Click 'Read Original' for details. For most Chinese brands, building brand salience is the most critical and fundamental step. The World Cup, held every four years, should be the period with the highest total human hormone secretion. Emotions such as excitement, joy, anticipation, disappointment, and anger spread everywhere. When we are emotionally charged, we always do incredible things. Let me recall a foolish thing I did years ago. Old fans or old pseudo-fans like Lao Miao should remember the 1996 Asian Cup. In the last group match, China vs. Japan, China only needed a draw to advance, while Japan would top the group with a draw. So the two unambitious teams passed the ball back and forth for 89 minutes. Out of love and support for the Chinese team, we endured watching, cursing them for being shameless and lacking ambition, while comforting ourselves with 'advancing is enough.' Unexpectedly, at the 89th minute, Japan passed the ball to the left side of the penalty area. A defender who came from behind—a player we will remember for a lifetime, No. 3, Naoki Soma—took a shot, and even he probably couldn't believe it, but the ball went in! This was too darkly humorous. If you're going to play a fixed match, you should at least put in some effort. Losing like that was such a disgrace! I don't know how many TVs were smashed that day. Lao Miao also wanted to smash his but couldn't bear to. How to vent the frustration? I happened to see a broken bookshelf in the corridor, which I found annoying. So I went back, grabbed a kitchen knife, and chopped at the bookshelf, cursing with each chop. After more than half an hour, I was tired, the bookshelf was in pieces, and my anger was released. I went back to sleep. The next day, I shamelessly continued watching.

  1. After the World Cup advertising bidding was announced, I discussed with colleagues in the industry whether such expensive World Cup ads (starting at 165 million yuan) were worth it. The answer is: very worth it. First, in the current information environment, the World Cup has become one of the few remaining traffic concentration points for TV media. Many household TVs may not have been turned on for weeks. Second, during the World Cup, there is an emotional effect in communication: the more intense people's emotions, the better the communication effect. Stimulated by star players, tackles, confrontations, shots, eliminations, goals, championships, and other factors, the whole nation's adrenaline surges, making everyone feel like passionate teenagers. For example, the 'Mafengwo' ads that were criticized this time were heavily aired during the Spring Festival for over a month without much criticism. Although downloads increased significantly, there was no secondary communication effect. But during the World Cup, by the fourth day of advertising, Mafengwo was being slammed everywhere, and it will likely continue to be criticized. World Cup ads are worth it, but only if used well. Looking back at the 2014 World Cup, most ads have faded from memory. Many companies are dissatisfied with that. So this year, facing even higher advertising costs, many companies have simultaneously adopted the same magic weapon: brainwashing ads. Brainwashing typically involves simple repetition, which is the easiest way for ads to be remembered and for brand names to stick. The originator was 'Hengyuanxiang Sheep Sheep Sheep' starting in 1997, and it was carried forward by 'No Gifts' Brain Platinum and many Ye Maozhong-style ads. In the internet communication era, brainwashing ads have gained another function: amplifying controversial topics to create secondary, tertiary, or even quaternary communication. Lao Miao has emphasized the 'enemy-making law' countless times:
  2. You must have enemies; without enemies, your own stance is not clear.
  3. When enemies attack you, your supporters will stand up for you and support you even more.
  4. The public loves watching drama; a debate with only one side is unwatchable. So when Ye Maozhong heard that his two creative ads were being criticized, his reaction was 'excited, extremely excited,' because he knew the client's nearly 200 million yuan investment was working.
  5. The army attacking 'vulgar ads' mainly consists of three main forces. The first type is somewhat idealistic advertising professionals. Traditional advertising professionals mainly work in design and copywriting. Art students and literary youth often carry a natural idealism. Thus, within the advertising circle, the debate between the art school and the science school has a long history. Although the science school dominates in the market due to practicality, the art school's influence is also significant within the circle and in advertising research. China has seen art-school masters like Xu Shunying, whose ads are both critically acclaimed and commercially successful. I would love to see Ms. Xu come out and tear into these vulgar ads; it would be very valuable. The attacks from these people are respectable. The second type, the main force attacking vulgar ads, uses them as an emotional outlet. Here, vulgar ads are like the broken bookshelf Lao Miao chopped with a kitchen knife. Ads are inherently annoying; no one likes ads, and constantly repeated ads are even more irritating. In the emotionally charged context of the World Cup, vulgar ads provide a perfect outlet for venting. Moreover, ads designed by Ye Maozhong deliberately increase the 'conflict' in your brain, making people curse even more vigorously. Cursing at ads carries less risk than cursing at people and costs less than smashing a TV. The third type is more sinister and relatively rare: those who curse Ye Maozhong himself. Many may not know that, in stark contrast to his popularity in the market, business circles, and investment circles, Ye Maozhong has been cursed by mainstream advertisers and marketers for twenty years—not just disagreed with, but literally cursed. The enmity is particularly evident in the advertising circle because Ye Maozhong differs so much from mainstream advertisers, leading to imbalance: Why do we have to pitch, bid, and build relationships for every client, running back and forth until our legs break, while Ye Maozhong never pitches, and clients 'foolishly' throw themselves at him? Why are clients treated like gods at our agencies, where we only dare to curse them behind their backs and call them 'daddy' to their faces, while clients put Ye Maozhong on a pedestal and call him 'Master'? Why do we chase payments like grandchildren, often failing to collect the final installment, while Ye Maozhong charges tens of millions in annual service fees, requires full payment in advance, and clients obediently pay? ...... About ten years ago, half of the ads aired during CCTV's bidding slots were shot by Ye Maozhong, and the advertising circle was full of curses against him. Not cursing Ye Maozhong made you seem unprofessional. This World Cup, two of the three 'brainwashing vulgar ads' were shot by Ye Maozhong, so keyboard warriors cursed even more vigorously. There are calls for Ye Maozhong to 'get out of the advertising circle,' rumors that a product he served has been discontinued, and personal attacks full of 'garbage' and 'crap,' supposedly for the sake of advertising 'aesthetics.' That's laughable. In nearly twenty years of knowing Mr. Ye, whether through his millions of words in books and articles or daily conversations, I've never heard him speak ill of any peer. He always says things like 'a great company (or person), you'll learn a lot from them.'
  6. Ignore the cursers; let's address some doubts that business owners or marketers might have. 1. If an ad is criticized after airing, does it harm the brand, damage brand reputation, or hurt long-term development? No one likes watching ads, even art-school ads get criticized for being 'pretentious.' In emotional scenarios like the World Cup, ads that make a deep impression will basically be criticized. 'Brand reputation' is a false concept spread by misinformation; the accurate terms are brand preference and brand resonance. For most brands, the key is to establish brand identity, and building brand salience is the most fundamental step. After all, most brands are not Coca-Cola, Nike, or Apple. 2. Many people say that after seeing these 'brainwashing ads,' they uninstall the apps and swear never to use them. Will this affect the company? 'Brainwashing ads' have always faced such doubts. In the past, many people swore not to buy Brain Platinum, not to buy Liuliumei, not to buy Hengyuanxiang, not to buy this or that, but these brands still sold well. The effect from emotion diminishes over time, while the impact from cognition is more profound. So Shi Yuzhu said, 'Although I hate the Brain Platinum ads, when I have no gift to give, I still think of Brain Platinum.' This is behavioral science, a law of human nature, unrelated to the era. For example, those who claim to uninstall the Mafengwo app online might never have downloaded it in the first place (Mafengwo was a niche app before). They say it just to vent. Even if they truly uninstalled it, after the World Cup ends, when you travel next time and want to check a guide, if someone says 'download Mafengwo and take a look,' and you say 'that ad was so disgusting, I won't download Mafengwo,' does that make you look classy or childish? Those who say they uninstall Zhihu are even more ridiculous. I don't believe they would deliberately avoid Zhihu when searching for information online. What determines brand preference, brand identity, and brand resonance is consumer experience and product experience. Ads, which are inherently intrusive, play a relatively small role. Ads mainly solve information transmission; brands with deep communication can convey values. Of course, there will always be a few people who refuse to use a product just because they dislike the ad, but that's fine—no brand can win everyone. 3. Since brainwashing ads are so effective, why not just come up with a slogan ourselves and repeat it, instead of paying Ye Maozhong and his team 5 million yuan for a commercial? That's not necessarily true. Monotonous repetition follows memory laws. If you only have fifteen seconds to make the public remember, this is the most effective method currently researched. But to make it more effective in this direction, professional design is needed. Take the Mafengwo ad, for example: the background color, spokesperson, media, and plot design all matter. It's much more effective than simple repetition. See Lao Miao's previous article 'Ye Maozhong-style Brainwashing at the World Cup: Have You Been Conflicted?' 4. Some think that with the World Cup's massive traffic, any ad will be effective, regardless of the brainwashing creative. That's a bit sour grapes. Just look at the facts: Mafengwo and Zhihu's World Cup placements were just the starting price. Many ads had twice or even three times the media spend, but the results weren't necessarily better, at least not with as much controversy. The overall ads at the last World Cup were lackluster. 5. Zhihu and Mafengwo originally had a certain fan base and a higher profile. Suddenly airing such 'brainwashing' vulgar ads—will it cause existing users to waver? It might. Starting from a niche, continuing to cultivate the niche to become small but strong, or moving from niche to mass to harvest broadly, is an inevitable choice when a company reaches a certain stage. Undoubtedly, both Mafengwo and Zhihu chose the latter—entering the mass market—otherwise they wouldn't have invested heavily in World Cup ads. Mafengwo abandoned the 'Mafengwo' (with the insect radical) name used for five or six years and switched to the more recognizable, more mainstream 'Mafengwo' (without the radical), showing their determination. If you move from niche to mass, no matter how you do it, some existing users will resist or even express disappointment: 'So-and-so is no longer the same.' This requires great courage from company leaders to make trade-offs. Apple was also a niche product back then, almost exclusively for designers. When Apple systems began to be compatible with PC systems, many lamented: 'Apple is no longer the Apple it used to be.' 6. Is there a way to make ads beautiful while also making the brand memorable? It's possible, but not with a 15-second ad. Zhihu and Mafengwo are companies that pursue style. They are capable of producing aesthetically pleasing ads, and they will certainly do so in the future. But during the World Cup, they simply couldn't. (You can appreciate Zhihu's previous ad videos) From a business perspective, the World Cup is a business. We watch the games for free, and the organizers sell our attention to advertisers to make money. Sponsors buy attention and must maximize their capture. The starting price is 165 million yuan. For a 15-second ad, each second of footage costs at least 10 million yuan in media spend. No one's money comes from the wind, and even if it comes from the capital market, the pressure is only greater. With over 10 million yuan per second in media investment, and the need to complete the transition from niche to mass awareness in the shortest time, Ye Maozhong, who has shot over 1,000 commercials, also admitted 'the pressure is huge,' but he still managed. Cherishing every penny of the client's money and achieving the best communication effect is the professional quality and expertise of an advertiser. Ads were never meant to bear the responsibility of improving people's aesthetics. For those who measure ads by 'aesthetics,' benchmark against Thai ads, or use the creative of 'stop the ad halfway and let people guess what product it is,' I suggest they form their own 'authentic' advertising organization, specialize in shooting 'beautiful' ads, and sell tickets to screenings. Maybe they could revitalize China's advertising industry and recreate the glory of Madison Avenue from the last century. As for those 'vulgar bosses full of money and unprofessionalism,' let them go to the vulgar advertisers represented by Ye Maozhong. Source: Lao Miao Tears Marketing (ID: yiheyingxiao) From August 22-24, the '2018 China Digital Innovation Conference (2018FDIC)' with the theme 'Finding New Engines for Growth' will be held in Shanghai, hosted by the China FMCG Industry Association and organized by New Distribution. The conference will last 3 days, focusing on two main themes: marketing and supply chain, with six parallel forums on brand, distribution, communication, B2B, intra-city logistics, and innovative retail. We will invite industry experts, CEOs, and brand executives to deeply interpret the trends and drivers of digital transformation in the FMCG industry. We will invite over 500 FMCG enterprise executives, 200+ B2B industry CEOs, and 1,000+ major FMCG distributors to gather and discuss how the FMCG industry can use digital tools to achieve renewed rapid growth in the digital era. This conference will build a bridge for brand owners, distributors, retail enterprises, and marketing agencies, helping FMCG manufacturers obtain the latest information, understand best practices, and master more practical transformation skills. Planned Invited Companies Conference Time August 22-24, 2018 Conference Venue Shanghai Baohua Marriott Hotel Conference Content August 22: Full-day check-in Afternoon 14:00-17:30: Distributor Intra-city Logistics Parallel Forum Evening 18:30-21:00: New Distribution Night Gala Dinner August 23: Theme: Marketing Digital Innovation Morning 9:00-12:00: Marketing Digital Innovation Main Forum Afternoon 14:00-17:30: Brand, Distribution, Communication Parallel Forums August 24: Theme: FMCG Supply Chain Digital Upgrade Full day: FMCG Supply Chain Conference Registration Method Registration is now open. Long press the QR code below or click 'Read Original' to register. Only 50 early-bird tickets remain at half price, available while supplies last! Registration Consultation Ticket Inquiries: Media Cooperation Inquiries: Highlights of Previous New Distribution Conferences Click the links below to review the highlights of the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th FMCG + Internet Conferences: -END-