Party A’s secret weapon: Other brands can also be used

The solution is great, but "other brands can use it too." How can this problem, which has troubled the advertising industry for a long time, be solved? This article analyzes the solution to this problem and looks for the unique advantages of brands. I hope it will be inspiring to you.

No matter if you are a well-known figure in the advertising circle or a veteran who has experienced many battles, after you submit your strategy or creativity, you cannot escape the client's fatal blow: Your proposal is good, but other brands can also use it.

Party B, dead.

So, is there a solution to this century-old problem that has plagued the advertising industry?

01Other brands can be used, but generally people are embarrassed to use them

Nowadays, peer supervision is the most stringent, stricter than the Advertising Law. Not to mention copying the creative ideas, even if the insights are similar or the execution methods are similar, peers will complain about it. Once it is determined as plagiarism by the online public trial, the brand manager of Party A will lose face, Party B will feel embarrassed, and the creators will regard it as a stain on their careers and will not put the case in their resumes. If you go to the comment section of Shuying.com, you will know how harsh peers are on each other. You don't have to worry about whether other brands can use it. If they want to use it, the brand manager will be at great risk.

02Other brands are rushing to use it, which means you are doing it right

There are also smart people in business who don't care about the moral cleanliness of the advertising industry. It doesn't matter whether it is plagiarism or not, commercial success is king. Almost all the ideas of Apple's products are plagiarized, and no one cares.

I don’t care whether other brands can be used or not, as long as it can solve my brand problem, I will use it immediately.

Is Wang Laoji worried that Jiaduobao will also use "怕起火"? Not only is it not worried, the two are even suing each other for the right. The more fierce the fight between the two shows how correct this strategic slogan is and how valuable it is.

Dongpeng Special Drink is not worried that Red Bull can be used for "tiredness and sleepiness", and even directly "takes it for granted".

The general was in a hurry and had no time to care about the little rabbit.

03Even if it is used, can its strategy keep up?

Teacher Xiaoma Song once told a case which can be called a classic. He came up with an advertising slogan for Sanpangdan melon seeds, "Choose 2 taels out of 10 pounds of melon seeds", and his competitor followed suit and came up with "Choose 1 tael out of 10 pounds of melon seeds".

In fact, an advertising slogan is not just a sentence, but a unique set of business activities is needed to support it. If you advertise "Choose 2 taels out of 10 jin of melon seeds", then your seed technology, product selection criteria, promotion strategy, etc. need to be "strategically matched". Only when you strictly implement it can you form positive feedback in the market. If a competitor advertises "Choose 1 tael out of 10 jin of melon seeds", if its quality does not meet the actual experience, consumers will naturally abandon it; if it is true, then the brand itself needs to improve its quality.

04Are there any creative ideas that are unique to your brand?

On a small tactical level, it is possible to come up with creative ideas that are unique to a brand.

All you have to do is combine your creativity with the brand name or the brand's unique VI system.

For example, one year BMW made a New Year advertisement with the slogan “Enter BMW to attract wealth and success”, but Mercedes-Benz and Audi could not use this slogan.

For example, Wang Laoji’s “surname cans”, “Zhao Laoji”, “Sun Laoji”… every surname has the character “吉” in it, so Jiaduobao cannot use this idea.

This kind of creativity is hard to come by. If you only pursue "exclusivity", you will limit the possibility of creativity.

05Is there a concept of exclusive brand at the strategic level?

No.

But if you capture the concept in a category and execute it resolutely, it's yours.

For example, when it comes to safety, Volvo, Shenzhou Zhuanche, and 360 are all talking about safety. Even Bull, which has always claimed to be the "leader in sockets", has changed its name to "expert in safe electricity use".

These are different categories. In the same category, when the market structure has not yet taken shape, in principle, every brand can be used. However, strategy is about choice, and choice means giving up. Volvo chose safety, so it is unlikely to talk about luxury, driving pleasure, etc. BMW chose driving pleasure, so it gave up business, comfort, etc.

After making your choice, you still need strategic determination. If you go for safety today and luxury tomorrow, you will end up with nothing left.

Finally, why is Party A so afraid that “other brands may also be used”?

Ultimately, whether we are doing strategic positioning or advertising, our goal is to give the brand a competitive advantage in business operations. If competitors can also use it, then the brand's advantages cannot be highlighted.

In fact, when doing marketing, you might as well take a bigger picture. When your competitors are trying to climb the hill you have climbed, you have already crossed the hill and set your sights on the vast distance.

Oh, by the way, there is another possibility. That is, when Party A really has no opinion on your proposal but has to give some advice, he may also say: Other brands can be used.

Author: Chen Wuyong

Source: WeChat public account "Chen Wuyong (ID: wuyongzhiyong2022)"