How Food and Beverages Occupy Consumers' Mind Correctly

Recklessly look at the "consumer's mind"

According to some people's interpretation of positioning theory, marketing work is ineffective from the needs of consumers, and everything should be based on the mentality of occupying consumers. So how does a food and beverage brand capture the minds of consumers? They said that as long as the positioning is clear, clear, and long-term adhere to this appeal, success is just around the corner.

On the one hand, mentality is more important than anything (everything above the mental resource), more terrible than anything (if the mind does not agree, the brand is doomed to failure), but on the other hand, the mind is more simple than anything else - It is as if the mind of the consumer is a blank record, and what you sing about it is what you sing for you.

It can be understood that in order to make the speech more inflammatory, and in order to more effectively sell ideas, the speaker will artificially simplify the logic. But in essence, if we go against each other and understand consumers as simple, stubborn and unreasonable, and do not know how to choose only animals that are blind, I really cannot see where marketing opportunities lie.

On the contrary, the mind is full of rationality and has long been trained by companies to be extremely selective and intelligent. No one can easily draw a territory of his own on the mind (even a blank territory), no matter how clear your description is—unless the value you provide resonates with the consumer and resonates with it. Difficulties, so that the story of Yu Boya and Zhong Zi period spread through the ages and still can make readers wrestle.

The mind is not a piece of land that can be freely fenced. You must study him in depth and provide sufficient benefits to satisfy him. Only then can you make him resonate with you and have the possibility of “guidance”. Otherwise, no matter how bright your banner is, once the mind has excluded you from the list of benefits provided - you and I don't have a common language, you don't provide the benefits I want - you will feel the unprecedented emotion of the mind .

It can be seen that entering a new field with a strange identity and gaining the resonance of consumers' mind from scratch is not as simple as some people think. However, making full use of the resonance mechanism that was built up in the past and the consumers’ intimacy and smoothness will provide convenience for companies to enter new areas: Gree's home air conditioners are of good quality, which shows that Gree’s air-conditioning technology is so rigid that it is so excellent The technology to manufacture central air-conditioning is not the same in almost every case. Brand extensions often allow companies to easily bypass the “no resonance” barrier and gain a firm foothold in new insights.

Overemphasizing the brand's role in sales in the minds of consumers, but the influence of many factors such as product quality, price, distribution, etc. on sales performance is not seen. Brands become a category brand of a product in consumers' minds, but it is possible ( Far from being inevitable, the brand's sales performance has become the industry's first, or created a good opportunity for the brand's good sales performance. There are many variables that affect sales performance. The category brands of fax machines are professional brands such as "Ricoh" and "Canon". It is very difficult for consumers to associate Panasonic with fax brands. However, Panasonic sells well in China. Panasonic fax machines are full-fledged, feature-rich, cost-effective, and beautiful. “Master Kong” has a huge and highly efficient distribution network. In the future, it will invest in a large number of hypermarkets in China to control retail terminals, and it will be able to quickly spread new products to a large number of retail stores. When consumers buy many products, they do not recognize only the category brand. Moreover, for many products, consumers are not just loyal to a certain brand. Although "Master Kong" is the word of the instant noodle in the minds of consumers. However, “Master Kong” is also like Wahaha. After all, it is a well-known brand, at least in terms of hygiene and basic quality. If the price is not expensive, it can be bought anywhere. Then the possibility of buying Master Kang’s rice pudding, soft drinks, fragrant rice cakes, and pure water is still very high. This is the marketing advantage of "Master Kong"'s huge distribution network and high popularity to Babao porridge, soft drinks and fragrant rice cakes. It can be seen that the best-selling market for a brand is the result of a combination of factors. The personalized positioning of the brand in the mind of the consumer is only a factor in the success of the market.

The product itself is erroneously viewed as the standard and standard of brand positioning. The consumer purchases any product. The purpose is often to meet his own special needs, not the product itself. The consumer does not want the electric fan to buy the electric fan. He needs to The feeling of coolness in the summer room is a very easy to understand common sense. Therefore, the image of any product in the minds of consumers is often not simply a simple product, but a solution to the demand, a value that can satisfy the needs and provide benefits. The brand is a concentrated expression of this value.

Since the consumer is not looking at the product itself, the focus of the marketing work is not necessarily the product, and the core of the marketing work—positioning, must not be based on the product; since consumers understand more about the brand. Expressed as a solution and value, then the brand positioning criteria must be the core. The core value of the brand is the most concentrated, most essential, and most individual value of the brand's benefits to consumers. All that should be centered on the brand's core values ​​rather than products.

In fact, whether or not a brand's positioning includes an extended space, factors that may be considered include: brand core value, relevance of old and new products, industry and product characteristics, market capacity of products, market environment in which the company is located, and corporate development. The purpose of new products, market competition, corporate financial resources and brand promotion capabilities, and the original product itself is not worth too much attention. Among the many factors mentioned above, brand core values ​​and basic identification are the most important.

A successful brand has its unique core value. If this core value and basic identification can accommodate extended products, it can boldly carry out brand extension. In turn, the implication is that brand extension should be based on the principle of not conflicting with the original core values ​​and personality of the brand. Almost all brand extension cases can find out the root cause of success or failure from whether they follow this rule.

In the past, the discussion of brand extension was only a general reference to categories, and products with higher relevance (according to the understanding of positioning dogmatists, or even only the same product) could share the same brand. The successful extension of Wahaha and Nestlé brand can also be explained from the point of view that the products under the brand are all related foods and beverages. In fact, the high degree of correlation is mere appearance. High degree of relevance means that these different products provide different solutions to solve the same type of problems and the benefits and values ​​of the same type of requirements. As a result, consumers will recognize and purchase for the same or similar reasons. The same brand is the essence. For example, when choosing milk powder, lemon tea, and coffee, they all want the brand to give people a “good taste, a sense of security, and a warm feeling”. Nestlé’s milk powder, coffee, and lemon tea are all very popular.

Marlboro has gained great success from cigarettes to jeans, jeans, caps and belts. Many associations are relatively low-end, and even brands that do not match each other have even achieved unprecedented success. This is because brand core values ​​can contain products that seem to be far apart on the surface. The products of luxury consumer goods brands such as Dunhill, Dupont, and Valentino have suits, shirts, ties, T-shirts, shoes, purses, and belts, and some even have. Spectacles, watches, lighters, pens, cigarettes, etc., are very large and have low correlation, but they can also share a brand. Because these products have very different physical properties and original uses, they all provide a common utility, that is, a symbol of identity, a symbol of magnanimity, and a high degree of self-esteem and satisfaction. Purchasing Dupont lighters is not about the effects of ignition, but about the glory of the top brands. Buying DuPont bags and ties are also for this “feeling” rather than the original function of purses and ties. The core values ​​of such brands are cultural and symbolic meanings. They are mainly composed of emotional and self-expression interests, so they can contain physical attributes and products with far-reaching product categories, as long as these products can become the carrier of brand culture.

There are many examples of brand core values ​​that are inclusive and successful in sharing a brand with products that are far apart. BMW can be extended to clothing because BMW not only symbolizes extraordinary technology and craftsmanship, but also means “cheerful, elegant, stylish, laid-back, and relaxed” lifestyle. The car and clothing are the core values ​​of BMW. Carrier.

According to some people, brand extension after a brand became a synonym for a product would destroy the image of a category brand. If Nestlé is synonymous with coffee, it should not be extended to products such as milk powder. This is just a single point of view derived from the brand's association with a specific product. Only the correspondence between the brand and the specific product is considered. Indeed, Nestlé is closely associated with coffee. Consumers first mentioned that coffee is the first thing Nestlé thought of. This is one of Nestlé’s brand assets and core values. However, Nestlé also means that “the leaders of the international food industry are warm and have affinity”. These are the main parts of the core values ​​of the brand and can contain coffee, milk powder, ice cream, lemon tea and many other products. Therefore, Nestlé's series of foods are widely accepted by consumers.