Gift Marketing: A New Model of Five Product Strategy Construction

The five-item strategy built a new model for gift marketing, and also found a strategic path for enterprises: categories should be subdivided, brands should be upgraded, quality should be optimized, varieties should be enriched, and products should be improved.

The marketing model of a business enterprise can only make a positive response to the marketing environment in a specific period to ensure the effectiveness of its marketing tools in the market practice process. The consumption characteristics of the domestic gift market require that companies must make a reasonable analysis and assessment of the entire market and find a marketing model that suits their own survival and development. Moreover, changes in the marketing environment that have been spawned by the traditional gift market and the emerging gift market also require the next gift company to re-examine its own marketing resources and make targeted improvements or re-engineering of previous models. Wupin Strategy not only built a new model for gift marketing, but also found a strategic path for the company to implement gift marketing.

Categories should be subdivided according to traditional marketing theories. Resources limited to capital, technology, channels, and personnel are not sufficient. A company cannot meet all the needs of all consumers in the market, nor can it capture all the specific needs of the market. consumer. Therefore, for enterprises in almost all industries, to gain a firm foothold in the market competition, it is necessary to effectively subdivide the market according to the development stage of the company or brand and the specific resources possessed by the organization, so as to choose the best for themselves. Target market to serve. Specific to the gift market, it is also necessary for the practitioners to classify the entire market at the category level in order to clearly define the outline of the mainstream market for the organization. Through the niche marketing strategy, it strives to be the leader in this category.

In the market segmentation of gift items, gift companies can be conducted in two steps. First, companies can incorporate geographical factors (regions, population density and climate, etc., can subdivide sub-markets such as specialty gifts), demographic factors (age, gender, family structure, income, occupation, education, ethnicity, religion, etc.) Sub-divided into sub-markets such as children, middle-aged and male and female), psychological factors (social class, lifestyle, personality, etc., can be subdivided into sub-markets such as mass, niche, and customization) and behavioral factors (applicable sites, usage rates, Such factors as brand loyalty and appeal interests can be subdivided into one or several of the numerous factors such as business, government affairs and festivals. Second, besides defining the target market's spatial scope, price affordability and other factors, gift companies should choose one or several categories as their main direction. In the market, the success of many companies is based on the outstanding market performance of a certain or a series of products, and sometimes a brand may become synonymous with such products.

The multi-domestic consumer products industry has gradually shifted from the “brand derivatives category” to the “brand-supported brand” era. The marketing logic relationship between brands, categories, products and markets has undergone profound changes. The essence of gift category marketing is that companies explore their own unique advantages (such as technological development advantages, precise niche market positioning), and occupy a position in the customer's mind (specifically, the uniqueness of the category market to achieve First, for example, the oldest, most rigorous process, the most complete product, etc.). More importantly, the unique face culture characteristics of gift consumption in the domestic market also require gift companies to seize consumer mental resources from the different perspectives of product concept, functional usage, and marketing communications in the process of product category segmentation and successfully implement “categories”. Subdivision - sub-division of the boss's marketing strategic thinking can ultimately meet the unique needs of gift givers and recipients in the "face consumption" cultural environment.

The value of a brand to upgrade a brand lies in the relationship between the brand and the customer. It is a functional value (whether the product or service can meet the explicit demand of the consumer) and emotional value (how much the product or service is The sum of the psychological, mental, or emotional implicit needs of the consumer. In addition, the long-term existence of a certain brand in a specific market must be based on the continuous commitment of the brand to provide consumers with a solution. The brand promise can be embodied in the functional level of the product (the customer's affirmation of the superior performance of the product, considers "value for money" or even "value for money"), and can also be reflected in the cultural recognition level (customers have a deep understanding of the brand's unique value attributes Experience, brand and customer in the spirit or emotional communication achieved, has resonated), and can even be reflected in the spirit of sustenance level (brand-customer relationship rose to a "spiritual dependence" or "emotional sustenance," the new At the level, customers will get satisfaction, pleasure, pride and sense of belonging similar to religious piety because they choose a brand.

According to the different types of products or services, the functional and affective values ​​account for different proportions in the sum of brand values. For example, ordinary fast-moving consumer goods (such as bread, sausages, and condiments) emphasize functional values ​​more. Crossovers, and relatively scarce special luxury goods (such as diamonds, yachts, watches, and luxury homes, etc.) tend to appeal to emotional values. Essentially, gift consumption is not just a functional concept of a product, but a concept of emotional interest. This benefit is the psychological perception that the customer recognizes. Like ordinary products, gifts can also bring some kind of psychological satisfaction to consumers. The difference is that this kind of psychological satisfaction is achieved through the buyer's emotional expression to the recipient. Therefore, the consumption of gifts has gone beyond the physical properties of the products themselves, and has extended to the level of consumers' psychological attributes. In the entire consumption process, it highlights a blessing, a concern, a kind of condolences to the recipients. Thank you. Therefore, if a company wants to sell a specific product line as a gift, it also needs to consider the unique attributes or main appeal of the brand in the gift market.

In the process of brand communication between the gift company and the target market, in addition to the functional role of the communication product, more marketing resources should be inclined to the refinement and dissemination of the brand value concept. The reason why the gift brand can distinguish three different levels is mainly based on the following two reasons: First, different gift companies face different target markets, making the gift market multi-polar demand can be satisfied at the same time; Second, can become spiritual Branded companies face medium, high-end, or even ultra-high-end markets. In this type of market, companies will put forward more long-lasting and severe tests on product functions, brand value, and cultural recognition. At present, there are too many gift companies in the domestic market to pay too much attention to the propaganda of product function attributes, but do not pay attention to the development of brand culture or spiritual attributes, making the concept of gift products in an excessively competitive state. Therefore, following the three-step process of brand evolution, breaking through narrow product function appeals and gradually perfecting the brand's unique attributes at a higher level is the only way for domestic gift companies to meet future competition.

The quality should be optimized to take a comprehensive look at the development of multinational brands, whether it is Procter & Gamble, Siemens, or Sony, General Motors and other brands, all of which regard the improvement of product quality as an engine for enterprises to obtain long-term competitive advantages, because they know that only the long-term stability of product quality is maintained. Continuous improvement can only adhere to the origin of marketing—the product or service of an enterprise can effectively meet the integrated needs of the customer at the functional or spiritual level. Moreover, in this process, the customer's superior experience of product functionality is a necessary prerequisite for spiritual identity. Therefore, the product can be regarded as the origin of all marketing work, and the design and implementation of various brand marketing activities will also be a process of customer's complete experience from the product's final return to the product. Starting from the product and continuously providing customers with excellent solutions should be the principle of the company's ever-changing competition, and also the survival guarantee of any enterprise existing in the business environment.

Gifts are a good carrier for emotional expression. Relatively speaking, in addition to factors such as brand image, fashion trend, price range, acceptability and grade of recipients, the purchaser of gifts has a much lower degree of involvement in product quality, but it does not mean that companies can ignore the stability and improvement of quality. . Moreover, since the purchaser and the end user (gifted person) of the gift are separated, the emotional expression between the two must be truly "landed" and must be completed with the help of the quality of the gift itself. In recent years, there have been a number of negative news in the health care products industry, which are mainly reflected in “false propaganda” or “exaggeration of publicity.” In essence, it is a prominent reflection that many health care products have inherent flaws in their product quality. This, to a certain extent, also overstretched the market's trust in the industry. Only by solving the consumer demand for gift quality at the functional level (health, environmental protection, stability, and continuous improvement) can a gift company provide the most basic brand endorsement function for subsequent marketing and promotion activities.

In addition, according to the different scenarios of gift purchasers, such as courtesy consumption, service consumption, self-supporting consumption, and consumption-based consumption, enterprises also need to look at the product quality level with more divergent thinking. Under different consumption scenarios, the gift buyers’ level of demand for product quality will also show greater differences. Enterprises need to consider factors such as channel characteristics, brand positioning, price range, and packaging design to make a good balance between them. In order to meet the multi-level demand for product quality under different consumption scenarios of gifts. The consumption scenarios of gift purchase can be divided into four types: one is to spend their own money and do their own thing. At this time, the buyer focuses on the optimal price-performance ratio; the second is to spend his own money, to do other people's affairs, and then to buy The focus of the attention is on low prices; Third is to spend other people's money, do their own thing, then the buyer's focus is on the best quality; Fourth, spend other people's money, do other people's affairs, then the buyer's attention Focus on high prices for better quality.

Variety should be enriched in each company's portfolio, no matter how perfect its product mix, there will always be some products, play a role in the company to achieve sales and profits to make outstanding contributions. In the process of brand development, companies are constantly introducing new product varieties to meet the constantly updated needs of consumers. In simple terms, the company is accumulating its own brand strength in the rounds of product upgrading, and gift companies are no exception. In short, gift companies should first have a rich product portfolio (the same category for different levels of consumer product structure, a number of categories for different functional user groups appeal) to meet the diverse needs of the market. Appropriate product mix structure can not only increase the turnover probability of gift sales to meet the needs of customers of different consumer demands, but also effectively block competitors' erode to senior markets.

However, the gift company's product portfolio is not as good as possible. Blind pursuit of "bigger and comprehensive" will not only exceed the company's ability to absorb resources, but will also consume unnecessary marketing budgets, and will eventually be counterproductive. Then, after determining a more comprehensive product portfolio, next, gift companies need to strategically position all their products, that is, distinguish star products (mainly through high-cost products, selling hot, to create word of mouth spread Role), core product series (brand effect produced by star products, driving the sales of serial products) and ancillary product series (mainly to meet occasional demand for small-piece gift consumption, supplement the first two product series). Of course, whether the company wants to achieve the market position of a star product or a core product, it is first necessary to answer the following series of questions: Is the market orientation of the company effective? Does the company have the resources to support this market positioning? Does the company's internal coordination of system capabilities drive the brand strategy? Does the external environment support corporate market positioning? The creation of core varieties of gift companies needs to be analyzed in terms of product development, price design, channel construction, marketing communications, promotion combinations, and internal system management coordination.

The phase of the product's social interaction and the special needs of “face consumption” make the “customer rely on clothes and horses to rely on the saddle” as the saying goes to describe the domestic gift-consumer market, which is quite appropriate. Gift packaging is for the buyer. The direct stimulating effect of the senses with the recipients has played a strong role in this regard. In the purchase decision process of gift consumption, in the case of the same use value and the same price of the product, when the purchaser of the gift is faced with a number of brands to choose from, he or she often pays more attention to whether the design of the gift provider is fashionable and the packaging is Beautiful and elegant. Therefore, whether or not possessing the characteristics of packaging design agreed with gift consumers becomes an indispensable element in the process of gift consumption.

Since the gift serves as a carrier of emotional transmission, it is necessary to first induce the visual pleasure of the purchaser and the recipient. The text, graphics, lines, and colors on the gift wrapper will create visual “irritations” for the customer to inspire specific “images” in his mind, such as festive, noble, elegant, nostalgic, Fashion, etc., that is, brand association, in turn allows customers to closely associate these “images” with specific places, users, and specific cultures, and through visual stimuli, allow them to form a psychological identity with the product and ultimately stimulate their purchasing behavior. Of course, in the process of pursuing “eye-catching” and inspiring customers to create positive brand associations, there are two issues that need attention: First, avoid “packaging for packaging”, excessively imitated packaging following strategy may make itself lack Features; Second, to avoid “too much of a joke” and to overrule the overwhelming, overly-packaging of gifts, ignoring the foundation of the gift market—product quality before emotional appeal. In addition, the gift packaging design must consider the integrated elements of the brand market positioning, target consumer groups psychological cognitive system, competitor packaging strategy and social fashion elements in order to achieve an aesthetic level between characteristics, personality, tradition and fashion. balance.