Top 10 Marketing Keywords in 2022 | Year-end Summary

In the context of the new era, some new trends have emerged. For example, due to the impact of the epidemic, outdoor lifestyles such as camping have become popular, and the number of podcast listeners has grown rapidly... The author of the following article introduces us to these emerging marketing methods, let's take a look.

Before we knew it, 2022 is fading away and we have welcomed 2023.

Looking back over the past year, we found that some marketing methods are still effective, such as emotional marketing that can see into people's hearts, the common sentimental marketing, and the brand collaborations that continue to go viral. Of course, in the context of the new era, some new trends have emerged. For example, due to the impact of the epidemic, outdoor lifestyles such as camping have become popular, and the number of podcast listeners has grown rapidly...

The following are the top ten marketing keywords for 2022 that we have summarized, taking you through the changes and constants, routines and innovations of the past year. This inventory is based on comprehensive data such as the search volume, click volume, collection volume, and number of comments on the Meihua.com work library. If you have different opinions, please feel free to add to the discussion~

1. Camping and Frisbee

In 2022, "camping" and "frisbee" swept the entire Internet, and young people fell in love with "outdoors". In the post-epidemic era, as a substitute for tourism, outdoor activities have become a new scene for young people to expand their social circles. When "camping" and "frisbee" become new social currencies, they naturally provide brands with consumption breakthroughs and opportunities to get closer to consumers.

Riding on the trend of camping, Xiaohongshu officially entered the tourism industry and moved into the upstream of tourism services and supply chain. In May, with the theme of "Camping is a way for adults to play house", Xiaohongshu released a set of fresh videos and posters with copywriting, which can be regarded as an antidote to the depressed life of young people today. This copywriting has also become a popular slogan in 2022.

In combination with outdoor scenes, we see that many brands have also made efforts on the brand side. McDonald's launched outdoor peripherals such as Big Potato Kite, Big Potato Frisbee, and Big Potato Inflatable Sofa; The Beast launched camping mats, night lights and other camping supplies...

Some brands also directly launched outdoor activities to match specific groups of people and promote related products. In early July, Mentos and Gravity jointly launched the "Frisbee Competition", recruiting "Frisbee Warriors" from the entire network to gather in Shanghai and carry out a series of "revengeful fun" Frisbee activities. Taking advantage of the summer sports scene, Mentos launched three light and thin sugar-free mints in white peach, green grape and fresh mint flavors.

It is foreseeable that outdoor consumption will continue to rise in 2023. According to Mafengwo's "2022 Outdoor Leisure Trend Report", more and more young people are seeking social value, emotional value, and health value in the outdoors. At the same time, people's outdoor leisure sports experience is becoming more trendy and rich. Skiing, camping, cycling, fishing, frisbee, rock climbing, surfing and other niche and trendy sports are particularly favored by young people.

So, are you ready to join the outdoor craze?

2. Bad Marketing

No emotion is "innocent", and no emotion can escape the "law" of marketers. From depression to lying down, and now to "playing rotten", seemingly different "words" actually convey a similar collective emotion - black humor, pessimism and negativity. High housing prices, high competition, high pressure... Since there is no way to change it, just lie down and play rotten.

By seizing the collective emotions of the moment and using them properly, marketers can achieve twice the result with half the effort and successfully break down the gap and barriers between themselves and young people.

During the Double 11 shopping festival this year, Weilong actually changed the design of its official flagship store to "Buddhist-style urging orders". The interesting Buddhist copywriting and the "non-competitive" mentality formed a sharp contrast with the Double 11 style of other stores, which was inward-looking, and successfully brought in goods in the opposite direction.

Coincidentally, in order to promote the new product "Baqi Yisheng Tao", Nayuki used "Baolan Tao" as the protagonist, drew a series of simple avatars, and updated them daily on Meituan, successfully attracting the attention of young people and generating a group of followers. As a result, "Baolan Tao" successfully promoted the brand's new products. According to official data, Nayuki's peach series has sold more than 1 million cups.

3. Joint ventures are not dead

I never expected that the trend of joint ventures would continue unabated in 2022. This year's joint ventures are countless.

In April, Luckin first linked up with the "mudslide in the advertising industry" Coco Tree Coconut Juice to bring about a cross-border collaboration, presenting the idea of ​​"being extremely rustic is trendy"; then on Chinese Valentine's Day, Luckin made another bold move and directly approached the "Chinese Valentine's Day top IP" Sad Frog to collaborate with it, creating the "Chinese Valentine's Day Don't Guagua Frog, Luckin Likes You" campaign, which swept social networks.

Creativity is the reorganization of new and old elements, and the wonderful combination of Luckin Coffee, coconut tree and sad frog has created a different chemical effect.

In June this year, when Dream of the Red Chamber was on the air, Heytea quickly joined forces to bring the TV series into reality, making a strong presence. So far, it has also led a wave of tea drinks and major film and television IP linkage trends. Following Heytea's footsteps, in September, Nayuki's Tea linked up with the hit drama Canglan Jue to bring a series of joint names and peripherals, curing the "jue syndrome" of many drama fans. In October, Heytea, which has been working non-stop, linked up with The Legend of Zhen Huan again, performing "Everything can be The Legend of Zhen Huan", using the topic effect to leverage real sales.

4. Sports Boom

From the Winter Olympics that sparked a nationwide craze to the World Cup that flooded the friend circles, 2022 ushers in a big year for sports.

During the Winter Olympics, the most eye-catching thing was Luckin Coffee, which bet on Gu Ailing. On the eve of the opening of the Winter Olympics, Luckin officially announced Gu Ailing as its brand spokesperson, and when Gu Ailing won the championship, Luckin was the first to release celebratory materials. Offline, Luckin also opened two pop-up theme stores, offering related peripherals at one time, including cup sleeves, paper bags, and cheering signs to cheer for Gu Ailing.

Thanks to efficient operations on the execution end, Luckin Coffee successfully converted Gu Ailing's traffic into brand popularity, becoming a popular brand for the Winter Olympics.

The World Cup that just ended at the end of the year also had Chinese brands. In the last World Cup, Messi's failure made Mengniu's slogan "Born to be Strong" full of spoofs and irony. With Messi's victory in Qatar, Mengniu also successfully reversed its image and gained popularity. It is worth mentioning that in this World Cup, in addition to Messi, Mengniu also successfully signed Mbappe, becoming the biggest brand winner in the finals.

At the same time, taking advantage of the popularity of the final, Mengniu also launched the "No matter who scores a goal, come to Mengniu" activity on its online mini program. For every goal scored during the World Cup, Mengniu will give away 1,000 boxes of milk, bringing user sedimentation to the brand traffic pool.

With the rise of the national sports spirit, the popularity of major sports IPs remains high. Brands can effectively leverage sports IPs to resonate with users from the emotional dimension to the value level, narrow the distance with users, and establish trust and goodwill with users.

5. BUG Marketing

Bug marketing, also known as loophole marketing, means that the brand actively creates "loopholes" through product forms to reduce users' vigilance and make users feel that they are getting a good deal (getting a bargain), thereby achieving exposure, dissemination, and even conversion, bringing about a viral effect.

In the middle of the year, the #Ele.me free order for one minute# event was supported by the "BUG marketing" technique.

Unlike the previous publicity methods of big exposure and bombardment, the #Ele.me free order for one minute# campaign was unusually low-key. Around 10 am on June 21, when the first batch of users received refunds and asked about the refund reasons on various platforms, the campaign began to generate ripples. Subsequently, #A large number of users received free orders from Ele.me# became a hot search, and the first batch of users became spontaneous users, speaking out for the authenticity of the free orders, becoming the key to triggering the campaign.

Similarly, the fast food brand Lao Xiang Ji also took advantage of a BUG vulnerability.

On October 24, Lao Xiang Ji distributed 100,000 free lunches to celebrate its "100-store breakthrough in Shanghai". However, the mini-program crashed and 180,000 free lunch coupons were claimed... Just when netizens thought that the brand's apology public relations was about to be staged again, Lao Xiang Ji's official Weibo account released a stamped statement, notifying netizens that the over-issued free meal coupons were real and valid, and extended the event verification period to November 7.

It seems that huge losses have been incurred, but it has also created a textbook "BUG marketing" case for Lao Xiang Ji - that is, pretending to have a suspected system bug to create a viral effect among consumers (after all, who doesn't want to take advantage?). Lao Xiang Ji then showed a wave of "magnanimity and generosity" as a "weak" and welcomed the peak of word-of-mouth, achieving brand and effect integration.

6. Nostalgia

Nostalgia marketing is not new, but it has always been effective.

In 2022, Wang Xinling brought back a lot of memories for the 80s and 90s with her song "Love You". Netizens said, "Dead memories suddenly attacked me." A group of middle-aged male fans on TikTok imitated Wang Xinling's singing and dancing, making "Wang Xinling" the boy of the year. As a popular artist, Wang Xinling also successfully won multiple endorsements such as Mofashijia and Jindian, and her commercial value soared.

Affected by the epidemic and other related factors, people's anxiety and fear have gradually emerged, and consumers have begun to choose a safe psychological comfort to escape the cruel reality and gain temporary psychological peace. As a result, nostalgia has gradually become a common social phenomenon.

In May, KFC and Pokémon brought Psyduck on Children's Day, which caused a hot scene of "one duck is hard to get". For users born in the 80s and 90s who grew up watching Pokémon, now they have grown up and have a certain purchasing power, they are willing to pay for the feelings of childhood. Yes, every adult was once a child, and although the childish Psyduck is just right for adults.

It is not difficult to find that brands’ “nostalgia marketing” can allow consumers, with the help of advertisements/products, to recall the simplicity and beauty of their childhood, trigger consumers’ resonance through collective memories, and meet their emotional needs.

Who doesn't have Jay Chou in their youth? At 8pm on November 19, Jay Chou's "Brothers' Club" was launched on Kuaishou. Once it was launched, it quickly spread in the circle of friends, triggering nostalgia. According to Kuaishou live broadcast room data, the audience interaction reached 100 million in just 10 minutes after the live broadcast began. By the end of the night, the total number of likes exceeded 1.05 billion, and the highest number of people online at the same time exceeded 11.29 million...

7. Dark Marketing

In June, in order to promote the latest mulberry products #桑葚梅梅# and #芝芝桑葚#, the white and fat Snow King logo of Mixue Ice City was transformed into the "black and fat" "Coal Ball King", which attracted the attention of a large number of netizens. The official also participated in the topic discussion. On June 19, several related topics such as #蜜雪冰城黑化# were trending on social media.

Under the high temperature, Mixue Bingcheng took advantage of netizens' discussion on the hot weather and used the blackened Snow King to create topics, "making a small profit with a big gain" to increase exposure for the new product launch.

Mixue Bingcheng is not the only one to use the dark marketing. As early as April this year, in order to promote its new special blend "Cool Blackberry Mulberry", Heytea took the lead in dark marketing and launched the gimmick of #Who blackened the Heytea logo#. On the new logo, the little boy's hair exploded and he turned into a Super Saiyan.

At the same time, HEYTEA officially announced its cooperation with street fashion leader Fujiwara Hiroshi. Fujiwara Hiroshi's "cool" and mulberry's "black" coincide with each other. On the first day of its launch, it was sought after by fans and sold over 150,000 cups.

8. Patriotic Feelings

With the rise of China's national strength and the increasing national self-confidence, content expressing national culture, national spirit and patriotic sentiment is becoming more and more popular among users.

In early August, when a woman's escape to Taiwan triggered public sentiment, Want Want, a Taiwanese-funded company, was quickly targeted by netizens. Then the Weibo of the second son of Want Want was dug out. What was unexpected was that the second son's speech was simply a contemporary Internet mouthpiece and a patriotic lone hero. Then a wave of netizens turned into wild consumers and gave Want Want thumbs up.

9. Fireworks Literature

In the past two years, various literary forms have become popular on the Internet, and Shanghai RT-Mart Supermarket has redefined what "fireworks literature" is for us.

In early June, Shanghai, which had been under lockdown for more than two months, was finally lifted. When work and production resumed, Shanghai RT-Mart Supermarket used a set of humorous copywriting to announce the return of Shanghai. Anthropomorphic techniques and a unique philosophy of life. In the poster copy released, carrots, potatoes, cabbages, etc. were relegated to "cold palace vegetables", while shallots, garlic, and cola became "supermarket top streams".

After the National Day holiday, Shanghai RT-Mart once again brought fireworks literature, but this time it focused on the workers after the seven-day National Day holiday. The same anthropomorphic technique (letting the fresh food speak) was used to spy on the daily lives of the workers, and I seriously suspected that RT-Mart was monitoring my life.

Supermarkets and vegetable markets, as the corners closest to people's daily lives, have their own flavor of fireworks and communication effects.

In addition to Shanghai RT-Mart, Kuaishou Xiaodian’s market literature also grabbed the spotlight. In mid-June, Kuaishou Xiaodian held a special "Realistic Literature Exhibition" with the theme of "Reality" at the Xingshan Road Farmers' Market in Qingdao, interpreting the fireworks of the world with "strength".

10. Brand Podcast

As the marketing dividends of pictures, texts and short videos disappear, many brands have begun to focus on podcasts, a niche media platform. The word "podcasting" comes from the combination of Apple's "iPod" and "broadcast", and is a form of content that uses audio as a carrier. "Podcast" is also called "audio podcast". Users can use "podcast" to upload their own "radio programs" to the Internet to share with the majority of netizens.

According to data from the podcast search engine Listen Notes, due to the impact of the epidemic, the total number of podcasts in the world increased by more than 1 million in 2020. With the increase of more creators and listeners, podcasts are increasingly demonstrating their commercial potential.

In early November, the newly upgraded Big Mac made its debut. McDonald's not only invited Malone to shoot a new advertisement, but also launched a special project called "Open the Big Mac and Chat" on Apple Podcasts, Xiaoyuzhou, Himalaya, NetEase Cloud Music and other platforms. From the taste of food to socioeconomics, McDonald's unlocked every aspect of the Big Mac and dug out the stories behind it through three Chinese podcasts: "Left and Right", "Nice Try" and "Beigongsheyin".

There is also "Planet Radio" jointly produced by Santonban Coffee and Xiaoyuzhou APP. "Planet Radio" has six different themes, corresponding to the coffee No. 1 to No. 6 under Santonban Coffee. Each season will invite anchors from different fields to host, including Jiang Sida, Yang Dayi from "Culture Limited", Liu Fei from "Three Five Rings", radio DJ Fang Zhou, etc. The content covers culture, music, comics, food, creativity, youth life and other circles, bringing a content feast to the audience.

At present, most of today’s brand podcasts are not “advertising-oriented”, but connect with consumers through perspectives and content in various fields, and subtly implant brand information into the minds of consumers.

Of course, the current domestic podcast gameplay is still in the exploratory stage. We will wait and see whether there will be new gameplay in 2023.

Author: Meihua.com

Source: WeChat public account "Meihua.com (ID: meihuaevent)"