The marketing codes of the past two years are hidden in 4 groups of national emotions

This article will analyze the key points of brand marketing from the perspective of four groups of national emotions, and detail how to grasp several key emotional needs in brand marketing to help brands better meet consumer needs.

Two-thirds of this year has passed. Recently, the Li Jiaqi eyebrow pencil incident and Hua Xizi's madness have caused public disgust, while domestic brands such as Fenghua have gained a double harvest of goodwill and traffic, and Huawei's press conference "far ahead" has inspired people and stirred emotions. In fact, looking at many hot events this year, they are inseparable from the explosion of emotions:

It is the slender wings of a butterfly that trigger the raging tornado on the other side.

The economy has recovered slowly after the epidemic, and the overall environment is full of uncertainty, causing everyone's emotions to be in a state of change and fluctuation. These emotions are not only individual feelings, but also significantly affect group choices and public decision-making. It is foreseeable that emotions have played and will play an increasingly critical role in the public opinion field and the business field.

Today we will mainly talk about four groups of national emotions. There are seemingly contradictory positive and negative tensions between them, but they have a common emotional background. They are:

• Solidity and sweet dreams
• Calculation and generosity
• Admiring the strong and pitying the weak
• Warm and cool

In the field of brand marketing, if you can resonate with the mood of the times, you will undoubtedly achieve twice the result with half the effort and achieve greater results with less effort. Therefore, we will expand on these four groups of emotions one by one and explain the key points of the corresponding marketing, hoping to give you some inspiration.

1. Practicality and Dreams

People long for the down-to-earth

But I couldn't help but release a beautiful dream balloon in the illusory sky

This year, a variety show called "Let's Farm, Youngsters" became popular. It has neither gossip about big stars nor beautiful scenery or delicious food. It is just about ten unknown boys who work hard in the fields every day. The first season was filmed for more than 50 episodes, and it actually attracted many people to watch every episode.

The program team surveyed some loyal viewers and asked them why they loved watching it. Many of the answers pointed to one direction:

Facing the uncertainty of life, I saw a group of people working hard on the land, sweating and then slowly mastering the methods to harvest food. This sense of solidity that "there is a reward for every effort" is a great encouragement to me.

This sense of solidity comes from the " downward " inclusiveness - farming is the simplest and most reliable thing. The land is right under our feet, and farming is in our genes. It seems that every Chinese can "go home and farm", and there will be rewards for hard work.

The same sense of security is hidden in the vegetable markets, night markets and community stores that have become popular this year. These places are far away from high consumption and the swordplay and flattery of the workplace, and can easily accommodate any tired individual in the city.

Instead of fighting for an opportunity to move upward, it is better to seek a steady downward movement . After all, the current consensus is that the probability of an individual sliding downward is much higher than that of climbing upward.

However, we still have to have some hope. Nowadays, more people place this hope on "dreaming".

This year, lotteries are popular, temples are popular, and all kinds of fortune-telling businesses are booming - it is more reliable to rely on good dreams than to try your best. People cannot defeat the trend, but everyone is equal in front of luck. Various fantasy TV series are more popular than realistic themes; in the mini-program short dramas, the amnesiac homeless man is the heir of the group, and the domineering president falls in love with me is irresistible.

Solidity and beautiful dreams seem to be one real and one illusory, but the common background of the two emotions is the response to an uncertain environment: either seek certainty in the real world that makes people feel at ease, or simply hide in a fictional environment to have a certain beautiful dream.

Hidden Marketing Code

Downward solidity: To create a sense of solidity for people when doing personal IP, small and micro business or experience economy, the secret is " low cost " and " human touch" . The former refers to low participation cost (participation energy, price paid, consumption cost), and the latter refers to providing a simple and real feeling of being cared for and taken care of. These are the forces that can catch our lives and emotions when people are in a panic of "slipping down".

Upward dreams: The further away from reality, the more attractive it is. In content creation, content marketing or service experience, you might as well dream boldly. The key is to present people’s secret and strong wishes - to become a "protagonist" once , whether it is good luck from heaven, being chosen by a strong person, or briefly experiencing the aura in a scene.

2. Be calculative and generous

Life is compromised now

The future self is worth looking forward to

When talking about the company whose performance has bucked the trend this year, we can’t leave out its name - Pinduoduo.

In the second quarter of 2023, Pinduoduo's revenue was 52.2807 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 66.3%, and its net profit was 13.1 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 47%. What does this mean? Comparing the financial reports of several major e-commerce companies, a single-digit growth rate in revenue in a single quarter is the norm, and the slightly better situation is only a little over 10%.

Pinduoduo's performance has soared, and everyone understands the core reason. The whole nation has started to be frugal and shop around for daily consumption. Pinduoduo has directly met everyone's demand for low-priced goods through various subsidies and without so many fancy promotional activities.

It seems that we are becoming more and more fussy about our living expenses, whether it is placing orders on Pinduoduo, making deposits across regions, or choosing to pay off mortgages in advance. However, there are also opposite situations.

Let’s look at two industries:

First, medical beauty. Judging from the semi-annual reports of A-share listed companies this year, medical beauty continues to "advance rapidly". *ST Meigu, Aimei, Huaxi Bio and Jinbo Bio, four leading listed medical beauty companies, achieved a total revenue of 5.553 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 17.57%, and a net profit of 1.456 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 42.86%.

The second is the study camps and summer camps that are very popular this summer. This kind of consumption is expensive. "Generally speaking, compared with similar tour groups, the price of study camps is about 30%-50% higher, and some are even higher." According to Ctrip data, the number of summer study camp orders in 2023 increased by more than 30 times year-on-year.

Whether it is medical beauty or study camps, they are both non-essential and high-priced consumer goods. Why are people willing to spend a lot of money on them?

The reason is that, despite being fussy about reality, people are more interested and willing to buy a better future . The future must be better than the present, which is the secret hope of most people. When consumption means investing in oneself and the future, whether it is making oneself more beautiful, children stronger or life better, it is irresistible and people are willing to spend a lot of money.

Hidden Marketing Code

Being calculative and generous are both instructive for consumer goods merchants.

The former is easy to implement. Whether it is price discrimination, anchor point locking or various promotional activities, it is not difficult to create pricing and sales methods that make consumers "feel like they can get a bargain" . The key is to give a rationale for low prices - rather than suspecting that merchants are compromising quality or quantity. A good example is the price war between Hema and Sam's Club. The core reason is of course to compete for high-quality members (urban middle class), but it also gives consumers a reason to rest assured: you are lowering prices to fight a price war, and the more you cut prices, the happier we are to buy, buy, and buy.

If merchants want to stimulate the "generous" side of consumers, especially for high-priced products, they must learn to hint and link it to consumers' self-investment.

Let’s take a look at an example. In Gigi Lai’s live broadcast room, how does she sell skin care and beauty products?

The first point implies that you can "re-nourish" yourself with exquisite products, start with good products, and start anew on the journey of caring for yourself; the second point is that what you buy is not the product, but the cultivation of good aesthetics and taste - by choosing the color of a lipstick or the color of an eyeshadow palette, you can slowly improve your aesthetic appreciation ability and taste in life.

This is the approach of converting short-term consumption into long-term investment , which is especially worth learning from in the product design and marketing of durable consumer goods, experience services or cyclical products.

3. Admiration for the Strong and Pity for the Weak

Mu Qiang is "the possible self"

Pity the weak is "the self that may encounter"

In recent years, a common feeling is that life is not easy.

With such a mood, the mentality of admiring the strong and pitying the weak has undergone subtle changes.

Before we talk about what kind of strong people we admire, let's first talk about what kind of "strong people" we hate. Yes, it's the "lucky people" in "dreams" (novels, short plays, TV series). The image of the lucky people in the other dimension is a projection of individual wishes, but when faced with a real "chosen one", people are often indignant and disgusted.

If you rely on luck to rise all the way and take everything for granted, you are more likely to become a target, such as Li Jiaqi and Hua Xizi. This naked contrast of reality shows people the cruel side: they are not the ones chosen and favored by the god of fate.

So, what kind of strong people do we like now? The answer is: those who have a firm vision and finally succeed after a long period of suffering that ordinary people may not be able to endure. Note that if the vision of the strong is something we agree with, and the price they pay is something we find difficult to accept, then it is reasonable that what they get and gain is much higher than that of ordinary people. Note that the hidden assumption here is that if we are willing to pay, that person may be us .

Dong Yuhui, Zhang Songwen, Huawei... are all like this.

This also proves why Hua Xizi did not gain public understanding and recognition when she listed what she had done and what she had achieved. We should see the efforts and difficulties behind it, rather than just talking about it in a flowery way.

The same is true for the mentality of pity for the weak. If the object of admiration for the strong is a "self" that assumes that it can give and gain success, then the object of pity for the weak is to tolerate a "powerless" self .

A typical example is the influx of netizens into the live broadcast room of Vitality 28. Three "old men" started a live broadcast without being familiar with the live broadcast process. Behind them was a production workshop. The live broadcast was mixed with the noise of fans and machines, and the picture often froze. Faced with such a live broadcast room and the helpless anchor, netizens were full of sympathy. While buying, they also offered various suggestions for the live broadcast.

In this regard, people's inner subtext is: helplessness in the face of change, and the inability to conceal the clumsy response... This may be a situation that everyone may encounter in an era of rapid change. Pity and help today's "weak" people, and also hope from the bottom of their hearts that they may fall into the same situation in the future and will also be treated kindly and helped.

The business code

How to respond to the people’s feelings of admiration for the strong and sympathy for the weak?

When it comes to the invisible value of a brand’s output, it can be summed up in four words : “Beauty is better than truth.”

Here are three levels of reference:

1. What do you insist on doing?

Huaxizi and similar brands with internet celebrity attributes have long been lacking in brand value management. This has led to a thin "lucky" image, and the brand foundation is extremely unstable. The key to solving this problem is not the obvious lines such as celebrity endorsements, packaging upgrades, and symbolic elements, but the hidden line management of the brand . The first step is to tell everyone why you insist on doing so. All subsequent actions can be gathered around this core value point. This is also the most important part of the "admiration for the strong" emotion, why do you pay?

2. Confess the whole process

Whether you are a strong party or a temporary weak party, if you want to gain the emotional support of users, you must first let the public see and understand you. In this era, brands need to be more "frank" with the public, including their own experiences and processes. There are two core practices:

(1) Trade-offs, twists and turns, and difficulties: When practicing your values ​​or safeguarding the interests of third parties (users, employees, society, etc.), you may boldly disclose the difficult trade-offs, difficulties, or even losses you have experienced. This usually takes the form of interviews, self-media narratives, and CEO narration.

(2) Deepen the sense of participation: If the company only solicits opinions and co-creates products, the company’s openness is insufficient and users cannot fully and deeply understand themselves. Deepening the sense of participation means inviting users to join in matters related to the company’s values, such as Nongfu Spring’s search for water sources, Tiaohai Bistro’s one-day store manager, and Patagonia’s earth protection campaign.

3. Be Honest About Your Shortcomings and Mistakes

When facing mature consumers (sensitive and alert), brands should not use emotions to "sell misery" at any time. The best way is to directly present the facts and be honest about flaws and shortcomings. It is not only about confessing mistakes and accepting punishment when something goes wrong or something negative happens, but also daily self-examination and disclosure are also very important.

4. Lively and Cool

People seem eager to embrace

But in my heart I keep my distance

This year after the epidemic seems to be more lively.

Dopamine colors are bright and flamboyant, concert tickets are hard to come by, and holiday travel is crowded...After experiencing the isolation and loneliness of the epidemic, everyone hopes to be in a warm atmosphere and feel fulfilled and energetic.

This layer of excitement is more like the color floating on the surface. If you look deeper, more people choose to keep their distance, be "beautiful alone" and "clear-headed", and be more cold in their hearts, keeping a certain safe distance. This is reflected in the current continuous decline in marriage and fertility rates, and the prevalence of "pairing" relationships: just sharing interests, not talking about feelings, but it is easier to get along.

The corresponding emotions for both liveliness and quietness are insecurity. Being in a crowd can bring warmth, but the inner distrust of intimate relationships (only trusting oneself) and sense of distance are rooted in the hearts of more people.

The marketing code

About bustle : concerts, barbecues, night markets, pubs... these lively atmosphere scenes are more likely to attract customers. If you are one of the links or can integrate the corresponding scenes into your own product marketing or service experience, it is also easier to borrow the potential energy of emotions.

For brands, if they want to spread the event themselves, it is more suitable to create a warm atmosphere offline, infect seed users on the scene, let them generate sharing materials with real feelings, and then spread and spread to expand influence . The "sense of the scene" is much easier to impress people than a micro-film or other materials.

About Qingleng : Compared with previous years, it is more difficult for brands to move people with emotions nowadays - people's intimate trust is more scarce, resulting in weaker emotions that can be projected onto brands. During this period, it is recommended that small and medium-sized brands or new brands, in particular, change from "becoming close friends" to "becoming partners" , which is relatively easier to succeed.

If you want to become a "partner", you should focus on two points. The first is common interests, which means having common interests with users in a certain field and being able to communicate effectively, including creating topics, outputting content and interacting with users. The second is to establish a reliable professional image , including product development capabilities, rich knowledge accumulation, professional partners and honorary endorsements.

Finally, as a marketer, businessman or manager, it is extremely important to remain sensitive to public emotions. On the positive side, being able to adapt to and leverage emotions can make user and employee communications smoother, and cleverly capture emotional needs to achieve business goals. On the negative side, it can also avoid the "minefields" in the hearts of the public and avoid putting oneself in a dangerous place of emotional backlash.

Author: Lan Lan

Official account: Taro and Cat Talk (ID: taro_cat)