Click the image for details By 2030, consumption will account for 47% of China's GDP, and a wave of new brands is rising, making brand operations a key marketing focus again. The most perfect business in the world is: acquiring users at low cost, having them repeatedly consume your product, and continuously increasing consumption, all without price cuts or even with price increases. A strong brand personality is the essential condition for achieving this perfect business. How to shape brand personality? 1) Deeply explore the benefits your product brings to users 2) Compare horizontally to find mental gaps 3) Use the 'promise nail, visual hammer, and promotion force' to solidify and strengthen the benefits you occupy I. Deeply Explore the Benefits Your Product Brings to Users Don't be complacent about product features; dig deep into the benefits your product brings to users. Remember: Users are extremely selfish; your product is just a tool or stepping stone to achieve their aspirations. They always care about the benefits they get, not your product or its features. Don't believe it? If users could sneeze and get contraception, Durex and others would have to change industries; If users could blink and teleport themselves, the transportation industry would be doomed; If users could blow away smog, air purifier companies would disappear. These examples are extreme, but they make it clearer that in users' minds, your product is just a tool or stepping stone. So, are product features unimportant? Of course they are very important; they are the foundation of the benefits to users. 'Benefits' are an extension of 'features.' How to turn product features into user benefits?—Ask more questions, at least five rounds. Take the famous brand 'Monster' as an example: Monster Hansen, which started with fresh juice, filed for bankruptcy in the 1980s, then re-established itself. Facing industry leader Red Bull, it decided to enter the market competition, but after launching, it failed. Later, it improved the product, completely reshaped its brand personality, renamed it Monster, and re-entered the market with overwhelming force. The stock price soared from $1.36 to $160, capturing second place in the category, attracting Coca-Cola as a shareholder, and in 2015, surpassing Red Bull to take first place. Monster's stock price trend chart Monster's biggest feature, simply put, is: more ingredients, stronger kick.
High taurine (27g/can), high caffeine (150mg/can, equivalent to 4 bottles of cola), high sugar (27g/can), high calories (110 kcal/can), and contains ginseng. Below, I'll use the example of turning the 'more ingredients, stronger kick' feature into a benefit. Round 1 Monster Buy me because I: have more ingredients, stronger kick, oh yeah! Young people What benefit does 'more ingredients, stronger kick' bring me? Monster 'More ingredients, stronger kick' can quickly provide you with the energy you need within 3 seconds, dear. Summary: Feature = More energy. Remember when Red Bull first entered China, its advertising appeal was at this level: tired, sleepy, drink Red Bull. Round 2 Young people What benefit does 'providing me with the energy I need more quickly within 3 seconds' bring? Monster It can free you from physical exhaustion and keep your sports/work performance consistent, dear. Summary: Energy = Excellent performance. Mizone is at this level: at the critical moment, Mizone brings you back. Round 3 Young people What benefit does 'keeping my sports performance consistent' bring me? Monster This can convert your energy into attention, screams, and honor. Who doesn't want to be overwhelmed by that feeling, dear? Summary: Energy = Honor = Vanity. Red Bull is currently at this level: your energy, beyond your imagination. Round 4 Young people What benefit does 'winning attention, screams, and honor' bring me? Monster The more honor you gain, the more charming you become, and girls/guys like you more. Summary: Energy = Personal charm. Round 5 Young people What benefit does 'being more charming' bring me? Monster Being more charming can make it easier for you to get sexual opportunities than others. Young people Deal, done. Summary: Energy = More sexual opportunities. Pursuing sexual partners is one of the life forces. After completing 5 rounds, you'll find that the questions get more basic and more related to physiological desires. But don't despise me for being full of lewd thoughts, because: For human desires, physiology is the absolute ruler. —Copywriting master Whitman In plain language: physiological needs like eating, drinking, and sex are our most basic needs, and of course, the most frequently needed. We constantly seek tools and stepping stones to satisfy physiological needs. Whether you sell soda, cars, financial products, fruits, etc., this applies to you. If you can't find product features, do surveys, interview existing customers, and chat with product managers. Remember, as long as it exists, it has its unique reason. Every product has inherent drama. If your product has 5 features, please follow the above method to dig out the benefits of each feature. But focus on the biggest benefit as the key point, and communicate it repeatedly and continuously. II. Horizontal Comparison to Find Mental Gaps If digging out the benefits your product brings to users is 'vertical deep digging', then finding market gaps requires us to do 'horizontal comparison'. This process is called 'positioning' in familiar terms. Let's go back to Monster and see its 'horizontal comparison'. The chart below shows: from bottom to top, there are 5 rounds. We find that from 1 to 3, brands already occupy these levels, while 4 and 5 are gaps or not strongly occupied by brands. Monster naturally wants to occupy levels 4-5 completely, leaving no chance for later entrants, that is: Energy = More charm = More sexual opportunities III. Use the 'Promise Nail, Visual Hammer, and Promotion Force' To solidify and strengthen the benefits you occupy, after determining the benefits to users, the next step is to occupy them. Use these three weapons to attack the market: the positioning nail—advertising slogan promise; the visual hammer—VI visuals; the promotion force—brand promotion path. Note: What is a visual hammer? The relationship between a brand's visual image and language information is like a hammer and a nail. Use the visual image as a hammer to drive your language nail into consumers' minds. For details, see the book 'Visual Hammer'. a. Promise Nail—Unleash the Beast! Note: Of course, the brand won't bluntly say 'Buy me, and you'll get more sexual opportunities.' Instead, it uses copywriting to artistically express this benefit, which is the utility of copywriting. b. Visual Hammer—The visual hammer must match the positioning nail of 'wildness' to form a perfect combination. ▲Monster's visual hammer is a green claw mark. c. Promotion Force—With the hammer and nail, you also need force. Monster's rise was not through advertising on mass media, but by targeting scenes full of hormones like racing and music festivals, and promoting vigorously. Summary (1) Acquiring users at low cost, having them repeatedly consume, and continuously increasing consumption, all without price cuts or even with price increases, is the most perfect business. A strong brand personality is essential for this. Think of emerging consumption upgrade brands like KEEP, Beast, Lechun Yogurt... They all benefit from brand personality. (2) Users are extremely selfish; they always care about the benefits they get, not your product or features. Before shaping brand personality, first dig deep into the benefits to users. (3) Choose the biggest benefit to users, then do a 'horizontal comparison' with market competitors to find the 'mental gap' for user benefits. (4) Start the marketing campaign, using the promise nail, visual hammer, and promotion force to solidify and strengthen your benefits. About the author: Zhang Zhang, former Ogilvy brand strategist, marketing strategy director for several listed internet companies, co-founder of Zhang Zhang Loves Marketing self-media, has served Pepsi, Yili, Telunsu, BMW, Mini, Mercedes-Benz, IBM, Samsung Mobile, Sony, and other well-known domestic and international brands and internet startups. Source: Market Department Network