As the familiar melody sounded, advertisements for adopting a cow began to appear frequently in elevator advertisements in major cities across the country. The slogan “choose to adopt a cow when you drink milk” is firmly nailed in the minds of consumers.
Born on the Internet, adopted a cow that grew rapidly through traffic dividends, and began to go offline. This somewhat makes it seem a bit “abnormal”.
Not only adopt a cow. Through the elevator advertisement, Zi-He pot tells consumers that “one person eats Zi-He pot”; Jane Eyre’s yogurt conveys to consumers “If you add reconstituted milk, it’s not Jane Eyre; if you add gelatin, it’s not Jane Eyre, but if you add flavor, it’s not. Jane Eyre, the rest is no longer Jane Eyre”… In a simple, repetitive and powerful way, the card position is quickly realized in the consumer’s brain.
It can be clearly felt that new consumer brands that have relied on online traffic dividends to rise in the past are gradually becoming “abnormal”.
Born in flow, where does it go?
In the past year, especially with the IPOs (initial public offerings) of new consumer brands such as Perfect Diary and Bubble Mart, the enthusiasm and confidence of the consumer industry has increased. Subsequently, new consumer brands ushered in bright moments time and time again: IPOs were opened, online sales rushed to the top of the industry, and valuations rose in turn.
Looking back at the rise and popularity of new consumer brands, all are engraved with the label “Excessive Reliance on Traffic”. The play of the new consumer brand has also been summarized into a set of fixed formulas: 5000 Xiaohongshu + 2000 Zhihu Q&A + Wei Ya, Li Jiaqi bring goods = a new brand.
With similar traffic play, almost every category has new consumer brands speeding up.
In the early stage of development, Huaxizi deeply bound Li Jiaqi, and its loose powder products appeared in Li Jiaqi’s live broadcast every day, becoming a phenomenon-level explosion. The makeup brand Perfect Diary, which has been on the road to IPO after only 4 years of establishment, has built a head KOL, waist KOL and a grass-growing matrix on the community life platform Xiaohongshu, creating an atmosphere of bringing goods to the whole people, creating a Another hot style of beauty makeup.
But after the traffic gameplay, how do new consumer brands that have experienced high-light moments go from 1 to N?
For new consumer brands, the core of live broadcast and traffic is to bring goods, which is the instant consumption behavior of consumers under external stimuli. This behavior only solves the problems of consumers “buying”, “when to buy” and “at what price”, but it cannot solve the problems of consumers “why like” and “why trust”.
Purchases without likes and trusts are one-time and non-lasting. Without brand advertising to accumulate and solidify brand awareness and trust, product sales are unsustainable. When the traffic cost is getting higher and higher, the marketing expenses of the enterprise will only get higher and higher, causing a vicious circle of internal operation of the enterprise.
The early new consumer brands crossed the river by feeling the stones, digging out the flow depressions, and summed up the “three axes” for the growth of new consumer brands. When short video, live broadcast, and private domain traffic become the standard configuration of brand marketing, companies are faced with two major dilemmas: First, the cost of traffic remains high, and the homogeneity of products is serious. How to achieve new consumer brands that are not out of the circle Break the circle; second, how to avoid the loss of old users and weak growth of new users with the rapid follow-up of competitors.
The new consumer brand, winter is here. How should they survive the winter and get out of the traffic dilemma?
Is multi-brand grouping the antidote?
Multi-brand grouping is becoming the “antidote” for the growth of new consumer brands.
Yuanqi Forest became popular because of 0 sugar, 0 fat, 0 calories, and it went from 0 to 1 in just two years. Later, it has deepened the industry chain, expanded diversified categories, built brand power, and formed a brand matrix in light food, fast food, coffee, snack food and other categories with health as the main line.
For example, Burning Tea specializes in tea drinks, Aliens specializes in energy drinks, and Beihai Ranch specializes in yogurt. It has continued to deepen the vertical beverage category to meet the needs of consumers in different scenarios. After establishing a series of brand matrices in the beverage category, it has invested in Shangui Chicken Soup, Bishan Beer, Guanyun Baijiu, NeverCoffee and other brands in multiple categories. It is not difficult to see that Yuanqi Forest is expanding in the consumer market. Ambition.
In the expansion process of Yuanqi Forest, the new brand is relatively independent, and the brand name of Yuanqi Forest is not used. For example, the brand of full marks Microbubble is full marks, and the brand of Alien Energy Drink is Alien. From this, it can be seen that Vitality Forest intends to reproduce its own rising methodology on its sub-brands, that is, to create an explosive product first, and then promote the development of the entire brand through the explosive product. The Yuanqi Forest sub-brand Full Score Microbubble shoulders the important task of stimulating the full score sub-brand. In this way, it can not only lay the foundation for the popularity and subsequent expansion of the sub-brands, but also form the moat of the parent brand through the mutual linkage between the sub-brands.
The development of new consumer brands often goes through three stages from 0 to 1, from 1 to 10, and from 10 to N. From 0 to 1 is relatively simple, but most of the new consumer brands in the next stage, either launch the second growth curve business, or return to silence.
Perfect Diary, a domestic cosmetics brand, launched the brand’s best choice, products covering cosmetics, skin care, personal care and beauty equipment, etc., and acquired natural, pure and safe cosmetics brand Xiao Aoting and high-end skin care brand Eve Lom. Zhong Xuegao, known as the “Hermes of the ice cream industry,” launched the high-end dumpling brand Lixiangguo to improve his own brand matrix.
Judging from the current development trend of the consumer market, by launching independent sub-brands to meet the different needs of the same consumer or the same needs of different consumers, and to establish the second growth curve of the brand has become an important way for companies to transition to the next stage. .
In addition to the multi-brand strategy, building brand value barriers is also one of the ways for new consumer brands to build brand moats.
The “awakening” of brand value awareness
New consumer brands are transitioning from the short-term profit-seeking stage and realize the importance of brand value barriers.
What are the value barriers of the brand? How to build brand value in consumers’ minds? What is tested is not only the capture of traffic by new consumer brands, but also the grasp of consumers’ minds.
The intimate clothing brand NEIWAI (inside and outside) has been actively exploring the value of the brand after forming an influence through its explosive strategy. Taking this as a case, we may get some inspiration from it.
NEIWAI (Inside Outer) was established in 2012. Starting from comfort, it has gradually expanded from a single underwear category to home casual wear and sportswear, becoming a lifestyle brand covering women’s intimate clothing. Unlike mainstream underwear brands that pursue sex appeal, NEIWAI (inside and outside) is telling stories about women’s “body” and “mind”.
In 2012, he founded the HVF (Her Voice Forum), a charity salon focusing on the growth of women, and invited a number of female guests of different identities to share their experiences.
In 2020, I signed a contract with Faye Wong as the global spokesperson and filmed the short film “NO BODY IS NOBODY”, with the theme of “Imperfect Body”, telling us that “no body is insignificant.”
In 2021, the short film “Small and Footsteps, No Difference Between You and Me” is to break the distinction between ethnicity, gender, and national boundaries, and through small explorations, show the firm strength of women’s collective.
Focusing on products, copywriting, brand short films, and spokespersons, NEIWAI (internal and external) has been telling women’s own stories from making single products to building scenes, from making categories to making lifestyles, from planting grass to brand value output. NEIWAI (inside and outside) is thus endowed with deep-seated vitality, becoming a unique brand in the minds of consumers and establishing its own brand value barrier.
It can be seen that new consumer brands are quietly ushering in a round of awakening, and now they are no longer only traffic-oriented, but are gradually building their own brand value barriers.
China’s consumer market is full of water and fish. The huge demographic dividend, market opportunities, and the emergence of new media have brought prosperity to the new consumer market. But the new consumer market is now becoming chaotic.
The prosperity of the consumer market has attracted many cross-industry entrepreneurs. Some of them chanted new consumerism, burned money to buy traffic, made a beautiful PPT financing, and then burned money to buy traffic…there has been a cycle for new consumption. The brand is labelled as quick success and instant profit.
But the big waves are rushing into the sand, the second half of the new consumer market, the same marketing strategy will only make the brand deep in the traffic dilemma. What brands should think about is what new consumer brands do consumers need? How to realize the new consumer brand from 1 to N?
In the final analysis, the current new consumer market is muddy and muddy, and rounds of elimination are about to begin. After all, the investment and consumer market does not need so many new consumer brands.
