Xiamen beauty group may not be able to get out of Douyin

This article will explore the challenges and opportunities of beauty brands in brand building, analyze the importance of accumulating brand assets, and propose a strategy to build deep connections with consumers using content marketing, in order to help beauty brands achieve long-term and stable development.

Premium is the result of enhanced brand power, not a means to increase ROI of investment traffic.

1. The beauty industry in Xiamen is booming but seems to be invisible

Xiamen Beauty Gang is well-known in the industry. You may say you haven't heard of it. That's normal.

In recent years, the rise of short video platforms has opened up new growth space for the beauty industry. Driven by platforms such as TikTok, content creation and seeding of beauty products have

Marketing is in the ascendant, and a group of newcomers have emerged. Among them, white-label brands represented by Xiamen Gang have achieved great success on the beauty list with "high gross profit + efficacy + visual selling points" , creating hundreds of millions or even billions of GMV, which is jaw-dropping. Their success has not only established a new marketing paradigm for the beauty industry, but also provided valuable experience for the entire industry.

However, when we look beyond the platform, we find that their position in consumers’ minds is far less than their fame on Douyin. Many consumers are not familiar with these brands with GMVs of billions, or even have never heard of them. This phenomenon of “ people in the circle are jealous, but people outside the circle have never heard of them ” is worth thinking about.

This phenomenon reflects their shortcomings in brand building: lack of systematic construction and long-term accumulation of brand assets .

Brand equity is the most valuable intangible asset of a brand. It is the sum of consumers' cognition, evaluation, emotion and loyalty to the brand. It is the cornerstone of brand premium ability and the moat against competition and crisis. For beauty brands, the importance of brand equity is even more prominent.

When consumers choose beauty products, they not only focus on efficacy and cost-effectiveness, but also on the aesthetic propositions, values ​​and cultural connotations represented by the brand. The stronger the brand assets, the more they can arouse emotional resonance among consumers and establish a solid connection.

The development strategy of "focusing on sales and neglecting brand" can generate considerable revenue in the short term, but it is difficult to form a lasting competitive barrier and is also easily impacted by fluctuations in platform policies. Once the traffic is lost, it will be like a fish out of water and will be difficult to sustain.

2. Importance of Brand Equity

Brand equity is to a brand what roots are to a plant. It requires long-term cultivation and care to flourish and remain green. For beauty brands, the significance of building brand equity is reflected in at least the following aspects:

1. Brand assets are an important consideration for users when choosing beauty products.

With the upgrading of consumption and the awakening of aesthetic awareness, consumers' requirements for beauty products are no longer limited to satisfying the efficacy, but have risen to the level of emotional expression and self-realization. The tone, attitude, and concept represented by the brand have become the key to attracting consumers. Only through the accumulation of brand assets can the brand establish an emotional connection with consumers based on values ​​and lifestyles and truly impress consumers.

2. Brand assets are the basis of beauty brands’ premium ability.

Competition in the beauty industry is becoming increasingly fierce. It is difficult to achieve differentiated competition simply by relying on product strength and price advantages. The accumulation of brand assets means the improvement of brand value, which is a necessary condition for brand premium and profit margin improvement. Strong brands can not only break through homogeneous competition, but also further expand value through high value-added products and open up a broader space for growth.

3. Brand assets are the basis for beauty brands to resist risks.

The beauty industry is changing rapidly, with new brands and new categories emerging one after another, and consumer preferences are also constantly changing. Beauty brands with strong brand assets can make steady progress in market fluctuations and turn passivity into initiative. Even if the market environment is severe, loyal brand fans will become the brand's strongest backing, helping the brand to overcome difficulties and achieve sustainable development.

3. Underlying Logic: Satisfying Users’ Diverse Demands for Beauty

If beauty brands want to truly accumulate brand assets, the key is to understand the diverse demands of users for beauty and provide precise satisfaction. Today, users' pursuit of beauty has gone beyond simple appearance modification and has risen to the level of physical and mental pleasure, social expression and even self-realization.

In the dimension of "I and myself" , beauty consumption has become an important way for modern women to explore themselves, show their personality, and express their emotions . They are eager to gain physical and mental pleasure from the beauty experience and feel the ritual of life. Therefore, beauty brands need to create a unique aesthetic experience through product design and brand tone to meet consumers' yearning for beautiful things in self-care.

In the dimension of "me and others" , beauty and makeup become a vehicle for establishing social connections and highlighting personal charm . They expect beauty and makeup brands to provide novel and interesting ways to play with beauty and makeup, helping them stand out and shine in social occasions. At the same time, beauty and makeup brands also need to adapt to the differentiated needs of users in different social contexts, provide targeted beauty and makeup solutions, and become users' "confidants".

In the dimension of "I and society" , beauty brands are responsible for leading beauty trends and conveying positive values . Brands should be keenly aware of the social and cultural connotations of beauty consumption, actively respond to social issues such as equal rights, diversity, and sustainability, guide users to establish a confident, independent, and calm image, and promote the advancement of beauty culture.

4. Multi-dimensional Communication of Content Marketing

Faced with users' diverse and complex demands for beauty, content marketing is a powerful tool for beauty brands to build brand assets . Content is not only the key to reach and attract consumers, but also the link to communicate brand value and trigger emotional resonance.

If beauty brands want to create good content, they need to work hard in the following aspects:

1. Attract target users with high-quality content

Beauty brands should create content that is close to the lives of target users and arouses empathy based on their characteristics and needs. This content can be beauty tips, product reviews, or pan-beauty content such as fashion wear and lifestyle. By continuously outputting high-quality content, brands can attract the attention of target consumers and establish a stable audience base.

2. Drive population growth through social communication

Content dissemination should make full use of the fission dissemination characteristics of social media and social networks, and use the "crowd reverse funnel" method to hit the core group and attract a wider range of potential consumers. Beauty brands can use the influence of KOL/KOC to plan topical content marketing activities, trigger consumers to share spontaneously, and achieve word-of-mouth fermentation.

3. Match the product life cycle to achieve an organic combination of content and sales

Content marketing should be closely aligned with the product’s life cycle stage and be targeted. In the new product stage , we should focus on product selling points and user pain points and communicate properly. In the growth stage , we should leverage the momentum to expand our voice and seize the minds of consumers. In the mature stage , we should expand usage scenarios and create incremental demand. In the renewal stage , we should awaken brand memory through content and extend product vitality.

The significance of content marketing is not only to reach consumers and spread the brand, but also to provide insights for product optimization and decision-making iteration. The massive comments and feedback left by consumers in content interaction often contain valuable market information and demand clues.

Beauty brands need to establish a complete user voice monitoring mechanism to collect, analyze, and refine content data in order to discover the direction of product optimization, gain insight into the direction of market changes, and feed back products with content. This requires collaboration among product, marketing, user research and other departments to establish an agile and flexible product innovation mechanism.

Brands should embrace consumer participation with a more open mind, grasp trends from a more forward-looking perspective, continuously optimize product strength, and meet the "one thousand faces one thousand faces " demands of consumers. At the same time, content data should also be fed back into the formulation of brand strategies to help brands grasp the pulse of the market, gain insight into opportunities, and adjust brand positioning and marketing strategies in a timely manner to achieve precise growth.

5. Long-term brand success

For the emerging new forces in the beauty industry, the development history of Xiamen Gang is a useful revelation, reminding brands to shift from the mindset of "traffic is king " to the logic of "content is king, and brand wins " . On the basis of traffic dividends, more attention should be paid to the shaping of differentiated brand tonality, emotional connection with consumers, and the conversion of traffic into brand assets to build long-term competitive barriers.

In short, in the era of "her economy " , if beauty brands want to truly accumulate brand assets, they must start from understanding consumer needs, use high-quality content as a carrier, and build a comprehensive connection between the brand and consumers. Only in this way can they truly capture the hearts of consumers, win the respect of the market, and achieve long-term success.

Of course, we also hope to see the Xiamen gang emerge as a dark horse in the domestic beauty industry , which will not only be popular in the circle, but also be sought after by users outside the circle!

Author: Brand White;

Source public account: Brand Laobai (ID: 1075014)