Collaborations, colors, and overwhelming wealth…how will brands “do things” in 2023?

In 2023, the brand marketing war is getting more and more intense. Brands are constantly innovating, cross-border cooperation, borrowing memes, and leading with colors. Let's take a look at the major brand events of the year.

In 2023, the marketing competition among brands became fierce, and many impressive marketing events, key topics and popular trends emerged throughout the year.

Cross-border collaboration has become the "traffic code" of brands. From luxury goods to animation IP, brands will play new tricks across borders; some brands grasp the emotional value and use colors to lead trends; some brands use memes to gain popularity and gain popularity in the spread of memes; and some brands turn the tide in public relations events and receive countless likes.

What major brand events have taken place this year? What industry trends are hidden behind them? Clour has summarized eight major brand events this year. Let's take a look at what's new in the brand circle this year.

1. Joint ventures to create memes and social marketing

The first big event came from the joint launch of Luckin Coffee and Moutai’s “Soy Sauce Latte”.

On September 4 this year, Luckin Coffee and Kweichow Moutai launched the "Sauce Flavor Latte", which immediately became a hot topic on major social media platforms. The next day, Luckin Coffee announced that the "Sauce Flavor Latte" had set a new record for a single product, with first-day sales exceeding 5.42 million cups and first-day sales exceeding 100 million yuan. Because the "Sauce Flavor Latte" was so popular, Moutai also said that it would become a permanent product and would be supplied for a long time.

This cross-border collaboration can be regarded as one of the most popular cross-border collaborations in 2023. It has touched upon all age groups and, after the "fusion of tea and coffee", has brought the "fusion of wine and coffee" into the public eye.

Image source: Weibo screenshot

Luckin Coffee and Moutai also achieved a "win-win" through this joint venture. Moutai used Luckin Coffee to enhance its influence among young people, strengthen the mental education of young consumers, and achieve product category advancement.

Luckin Coffee has also become a social currency in this collaboration, leveraging Moutai's positioning and influence as the "Hermes of wine" to take a further step towards becoming a high-end brand.

The second major event came from Huawei. Yu Chengdong’s “far ahead” became a hot topic on the Internet, and the Mate60 series, which was hardly mentioned at the press conference, became popular on the Internet.

"Far ahead" is a term that Huawei's executive director Richard Yu often uses to describe Huawei products at press conferences. After the Mate 60 Pro series launched the "Pioneer Plan", many bloggers on the Internet emerged to create Mate 60 Pro product reviews around "far ahead", and this term went viral on the Internet.

Image source: Tik Tok screenshot

With the official release of the Mate 60 Pro product features, the meaning of "far ahead" has changed from a teasing advertising slogan to a user's heartfelt recognition of the product. The popularity of this word has been rising, and its use has become more and more widespread. In November, "far ahead" was shortlisted for the top ten hot memes of 2023 released by Sanlian Life Weekly.

In an era where "everything can become a meme", a simple, contagious advertising slogan can carry infinite meanings. At the same time, relying on its strong technical strength and influence, brands can redefine the meaning of an advertisement.

Under the combined influence of personal, brand and short video marketing, "梗" is not only an entertaining term for netizens, but also a powerful tool for brand marketing.

2. Color marketing creates a consumption atmosphere

In addition to the "meme" culture and joint ventures, what may be hot this year is color-related marketing. Under the "bombardment" of color marketing, the consumption atmosphere is high and brands are taking advantage of the opportunity to expand their influence.

The third major event came from the "dopamine" marketing that became popular this summer. In early May this year, blogger @白日小熊 released a series of "dopamine girl outfit" videos. Among them, the "dopamine outfit" video shot in collaboration with the talent Wang Qiye received 5 million likes, which then set off a wave of "dopamine" across the Internet. On Douyin, the topic #多巴胺女孩穿搭 has been played 12.71 billion times.

"Dopamine" was originally a medical concept, and "dopamine dressing" is intended to enhance people's sense of happiness through colorful, eye-catching, bold and bright dressing styles.

After the "dopamine wear", many brands followed the trend and launched dopamine-colored products. For example, the beauty brand Hua Zhixiao launched the "Moonlight Mermaid" series of cosmetics with a main color of pink and blue; Starbucks, Luckin Coffee, Kudi Coffee and other coffee and tea brands also launched new dopamine-colored products; the jewelry brand Swarovski launched the GEMA candy series of products to narrow the distance between itself and consumers and take advantage of the opportunity to reverse the dilemma of declining brand revenue.

Image source network

Bright, highly saturated "dopamine" colors can intuitively evoke consumers' spiritual pleasure and happiness. They are also colors that are easy to photograph and share on social media.

"Dopamine" marketing uses a type of color and specific aesthetics to quickly bring emotional value, but just like the meaning and concept of "dopamine" itself, this type of emotional value is simple stimulation and satisfaction, which comes quickly and goes quickly.

Coincidentally, color marketing has become extremely popular this year, with the movie "Barbie" triggering a wave of pink marketing.

According to Variety, Warner Bros. spent $150 million to promote the marketing of "Barbie". Before the release of the movie, the movie "Barbie" launched a short advertising video and a "This Barbie is..." filter, encouraging users to participate in the customization of "Barbie" related avatars, and used all-pink minimalist posters and billboards for promotion.

"Barbie" has also started collaborations with brands from all walks of life: for example, it has cooperated with Airbnb to launch the limited-time "Barbie Dream House"; it has cooperated with beauty brands NYX, Banila, OPI, and Collage to launch a series of Barbie products; Barbie IP has also cooperated with MINISO, Zara, Gap, Crocs and other life and clothing brands to launch related products; it has also cooperated with jewelry, food and beverage brands, games, metaverse and other industry brands, allowing a pink trend to sweep across all walks of life.

Image source network

Successful marketing and high-quality content enabled the movie "Barbie" to top the global movie box office list. On September 4, it earned 1.38 billion US dollars, becoming the best-selling movie in 2023.

Pink is the main visual color of the movie "Barbie" and is also the most representative color of the Barbie IP in the public's cognition. Marketing around pink not only fits the content theme of the movie, but also can quickly arouse the public's perception of the Barbie IP. For brands, single-color "viral" marketing can enable them to enter the field of popular culture and attract a lot of traffic and attention during the dissemination process.

3. The star effect is strong, and choosing the right spokesperson is the key

The following two major brand events are both related to celebrities. The celebrity effect is still strong today. Choosing the right spokesperson can not only help the brand maintain a specific positioning, but also help shape the brand image, build brand power, achieve efficient exposure at key points, create voice on social platforms , and radiate to a wider consumer circle.

The fifth major brand event came from the sports world. On June 10, #Messi starts his seventh trip to China# became a hot search. This time, Messi was invited to participate in the 2023 International Football Invitational Tournament and landed in China to participate in the match between Argentina and Australia. After the news of Messi's trip to China was released, it attracted the attention of many fans.

Many sports and consumer brands were at the forefront of traffic during Messi's arrival. Mengniu and Yili posted on Weibo on the same day to compete for the title of sponsor, and the two dairy giants successfully gained a lot of exposure.

Kudi Coffee took this opportunity to officially announce that it has become the sponsor of the entire Argentine team and launched a marketing package. Activities such as "The Argentine team treats you to 1 yuan coffee" and "Buy 4 cups and get peripheral products/lottery tickets/signed jerseys" attracted a large number of new users and fans. The relevant person in charge of Kudi Coffee once told the media that from June 1st to 5th this year alone, more than 3 million new Kudi users received 1 yuan coupons, and the Kudi Coffee APP ranked first on the AppStore free download list for 16 consecutive days.

Adidas renovated the exterior of its Sanlitun store, changing the logo on the exterior wall to the blue and white colors of the Argentine team and adding a Samsung logo. The huge goat pattern next to it is meant to praise Messi as the best in history. In addition, Taobao Live, JD Live, and Xiaohongshu have also taken advantage of the popularity of Messi's China tour.

Image source: Adidas

The personal influence of sports stars can drive the emotions of fans and quickly make related brands gain voice on social media.

Whether it is competing for "sponsors", changing the store's appearance to attract fans to check in, or taking the opportunity to start a "price war", brands hope to use the influence of sports stars to achieve exposure and enhance brand influence. I believe that with the sponsorship and investment of sports brands and consumer brands in sports events and stars, such exposure and marketing will be more and more abundant in the future.

Another eye-catching "star effect" is Wang Yibo's official announcement as the chief spokesperson for YaYa down jackets. On November 8, the down jacket brand YaYa officially announced that Wang Yibo became the brand's chief spokesperson. YaYa not only became a hot search on Weibo that day, but also achieved a total online omni-channel transaction volume of more than 200 million within one day. It also topped the sales charts of Douyin and Tmall, becoming the biggest "dark horse" of Double Eleven.

After officially announcing Wang Yibo, YaYa also promoted its campaign at high-traffic subway locations in first-tier cities such as Beijing, Shanghai, Hangzhou, and Nanjing, covering many advertising spots in core areas, attracting fans to check in offline, and achieving accurate reach of first-tier and new first-tier fashion consumer groups.

Image source network

Since the beginning of this year, the YaYa brand has officially announced more than a dozen artists to work with, ranging from post-85s to post-95s young actors. The diversification of celebrity spokespersons is to maintain the brand's fashionable and youthful positioning. As a long-established domestic down brand, YaYa and Bosideng have both been caught in the dilemma of "aging" of the brand. Diverse celebrity spokespersons can help the brand continue to expand its influence among young groups.

On the other hand, it is also based on the diversification of brand products. Products with different stars and different positioning can accurately match different consumer groups. After the share restructuring in 2020, YaYa launches more than 1,000 SPUs every year, with prices ranging from 399 to 4,999 yuan. YaYa CMO Liu Yongxi once said that "YaYa can be understood as the Uniqlo of the down industry."

4. Live broadcasts frequently produce hits, and capturing emotions means capturing traffic

The last two major brand events both came from live broadcasts. As the number of Internet users and the penetration rate of live broadcast e-commerce continue to increase, brand merchants are also paying more and more attention to the marketing of online channels and the development of live broadcast e-commerce. Relying on the characteristics of the Internet, marketing strategies that are more network-savvy, down-to-earth, and more in line with the preferences of netizens can attract more attention.

In March this year, the Coconut Tree Group launched a male model live broadcast, inviting several male models to the live broadcast room to live broadcast fitness with coconut juice in their hands, which was full of masculinity and attracted the attention of netizens. According to data from Jiupai News, the performance of the Coconut Tree live broadcast room this year was "14 hot searches, 200 live broadcasts, and 10 million average exposures."

Image source network

The controversy among netizens about the live broadcast of the male model of Coco Tree mainly focused on the aesthetics of the models of Coco Tree, the scale of the live broadcast room of Coco Tree, and whether the live broadcast room of Coco Tree was "rustic". Weibo once held a related vote with 360,000 participants, and more than 300,000 people believed that the live broadcast of Coco Tree was not "borderline". After May, the reputation of the live broadcast room of Coco Tree on the Internet has improved. Some netizens believe that Coco Tree has changed the aesthetics of the entire network with its own strength.

The "male sex consumption" in the Coco Tree live broadcast room corresponds to the rise of the "her economy" in recent years. In the past, Coco Tree's brand advertisements were often considered "masculine", but in the live broadcast of male models, Coco Tree has achieved a reversal of its reputation.

From the perspective of marketing exposure, Coco Tree's live broadcast content is successful. Since the beginning of this year, Coco Tree has achieved a lot of exposure with its unique live broadcast style. The style of the live broadcast room is very harmonious with the brand style and brand concept, and is in line with the "male beauty consumption" trend on the Internet, achieving a "reputation reversal". The live broadcast content not only captures the Internet's hot spots but also endorses the brand.

Another major brand event that took place in the live broadcast room also came from an old domestic brand - Fenghua.

After the controversy over Li Jiaqi's live broadcast, the Fenghua brand promptly launched the "79 yuan package", which once became a hot topic on Weibo. Data showed that from September 12 to September 15, the number of followers of Fenghua's official Douyin account increased by 1.775 million. In a live broadcast on September 11, the number of viewers in Fenghua's live broadcast room was nearly 40 million, and estimated sales reached 26.9 million.

Image source: Tik Tok screenshot

Fenghua's style of often "showing weakness" when interacting with netizens left a deep impression on netizens, further stimulating consumers' consumption sentiment to support "conscientious domestic products". The mentality that domestic products are affordable and practical has also been continuously strengthened in various 79-yuan packages until conversion is achieved in the live broadcast room.

Whether it is the live broadcast by male models or the best-selling 79-yuan package, they all represent the collective renewal of the online marketing of the old domestic brands. They keep up with hot current affairs, are good at seizing opportunities in crises, and find the most suitable marketing method for the brand. It is also the "accumulation of strength" of brands based on consumer reputation and brand influence.

Overall, brand marketing renewal is an important keyword. "New" lies in the form and media. The influence of large-screen TVC advertising has weakened, and the frequency of brands using new media such as graphic content, short videos, and live broadcasts for marketing has increased. "New" is also in topics and content. More novel, interesting, and social topics and content will attract more attention.

"New" also lies in consumers and groups. Most brands choose to keep up with the trend and position their brands younger in the face of young consumers with unprecedented consumption potential. Not only Generation Z has joined the main consumer group, but also those born after 2010 and 2015 are gradually entering the core consumer group.

Social marketing, scene marketing, and using celebrities for marketing are all common marketing methods. How to create emotions and provide emotional value to consumers will become the key to attracting consumers. After the short-term emotional marketing and traffic, how to provide consumers with more long-term consumption value and enhance brand power will become the entrance for brands to build word-of-mouth.

Author: Laisheng, WeChat public account: TopKlout