Inventory of the top ten marketing keywords in 2023!

In the past year, many keywords have emerged in the marketing field, and these words have become important symbols and trends in business competition. Let us unveil the mystery of the top ten marketing keywords in 2023 and offer inspiration and thinking for future marketing strategies!

Before we know it, 2023 is coming to an end and 2024 is about to arrive.

Looking back over the past year, we found that some marketing methods are still tried and tested. For example, brand collaborations continue to break out of the circle, and marketing relies on eye-catching packaging. Of course, there are many new trends, such as Buddhist life becoming a new password to grasp young people, and MBTI testing becoming a new breakthrough for brands... The following are the top ten marketing keywords we summarized in 2023 , taking you to review the trends and innovations of the past year. If you have different opinions, you are welcome to add to the discussion~

1. Buddhist marketing: temples become a new place for young people to relieve stress

This year, "temple tours" have become popular, with young people skipping classes and making progress to just burn incense. The number of orders for tickets to temple-related scenic spots has increased by 310% year-on-year this year. Among those who have booked tickets to temple scenic spots since February, those born in the 1990s and 2000s account for nearly 50%.

From a marketing perspective, it is not difficult to find that the popularity of temples is justified. Selling coffee, selling peripherals, selling blind boxes and other new marketing methods are common in major Internet celebrity temples.

In addition to temples, brands have also grasped the secret of traffic. Heytea, Luckin Coffee, and Nayuki have successively launched their own "Buddha-style" products.

But behind the popularity of Buddhist marketing, what is revealed is the anxiety and pressure of contemporary young people, so the essence of marketing is a kind of "value transfer". Whoever can help them temporarily escape from the anxiety of reality is most likely to win the hearts of young people.

2. Joint marketing: tea brands win

Joint marketing has always been a panacea for marketing, and this year is no exception. There are tens of thousands of joint brands, and tea brands account for half of them. According to statistics, in the first three quarters of 2023, 18 tea brands have collaborated 236 times, and some brands even have 3 to 5 joint campaigns per month.

What are the most popular collaborations this year? "HEYTEA x FENDI" and "Luckin x Moutai" are definitely on the list.

In May, HEYTEA and FENDI launched their collaboration online, which immediately became popular and became the most popular collaboration product in recent years. The online topic was very popular, which made a number of luxury brands see the potential of cross-border collaboration.

In September, the "Jiangxiang Latte" jointly launched by Luckin Coffee and Moutai was officially launched, which directly ignited social networks. The sales volume on the first day exceeded 100 million yuan, breaking the record of Luckin Coffee's single product.

I have to say, when it comes to marketing, we have to look at these tea brands, they know how to manipulate consumers.

3. City Marketing: Zibo Barbecue Brings Popularity to a City

This year, the city of Zibo has become well-known to people all over the country. The reason for Zibo's popularity is "Zibo barbecue". Throughout April and May, social platforms and WeChat Moments were filled with related content.

From April 28 to May 2, Zibo City built a new barbecue city covering an area of ​​100 mu, which lasted for 20 days and attracted about 120,000 people to Zibo. Zibo also became the big winner of this year's May Day holiday.

The success of Zibo barbecue is not simply because the barbecue is delicious, nor is it an accidental phenomenon. It is the result of the joint efforts of every merchant, every local, and the city.

Especially the outcome of the Zibo government: a series of measures such as opening an "exclusive window for barbecue license application", opening a barbecue-specific high-speed rail train, adding barbecue buses, etc., have attracted a steady stream of people to "Zibo" to "barbecue", creating a phenomenal city marketing model.

4. Packaging Marketing: Big or Small Becomes the Password for Traffic

In the first half of the year, there were endless marketing campaigns related to packaging. First, the “mini milk tea” became popular, and then the “giant” instant noodle bucket was sold at a sky-high price.

Compared with the common conventional packaging, an eye-catching oversized packaging or a cute mini design can easily catch the attention of young people and become the traffic code on social platforms.

There is also the giant LV bag in Shanghai that has been very popular recently. It has become a new check-in spot for internet celebrities. The marketing logic is the same as that of large and small packaging.

In fact, for brands, whether the packaging becomes larger or smaller, it is essentially a kind of insight into consumer psychology to meet the consumption needs of different stages and groups.

However, the brand will eventually return to the product. Only when the product is excellent can marketing methods earn more fame for the brand.

5. Toy marketing: triggering a frenzy among adults

Following the Pikachu that went viral last year, KFC and McDonald’s are still making steady progress this year.

The Sanrio co-branded toys launched by KFC, the Gundam co-branded toys and Tetris game consoles launched by McDonald's were all sold out immediately.

The toys that should have been sold to children were snapped up by adults. In fact , adults value the IP value behind the toys, which aroused emotional resonance. In addition, young people are happy to share their favorites, and these limited-edition toys undoubtedly meet the value of social scarcity.

This shows that these two brands have a deep understanding of their target consumer groups. It is not difficult to understand why their toy marketing can go viral time and time again.

6. Dopamine Marketing: Multiple Industries Are Following the Trend

This summer, blogger @白日小熊 made "dopamine outfits" popular. Colorful clothes, paired with the music of IF We Ever Broke Up, became the traffic code for outfit videos.

At present, the number of views of topics related to "dopamine" on Douyin has exceeded 10 billion, and the number of related notes on Xiaohongshu has exceeded an astonishing 4 million, making it the well-deserved traffic code at the moment.

The reason why dopamine dressing has become so popular is that colorful fashion can stimulate positive emotions. This is a kind of "positive association" that has the effect of "emotional healing."

As the trend continues to rise, industries such as catering, retail, and beauty have begun to take advantage of the "dopamine dressing" trend. For example, Luckin Coffee, Kudi and other tea drinks launched a "dopamine" series of tea drinks, and Lao Xiangji released a "dopamine catering person" video.

Not only is it popular right now, but for brands that want to "target" young consumers, "dopamine" color marketing is also a good choice.

7. Male sex marketing: becoming a new marketing trend for brands

In an era where "appearance is justice", it is unexpected that some brands have taken a different approach and started marketing with "male beauty".

In July this year, Shuyi Shaoxiancao launched a promotional campaign on Douyin - "I love He Shuyi". In order to stir up the topic, Shuyi Shaoxiancao specially invited a group of handsome male bloggers to shoot several cross-dressing videos showing off their bodies. Seeing the crazy increase in topic traffic, more and more brands choose to join the army of "male beauty marketing".

Earlier this year, Yeshu tried "Macho Live" on Douyin for the first time. The live broadcast room was full of handsome men with a height of over 180cm, healthy and sunny, and with abdominal muscles, which brought huge traffic to Yeshu.

The "male beauty marketing war" is not only hot online, but also offline. With the frequent appearance of male model restaurants and macho hot pot restaurants, the trend of brands using "male beauty" marketing is becoming more and more obvious.

Although "male beauty" can bring a lot of traffic and exposure to a brand, it is necessary to keep a sense of proportion, otherwise it may cause the brand to "crash" if you are not careful.

8. Domestic product marketing: overwhelming wealth saves old domestic products

Because of Li Jiaqi’s “Hua Xizi” incident, a number of veteran domestic brands have ushered in their own highlight moments.

Fenghua, a well-established domestic brand, quickly and accurately launched the "79 yuan" package, and also worked hard to promote other domestic brands in the live broadcast room. Not only did the number of fans increase dramatically, but the GMV of live broadcast sales also saw an explosion.

Other established domestic brands have responded by starting the "team building" mode, banding together to keep each other warm and promote each other.

This wave of collaboration not only allowed many old domestic brands to regain the young market, but also allowed more people to see that although domestic products are currently facing certain difficulties, there are still many cost-effective, practical and reliable brands that are upholding the conscience of domestic products and working tirelessly.

But for the old domestic brands, this wave of traffic is both an opportunity and a challenge. After the heat has passed, how to turn the overwhelming wealth into long-term wealth is a test for them.

9. Asian Games Marketing: Finding Gold-Digging Opportunities in the Games

As the largest sporting event held in China this year, the Asian Games has not only attracted attention to athletes on the field, but also triggered a new wave of sports marketing.

This year, there are 175 corporate sponsors for the Hangzhou Asian Games, covering many categories including Internet finance, automobile companies, clothing, home furnishings, 3C electronics, etc. This is the "highest in history" in terms of the amount, number and other dimensions of sponsorship of the Asian Games.

Many brands also took advantage of the marketing opportunities and launched activities such as "Win gold and get a full gold medal" and "Win gold and get a car". In addition, more companies began to bet on spokespersons and signed athletes.

Compared with traffic stars, athletes with positive images not only have lower risks, but also higher cost-effectiveness. If they can achieve good results in the arena, they can also bring huge traffic to the brand.

Successful cases have also made brands realize the true value of sports marketing. In future large-scale events, they can make arrangements in advance to seize the initiative.

10. MBTI Marketing: A New Entry Point for Brand Marketing

In fact, MBTI became popular two years ago. At that time, most netizens had just come into contact with this personality test and had not discussed the 16 personalities further.

This year, MBTI has re-emerged on the Internet and has become a new social currency for young people. Data shows that in the past few months, the popular topic #万皆可MBTI-related notes on Xiaohongshu has accumulated more than 2.12 billion views. On the Douyin platform, the total number of views of related topics has reached 3.2 billion.

Netizens have also dug up many interesting memes, among which i-person and e-person are the most popular and are easier to be identified with.

Brands have observed this trend and have also started to leverage it for marketing. For example, Haidilao has launched exclusive waiting areas for i-people and e-people, and Perfect Diary has launched different product recommendations based on the 16 personality traits of MBTI.

But don’t follow the trend blindly. Only by truly understanding the inner demands of young consumers can brands find a breakthrough in “MBTI” marketing and provide them with valuable and in-depth services and experiences.

Author: Yan Tao WeChat public account: Yan Tao Sanshou