In 2015, the marketing world saw dramatic upheavals, but looking at the broader communication landscape, the author couldn't help feeling "dazzled by a profusion of flowers": marketing slogans claiming to be the "first" or "disruptive" were flying everywhere, with brands promoting vigorously, yet achieving mediocre results. Building and sustaining a strong brand is definitely not about the brand hyping itself alone. By breaking through the boundaries of the PC internet and constructing a marketing ecosystem of mass participation, leveraging terminal interaction as a key focus, these marketers who achieved remarkable results through internet communication have once again proven: capturing consumers is the only rule for brand success.
In 2015, we saw China Resources Wahaha Pure Water talking about "purity," Wanglaoji discussing "Internet+," and Mengniu Zhen Guo Li speaking of "fun"—all of which were brand approaches aligned closely with consumers. Among them, Mengniu Zhen Guo Li’s sponsorship of the second season of "Divas Hit the Road" performed exceptionally well, with its Weibo topic alone garnering 6.19 billion reads. Looking at its communication journey, it’s not hard to see that this was an integrated marketing campaign centered on program sponsorship, expanded through consumer interaction, and grounded in "fun" as the core content.
Integrated Marketing Powers Strong Brand Penetration
Relying on the concept of "fun" for integrated marketing broadened audience participation and strengthened the spread of the marketing momentum. At the start of 2015, Zhen Guo Li prominently signed Li Yifeng as its new brand ambassador, followed by an exclusive sponsorship of the second season of "Divas Hit the Road." Leveraging the best alignment with the show, it introduced the concept of "fun travel," integrating enjoyment into the experience and completing a high-difficulty sponsorship integration through online and offline integrated marketing. Mengniu Zhen Guo Li, with the consumer at its core, achieved resource integration that unified its "spirit," while also drawing consumers into the marketing process, giving the entire marketing strategy rhythm and structure.
Resource integration may seem simple, but it's actually a challenge in marketing, requiring the brand to maintain a "dispersed form with unified essence." The major success of Zhen Guo Li this time was largely due to its meticulous planning of integrated marketing: first, launching a new version of Zhen Guo Li packaging featuring Li Yifeng, where the national heartthrob’s lively and fun Q-version "fun travel" image ignited a buying frenzy upon release; second, placing QR codes for the official mobile game of "Divas Hit the Road" on the inner packaging—customers could simply scan the code while purchasing, not only enjoying the "fun" of drinking but also the fun of playing; finally, purchasing a full box of the new-packaged Zhen Guo Li qualified customers for a "fun travel" lottery with a 100% winning rate. Through a multi-dimensional, terminal-integrated marketing layout, making "watch Divas Hit the Road, drink Zhen Guo Li, play the mobile game" a new trend among young people, the brand’s positive philosophy influenced and permeated the lives of young audiences, successfully building a mass "fun" interactive marketing ecosystem unique to Zhen Guo Li.
The most important factor in marketing is "people." Focusing on consumers enables marketers to truly achieve effective connections with people. Centering around the word "people," and around the consumer, to make the brand the best—that is the greatest essence of a marketing ecosystem of mass participation. Industry-recognized brand "winning" marketers are made just this way.