenue in New York.

Similar to Coca-Cola's "happiness" value, users find it hard to understand "better quality" from ads. But Uncle Juan's simple coffee farmer image created more emotional connection with users, lowering their cognitive threshold and subtly helping them understand the value of Colombian coffee.

From the 1960s when Uncle Juan appeared in newspapers and magazines, to the 1970s in TV shows, to the 1980s in self-produced coffee programs, and later participating in trendy sports, each exposure enhanced the brand value. Juan Valdez coffee gradually built greater brand momentum, moving from Colombia to the U.S. and then to the world.

From this perspective, Li Jiaqi, a former makeup counter salesperson, spent over three years doing nearly 400 beauty live streams per year, helping female users who love beauty and have spending power choose cosmetics, thereby gaining a large young female user base. That's how Li Jiaqi's later product promotion story came about.

From newspapers and magazines to film and television to today's live streaming and short videos, companies can also create their own "Uncle Juan." They can start live streams, shoot videos, enter Li Jiaqi's live room, connect with Viya, communicate with users, and on the other hand, leverage a batch of influencers to achieve rapid popularity.

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Using internet influencers to create trends

In late August 2019, the WeChat public account Growthbox published a viral article "Through Data Mining, We Studied Perfect Diary's Two Major Growth Strategies," which studied Perfect Diary's investment on main battlefields where 18-28 year old female users gather, such as Xiaohongshu, Douyin, and Weibo. The ratio of celebrities (verified, e.g., Zhu Zhengting), well-known KOLs (verified, e.g., Li Jiaqi), top influencers (fans > 500k), mid-tier influencers (50k < fans < 500k), junior influencers (5k < fans < 50k), and ordinary users (300 < fans < 5k) was 1:1:3:46:100:150. Perfect Diary did not blindly seek celebrity endorsements but widely invested in niche KOLs below the mid-tier.

In my article "Why China Doesn't Have Snapchat," I mentioned that the key to something becoming popular is to make "people around you" use it, then leverage humans' innate tendency to imitate to achieve popularity. This influence process needs to conform to the "Internet 1:9:90 Rule":

Bradley Horowitz, Vice President of Strategy at Yahoo, studied the commonalities among users of Yahoo Groups, the photo-sharing site Flickr (acquired by Yahoo in 2005), and Wikipedia, and found they basically follow the 1:9:90 rule: 1% of users create content, 9% participate in discussions, and 90% passively accept.

In other words, 90% of users are influenced by 10% of users, and 90% of that 10% are influenced by 10% of them. According to this rule, influencing the most core 1% of users can influence the other imitators.

The Internet 1:9:90 rule is even more evident on social media. Based on follower count, social media can be divided into top accounts, mid-tier accounts, and ordinary accounts. By using the principle of imitation, first influence top accounts, then mid-tier accounts, and then ordinary users, you can create trends.

Perfect Diary used the principle of "imitation": first cooperating with celebrities and well-known KOLs, then influencing top influencers, mid-tier influencers, and junior influencers, and then ordinary users, ultimately achieving a buzz where users on Xiaohongshu, Weibo, Douyin, and other platforms discussed Perfect Diary together.

Compared to many companies that blindly use follower count as a metric to invite top KOLs at high prices, rationally allocating budgets and seeking more mid-tier and junior influencers is undoubtedly a more cost-effective promotion method. The detailed logic of creating trends at low cost will be analyzed gradually in future articles.

Source: Brand History (ID: Brand_History) Author: Yang Ze