Why do consumers buy your product? A pure theoretical analysis 1/ Cognition, Demand, Marketing

  1. Cognition is the premise and condition of demand; demand is the origin of marketing. This was true in the past, and it is even more so in the Internet and mobile Internet era.
  2. Cognition has three basic sources: first, self-perception (e.g., eating eggs makes you not hungry, drinking water makes you not thirsty); second, mother's teaching (e.g., chili is spicy, soy sauce is salty, vinegar is sour); third, information dissemination (e.g., medical books say "like nourishes like" – walnuts nourish the brain; Huang Zhenlong herbal tea shops promote drinking herbal tea to prevent and treat上火 (heatiness) for Lingnan people; TV broadcasts show children dipping biscuits in milk – Oreo).
  3. Any creative idea that does not seek demand from cognition is a rogue. Cases like "Your energy is beyond your imagination" for Red Bull energy drink, "Drink Dingji apple cider vinegar to relieve greasiness," and "Use Mi Xiaohuang (Dead Sea mineral sulfur soap) to control oil and remove acne" all found the G-spot of the problem, found the biggest demand point from cognition, and then directly provided a solution – that is creativity.
  4. Marketing vs. Demand: First, expand the demand of a few into the demand of many, such as "drink herbal tea to prevent heatiness" spreading from a corner of Lingnan to the whole country. Second, transform weak needs into strong demands. For example, "Drink one bottle in the morning, energetic all morning" – Nutrition Express directly tied milk + fruit juice drink to the strong and big demand of breakfast, creating a strategic mega-product worth 20 billion. Similarly, "Use your brain often, drink more Six Walnuts" – Six Walnuts drink transformed from a plant protein drink into a health drink for brain nourishment. From few to many, from weak to strong, marketing is about finding the most cost-effective solution for demand.
  5. Cognition -> Demand -> Marketing is the logical deduction of user thinking. Unfortunately, 99% of enterprises are still stuck in factory thinking. 2/ Positioning Triangle
  6. Everyone knows that "demand, competition, and resources" are the three basic elements of brand positioning. From knowing to applying is the difference between a charlatan and an expert.
  7. In the early stage of an industry, or the category development period, when everyone is still expressing in terms of category, the focus should be on studying demand, and positioning should be built around demand. Competition can be completely ignored because no one knows who exists. In terms of methods, the preemptive positioning method is often used.
  8. When the industry is in a stage of full competition, and consumers already think in categories and express with brands, the focus shifts to competition. Methods include association or opposition: the former means "you are good, I am not bad either," the latter means directly attacking the soft underbelly of the industry leader.
  9. However, resources are always the premise and condition of positioning. No matter how good the positioning is, it is useless without communication. Of course, product design should be done to the extreme. Positioning starts with the product and ends with the brand – that is the great way. 3/ Categorical Value
  10. A very pretentious concept, but it is the thinking path of brand marketing's origin; it expresses brand positioning.
  11. In recent years, many have criticized "positioning," but their logical reasoning tool is categorical value, which is like Zhou Yu and Huang Gai – one willing to be beaten, the other willing to beat. Tsk tsk!
  12. Regardless of the stage the enterprise is in, whether it is single-brand or multi-brand, whether the product structure is simple or complex, it is necessary to find the unique value of the brand in the category and strive to occupy it. This is also the root of communication and promotion.
  13. Cases: Wang Laoji occupies the position of preventing heatiness drink; Red Bull occupies energy supplement drink; Six Walnuts occupies brain-nourishing drink; Coconut Palm occupies authentic Hainan coconut juice. The basis for judging whether a brand can become a strategic mega-product is whether the brand can occupy the unique value of the category. This forces competitors to launch offensive, flanking, or guerrilla warfare, actually jointly conducting categorical education. The leading brand will maximize the absorption of category value.
  14. The tool for mining unique categorical value is the positioning triangle elements: demand determines whether it exists, competition determines whether it is allowed, and resources determine whether it is possible. In fact, brand marketing is not complicated at all; it is just a matter of skill and heart. 4/ Brand Trust Evidence
  15. Trust evidence is one of the key contents of brand positioning top-level design. It should be anchored from the beginning and continuously added, improved, and innovated.
  16. Occupying regional mental resources, conforming to common sense consumption cognition, and being conducive to innate recognition, such as liquor by the Chishui River, red wine at x degrees north latitude, seasonings from Sichuan and Chongqing, aged vinegar from Shanxi, and mineral sulfur soap from the Dead Sea (Mi Xiaohuang).
  17. Authoritative institutions endorse, leveraging power and momentum, such as "produced by xx university" or "supervised by xx research institution."
  18. Authoritative certificates & secret recipes: patent certificates, xx ancestral secret recipes, such as Nielsen statistics on market share data, and JDB's claim of being authorized by Wang Laoji's descendants with the secret recipe.
  19. Authoritative figures endorse, such as the decoration company invested by Xiaomi's Lei Jun, the skincare products of Taiwanese celebrity Niu Er DIY, and the marketing projects handled by Benbang Consulting's Chao Ge (absolutely embedded soft advertising).
  20. Upstream and downstream partners are brought out to endorse: the sofa in the Great Hall of the People, the street vendor selling jianbing guozi using Jinlongyu oil and Shuanghui ham sausage, skincare brands often say "I am a hot seller at Watsons," or boast about their performance on Walmart or Tmall flagship stores – all these are examples. 5/ Heavy Consumers
  21. Heavy consumers, also called demonstrative consumers, have a tendency to influence the general public, leading the direction and wave of mass consumption. They can be fans or opinion leaders.
  22. Heavy consumers are often closely related to consumption scenarios, or rather, they showcase brand propositions through consumption scenes. Red Bull energy drink anchors car drivers vs. gas stations; Wang Laoji (original) herbal tea locks in diners vs. Sichuan/Hunan restaurants and hotpot shops; Six Walnuts sets students vs. classrooms during study.
  23. The basis for selecting heavy consumers is the brand's unique categorical value. Red Bull appeals to tired and sleepy people needing energy; Wang Laoji (original) appeals to those who eat spicy food and are prone to heatiness; Six Walnuts appeals to students who need brain nourishment.
  24. Combining heavy consumers with consumption scenarios is a means of brand communication strategy. It does not reduce or weaken the target consumer group, but rather ignites broader consumption through point-to-area effect. In fact, whether it is Red Bull or Wang Laoji, they are more often consumed as thirst-quenching drinks – that is the brand's open conspiracy. At this point, you will truly understand why Coca-Cola says all liquids that go into the mouth are my competitors! 6/ Typical Consumption Occasions
  25. After a brand occupies a unique categorical value, it should match typical consumption occasions in marketing to highlight its positioning.
  26. Typical consumption occasions advocate simplicity and easy understanding; they must have a visual sense to resonate and create a sense of "I want that too."
  27. Most powerful positioning/advertising slogans often lock onto typical consumption occasions. Case explanations: White and Black cold medicine – one in the morning and one at night, no drowsiness during the day, good sleep at night (natural conversion of features, advantages, and benefits); Nutrition Express – drink one bottle in the morning, energetic all morning (abandoning beverage attributes and directly entering the breakfast market); Extra gum – chew two after meals (specific timing and guiding to increase consumption quantity per occasion).
  28. Recently, Mr. Wu Sheng's "scene marketing" theory has been very popular. I believe his concept originates from typical consumption occasions in marketing, and its essence is the scenarization of the 4C theory (consumer, cost, convenience, communication). With that, it becomes clear! 7/ FMCG Packaging
  29. Packaging is the first face of the product and the most direct advertisement. Consumers think emotionally and accept simplicity. Using "color + form" to express makes it easy to remember and spread, such as the gold can of JDB, the small red/blue/green/black bottles (skincare), and of course, Mi Xiaohuang/Hei/Bai.
  30. The tone of the pattern depends on consumer demand and motivation: the green plaid apron suggests the characteristics of the soy sauce industry for Chef Bian; the facial makeup indicates the Chinese style of Fuling mustard; the seascape shows that Coconut Palm coconut juice is genuine and sourced from Hainan.
  31. The form and shape come from consumer purchase experience and cognition. From beverages: PET plastic bottles represent immediate drinking and thirst-quenching (mineral water); Tetra Pak represents nutrition (milk); small round cans represent energy (Red Bull vitamin drink); small glass bottles represent functionality (enzyme).
  32. Specifications and capacity determine consumption scenarios and sales terminal formats: 500ml water is suitable for individual immediate purchase and consumption; 1250ml is a sharing pack (consumed in fixed occasions); single cans of cola are mainly sold in CVS; six-pack cans are mainly sold in KA.
  33. The best carrier of brand sentiment is an intuitive means to reflect personality and activate the brand. Classic cases include Coca-Cola's nickname bottles, Jiang Xiaobai's fashionable quotes, and New Hope milk's city memory. In summary, packaging form, material, specification, capacity, and graphic tone are not determined by the designer's style or specialty, nor by the big boss's preferences, but by deep insight into consumers. As for the so-called visual hammer, super symbol, and visual strategy, Chao Ge believes they are just names! 8/ Taste – Marketing on the Tip of the Tongue
  34. Food is the first necessity of the people, and taste is the first priority of food. There are seven basic tastes: bitter, spicy, sour, sweet, salty, fragrant, and stinky. However, in reality, single tastes are rarely used; our taste buds prefer compound tastes composed of basic tastes.
  35. Different consumers have different judgments on taste: baijiu is fragrant for good drinkers, bitter for non-drinkers, and spicy for children.
  36. Taste preferences have regional characteristics, such as "sweet in the south, salty in the north." Therefore, consumers have a preconceived taste cognition in their minds. It is generally believed that seasonings are spicy from Sichuan, aged vinegar is sour from Shanxi, and seaweed is fresh from Fujian. Thus, using or borrowing regional resources can achieve twice the result with half the effort.
  37. Different product categories have different basic tastes: bitterness is the basic taste of coffee, fragrance is the basic taste of oil, and sweetness is the basic taste of beverages. Based on mainstream tastes is the right way for R&D.
  38. Taste is flavor; mouthfeel is not taste. Flavor and mouthfeel are two different concepts, but they are often closely combined. Mouthfeel for carbonated drinks requires crispness, for snacks requires crunchiness, and for baijiu requires smoothness.
  39. Consumers have nostalgia and dependence on taste, which is the origin of purchase desire for strategic mega-products in food and beverages. Spicy and fragrant taste made Laoganma; sour and fragrant taste (old altar pickled cabbage) saved Master Kong instant noodles; sweet and sour taste created the 20 billion category of Nutrition Express. Therefore, the stability of food and beverage taste is self-evident. That's why when JDB fought with the neighbor Lao Wang, it loudly shouted: "Still the original formula, still the original taste!" (Author: Chen Haichao, Co-founder of Guangzhou Benbang Marketing Consulting & FMCG Marketing Competition Strategy Expert, WeChat: chaogev) Editor's PS: From the nearly 1,900 articles published on this official account, we have selected 1,067 high-quality articles and divided them into 14 major categories and 57 knowledge points. We have systematically compiled frontline marketing management content into a library for your learning, from market to customers, covering practical combat and management – all dry goods. Follow the official account and reply with the number "1" to browse and view related content.