Brand Metrics

This article analyzes the common characteristics of successful brands and proposes that the key to brand success lies in high-quality products. If you want to learn how to shape a brand through product power, this article analyzes top brand cases and provides specific suggestions, which is of great reference value for brand marketing.

01

Even the most prestigious or mysterious brand is nothing but a shell without the products to support it.

This is also the reason why so-called Internet celebrity brands and supernova brands such as Perfect Diary and Huaxizi are gradually abandoned by consumers after investing billions of dollars in communication, promotion and brand explosion costs. The so-called "big brand substitute" strategy has not been successful.

To become a brand that gains consumer loyalty and repeat purchases , it is necessary to build its brand kingdom with high-quality products .

In today's era, this is beyond doubt. Yuanqi Forest's success is closely related to its good product quality, in addition to marketing.

02

Consumers who have grown up surrounded by Xiaohongshu, Douyin, Zhihu, WeChat, Weibo, and Alibaba are already tired of empty propaganda, conceited swagger, and excessive marketing. They have suffered too much deception and thrown away too many junk products. At the same time, they also understand the consequences of unconscious consumption (live streaming sales on Douyin and Video Accounts have pushed unconscious consumption to the extreme).

More and more consumers are actively looking for truly high-quality products, rather than blindly following the crowd. Consumers are beginning to avoid vulgar things.

(Ms. Zhang Lan, the former founder of South Beauty, is a representative of vulgar live broadcasts and product recommendations) Look for products that can stand the test of time, or products that are truly worth our money.

03

The reason why good brands can adapt to the new society and new environment has nothing to do with the environmental protection concept of the product. The reason why good brands are popular among people is that the quality of their products exceeds that of other competitors.

They strictly adhere to the quality standards, far away from similar products, so they can stand out. As early as five years ago, the so-called emerging brands were useless and sang the praises of P&G and Unilever, but a few years later, these big brands are still the ones that truly dominate the market.

04

For brands that can win consumer loyalty and repeat purchases, products are the essence of the brand.

Products are not only incredibly practical, but are also the key to a brand's ability to create legendary stories.

Brands typically do this in three ways.

(1) The first approach is to build the brand into a “holy grail”

Brands create “compelling stories” rather than “compelling reasons”:

Stories can romanticize consumption, ease the tension in the consumption process, and make products more attractive. In addition, these brands also draw inspiration from higher fields, pursue art and craftsmanship, and ultimately make their products

Transactions have been transformed into ritualistic behaviors. For example, a brand we once served was called "Xino", which is the top brand of high-end thermos cups in China. The product quality of this brand is first-class, but it lacks a

Let the "legendary brand story" that romanticizes purchase empower its brand. We continue to communicate with its founder to make such high-quality products

The creation of a "legendary brand story" and systematic brand management have made Sino a top brand.

(2) The second method is to increase brand recognition

Many top brands have their own unique designs to increase recognition, so that customers can know their products even if they don't see the brand logo. In the increasingly fierce market competition, brands can only become one of a kind products if they accurately convey their own characteristics. In addition, brands that gain high consumer loyalty must ensure the perfection of their products and keep their products in the center of attention, because "heroes need the spotlight." It may not stay at the top of the best-selling list for a long time, but it will definitely occupy the sales market for a long time and maintain its freshness and popularity. Brand icons also need to evolve: they need to appear in the market again and again and become a must-have for the public.

(3) The third method is to set a goal

This requires brands to do a good job of product positioning and continuously strengthen the product's foundation. But the premise is that they must first create a sufficiently stable brand product, otherwise everything is empty talk.

05

Products are the core of the brand: Based on the more than 60 leading brands in the sub-sectors that Nianzhi has served in the past and our observations of hundreds of top brands around the world, we firmly believe that:

Only by adhering to the product-centric concept can we truly create a great brand.

In the process of creating a brand, the founder is very important. The founders of great brands are all great product masters. They do not just rely on "concepts" to fool consumers.

(The founder of Zhong Xuegao is a typical founder who deceives consumers and regards concepts as productivity) Many founders who do not take products seriously ignore the fact that: the higher the brand positioning, the greater the consumer expectations.

Therefore, brands with high positioning must pursue perfection and put in a lot of effort in product features, manufacturing technology, appearance design, etc.

In the traditional and modern brand world, top brands face people who are willing to pay above-average prices to purchase products, and the pursuit of excellence is exactly what they expect.

Apple's success illustrates this point.
At the same time, we must also realize that consumers are constantly evolving.

They want to buy fewer products, but with higher quality and wider applications. They want to hear less empty talk and more sincerity.

This is why consumers are keen to learn about brand background, brand stories and product details, and will not be disturbed by superficial lifestyle images. Based on this, more and more brands are turning advertising into "history lessons". For example, LV has shifted the focus of its publicity from celebrities to travel records in recent years.

Authenticity is a solid foundation, but it alone cannot create a top brand. We should also focus on the overall marketing plan, from production to packaging, from display to sales, and make sure it is perfect.

All factors are based on shaping the brand product, presenting it as an extraordinary product, the ultimate product, and a model in the same category.

Only by injecting true love into the product and pursuing it like a star can you truly impress your supporters and create the myth of the brand.

06

Make the top brand a "holy grail" like the World Cup:

In an interview, Dumas, former director of the Hermès brand, said: "We are the only company that does not have a marketing department, because our first goal is the product."

And this is exactly why Hermès is so popular: "No excessive marketing, only understatement, simplicity, authenticity, nobility, and extremely demanding craftsmanship."

Nowadays, many companies have begun to ignore this important principle, and fewer and fewer brands have achieved this. They ignore the fact that relying solely on products to attract consumers is far from enough.

However, this is indeed the impression that top brands should give. Their marketing must appear to be "disdainful of marketing" in order to use consumers' own desires to promote them by word of mouth.

They must make their products into the "holy grail" so that consumers can receive some kind of inspiration.

They must show enough love for their products to arouse consumers' admiration.

07

From believing in the truth to believing in stories: There is one way, and perhaps the most important one, which is to apply the concept of storytelling to the brand and product categories.

Brands should tell the ingredients, craftsmanship, origin or manufacturing process of their products, which is what we often say as believing in the truth. Now we should change this approach to believing in stories.

At the launch of Xiaomi 4 mobile phone, Lei Jun talked about "The Artistic Journey of a Piece of Steel Plate", which is storytelling.

We should add some unique and romantic elements to the products and weave them into charming stories, so that we can better bypass people's rational filtering system and go directly into their hearts.

08

Marketing that tells a story is more memorable, more unique, and more sustainable.

The effect is reflected in two aspects:

One is to inject emotions into the product and make you fall in love with it;

The second is to inject their packaged ideas into our rational thinking.

Stories can elevate a product above the level of a commodity, make it memorable and pass on by word of mouth, and make other factors, such as price, less important.

09

Let the brand be rooted in art and craftsmanship: Brands such as Emma Ren, Chanel, Dior and Montblanc are often considered to have extremely high requirements for production craftsmanship.

Therefore, people were not surprised when Van Jiyulong built an exquisite and luxurious visualization factory in Le Locle.

It makes sense that Chanel bought the handcraft studio when it was on the verge of bankruptcy.

Smith & Robb, a high-end eyewear brand, said in its publicity that they have built a professional yak breeding farm in Tibet, China, in order to use yak horns as raw materials for eyeglass frames.

This is standard practice. Whether in terms of scope or price level, the marketing industry's love for art and craft has exceeded people's imagination.

10

Create a unique sense of ritual: In order to avoid clichés and monotony, every brand story and every "holy grail" needs to create a sense of ritual to bring consumers a sacred experience.

The sense of ritual can elevate a simple action into a special experience and create an atmosphere of worship.

Top brands have brought this ancient truth into the 21st century, updating and repurposing it to create premium modern experiences.

Many newly created internet celebrity brands in China have also realized the secret. For example, DR Diamond’s registration ID card only gave diamonds to one girl in order to create a sense of ritual. However, it was later "faked" and the record was "erased". This operation destroyed the sense of ritual, which was not worth the loss and lost the lasting trust of consumers.

Author: Liu Yichun

Source: WeChat public account "Liu Yichun's Brand Business Innovation (ID: shangyeyiguohui)"