Do brands really understand young people?

Brands play an important role in interacting with young people, but do they really understand the needs and psychology of young people? This article will explore whether brands really understand young people and think deeply about this. We will explore the challenges and obstacles that brands may encounter in the process of interacting with young people, and how to establish a more authentic and close connection with young people. Let's explore together to see if brands can really resonate with young people and how to establish a strong brand identity among young people.

“We are a brand targeting young people”, “We want to enter the youth market”, “Do young people like it?”…

In the eyes of brands, young people are treasures. They not only represent an incremental market, but also mean lower customer acquisition costs, faster word-of-mouth communication, and a more influential leadership effect.

To win over young people, you must first understand them.

For brands, it is not easy to understand young people today. Young people of different generations are very different, and we cannot use "our state when we were young" to understand young people today. For example, young people today seem to like a brand easily, but they can abandon it at will like a scumbag - the ice cream assassin in the freezer, or the anchor can trample the brand underfoot with just a few words.

Therefore, we hope to explore today's young people from a deeper perspective by starting from the contemporary environment, and to explore and interpret them from four perspectives: core values, work mentality, social methods, and consumer psychology.

1. Self-certainty and diversified experience

In the past year, in order to promote a certain product, we have almost seen all the top bloggers who make vlogs on Xiaohongshu and Bilibili. Although the content of these vlogs is diverse, the core of them all presents a fixed structural paradigm: stable values ​​+ diversified life .

There is a blogger named "Rui Ren", a very cute girl who graduated with a master's degree from the China Academy of Art. She is a staunch "anti-involutionist" and has a passion for life, but she never forces herself to do anything that makes her unhappy, including not losing weight and indulging herself in food, not accepting jobs she doesn't like, and allowing herself to experience more useless but happy things: repairing ceramics, painting, traveling, board games, comics, visiting exhibitions, etc. The only criterion for judgment is that she never involutions and only does what makes her feel comfortable. ‍‍‍

Like her, many vloggers have values ​​that seem very stable compared to their age: I am willing to open myself up to more attempts, but my spiritual core is stable and not easily shaken.

This is related to the experience of this generation. As Internet natives, they grew up in an information explosion and diversified cyberspace, and have been accustomed to all kinds of new ideas and things since childhood. They can be immersed in the contact and exchange of massive information during their growth period, so that they mature spiritually earlier and form their own core values, and they also develop the ability to shield and be immune to various noises around them early on.

On the other hand, the insecurity and uncertainty of the times are also forcing these young people to explore inward, to find and adhere to their inner certainty and sense of order: when their hearts are stable, they will not be disturbed or anxious by the environment, but will enrich their life experience.

Of course, not every young person has this confidence, but those who have a stable core are extremely attractive and sticky to their peers - these vlog bloggers usually have a stable fan base and high interaction volume.

Inspiration for brands: Young people need firm values

Nowadays, it is not difficult for a brand to find early adopters from 0 to 1, because many young people are willing to try and give new brands and new products a chance to try. However, because everyone loves to try too much, they are also more likely to get bored with the old and love the new.

For brands, they can either launch new products and hot-selling items frequently and continuously provide new options, or engage in price wars. However, after all this effort, repurchase and loyalty usually continue to decline - the market is too competitive, and there are always newcomers to attract the attention of young people.

So, is brand loyalty a false proposition?

Yes and no.

In an era full of variables, it is impossible to "always be loyal to one choice". As Huashan said, "Customers have no obligation to be loyal to a company". But it is possible to give some brands special priority and preference.

What makes these people willing to believe and prefer? It is not the product, because there are always newer, more affordable and better products: Luckin is 9.9 yuan, while Kudi is 8.8 yuan; in a sense, it is not the brand awareness, especially for young people, being a household name may even mean that it is not fresh and not innovative enough.

Like those determined KOLs, for brands, the underlying reason for gaining preference is also: having a firm value proposition. When we think of Fenghua, we can feel its sincerity and frankness; when we think of Baixiang and Pangdonglai, we will remember its kindness to employees; when we think of Patagonia, we will first think of its persistence in the earth's environment. When we recall some brands that failed this year: Zhong Xuegao, Huaxizi...it is difficult to remember that they proposed and insisted on their own value propositions.

Brands that provide products and services with firm values ​​and diversified experiences are a combination that is easier to attract and retain young people in this era. Many brands have spent huge energy and resources on the latter, but the former is the stable spiritual pillar that supports the rich experience.

2. Migrant Worker Rebellion and Self-Exile

Being a worker is the most twisted state for young people today:

They are unwilling to spend their time in a fixed workstation in a mechanized or stressful state for a long time, but have to accept it or temporarily accept it due to the pressure of survival.

Such a state, reflected in attitude and behavior, is a two-sided manifestation: rebellion and exile .

About rebellion : In fact, very few young people will choose to actively "rectify the workplace", and more people are mainly "passive resistance". Because they do not recognize the rules of the workplace, they choose to lie down, slack off, mentally quit their jobs, or have side jobs. Behind these behaviors is the struggle for "life choice" - I hope that the choice of how to spend this period of time (even if I am working) is in my own hands, and the current job is not a completely active and voluntary choice.

The reasons for this are, on the one hand, as we enter an era of stock economy, internal competition is serious and the meaning of jobs themselves is being eliminated and narrowed; and it is not clear what the path after "hard work" will be, which makes young people confused and disappointed; on the other hand, information is more transparent, and young people can easily see that some individuals have mastered the sovereignty of their own time, and are more full of expectations and yearning for it.

About exile : Since last year, tens of thousands of young people have gone to Jingdezhen to learn how to make porcelain, restoring themselves while looking for peace. Gap years, night school, early retirement, returning to hometowns... Finding a way out that can accommodate oneself is the most secure option (both financially and spiritually) at the moment.

In the cultural tourism and scene-related industries, projects related to self-exile are growing rapidly. Various unpopular cities and towns (low prices, slow pace, and human touch) have been discovered and called hot travel destinations, and small courtyards for copying scriptures and temples for practicing Buddhism have become popular. I went to Quanzhou last week, and the driver proudly said that this year Quanzhou's daily travel passenger flow has exceeded Xiamen, and the temples are crowded with young people.

Inspiration for brands: focus on the selling points of comfort and relaxation

Whether it is rebellion against working or self-exile, it is essentially a change in mentality. In the context of young people pursuing active choices, it changes from "actively longing for self-realization" to "pursuing individual comfort and security." Therefore, brands can also provide comfortable and safe product value.

From the perspective of the scene : create a comfortable atmosphere where people can relax and feel inner peace, such as community shops with warm lights, courtyards for copying scriptures for a short escape from the world, and senior travel groups and senior universities with enthusiastic aunts and uncles.

From the product point of view : Emphasis on comfort, such as foot fitness, sports style, no steel ring and no restraint underwear, etc. In the past two years, the wireless headset market has continued to decline, but bone conduction headsets have been far ahead, with sales increasing by 258% year-on-year. Its core feature is comfort.

Here is a key insight : products or services that were originally attractive to the elderly - focusing on relaxation, comfort, and security - are also very attractive to young people in today's uncertain environment.

3. Mutual assistance ecology under semi-mature relationships

In the relationship building between young people: a relationship of chance encounter or simple companionship is replacing more intimate connections.

From being partners, taking photos together, to playing a new type of hide-and-seek together, to being spiritual shareholders who help others make money...the natives of the Internet feel insecure about absolute intimacy, but they can accept the change of relationship from stranger to semi-familiar more quickly.

What are the characteristics of these relationships?

First, clear goals

In the construction of every relationship, it usually revolves around a mutually recognized purpose: hookups will be subdivided into different areas of work, and the same is true for photo taking: because the boyfriend's photography skills are too poor, it is better to go shopping with a girl who can take photos and put on makeup, so that you can chat and get beautiful photos.

Second, short-term companionship

Semi-mature relationships are usually easy to establish and even easier to end. They do not require excessive emotional investment and do not require extra effort to maintain. Both parties also recognize the value of this stage of companionship.

Third, free mutual assistance

The recently popular spiritual shareholders are a typical example of a mutual aid ecosystem. Spiritual shareholders (or cloud shareholders) refer to friends who do not hold shares but are willing to help with ideas, suggestions, and arrangements for free. Whether it is making suggestions or providing practical resources and help, many young people fall in love with the feeling of "helping others make money". Not only can they feel the positive power, but they can also gain self-identity and confidence from it.

Inspiration for brands: Build a mutually supportive semi-mature relationship with users

For brands whose target audience is young people, building a semi-mature relationship of mutual assistance is an option worth trying.

1. Value provided by the brand : In addition to the functional value of the product itself, the brand may consider providing a deeper spiritual value. For example, blind boxes satisfy the value of social interaction, new Chinese-style clothing provides a sense of belonging to traditional culture, and outdoor brands provide the courage to encourage natural exploration. The transmission of these values ​​is not only carried by the product itself, but also depends on the content and stories output by the brand, as well as the operation of the community and daily communication with users.

2. "Demand" value from users : Yes, as young people's mindsets become more open, brands should take the initiative to "seek help" from users - for example, brands that are growing from 0 to 1 call on spiritual shareholders to offer advice and suggestions; many small stores take the initiative to seek resource help on community platforms, while providing the other party with a kind of "parallel world self-realization" value; brands call on users to participate in social activities together and contribute their own value. In this way, a more stable semi-mature relationship can be established.

4. Active consumption classification under anti-consumerism

I recently heard a term called #RejectPinkTax#, which is quite interesting.

What is pink tax?

It means that the same material, workmanship, or even the same product, as long as it is changed to pink, which is more likely to be liked by women, and then labeled as a female exclusive, the price will immediately increase. Now that everyone has realized this, young women have even compiled a list of products specifically for anti-pink tax, which has been circulated very popularly to save themselves money.

Behind the rejection of the pink tax is a clear-headed recognition against consumerism: what do I really need?

For example, when going to a shopping mall, young people now prefer the B1 and B2 floors, and have even summarized a route: first buy a milk tea and hold it in your hand, then turn into fast-moving consumer goods stores such as UR and take a look around, if you see something nice, take a picture of the item number and search for the same model, and then go straight to the basement floor when you arrive at the restaurant.

The consumption logic behind shopping is still: what do I want? I want a good shopping environment, but I also want to consume in a cost-effective way.

During this year's Double Eleven, Dai Shan said at the Taotian press conference: Consumer stratification is the future trend. People with strong purchasing power will continue to pursue brands, middle-tier consumers will pay more attention to product strength and cost-effectiveness, and lower-tier users will also begin to develop online shopping habits.

This generation of young people has already subconsciously stratified their consumption more skillfully:

• Tool attributes: Only sell cheap ones, as long as they are useful
• For daily use: Pursue quality and recognize brands, but must shop around to find the cheapest channel
• For experience: accept occasional "impulsive spending" as the price of happiness
• For emotional value: high degree of personalization, large differences in willingness to pay
• For value realization: Compared with products and prices, they pay more attention to the value of the brand itself and are willing to actively establish contact with the brand (rather than a third party).

Inspiration for brands: Building a marketing system based on consumer stratification

On the basis of traditional classification, brands should find the position of products or services according to different consumer goals (what types of problems to solve), so as to build a full-link marketing system from product selling points to communication content.

For example, coffee can be used as a tool to refresh oneself, or as a daily ritual prop, or combined with social activities, or tied to a specific emotion. Different choices mean that the entire product strategy is different.

Finally, let me share a personal experience. When it comes to marketing, it is easy to see the obvious benefits. But a deeper benefit is the changes in people's hearts brought about by the changing times. For example, the pursuit of relaxation and comfort, the construction of semi-mature relationships, and the product reconstruction brought about by consumer stratification. To seize these opportunities, it requires both the underlying logical construction and a keen insight into the hearts of people of the times. ‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍

Author: Lan Lan

WeChat public account: Taro and Cat Talk (ID: taro_cat)