July Marketing Strategy | How can brands seize the user's mind and take advantage of it accurately?

Editor's note: July is coming, and within 30 days, there will be many national festivals, hot topics and natural solar terms. These festivals bring excellent exposure opportunities for brand products and activities, but how to accurately position and take advantage of the trend is a problem that every brand marketer must think about and solve.

July is just around the corner, and this hot month will bring many golden opportunities for brand marketing. Festivals, hot spots and solar terms are intertwined, and brands must keenly capture the essence and motivation of each node to ensure that their products firmly occupy the minds of users.

Comprehensively analyze holiday content, cleverly combine hot topics, grasp users' emotions and demands, and make the product an indispensable part of their memory of July.

Be prepared for a rainy day and seize the opportunity. How can brands take advantage of the situation in July? One by one, brands will start to compete with users in a clever way.

1. National Festival

1. July 1st is the Party's Founding Day

(1) Leverage elements and directions

Elements: red, sickle, hammer, wheat ear, salute, love the party

direction:

• Red products or ideas evoke communist ideals;
• Reform and opening up, expressing the spirit of brand reform and innovation;
• Pay attention to grassroots groups and convey the original intention of the revolution.

(2) Points to note when leveraging momentum

• The political tone should be moderate and avoid being too radical;
• It should match the brand attributes and sincerely reflect the brand value;
• Avoid creating preconceived notions about the brand and forming stereotypes.

(3) Reference cases

To celebrate the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China, Bilibili launched a long scroll treasure hunt. To celebrate the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China, Bilibili launched a long scroll treasure hunt, which is an interactive web game with the theme of reviewing my country's achievements in poverty alleviation.

Through the interactive form of treasure hunting, this mini-game leads users to review the poverty alleviation achievements made by the Party in leading the people. It not only takes advantage of the opportunity to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Party, but also achieves an effective combination of political propaganda and entertainment, with remarkable marketing effects.

All Cotton Times takes advantage of the concept of sustainable development and achieves the goals of naturally degradable, recyclable and sustainable cotton by making it the best it can be. It uses technological innovation and zero-carbon transformation as a means to protect the green mountains and clear waters.

This case demonstrated the brand's commitment to environmental protection and sustainable development during the Party's Founding Day.

In the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Party, many people who have carried the burden for us have passed away. If you were there, you would see this prosperous era. This short film expresses the remembrance of the martyrs and gratitude for modern prosperity through the hypothetical narrative of "If you were there", recalling the hard work of the Communists in the past and looking forward to the beautiful present and future.

It uses a warm approach to evoke the audience's revolutionary sentiments and love for the Party and the country, and is a Party Founding Day theme video worth learning.

2. July 11 is China Maritime Day

(1) Leverage elements and directions

Elements: ships, compasses, navigation flags, navigation qualifications, nautical charts, navy

direction:

• The nautical theme emphasizes the spirit of exploration;
• Choose marine or maritime products to reflect the theme of Maritime Day;
• Show patriotism, traditional culture, and pay attention to protecting the marine environment.

(2) Points to note when leveraging momentum

• Avoid excessive politicization and focus on entertainment and emotional aspects;
• To be associated with brand attributes and products;
• Pay attention to the authenticity and positive orientation of the information.

(3) Reference cases

Postal Savings Bank of China launched a Nezha Conquers the Dragon King themed stamp album on China Maritime Day, and carried out publicity and interactive activities through social media, leveraging China Maritime Day for marketing promotion.

Taking advantage of China's Maritime Day, Postal Savings Bank of China launched a Nezha Conquers the Dragon King themed stamp album, which echoed the theme of the event and attracted user participation through interactive activities on social media, thereby enhancing brand awareness, user engagement and the communication effect of the event.

Louis Vuitton (LV) used "Drifting Bottle" as the theme in its 2021 Spring/Summer Men's Show. It put a group of colorful naughty ghosts and a new men's collection into a container and released an animated promotional film called "The Adventures of Zoooom with Friends".

This event is based on a sailing journey that is both real and imaginary, unfolding a mysterious and exciting journey from Paris to Shanghai.

On the occasion of the Sailing Day, Nestlé Coffee cooperated with Shiqu to heal the spiritual exhaustion of young people by creating a unique scene of Summer Ice Coffee Island and an offline live broadcast event "Nestle Youth Island Landing Day".

This summer marketing campaign has achieved remarkable results in terms of reading volume, interaction volume, content publishing volume, etc. By cooperating with Shiqu, Nestlé Coffee successfully leveraged the marketing momentum and attracted the attention and participation of young consumers by creating unique scenes and offline live broadcast activities.

In addition, by associating the brand word cloud with product features, Nestlé Coffee successfully promoted users’ understanding and interest in the product. However, in order to further enhance the effectiveness of the campaign, attention should be paid to the clarity of brand communication and the evaluation of marketing effectiveness.

3. July 17th Food Festival

(1) Leverage elements and directions

Elements: food, red wine, tableware, kitchen supplies

direction:

• Promote food or food culture, emphasizing the pleasure of tasting;
• Catering theme activities reflect the joyful atmosphere of foodies;
• Choose gourmet food or tableware products to highlight the festive atmosphere.

(2) Points to note when leveraging momentum

• Avoid excessive marketing and authoritative recipe propaganda;
• Focus on embodying brand sentiment and choose a food direction that matches your own attributes;
• The information should be true and credible, avoiding exaggeration and excessive marketing.

(3) Reference cases

Taobao Food Festival, foodies can always lead new food trends in the ever-changing environment. Juhuasuan launched the super IP Taobao Food Festival to hold a super promotion on the 17th of each month.

One year later, Juhuasuan discovered many new and "advanced" food attitudes of foodies. Therefore, on the Foodie Festival, Juhuasuan published a series of unexpected foodie stories with the theme of "New Foodie Statistics Bureau" to redefine the word "foodie".

On the day of the Foodie Festival, Ele.me teamed up with Taobao's new fashion brand chillhigh and Nengmao Store to design a series of trendy clothing for the platform.

In this move, Ele.me keeps up with the trend and foodie culture, grasps the consumption psychology of young people, and through cross-border cooperation with well-known foodie brands, allows the two cultures to collide perfectly visually, creating a marketing effect of "1+1 is greater than 2".

This marketing method, which is highly consistent with popular culture and young people's preferences, is a very successful brand co-marketing case and is worthy of our study and reference.

Lay's held a food festival to attract food lovers and consumers by leveraging food culture. In this event, Lay's launched potato chips with various flavors and interacted with consumers through online and offline interactive activities and lucky draws.

This type of marketing is in line with the interests and needs of the target audience, helping to increase brand awareness and appeal. By providing a wide range of choices, brands can better meet consumer needs, increase purchasing desire and brand loyalty.

4. July 28th is World Hepatitis Day

(1) Leverage elements and directions

Elements: liver, medical treatment, slogan "love your liver and protect your health"

direction:

• Pay attention to social welfare and publicize disease knowledge and prevention and treatment measures;
• Choose products or concepts related to healthcare;
• Initiate public welfare activities related to topics of social concern.

(2) Points to note when leveraging momentum

• The authenticity of the information must be certified by an authoritative organization or endorsed by a professional;
• Don’t over-market your products, and be genuinely concerned with public welfare topics;
• You can choose to cooperate with hospitals, foundations and other institutions to enhance the influence and credibility of the event.

(3) Reference cases

Ping An Good Doctor used #世界肝炎日# as the topic on World Hepatitis Day and actively took advantage of the marketing. They held the 2021 World Hepatitis Day Promotion Conference in Beijing with the theme of "active prevention, proactive detection, standardized treatment, and comprehensive containment of hepatitis hazards", aiming to promote the whole society to fight hepatitis and eliminate its hazards.

In the publicity, in addition to emphasizing the various causes and early symptoms of hepatitis, fatty liver was specifically mentioned as an important cause, and the importance of dietary adjustment and regular exercise was emphasized.

This marketing approach has made good use of the attention paid to World Hepatitis Day, raising public awareness and attention to hepatitis and advocating active prevention and early treatment.

An area that may need to be avoided is to be more accurate and comprehensive when mentioning the causes of hepatitis, covering more possible causes in order to provide more comprehensive information and guidance to the public.

On World Hepatitis Day, SenseTime used #WorldHepatitisDay# as the topic for marketing.

In their campaign, they briefly mentioned the date of World Hepatitis Day and called for the prevention and treatment of hepatitis, emphasizing the importance of health to everyone. This marketing campaign was very concise and clear. It used the hot topic of World Hepatitis Day to attract public attention and conveyed a simple but important health message. This campaign did a good job in resonating with and engaging the public.

However, a possible area of ​​concern is that when mentioning hepatitis prevention and treatment, some specific actions or suggestions could be provided to help the public better understand how to actively participate in the prevention and treatment of hepatitis.

Zhihu used the topic #Reject Liver Disturbance and Live a Lifetime of OK# for marketing, closely integrating with the hot topic of World Hepatitis Day.

In their campaign, they mentioned the World Health Organization's theme of eliminating hepatitis, and sparked a discussion on the importance, specific practices, and challenges of eliminating viral hepatitis. By referring to the Global Hepatitis Report and the analysis of the Senior Hepatitis Advisor, they guided readers to further think about the possibility of eliminating hepatitis and called on readers to contribute to the elimination of hepatitis.

This kind of marketing by leveraging the trend combines knowledge dissemination and social participation well, stimulating public interest and participation. It can be said that while they use hot topics to attract attention, they also play a role in education and publicity.

2. Topical Festivals

1. Summer vacation & graduation season: early July

(1) Leverage elements and directions

Elements: graduation cap, education, diploma, workplace

direction:

• Graduate activities or awards to cheer on graduates;
• Products or services related to education and training;
• The youthful and energetic brand image conveys positive energy.

(2) Points to note when leveraging momentum

• Focus on sincerity and positivity, and give graduates real support and encouragement;
• We should cooperate with universities or social organizations to enhance the influence of activities;
• The information should be true and avoid excessive marketing.

(3) Reference cases

Yousugar chose the hotspot of college graduates entering the society and job hunting in 2022, and joined hands with Zhaopin.com to launch the "Customize Your Excellent Resume" activity. The activity published an H5 page on the WeChat official account, guiding users to select relevant options to generate personalized resumes, creating an interactive experience between users and brands, and setting up reward mechanisms such as lucky draws to attract participation.

Bilibili chose the hot topic of the annual college graduation season and collaborated with the well-known musician Wu Qingfeng to launch the graduation song "We All Own the Ocean". Through the production and release of original music and MVs, Bilibili successfully combined with hot topics, spread platform and brand information, and enhanced its influence among young people.

Lancôme Little Black Bottle and GQ have a dialogue with nine graduates including Zhao Jinmai, He Yunchen, Shao Yihui, and Liu Qing during the 2022 graduation season, presenting them with a special gift. Through cooperation with the well-known magazine GQ, nine graduates were selected as dialogue partners, showing the combination of brand and fashion culture. Taking advantage of the important node of graduation season, Lancôme Little Black Bottle is looking for suitable spokespersons among the graduates, and with their influence and topicality, it gives the brand more emotional resonance and youthful vitality.

3. Solar terms and festivals

1. July 7 Minor Heat

(1) Leverage elements and directions

Elements: scorching sun, ice cream, parasols, swimsuits, coolness

direction:

• Promote cooling or sun-shading products to bring cool enjoyment;
• Choose a summer theme to create a cool and comfortable atmosphere;
• Organize outdoor activities related to Minor Heat.

(2) Points to note when leveraging momentum

• Choose brands and products that match the theme of Lesser Heat and reflect the characteristics of the solar term;
• Focus on sincerity and positivity, and convey tips on heatstroke prevention and life;
• Cooperate with medical institutions to disseminate heatstroke prevention knowledge and serve the general public.

(3) Reference cases

Bestore chose "Minor Heat", one of the traditional Chinese solar terms, as a festival node and designed a related Chinese style poster to spread information about new products. The poster combines Honghu lotus root, the main ingredient of the new product "Guixiang Nut Lotus Root Powder", with the atmosphere of the Minor Heat festival to create a fresh and elegant visual experience, allowing users to associate with the product while appreciating it, thus achieving the purpose of guiding users to understand the new product.

Migu seized the opportunity of the "Minor Heat" cultural festival and launched animation works related to it. Through animation, it tells the knowledge of the Minor Heat solar term, guides users to understand Chinese traditional culture, and spreads brand value. This method of combining cultural elements with original content is a successful example of brand content marketing.

China Eastern Airlines released a short video related to "Minor Heat" to promote its brand through this cultural festival. The short video humorously compares the high temperatures in various parts of the country to "roasting mode", reminding everyone to cool down and relieve the heat.

Combining hot topics with life concepts is a good marketing method, but we also need to avoid being too relaxed and superficial in marketing execution, and infect users with rich brand connotations. This is also the direction of improvement we need to draw from this case.

Liushen Floral Water promoted its summer essential product Liushen Cool Floral Water as the Lesser Heat approached, taking advantage of the hot weather and social media topics for marketing. By taking advantage of the hot weather and social media topics, Liushen Floral Water successfully promoted its summer essential product, highlighted product features, and encouraged users to participate in interaction, thereby increasing brand awareness, user engagement, and market influence.

2. July 23, Great Heat

(1) Leverage elements and directions

Elements: heat, bonfire, straw hat, barley, fruit

direction:

• Launch products or activities that clear away heat and reduce internal heat;
• Select traditional festival customs such as highland barley sachets to highlight Chinese traditional culture;
• Pay attention to social welfare, publicize heatstroke prevention knowledge, and bring coolness to vulnerable groups.

(2) Points to note when leveraging momentum

• Avoid excessive marketing and focus on interaction and experience with consumers;
• Choose cool products and themes that match your brand image;
• Cooperate with social organizations to provide cool air to disadvantaged groups and demonstrate public welfare care.

(3) Reference cases

Midea released brand copy related to "Great Heat" to promote its brand through this cultural solar term. The copy starts with details of life, combines the cooling and comfort of Midea's home appliances, expresses the brand concept, and achieves the purpose of brand marketing.

The combination of hot topics and life concepts is a mode of brand content marketing. Midea's idea of ​​integrating cultural solar terms into life concepts for brand communication is worth learning from, but we also need to avoid being too lifelike and superficial in execution, and infect users with rich brand connotations. This is also the direction of improvement we can get from this case.

Ele.me seized the cultural festival node of "Dashu" and used the popular Internet buzzword "一激灵" to design 5 pairs of themed packages, and attracted users to participate in the interactive form of collecting package stickers to exchange for ice cream. The combination of hot elements and interactive activities is a successful example of new media brand marketing. Ele.me combines cultural festivals with popular elements to create interactive activities.

In addition, avoid relying too much on hot topics and gimmicks during implementation, and infect users with rich brand connotations. This is also the direction of improvement we can get from this case.

McDonald's seized the opportunity of the cultural festival of "Great Heat" and interacted with users by selling sweet potatoes and sweet potato-related products at half price, thus achieving its brand marketing goals. However, in practice, it should avoid relying too much on hot spots and discounts, and infect users with rich brand culture. This is also the direction of improvement we can get from this case.

IV. Summary

July is a hot summer month, with festivals and hot topics everywhere. But remember, you should choose a festival that matches your brand and products as the marketing focus. Blindly following the trend will result in a waste of time and energy.

The first thing to be planned according to actual needs is the important political festival of the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Party. We should pay attention to the red elements and the direction of the Party history propaganda, and choose appropriate ways to carry out brand communication. China Maritime Day is also an important node in July, and ocean and navigation themed brands can make more use of it.

Foodie Day and World Hepatitis Day should focus on public welfare and sincerity. Provide authoritative medical information, pay attention to food culture and interactive experience. Do not over-market, and give users real support.

During the Lesser Heat and Greater Heat solar terms, we should use the concepts of cooling down and preventing heat stroke. We should launch related cooling products, publicize knowledge of preventing heat stroke, and bring coolness to the society. However, we should also avoid being too life-oriented and base it on the brand connotation.

During the summer vacation and graduation season, we should give sincere support to graduates and choose appropriate training or job search services. Activities should also invite universities and authoritative institutions to co-sign to enhance their influence.

We should make good use of new media and H5 and realize the integration of online and offline activities. We should actively participate in public welfare and cooperate with relevant organizations to create a positive social influence.

Plan ahead and keep up with the pace of the festival. Choose festival marketing that matches your brand, and you will definitely achieve great success in July marketing! I believe the above summary can provide important reference for everyone's July marketing, let's get started!

Attached: July marketing node mind map, friends who need it can take it~

Author: Dion; Official Account: Yunyingpai (ID: yunyingpai666)