Which one is the best at breaking the circle of marketing? Check out the top ten breaking the circle of brand marketing cases in 2024

In 2024, many brands successfully broke through the circle through innovative marketing strategies and attracted widespread attention. This article will review the top ten brand marketing cases in 2024 and analyze how these brands captured the public's attention through unique marketing methods and creative content, becoming the highlight of the year's marketing.

From the vitality of spring to the passion of summer, from the fruitful autumn to the first snow and warm sun of winter, standing at the end of 2024, looking back at the brand or event marketing of this year, which ones have left a unique mark in your heart?

TopMarketing has specially compiled a collection of the 2024 marketing industry review, which reviews the major marketing events of 2024 by reviewing outstanding cases, hot events or wonderful people in the industry. This issue is the second issue - the annual marketing review of brands/cases that have gone viral.

In today's world where attention is increasingly fragmented, how to achieve twice the result with half the effort in marketing is a problem that both platforms and brands are inevitably troubled by, but there are always some "eye-catching packages" that can capture the public's attention through extraordinary "inadvertent" means. Today, let's take a look at which company is the best at breaking the circle of marketing in 2024 with TOP Jun. Welcome to leave a comment in the comment area~

1. Taobao helps rural revitalization in the name of "baby"

As the countdown to the Spring Festival holiday begins, Taobao seized on the classic scene of migrant workers returning to work and used the trunk filled with hometown specialties as the entry point to launch an emotional short film "Hometown Babies, Please Get on the Bus" that resonated with the public.

Dried pollack, sauerkraut dumplings, erjingtiao, yam and codonopsis, freshwater lobster... these are either hometown specialties secretly packed by parents at daybreak, or foods they prepare early and buy specially, all just to let children thousands of miles away taste the flavor of hometown.

In addition to the familiar specialties, Taobao also took advantage of the unpopular specialties from various places that were exposed after Erbin became popular, to "popularize science" and promote more unknown local treasures for the audience. When the local treasures that were stuffed into private cars also got on Taobao's shopping cart, the platform's support for farmers and activity concepts were further demonstrated.

Taobao hometown baby please get on board the car finale picture

Swipe up and down to view. In addition to presenting the complex called "homesickness" in a softer and more real form to everyone, Taobao has also joined hands with Alibaba Charity and China Rural Development Foundation to implement the "Hometown Baby Please Get on Board" campaign as a practical public welfare to help farmers, inviting users to vote for their beloved hometown babies on Taobao, turning everyone's love for their hometown into practical action.

It is worth noting that Taobao has once again enriched the connotation of "baby" by using hometown specialties. Following the launch of the "Old Baby New" plan on the Double Ninth Festival last year, the launch of the "Special Recommended Baby" at the end of the year to call for the rescue of stray animals, and the launch of the heartwarming video "Baby Received" on the eve of the Spring Festival to pay attention to the returnees, Taobao once again used "baby" as the theme during the return to work rush. Behind this, it not only presents Taobao's emotional and social insights from a healing perspective, bringing resonance and relaxation to consumers, but also shows the platform's efforts and hard work in recent years, allowing the public to see the brand's sense of responsibility and functionality.

2. Xiaomi: "I just want a billionaire CEO to open my car door"

Just after the "afterglow" of the New Year, at the end of March, the launch conference of Xiaomi SU7 was like a blockbuster bomb that detonated the automotive and marketing industries. A single stone caused a thousand ripples, and Lei Jun and Xiaomi topped the hot search list many times.

As a novice entering the automotive industry for the first time, Lei Jun used his Internet thinking to give many car company bosses a lesson in marketing elites, and smoothly and subtly extended and elevated the marketing front of new cars.

From the high-profile official announcement of the new car launch, inviting the bosses of "NIO, Xiaopeng and Li Auto" to the scene and taking classic photos, to the much-anticipated pricing announcement at the launch conference, to the limited sale of the unexpectedly popular car factory work jackets... Xiaomi SU7 can be said to be a walking spotlight, which not only aroused widespread market expectations, but also successfully created a distinctive brand image.

In addition to the grand press conference, Lei Jun's appearance and actions at the first delivery ceremony of Xiaomi SU7 sparked a topic in the public opinion field, causing many corporate CEOs to exclaim "I have learned something".

From the live video circulating online, we can see that Lei Jun, who appeared at the delivery site of the first batch of Xiaomi SU7 owners, smiled and leaned over to open the car door for the owners, shook hands, hugged and took photos with everyone. For a while, topics such as "For only 300,000 yuan, the billionaire president opened the door for me" quickly became popular on the Internet, and the "people-friendly" Lei Jun once again became the object of imitation for many company founders.

As the founder of Xiaomi, Lei Jun's personal IP is deeply tied to the corporate image. As a man well versed in Internet marketing, he also skillfully tells the brand's entrepreneurial story with his words and deeds. Recently, Lei Jun happily shared on Weibo the November delivery volume of Xiaomi SU7, "exceeding 20,000 units for two consecutive months", and confidently raised the annual target to 130,000 units.

Looking back, three years ago, Lei Jun declared at the press conference that he was "willing to bet on his life's honor and achievements to fight for Xiaomi Auto." Now, looking at the strong growth trend of Xiaomi SU7, people are sincerely impressed by Lei Jun's determination and perseverance to "master" the traffic code.

3. Bilibili Youth Day satirical comedy "The Great Magician"

On the occasion of this year's May 4th Youth Day, Bilibili once again chose to jointly release with multiple media outlets to launch the public welfare video "The Great Magician". The short film uses bold irony to reveal the tricks that fool people on the Internet and in the real world, touching people's hearts while also sparking heated discussions in the public opinion circle.

"Chickens can grow four wings, big stars can die eighteen times a year, all foods can cause cancer..." These sensational news are the headlines that users often browse when they go online, and they are also the magic shows carefully designed by the "great magicians" in the traffic era. As the great magician played by Zu Feng constantly changes his outfit, he uses a playful tone to gradually reveal the routines and lies behind the Internet's hot events and public opinion.

From the criticized clickbait titles to staged and fake video clips, from the multi-angle provocations in the comment section to the strong response and mindless attacks, the short film, with the help of actor Zu Feng's performance, vividly shows the reality of unscrupulous marketing in the Internet era that attracts attention and traffic, allowing the audience to reflect while having a mirror-like feeling. When the satire in the first half of the short film is connected with the recollection and questioning at the end, the depth of "edutainment" is also highlighted: as a witness to history, everyone should remember the spirit of May Fourth, seek truth and facts, and maintain rational thinking.

Although the video was involved in a controversy over plagiarism after it went online, it did not affect people's appreciation and thinking about the content itself. Four years ago, a manifesto video called "Hou Lang" made Bilibili famous. Although there were some criticisms, it also made more people pay attention to and discuss Bilibili. Since then, Bilibili has continued to explore and innovate theme short films with both depth and breadth on May 4th Youth Day, launching more content and activities that suit the tastes of the younger generation.

4. My Altay, a mini-series with a revenue of over RMB 100 million, has boosted Altay tourism

In recent years, whether it is "Go Where the Wind Is" adding icing on the cake for Dali tourism, or "The Storm" bringing Jiangmen, Guangdong into the public eye, or "Flowers" igniting the audience's enthusiasm for checking in Shanghai, "a drama makes a city popular" has become a new way for cultural and tourism to go viral.

After the broadcast of "My Altay" on iQiyi's Weichen Theater this year, it has brought Xinjiang tourism into the spotlight. Through a healing short drama, the audience got to know the most beautiful Altay, got to know Xinjiang, and felt the most vigorous vitality and spiritual strength, which once again confirmed the power of dramas and art!

"My Altay", a short 8-episode series, is adapted from the essay of the same name. The vivid characters, the vast grassland scenery, the warm and comfortable light and shadow shots, etc., have made many city workers yearn for the natural beauty of green grass and blue sky in the play.

Producer Qi Kang said at the creative sharing session that he had been exploring the commercial and artistic possibilities of the drama. After basic research and demonstration, the team decided to combine culture and tourism as the main theme, and conceived of "reading a good book, watching a good drama, and going to a good place." It can not only tap into regional cultural and tourism resources and help local economic development, but also extend the life cycle of the work and explore some film and television derivative values.

According to data released by the Altay Culture and Tourism Bureau, 20 days after the drama was aired, the Altay region received 2.86 million tourists, a year-on-year increase of 42.05%, and tourism revenue increased by 77.98% year-on-year, truly realizing the goal of "one drama makes a city popular."

5. Submit your resume at the local subway station and apply for a job online

When the graduation and job-hunting season arrived in June, Zhiben created "resumes" for its two popular products, the Shuyan Repairing Cleansing Balm and Shuyan Repairing Cleansing Milk, and placed them offline in major subway stations in five cities, including Beijing, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Zhengzhou, and Chongqing, to "seek employment" for its products online.

Go to the local subway job poster and swipe left and right to view

Similar to the resumes of many job seekers, Zhiben's resume also consists of self-evaluation, personal experience, skills, work experience, job position and expected salary. It carefully displays the basic characteristics of the product, such as cleaning power, mildness, and slippery feeling, turning the core selling point of the product into a job search point, so that passengers can see the product information at a glance. At the same time, Zhiben also cleverly uses homophonic puns, such as "really good at "unloading"" and "not irritating at all", to inform users of the product performance in a concise and intuitive manner.

In addition to the two resumes, in some subway stations, Zhiben also incorporates common interview arrangements and questions and answers such as "Interview Site Guidance", "Career Planning", "Core Competitiveness", and "Work Pressure" to create a real interview atmosphere and stimulate the attention and discussion of workers and job seekers.

Unlike ordinary advertising posters, Zhiben combines the product with the current hot job-hunting scene to enhance the user's sense of reality and interaction. At the same time, with the help of the huge passenger flow and eye-catching design of the subway station, the "job-hunting" advertisement finally became popular.

6. Xiang Zuo is not a very good ambassador for Dianping

This summer, the "abstract master" Xiang Zuo has been active on social platforms thanks to his outstanding performance in variety shows. Dianping tried to use his personality of "the harder he works, the funnier he is, and the harder he works, the more heartbreaking it is" to promote its own must-eat list for the second time.

So, following Li Xueqin, Dianping invited Xiang Zuo to be the second-generation recommendation ambassador of Dianping’s must-eat list, and launched a short film "The Second (Not Useful) Ambassador in History".

The short film continues the humor and narrative style of the previous film, and shows that the Dianping must-eat list is everywhere through the dialogue between the two "ineffective" ambassadors, Li Xueqin, who "lies flat" and Xiang Zuo, who "works hard", on billboards in various cities. In the short film, the two chased each other in small domestic cities such as Yancheng, Yili, Yanbian, and Weifang, sometimes they were kites in the sky, sometimes they were murals on the wall, and even transformed into inflatable people at the door of the supermarket to have a conversation. In the end, they also appeared in Paris.

Li Xueqin's familiar Northeastern flavor and Xiang Zuo's unstandard Cantonese accent created a different spark between the two spokespersons, and Xiang Tai's sudden appearance at the end, with the words "How about I try it?", added a bit of humor. Dianping firmly grasped the sense of contrast and delivered the key information of the platform "Must-eat list spread across 119 cities" and "800 million people eat it out" in a relaxed and humorous way, firmly binding the must-eat list with the minds of the people's choice of food.

7. Alien Electrolyte Water Chen Jianbin changed his name to Rapper and released an album with the same name

“Humanity has not yet developed even one tenth of The Legend of Zhen Huan!”

As a classic palace drama that has been on air for ten years, "The Legend of Zhen Huan" has long become the "electronic mustard" in the hearts of countless people. In addition to the "patina" of the goofs that netizens have been discussing, this year's short video blogger "Milk Tea Little Fatty" has also become popular with his rap-like voice and the "Rebirth: I Want to Be Silang" series of dubbing videos. Works such as "Han Huan, Can I Sleep in the Middle?", "I'm EMO" and "Oh No, Oh No, Oh No, Oh No" have controlled netizens with their "extreme" emperor rap.

Just when everyone was amazed at the blogger's talent, Alien Electrolyte Water seized the opportunity and invited the real host Chen Jianbin to bravely enter the music scene and personally release an album for Silang!

“Chen Jianbin has also broken into the singing and dancing circle!” With the release of the official MV, many netizens were shocked by Chen Jianbin’s super fashionable look wearing sunglasses and a suit. In the video, he transformed into a rapper and responded to netizens’ jokes with “I was so focused on filming that I accidentally released an album” and “I embrace emo and I’m not panicking at all”. He personally narrowed the distance between himself and the audience, and also advertised the brand Alien Electrolyte Water hardcore.

Alien electrolyte water, which is popular among young people, not only invites celebrities themselves to play memes, but also helps the brand to take on the popularity of Silang Rapper and effectively shape the brand image.

8. Cultural and Creative Dolls: Chinese people have their own “jellycat”

Who wouldn’t want to own a sweet and soft doll? !

This year's cultural tourism and creative industries are also "rolling up". Many cities and museums have successively launched plush cultural creations with their own characteristics, such as "spicy hot pot" in Gansu, "roujiamo" in Shaanxi, "hairy crab" in Suzhou, "sliced ​​noodles" in Shanxi, "jianbingguozi" in Tianjin, and "fotiaoqiang" in Fujian... It can be said that there are many cities and colors.

Recalling March this year, Gansu Tianshui Malatang became an instant hit on the short video platform. Subsequently, tourists from many parts of the country flocked to Tianshui just to taste the delicious Malatang with rich ingredients and bright colors. This small city welcomed "huge traffic" overnight.

Gansu Provincial Museum then took this opportunity to launch a series of plush cultural creations with the theme of Malatang, including meatballs, crab sticks, rice cakes, mushrooms, broccoli, etc. After selecting the items they want, tourists confirm their taste preferences with the clerk, then choose their own number plate, wait for the clerk to put the ingredients into the pot and sprinkle with the secret sauce, and a fresh "Malatang" is ready.

Such plush toys suitable for "Chinese babies" plus the fun interactions between the store staff and tourists are hard not to attract people who love both local cultural creation and toys. According to data, after the Gansu Provincial Museum opened pre-sales on Tmall flagship store, nearly 200,000 people flocked to the online store within a week, driving the store's transaction volume to surge 343% year-on-year.

Also becoming popular is the "roujiamo" cultural and creative product of Daxiang Cultural Museum in Xi'an, Shaanxi.

Baking the steamed bun, selecting the meat, chopping the meat, pouring the sauce, all the steps in the normal Roujiamo process are included, and then a soft and round "velvet steamed bun" is delivered to the hands of the consumer. According to media reports, more than 10,000 orders of this cultural and creative product were sold more than a month after it was launched.

"Chinese people have their own jellycat!" Jellycat, a British plush toy brand that has become increasingly popular on Chinese social platforms in recent years, is often in short supply despite its high price tag, because it brings spiritual and emotional comfort to many young people. Nowadays, plush cultural creations with their own characteristics in various places not only have unique cultural symbols and meanings, but also meet the consumption habits and emotional needs of young people. "Self-pleasing" consumption has become a new trend.

9. Black Myth: Wukong ignites tourism boom through joint venture

On August 20, the industry-recognized first domestic "3A" game "Black Myth: Wukong" (hereinafter referred to as Black Myth) was officially released, instantly setting off an online sensation. According to SteamDB statistics, within one hour of the release of Black Myth, the number of online users exceeded 1.2 million. As of 8 pm on the 20th, the total sales volume exceeded 4.5 million copies, with total sales exceeding 1.5 billion yuan.

Black Myth sales across all platforms exceeded 10 million sets of celebration poster

In a short period of time, the "black myth" effect spread to publishing, stock markets and other fields, among which the most discussed were brand collaborations and the cultural tourism craze.

On the day of the game's launch, the "Tengyun American" series launched by Luckin Coffee and Black Myth became a hot seller, with sales exceeding 100,000 cups on the first day. Luckin CGO Yang Fei even praised the purchasing power of men in his circle of friends.

In addition, Black Myth's co-branded partners also include Didi Qingju, Baidu Maps, Lenovo, Hisense, GICOS Industries, 8Bitdo, etc. The co-branded products are also divided into gaming equipment such as graphics cards and controllers and ordinary peripherals such as T-shirts and key chains.

In addition to the influence of cross-border collaborations, Black Myth has also sparked a wave of users visiting Shanxi for travel. With the game's accurate restoration of ancient Chinese architecture and natural landscapes, Black Myth received high praise from many netizens for its scene design shortly after its launch. Extending to the real world, it has also brought popularity to a large number of ancient buildings, including the Twenty-Eight Constellations of the Jade Emperor Temple in Jincheng, the hanging sculptures of Xiaoxitian in Xi County, and the colored sculptures of the Iron Buddha Temple in Gaoping. According to data from the Meituan platform, after the game was released, the tourism popularity of the filming locations, represented by the Shanxi scenic spots, increased by 156% month-on-month, and the number of travel orders in August increased by 105% year-on-year.

The success of Black Myth is inseparable from the creative team's meticulous work on good content and their long-termism. After its release, the team not only grasped the characteristics of the work itself, but also knew how to use fashion trends to further break the circle and achieve a win-win situation.

10. Huawei's three-fold foldable phone has a nice surface no matter how you fold it

If we talk about which smartphone brand has the best momentum this year, Huawei is definitely on the list!

Before the launch of the new tri-fold mobile phone, Huawei invited five extraordinary witnesses, Yang Mi, Yu Hewei, Xu Xin, Fan Deng and Nigmat, to make the core selling points of the product linger in the minds of consumers through five new phone "unboxing" videos.

All five videos are about 30 seconds long, and everyone performs non-physical performances around the new Mate XT's large screen and thin body. After watching the five videos, descriptions such as "fold like this, fold like this, fold like this" and "so wonderful" will unconsciously "hover" in the audience's mind and linger. Facts have proved that Huawei's subsequent press conferences have indeed attracted enough attention, and "X folding, no matter how you fold it, it still looks good" has also become a new topic of jokes, appearing in major comment areas.