To clarify the involution of products, this matter must first start with categories and cognition.
Why is the category behind the brand?
Product involution!
Cognition is the same as "value".
There are 3 basic assumptions:
Consumers think by category and express by brand;
The basic unit of memory is the category unit;
The basic characteristics of the mind
1. Consumers think by category and express by brand
This is the ultimate and the initial value, to be precise, two cases: when there is no brand, the consumer expresses the demand itself in terms of category (give me a glass of water);When there is a brand, consumers express their needs with the brand (bring me a bottle of Nongfu Spring).
The insight into demand lies in the everyday, colloquial expression of consumers. The insight into the expression of consumers' daily needs is the source of the marketing foundation.
This source determines how you understand marketing and how you do marketing - marketing starts with people and needs end with people.
2. The basic unit of memory is based on categories
You can understand consumers' memories of a brand as a small draw. Different types of brands will be put into different mini-draws, and the classification label of the sinks is the category.
A small draw (category) can only put (remember) 7-9 brands. Memory is based on categories, with the upper limit of 7-9 brands as a limit, and it is impossible to remember more, which is the most important thing.
3. The 6 basic characteristics of the mind
These 6 basic characteristics are the core of understanding the consumer's mind, and even the method of positioning.
1. Refuse to change2. Limited capacity3. Aversion to chaos4. Rejecting similarities while reserving differences5. Lack of security6. Preference first.So, it corresponds to the 6 basic principles of our branding:
1. Conform to cognition2. Count one of the best3. The word occupancy,4. Be different5. No faith, no standing6. Preconceived.
To achieve a different difference, it is necessary to break through the threshold of consumer cognition, so as to achieve the effect of cognitive segmentation. Now they are all talking about enterprise involution, what is involution?
In fact, isn't the core of involution the homogeneous "quality" of products?In fact, it is not the homogenization of products, but the homogeneity of consumers' perception of products. That is, the threshold of cognition has not been broken down, and it is not distinctive enough.
How to effectively break down the threshold is to start a new line and make a new appearance;Create new species, new categories (this is the first level of efficiency), because: "different species are very different";New species naturally bring with them new understandings.
Of course, it is not only necessary to understand, but also to deeply understand from the perspective of category and differentiation: why is category powerful?
What is a category?
Category refers to the classification, storage, and naming of relevant information by consumers.
The value for business lies in categorization, storage, and naming. A naming is a classification, and a classification represents a consumer demand, classification, storage, and naming, which directly affect the consumer's choice to buy.
Consumers express their needs by category and choose products by brand. Coke or Sprite, Starbucks, Didi, The whole value of the brand is whether to express the demand with your brand when the consumer demand arises.
Or create a new category
Either divide an old category
The underlying logic of the unchanged category is that the value of docking customer needs remains unchanged - category docking needs, consumers think by category, and express with brands - a bottle of Coke, a drink of Starbucks, and a drop of drops.
Coke = Coca-Cola, Starbucks = coffee, Didi = taxi, the brand occupies (represents) the category, which is the shortest path to grasp the underlying needs of consumers.
The brand is the tip of the iceberg, and the category is the whole iceberg - only by understanding the category can we better understand the business.
Three logics of categories:
Category is not the cause, but the effect: what kind of category a new brand chooses to enter the game largely indicates the result - the old product is redundant, and the innovation is reasonable.
Consumers think by category and express by brand;
Category is the matrix: consumers match their needs with categories, express their needs with categories, and choose products with brands.
Innovative subdivision is the most crude and direct expression of differentiation.
Insight into the original category differentiation:
A deep understanding of categories is the foundation of category differentiation
Category is the colloquial expression of consumers, docking needs and expressing needs.
The value of being a brand lies in the brand = category, and the faster this equal sign is drawn, the more valuable it is
How to understand differentiation
Identifying and selecting category opportunities is the primary business decision for entrepreneurs
Category differentiation has brought new market space, and differentiation is the driving force of business development
It is clearly unwise to wage war in a highly competitive ** zone and requires more resources
New media generates new content, new content brings new people, and new people promote new brand opportunities
Category differentiation brings new market opportunities: it is easier to make new brands in the process of category differentiation.
Only new categories can lead to new perceptions, and new perceptions bring new brand opportunities – 80% of business decisions come from how you identify new opportunities for category differentiation.
Most of the new brands that can come out in the three years from 19 to 21 are based on the differentiation of categories.
Differentiated from the traditional cereal category, the oatmeal of freeze-dried fruits, the king is full of oatmeal.
Differentiated from the traditional bird's nest category, freshly stewed bird's nest, Xiaoxian stewed.
Differentiated from the traditional braised chicken feet, the more delicious tiger skin phoenix feet are fried first and then marinated, Wang Xiaolu
The origin of demand has never changed, what has changed is only the way to meet demand, and new category opportunities or category feature opportunities are new opportunities for brands.
The power of "differentiation" makes the world colorful, and everything in the world originates from "differentiation", and "differentiation" is the inevitable trend of the development of species.
Three logics:
1. Category is not the cause, but the effect2. The value of business lies in brand = category, the faster this equal sign is drawn, the more valuable it isEscape from the involution and focus on two degreesEscape from the involution and focus on two degreesStrength (product power);Clarity (consumer).3. Differentiation and innovation of subdivided categories are the crudest and most direct expressions of differentiation.
The bottom layer of the collective unconscious consciousness is manifested in the economy, culture, and humanities, and it is also buried in the unchanging DNA and source of human beings.
What is this DNA, the source?
Hegel believed that the most fundamental driving force for the development of human history is psychology, the heart of man and human beings who want to be "recognized".
First of all, "Positioning".: The ultimate competition is in the mind, and the brand is the tool to occupy the mind.
On this basis, there are 3 basic positioning principles:
1. Leader positioning2. Correlation positioning3. Reposition (to competitors).The second is "Business War".: Four basic models:
1. Offensive warfare, 2. Defensive warfare, 3. Flank warfare, 4. Guerrilla warfare.The four basic business models are based on competitors.
It is what Sun Tzu said in the Art of War: those who know themselves and their opponents know their opponents (competitors).
Therefore, the premise of positioning is based on competition, and great enemies can have great achievements.
Who are our enemies and who are our friends, this is the main question of the revolution.
The number one problem in the corporate competitive growth revolution is the vacancy.
And then there's SpotlightWhere strategy necessarily involves trade-offs, the core of strategy is not war, but first of all strategic strategy (ignorance).
It's just that you don't do anything to do something well;
If you don't do anything, you will have more energy to specialize in what you specialize, what you can do fine, and what you can do thoroughly.
By focusing on the external occupation of the "first", establish the perception of advantages;Multiply the internal subtraction method and concentrate the superior resources.
Then the question is, focus, focus - to what extent do you find the focus?
For example, Fotile focused on high-end kitchen appliances and won the battle against Siemens;The boss focused on the big suction and won the Fang Tai.
On the one hand, everything is too much, and the strength is too great;On the one hand, it is a hundred steps, half ninety, and it is not finished at all.
This brings us to the question of focus.
The degree of **, I think it is about 3 aspects:
1. Competitors, 2. Mental vacancies, 3. Enterprise endowment brings an advantageous foundation.The essence of focusing still has to return to the consumer side, because the core result of positioning is that the brand occupies a cognitive advantage.
To this end, the criterion for judging is whether the actions focused on by the enterprise form a clear, specific and concrete cognitive advantage on the consumer side.
For example, when I mention the xx brand, I think of the xx product;When it comes to xx products, the xx brand comes to mind first.
From xx brand to xx product, from xx product to xx brand,This unconscious reaction of consumers is the evaluation of the degree and the quantity of the degree. Afraid of getting angry, drink Wang Laoji.
In the end, it comes down to "The Origin of the Brand": why is the origin of the brand, because it answers the essential question and the ultimate question of the brand - the parasitic mother of the brand is the category, the strength of the brand is because of the parent (category), and the death of the brand is also because of the decline of the parent (category).
You'll have to find the Mayflower to discover the New World, not the Titanic.
This brings us to the understanding of form and potential.
The brand is the shape, and the category is the potential
Those who are good at fighting seek the potential, and this potential is the category dividend and the vitality of the category;This potential is where the force of the brand's Force awakening lies.
We were wrong with everything, but we lost - Nokia. Nokia lost out on the demise of the feature phone category, along with Motorola, Ericsson, and BlackBerry.
Someone loses, someone wins, and Apple wins (a new generation of smartphones) by a big margin;Xiaomi won (the direct version of the smartphone) Huawei won (the first choice for business people) From feature phones to smart phones, now the folding screen is another round of new opportunities.
The strength of the brand lies in the replacement and iteration of the category.
For this reason, creating and leading a new category is the first choice of brand strategy or the best practice of brand strategy, because it has found - the vacancy.
Therefore, the degree of focus at this level can be understood as:Focus on a clear, unambiguous, and specific category in the consumer's mind
Of course, it needs to be clear: it is necessary to distinguish between real and fake categories;Figurative category, abstract category. The core of the strength of the degree is to form a clear perception of consumers - occupy empty seats.
So,One of the degrees of focus is strength (product power) and the other is clarity (consumers).
Strength is whether the enterprise can multiply after subtraction to release focused energy.
One is to release this energy to form a cognitive clarity on the consumer side, and the clearer this clarity, the more powerful the vacancy will occupy.