In August 2023, Wu Sheng proposed the new concept of "Dialogue Era" in his speech "New Species Explosion·Wu Sheng Business Method Release 2023" at the beginning of autumn.
In the first month, fans of "Barbie" became popular first, then Heytea XFENDI's "Joy Yellow" came out of the circle, and then Luckin
Two months ago, starting from "Dopamine Outfits", "Dopamine Green Coffee/Tea Drinks/Juice"... Dopamine is found everywhere, and everything can contain dopamine.
Going forward, in February 2023, Wunderman Intelligence Think Tank pointed out in the "2023 Global Top 100 Trends Report" that people are determined to fight the continued difficulties with vitality, strength and an uplifting spirit: Pantone launches "Extraordinary Magenta" , Benjamin Moore has "raspberry red", and luxury brands also light up the show with various "bright colors".
▲Pictures from the Internet
This article starts with Wu Sheng's speech and talks about the new consumption dynamics created by the "dialogue era x emotional value", or the new gameplay in the post-new consumption era.
1. This is a big era that requires "dialogue"
2. In the era of dialogue, the "emotional track" that running enters, and the "emotional value" that can be expected in the future
3. Four new methods of dialogue with new emotions
3.1. Meaningful exploratory “dialogue”
3.2. Companion-style "dialogue" with like-minded people
3.3. Use scenarios to build consensus “dialogue”
3.4. Co-creative “dialogue” that inspires belonging
4. What is "dialogue"? Why "dialogue"?
1. This is a big era that requires "dialogue"
We are entering an "dialogue era", and scene brands show new characteristics of depth, equality, and presence. This screen-full of case explosions, whether murmuring to themselves or making noise, is not only the life and consumption landscape of this era, but also a business spectacle. ——Wu Sheng
Wu Sheng believes that after connection, "dialogue" is the best choice in this era. And gave 6 dialogue clues: new overseas is a dialogue of values, new intelligence is a dialogue of scenes, new sinking is a real-time dialogue, new aesthetics is a dialogue of concepts, new communities are a micro dialogue, and new efficiency is a dialogue of creativity.
After sorting it out, Brand Ape believes that the following four concepts need to be specially anchored:
Concept 1: Build a conversational interface and invent your own era
From "discover yourself" you have entered the stage of "invent yourself". We should prompt words more accurately like GPT and learn to build a "dialogue interface".
Concept 2: Continuous dialogue is more important than accurate connection
New businesses in recent years, such as membership-based warehouse supermarkets, social group shopping, DTC brands, autonomous driving subscriptions, content platform subscriptions... these new models are all pointing to the conclusion that the essence of new social business is a collection of "real relationships."
Concept 3: Dialogue with AI is a dialogue with the future
AI is a work companion, not a tool - Work with you, not for you. This sentence is simple and important.
Brand Ape also wants to expand the “dialogue” pattern a little further:
Idea 4: Asking questions is more important than solving them
Business generally creates wealth by "finding problems" and "solving problems."
In the past, there were many problems in society, which determined that the bottleneck of business scale was the "problem solving" link; however, this bottleneck relationship is being reversed in the AI era, that is, it has become "scarcity of problems" and "excessive solving capabilities" .
When a product comes from scratch, what does a product manager need to do?
Therefore, Shu Yamaguchi put forward three views in "The New Age of Humanity":
- The real reason why Japan is in trouble (stagnation of innovation) is "the scarcity of problems."
- In this day and age, good questions are more important than innovative approaches.
- We should envision the future rather than predict it.
Zoom in a little more. Socrates was named "the midwifery of knowledge" for his heuristic talks; Schumpeter advocated the "open door theory" (if you ask a question, I give you the answer and put a full stop, which is equivalent to me closing the door for you) .
When Elon Musk was 12 years old, he began to ask about the meaning of life, and realized from "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy": Any answer (answer) is absurd, only the question behind the answer (answer) is meaningful.
Therefore, Professor Li Shanyou concluded comprehensively: The meaning of life lies in your "questions"!
The meaning of life does not lie in a specific answer at all, but in the depth and height of the questions you can ask, which determines the meaning of your life. ——Li Shanyou
This may be the real value that "dialogue" gives to this era.
2. In the era of dialogue, the "emotional track" that running enters has the expected "emotional value" in the future.
Let’s return to new consumer phenomena, branding and marketing innovation.
In the past, if you created a positioning, proposed a concept, promoted a lifestyle, and created an Internet celebrity, consumers would flock to it; what about today? It’s hard to attract a crowd without “emotion”.
- The logic of "Zibo BBQ", "Special Forces Tour", and "Village BA Village Supermarket" is an "emotional expedition" in the fireworks of the world;
- "Tiezi", "City wark", and "dopamine" are based on the "emotional resonance" of people with companionship and conversational abilities;
- "APP captures the neighborhood", "street coffee/tavern", and "fired tea" are expressed as "emotional companionship".
The starting point of all these phenomena can be attributed to "emotion". It breaks out of class/product/circle/interest group and becomes a certain "emotion".
1. Past “emotional marketing”
Effective marketing always talks to choice and the emotional brain! Because your emotions never lie to you. ——"Emotion Driven" Javier, former vice president of marketing at Coca-Cola
In fact, "emotional marketing" has been around for a long time, and has repeatedly become the magic weapon for popular products to break out of the industry.
McDonald's and Coca-Cola dominate the world with emotional marketing; Jiang Xiaobai expresses his superiority with emotional expression; "Escape from Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou" breaks out of the industry by escaping emotions; "Wolf Warrior 2" breaks the box office miracle by relying on the confidence of a big country; and relies on selling surprises to go public. Bubble Mart blind box; there are also "nostalgic" emotions, "healing" emotions, "good luck" emotions...
There is always a wave of "emotions" on the way.
It is easy to understand that "emotional marketing" can sweep the screen: ① Emotions between people are highly contagious; ② Strong emotions can easily lead to spread; ③ The boost of social networks, especially in that era of lack of content.
Although "emotional marketing" in the past was remarkable, most of it can be attributed to "insight into society → drive/sell → you and me", but today's "emotional track" is different - its logic is "go deep into life → Companionship and dialogue → us”.
2. The current “emotional track”
Looking back at the various nodes and cross-border marketing in 2023, we will find that more and more brands are "dialogue" with every user with a straight perspective, equal attitude and sincere emotions.
For example, node marketing that uses the characteristics of nodes to create new product emotions and "responds" to the specific emotions of each festival; such as going beyond the 1.0 of creating topics through joint names and the 2.0 of surrounding products, and starting to explore the 3.0 of emotional dialogue; and another example is healing emotions 2.0, which is not simply Waves of poster copywriting, film and television killing, but accompanying users to actually do something.
- Brutalism echoes Mother's Day and integrates the love from "a tadpole looking for its mother" into new product designs; Jiaoxia integrates the vitality of Jingzhe into all-terrain outdoor shoes;
- Sandun and a half teamed up with Tidal to launch "Sound of Journey" to help consumers relax with music; ubras collaborated with Creative Shelter to launch a sleep therapy experience; Lingyin Temple for children and career, Faxi Temple for marriage focused on a placebo mood .
▲"SocialBeta 2023 Top 10 Digital Marketing Trends"
The gameplay is ever-changing, but one thing is the same: they understand that people’s emotions need to be accompanied, supported, transferred, resolved and exported, and through multi-dimensional dialogue, expression and action, they become the beneficiaries of this round of marketing innovation.
3. Future “emotional value”
In the second half of 2023, we will find that the "emotional value" evolved from the "emotional track" has a new life - with new values and new lifestyles as common denominators, with "dialogue" as the starting point, and with "accompaniment" "As the original intention, we continue to promote the development and release of personalization and diversity of the smallest emotional unit.
The simple understanding is:
- Go deep into the user's "life" and gain insight into the subtle/tiny emotions related to life;
- Find a certain emotion and "respond positively";
- Equal dialogue: look down rather than look down, guide rather than drive, create value rather than sell emotions;
- Continuous dialogue: focusing on one companion (long-termism).
From "Wukong" to the spirit of Populus euphratica, from "heroes have suffered many hardships since ancient times" to "a light boat has passed thousands of mountains" and "restless power", "emotion" has become a part of Huawei's brand.
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For brands that are determined to make a difference in today's unstable, uncertain and complex world, whoever can grasp the "emotional power" will have the initiative in the new track; whoever knows how to release "emotional value" through "dialogue" ", whoever can establish long-lasting connections with more users who are closely dependent on each other and trust each other; whoever can find the "meaning" of themselves and their users in the "dialogue", may gain new momentum for the brand's continued growth, and step forward. A new starting point for the future.
In a sense, communicating with users (brand marketing) has never been so "difficult" and "easy".
3. Four methods of new emotional dialogue: meaning, companionship, scene, and co-creation
Dialogue is the best art. ——Xu Zhiyuan's "Thirteen Invitations"
As we all know, every era has questions to answer, every generation has its own feelings, every place has different feelings, and every stage has different emotions. In other words, people's "emotions" are always Changing and flowing.
If you chase or passively respond to every emotion, you will lose more than you gain, like a monkey fishing for the moon. If you want to make good use of "dialogue value" and become the brand's new driving force and potential, you need to inject different "emotions" and start the dialogue from the following four aspects: "meaningful", "accompanying", "having scenes", "There is co-creation."
1. Meaningful exploratory “dialogue”
"The challenge we face today is to find meaning in the daily lives of each individual." - History Professor Gil Troy
Xu Zhiyuan has a wonderful statement, "Our current society is not actually a scarcity of materials, but a scarcity of meaning. The vast majority of consumption is actually meaning consumption and status consumption." From this, Luo Zhenyu launched the definition of "new consumerism" - with Consumption solves the problem of lack of meaning.
In other words, we live in an era of great leap forward from consumption sovereignty to life sovereignty, and the "individual" is obviously more important; this is also an era of saturated materials and depleted meanings, and "power" is the greatest energy in modern society.
At this time, "meaningfulness" will be the antidote to individual and social consumer sentiment.
New consumer brands can explore through three levels and find "meaning" in conversations.
Exploration 1 - Dialogue with individual life and find new meaning
When their upward life is interrupted by external forces, many people turn to inner spiritual exploration. People no longer expect a common life, but instead desire to see the stories of other individuals and draw new life inspiration and experience from them.
The following should be required courses for future brands:
- First, dialogue with individuals, explore inner spiritual and emotional resonance, and use each individual’s small narrative to help the group discover new meaning in daily life.
- Second, while talking to individuals, brands need to go into the group, observe and listen to the common needs of the group, and find common values to improve the efficiency of dialogue.
- Third, this dialogue process is two-way. Not only to help users grow, but also to learn new things from users.
In addition, brands can explore more valuable meanings through dialogue with real intellectuals and scholars. Beichen Youth, Youth Chronicles, Youth Power Center, Thirteen Invitations, I Study on the Island, etc. are all outstanding leaders in this exploration.
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Compared to the past, these conversations were conducted on an equal footing, with no pointing, but sharing.
Exploration 2 - Talk to yourself and explore the meaning of entrepreneurship and "meaning innovation"
There is a kind of innovation and entrepreneurship that starts from one's own love and desire. This model has become a key factor for many DTC brands and new consumer brands to ride the waves. This kind of innovation is also called "meaning innovation."
What is "meaning innovation"? —A new vision that redefines problems worth solving. Not just in new ways, but for new reasons.
If you think of "meaningfulness" as a "gift" to the world and entrepreneurs, everything will be easy to understand:
- It is an act of taking responsibility, through "gifts" we have the opportunity to create a more meaningful world, it is our way of contributing to human life.
- This is a pleasurable act because if we enjoy the gift, we will also feel pleasure while doing it.
Of course, you will also be pleasantly surprised to find that business success comes naturally because: ① people love things with "meaning"; ② "meaning innovation" is true value innovation; ③ "meaning" cannot be copied!
Exploration 3 - Dialogue with the times/society/nature, there is always the meaning of your existence
In today's and future marketing, the brand mission is not only to "create customers (Drucker)", but also to solve or influence some social problems by creating customers to create value.
This will be the "necessary transition" for every new consumer brand.
Different from the past, New Dialogue does not need to engage in grand issues, such as public welfare, charity care, business for good, environmental protection, etc., but to find specific "little things" that suit you, produce tangible results, and act together.
- "Common benefit": For example, a more in-depth discussion of the balance between business and public welfare and the implementation of "common benefit".
- "Micro": If we dismantle "co-benefit" from a microscopic perspective and subdivide it into each link of the production chain and each role in the ecological environment, we can gather together the daily bits and pieces to create a good or sustainable future.
- "Looking for your own unique "partner"": Deluxe's desert management; Xiaohongshu's ocean protection; Fauvism focuses on wild Asian elephants; babycare focuses on painless delivery; Shulai helps girls in remote mountainous areas break the "menstrual dilemma"...
The essence of the new "era" of dialogue is to build a bridge between business, life and meaning, in order to save and resurrect something that lasts in everyone's heart.
What emotion to inject: "Love"
The illusory "love" is actually extremely powerful in business. As Starbucks founder Schultz said, "No matter how large a business empire is, it will eventually be defeated by love and kindness."
Because we love meaningful things and all beautiful things; we care for others to gain pleasure, and caring for society to gain a sense of accomplishment; we love the things we create and the things we love.
When a brand takes "love" as its origin, conducts dialogues with individuals, itself, and the times, and strives to become the backbone of promoting various "meaningful" issues, it will also have a stronger relationship with society as a whole and the times. Close connections gain people’s more lasting love.
2. Companion-style "dialogue" with like-minded people
In psychology, humans are social animals. We need to establish connections and share life experiences with others, which is a rigid emotional need; in sociology, people not only want to maintain individual independence, but also hope to find a stratosphere, where they can interact with like-minded people. People get emotional value there.
Coupled with the age of material saturation, real connections between people are really valuable, and people who can listen and have patience and positive energy are even rarer partners.
At this time, new consumer brands and new communities that are willing to listen, accompany, and grow together appear on the scene. They accompany each other in three aspects: growing together, new communities, and proactive responses.
Companion 1: Long-term companionship—grow with users
Early emotional marketing was driven by emotions; emotional conversations in the past were based on hot topics; later community operations were based on interests; now, brand communities look towards long-term and tribal construction, shifting from interest-oriented to a group of like-minded people. Explore a new way of life together.
Tianzhen Juice’s “Little Hat Plan” has been with users for 7 years; the three-and-a-half-meal “Return Plan” has been with users for 7 seasons; Lululemon’s hot sweat activities have been from Europe and the United States to China throughout the brand’s establishment; The lifestyle community that Aranya started building in 2013 has evolved into nearly a hundred owner-controlled communities in 10 years.
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When brands lead users to delve deeper into a certain field and continuously enhance their emotions during activities, a long-term and certain companionship with common beliefs as the core and growing together, a sense of belonging and unique IP is established.
It cannot be said that they are unbreakable, but at least they empower each other. It should be noted that during this process, if consensus or resonance cannot be reached, the activity will naturally fall by the wayside.
Companion 2: From conversation circle to new community—accompanying users with super partners
In the new consumption era, consumer stratification has become more and more obvious. Some brands have grasped the trend and started "dialogue" with highly compatible interest circles, reaping waves of dividends.
However, in the post-new consumption era, just "dialogue" is no longer enough. It is also necessary to build circles and create "new communities" that can grow on their own: ① Satisfy users' needs for social relationships and become their partners in the process of pursuing "interests" and supporters; ② It also gives them support in their interests, stimulates their enthusiasm and motivation to deepen their hobbies and explore new things, and ③ prompts them to define themselves and develop their potential more deeply.
As far as brands are concerned, through the new connections built among community members, the "new community" can become a small community that penetrates daily life until it becomes a public IP. This is a matter of low investment and unlimited imagination.
This requires brands to find super partners to build a "new community" and help them become the core, opinion leaders, managers, and even shareholders of the new community.
- Can be wild and collected. By supporting various super players around the world, LEGO has created an independent and highly influential group of certified players, such as 360 "Lego Certified Player Communities" and 21 "Lego Professional Certified Masters" (LCP).
- There are also deliberately selected ones. Lululemon's store educator and 1,533 global ambassadors; Starbucks' coffee master.
- There are also those who have achieved success in others: the managers of Aranya’s various life communities; NIO’s Glanpai and MonclerCLUB; and Super Orangutan’s fitness instructors.
Two new understandings are needed about "new communities":
- Super partners are not the ones who contribute the most to the brand/community, nor the members who consume the most, but the few members who highly identify with the values of the brand community, are the most active in activities, and are willing to pay for their love. Of course, there must also be Members with certain organizational management capabilities.
- New communities must be integrated online and offline. The significance of offline lies in "spiritual landmark, experience field and base".
Because of this, Luo Zhenyu's "Friends of Time", Liu Run's "Power of Evolution", Wu Sheng's "Explosion of New Species", Chaos Academy's annual major course, in addition to selling courses and marketing, more importantly, as Professor Li Shanyou said, to A "field" created, a "field" for members to learn.
Under the new business ecosystem, re-understanding and building "new communities" will lead to dialogue with users at a higher level, which also means more professional user connections and more expanded participatory co-construction.
Companion 3: Companionship that responds proactively - empathy on the same frequency
Talk shows are popular, go for them; dopamine is popular, new colors are launched; Barbie is a fan, and Barbie is co-branded... Why are many brands having a hard time getting out of the industry despite all their efforts?
This is the difference between "passive" and "active": are you passively chasing the wind, or are you actively creating?
How to take the initiative to create? Just three steps.
- First, gain insight into the emotional elements with high empathy value behind hot spots. For example, behind the dopamine high-saturation color matching, there is personal expression, niche relaxation, hope and vision, self-reconstruction, and simple happiness.
- Second, find the emotional elements that are highly relevant to the brand, can share the same frequency, or want to communicate.
- Third, based on this emotional element, create exclusive emotional power and build a comprehensive communication field: experience, products, services, not just posters, content and events.
Miniso's performance through "Barbie" is remarkable: from the same emotional value (simple happiness) to exclusive emotional power (pink-pin matching), from special products and event experiences to all-round communication fields, important It also directly drives sales.
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After all, the public's attention and purchasing power are limited. In addition, social hot spots are constantly changing, and without the company of active creation and empathy, your "response" is often submerged in many events.
What emotion to inject: Like-minded
The first step in emotional marketing is to find the right person. ——"Emotion Driven" Ramilas, former vice president of marketing at Coca-Cola
I prefer the words of Liu Xiaolu, the founder of NEIWAI internal and external brands - "A truly good consumer brand is defined together with a group of like-minded users."
Ma Yin, founder of Aranya, had a similar expression:
I use my own understanding of life to make Aranya, which happens to attract a large number of like-minded people. I discovered that the lifestyle I loved was the passion of many others. We are not content with just being lively, eating, drinking, and having fun. After the prosperity is gone and the scum is washed away, we hope that life will be rejuvenated.
In short, the premise of companionship "dialogue" is: find the right person, find someone who has the same interests, like-minded people, and find a super partner.
3. Use scenarios to build consensus “dialogue”
Mobile Internet gives us an unprecedented opportunity to connect people and all supply and demand through "scenarios". This kind of scene responds in real time, activates at any time, connects efficiently, and creates continuously.
Just like a simple cup of coffee, with "scenes", it shows different attitude expressions, derives multiple new products, presents different expectations and completely different experiences. Hence the miraculous performance of the Chinese coffee circuit.
At present, digital intelligence (AI) + mobile, + home, + travel, + health... These verb "scenarios" that are closely related to everyone's life have emerged. They have not only expanded the boundaries of life, but also deeply affected our thinking paradigm. Behavioral patterns and lifestyle.
No matter what type of scene, it all starts with people's "emotional consensus." To put it more bluntly, the dialogue "scene" is to build a "consensus" with the user and interpret new emotions and values. This is the real scene gameplay.
In the post-new consumption era, we start the dialogue from 5 new “scenarios”.
Scene 1 - dialogue life scene: focusing on a reality
Creating scenarios through positioning/slogan, advertising/spokesperson, technology/traffic to influence purchases is becoming a thing of the past; using the intelligence of “I understand you” and digital blessing of “real” scenarios to bring progress to users will become an emerging opportunity in the era of dialogue.
For example, "She Changed" in the Cotton Era explores the "changers" in the women's world; Xiaohongshu's summer market "first-hand friendship, second-hand delivery" humanistic transaction story; Taobao's "One Thousand and One Stores" plan, Bringing 1001 kinds of life behind the specialty stores to the forefront.
There are two "truths" that need to be noted:
- "Reality" is not about transforming "emotional value" into a story that conquers the hearts of users, but about the new value of trust and trust formed by adding humanization to digital.
- "Reality" is not even "sympathy". Sympathy is a downward perspective, which produces care and compassion; reality is an equal perspective, which makes people feel the joy and pleasure of "you understand me".
Scene 2 - Conversation "Art Museum" Scene: From Palace to Daily Life
Art is about experience rather than understanding. ——"Art Museum Era"
Countless brand experience centers, commercial spaces, community blocks, art festivals, life festivals and music festivals, along with the upgrading of lifestyle and aesthetic needs, have begun to eliminate the boundaries between commerce and art, time and space, consumption and experience, and in a hybrid way The prosperity and evolution of methods constitute one of the mainstream logics of today’s new consumption.
This logic can be found in the methodology of the “art museum” proposed by Wu Sheng.
- "Beauty" - that is, aesthetic value, represents the museum's unique artistic IP and experience.
- "Skill" - that is, the museum's content refreshing mechanism, unique "spatial algorithm" and the ability to lead topics.
- "Pavilion" - is the user relationship, pointing to the host, curator and member community.
When "art museums" successfully integrate into life elements in everyone's life, art sinks from the palace to daily life.
- This has become the ground floor of space commerce. Such as Aranya Real Estate, Tianmuli Commercial, Huamei Laboratory, etc.
- Some regard community as the smallest vital unit. Such as Changsha Chaozong Street, Suzhou Twin Towers Market, Wuzhong Road Subway Station, Chengdu Community Art Museum "Alley", etc.
- There are connections and suggestions to daily life. For example: Forbidden City/Dunhuang Cultural Creation, Here Comes the Magic Horse, "Only This Green", "Wing Chun".
When more people use their true feelings to supplement and confirm art to complete the joint construction of concepts, art will have new vitality. "Artistic daily life", "art serves the people" and "people's artists" will no longer be Shouting in vain.
Scene 3 - Dialogue "Criminal Enclave": Romantic Redemption
The fusion of virtual venues and physical spaces is becoming a new activity and social space with the most familiar sense of strangeness. This is the "critical enclave": an experimental and challenging one, one that "gives infinite virtual meaning to a limited real space", and a scene that can project complex emotional critical experiences to the current group.
For example, more than 300 artists in the United States participated in the creation of the Omega Mart; Japan's Chika Aquarium, which was transformed from an abandoned elementary school; and "Only Henan·Drama Fantasy City" in Henan, China.
In fact, the brand has a greater role to play. In product development, content creation, and marketing innovation, it builds a scene at the "junction of reality and virtuality" and creates a romantic experience of a "critical enclave" for users. For example, Coca-Cola’s Creations platform; Airbnb’s 2022 “OMG! Strange House Fund” plan; Shanghai’s “Story Store” on Yuyuan Road, etc.
"Critical Enclave" has actually become a kind of romantic salvation for some young people in their current spiritual crisis; it is a journey of emotional healing and comfort, and it is also a living community and spiritual home for a group of people.
Scenario 4 - "Localization" of dialogue: sincerity and respect
No matter how exciting and fun digital and virtual life is, people will always need real face-to-face contact to build more stable and lasting relationships.
At this time, the physical "store" has become the core force of scene dialogue and an important space for reaching consensus.
- Some have become experience centers—places for creative gatherings between users and brands, and spaces for obtaining knowledge and advice. This is the bottom layer of Apple and Starbucks, the innovation of NIO, and the key to Hema’s success.
- Some have abandoned the "copy-and-paste" style of expansion - they combine urban elements to create "non-standard" stores, deeply embedding local culture into the architectural vocabulary and place temperament. From Tsutaya Bookstore to Heytea, from M Stand to Tea Beauty.
- Some have played with the aesthetics of fireworks - from dedicated spaces to open and flexible public areas, inserting a sense of ritual into daily fireworks, or entering shopping malls, hotels or food market stations, growing organically with urban communities.
- Some find an address that suits their own attributes and take root - they choose various cities that best reflect the local temperament and embed the city's characteristics into brand expression. Hua Xizi’s “West Lake Hidden Garden”; FREITAG opened its new store in Shanghai into a small alley.
Whether it is "experience center", "non-standard store", "pyrotechnics aesthetics" or "urban temperament", these creative spatial expressions help the brand to get closer to the urban people in a physical sense; while localized brand expression Let the brand fully integrate into the local cultural context and resonate with local consumers from a spiritual level; more essentially, "localization" means respecting the place and local lifestyle.
Scene 5 - Dialogue "New Sinking": Immediate Emotional Value
"I believe that the Chinese people will eat and drink well." Assuming everything is done at the bottom, then don't sink the product. The essence of sinking is that many people did not enjoy many good things before, but now they do, so this is not a sinking, but an upward trend.
——Tang Binsen of Yuanqi Forest
The "new sinking" that Wu Sheng believes is more open: "new sinking" is not really sinking, but a more in-depth, equal and present "dialogue"; it is the creation of an "immediate emotion".
For example, are Luckin Coffee, Miniso, and Mixue Bingcheng just extremely cheap? There is another factor that cannot be ignored, which is the metaphorical "freedom of the present" behind it. Even if it's 9.9 or 5 yuan, every time you go into the store to buy something, you're giving it the meaning it deserves. The new sinking must be "presence" and "immediate emotion".
If you look at Zibo Barbecue, Village Super Village BA, etc. from the perspective of "new sinking", you will find that behind these hits, there is a kind of catharsis of "instant emotions", a kind of equal rights dialogue on the spot, and a kind of daily consensus. Achievement: I will be equal to whoever gives me equality; I will choose whoever gives me a choice.
What emotion to inject: "Surprise"
The expression of concepts should not be rushed, and building a consensus on the scene requires more patience. However, if you have "surprises", you will get twice the result with half the effort.
What is a "surprise"? Borrowing "surprise" from philosophy, the key emotion of the dialogue scene is "surprise" - a scene experience that the group cannot imagine and far exceeds expectations.
Whether it is "real" life scenes, from palaces to daily "art museums", the "critical enclave" of romantic redemption, or sincere "localization", the "new sinking" of real-time emotional value, in Only when users expect "surprise" can they complete the transition from self-euphoria to other-excitement, and the future will win over the past.
With "surprise", we enter the door of "dialogue" that truly uses scenes to build consensus.
4. Co-creative “dialogue” that inspires belonging
Xiaomi has created an extraordinary business miracle with its cost-effectiveness and "sense of participation"; and its perseverance is the combination of Lei Jun's emotions: dreams, growth, yearning, and more respect and sincerity for users.
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In fact, Xiaomi's "sense of participation" only opens a "door" to the future. The real new forces are those brands that inspire co-creative "dialogue" of belonging.
For them, co-creative "dialogue" is not a means, but a new force, a new idea and a new continent.
(1) The new power of brand innovation: dialogue "co-creation"
Is the laboratory our world, or is the world our laboratory? ——NASA
When individuals change from passive consumers to active people, to "everyone is a creator"; when it is recognized that "it is no longer the company that creates the brand, but the user, and it is the company that owns the brand but the user who gets the meaning." After the emergence of the brand, co-creation "dialogue" has been played.
When society moves from a single economy to sustainable "shared value"; when the fourth consumption era of "sharing" grows in Japan and even around the world; when web3.0 and AI become the most mysterious and powerful force for change in life , the "co-creation" dialogue began to grow crazily.
There are Lego, the king of "co-creation" players; the giant Procter & Gamble, which has already formed a "co-creation" system; there are also various DTC brands in Europe and the United States, such as Everlane and Glossier; MOOCs and Khan Academy, which are open to public co-creation; "co-benefit" B Corp” and the great “1% Planet Tax” movement.
Small can help individuals achieve self-realization, form emotional belonging, and settle the soul; medium can achieve brands and trigger innovation; big can participate in grand narratives and do meaningful things. Therefore, "co-creation" dialogue is becoming a key force in comprehensive marketing reform.
(2) The essence of co-creative “dialogue”—from “I” to “we”
The essence of co-creation dialogue is to establish a "new relationship" with users, employees, and ecological partners - co-building and even sharing brands.
So, "we" are here!
- Not “my” marketing or “my” brand, but “our” marketing or our brand
- It is not "I" who create, but "we" who create together.
- Not to create profits for "me" (the shareholder company), but to create value for "our" society.
- It is not "I" who leads life, but "we" who are the co-builders of our lifestyle.
"I" here refers to the main body of the brand, including companies, organizations, and shareholders; "we" refers to all participants who share a common philosophy, including companies, employees, users, partners, and stakeholders.
In September 2022, Starbucks played a ruthless game about "us" - the "Starbucks Odyssey" plan.
This plan changes the traditional brand-centered membership system into a decentralized republic system/ecosystem shared by multiple parties: brand + members + employees + partners. What is its essence - creating new relationships around people who love coffee: "a relationship in which we, all of us, participate, own, co-create and share".
(3) The concept of co-creative "dialogue" - a completely different way of thinking
From Brand Ape’s perspective, co-creation “dialogue” is not a technical issue, but a conceptual issue:
- "Co-creation" should help you establish "mutual reciprocal" connections with "people you care about" or "people who share the same values."
- The core principle of "co-creation" is that your dialogue partners cannot simply consume or echo, but must be able to do more. Not just to appreciate, remember and consume, but to create something actionable.
- Structurally, "co-creation" must have a common backbone, but at the same time, all types of people must be encouraged to change and expand it. To put it simply, participants can customize, reprocess and shape it.
- Organizationally, "co-creation" requires thinking about the establishment of a decentralized organization, an organization in which a group of people can jointly determine a charter, break down goals, and complete tasks around a certain mission through transparent coordination.
- When it comes to employee attitudes, employee participation is a top priority. If they’re not engaged—or don’t feel engaged—then you’ve lost your skin in the game.
With the above concepts in mind, those playbook questions: How to get involved? How to build trust? Where does stickiness come from? Who gets the reward, who pays the bill, and who makes the final decision? Who is commended and who has status? It can be effectively created, thus forming a positive cycle and feedback.
(4) The key to co-creative “dialogue”—belonging, respect and self-realization
People are born to pursue "belonging", whether it is a tribe, nation, religion, country, party, association, community, or family.
To play the co-creative "dialogue" well, you need to climb the ladder of "Maslow's Hierarchy of Human Needs Model":
- Get "safety" - satisfy certain needs and empower feelings
- Create "belonging" - find similar people with consistent and clear values and love, and build a community together!
- Obtain "respect" - share power, regain value, and redefine identity!
- Realize "self" - do something meaningful!
A person's willingness to buy a product may be due to certain needs: psychological and physical, spiritual and material; perhaps the products and services empower him (pleasure) and give him a sense of security. When a person is loyal to a certain brand, it must be because he defines his identity here, finds similar people, and has a sense of belonging.
However, only when they act together to do something meaningful, create value, assume responsibilities, gain respect, and realize themselves, can they go further and longer together.
Mendeleev's periodic table of elements, Wikipedia and the ever-popular TED are the best examples of co-creative "dialogue".
Therefore, the key to co-creation “dialogue” is not how to encourage and motivate users to participate, but whether they can form a sense of belonging, win respect, and realize themselves.
The larger perspective and vision is that co-creative "dialogue" is a methodology for realizing "Maslow's needs"; it can even be said that co-creative "dialogue" itself is a great and noble cause, and it gives everyone fair participation Create future opportunities.
What emotion to inject: "Sincerity"
Co-creation "dialogue" is the most intense form of expression in the era of digital intelligence, and it is also the most difficult to control. It is also the basis of all future high-level marketing activities and the basic composition of the entire brand activity. If you want to conquer or play with it, , you need to inject "sincerity".
- There must be "sincerity" in missions and dreams. If your beliefs are illusory and difficult to realize, how can you attract people to fight with you?
- Values must be "sincere". Sincerity, equality, respect, transparency, and attitude.
- The model must be "sincere". Open rules, fair incentives, and fair rewards.
- Actions must be "sincere". Don’t be afraid of small things, but make a difference; don’t be afraid of greatness, but take action; don’t be afraid of mistakes, but keep iterating.
- There must be "sincerity" in communication. Tell the true story about yourself and users, express sincerely, realize sincerely, and interact sincerely.
As "transparency" becomes the underlying understanding of the new business civilization, only "sincerity" can stimulate co-creative "dialogue" to continuously generate the scarce emotional values of belonging, respect and self-realization.
4. What is the essence of "dialogue" & why "dialogue" is necessary?
From Socratic dialogue dialectics, Plato's "Utopia" to Confucius' "The Analects", the thinking structure of "dialogue" uses its unique operating method to answer the logic and truth of things, showing the rhythm of cognition in tension, and This triggers new questions, new thinking and new concepts, and becomes a magical "force" that breaks the boundaries between "possible" and "impossible".
The "dialogue" we are discussing today is not the various dazzling ChatGPT question games, nor is it the process of changing from certain answers to uncertain questions, but a kind of cognition and attitude at the value level.
1. So, what is the essence of this round of “dialogue”?
In the first half of 2023, when we stand at the beginning of the creation of AI, "human-machine intelligence" becomes the real engine of this technological wave; in the second half of 2023, when human-computer interaction scenarios become a norm, AI natives begin to rise , when a large number of new emotions and desires grow in the soil of AGI, you first need to understand the nature of this feast.
The essence of human-machine intelligence = "creative dialogue".
This "creative dialogue" is not about finding a relatively perfect solution from the human knowledge base through one's own keywords and questioning abilities; it is not just about using human-machine intelligence as a tool to improve efficiency, and creating in the tool New tools; we should regard human-machine intelligence as a "creativity tool" and the "emergence of creativity" of human-machine collaboration.
Insight into the nature of "dialogue", understanding the meaning of "dialogue", and mastering the methods of "dialogue" will become the decisive factors for individuals, companies, and organizations to occupy the future of new business civilization and ecology.
2. Why “dialogue”?
Let’s sort it out again based on the logic of new consumption.
We stand at the door of a new continent where risks have intensified and the threshold of opportunities has increased: new consumption is no longer "problem consumption" and "scenario consumption", but "meaning consumption"; new groups of people are no longer "consumers" and no longer value possessions. Instead, they advocate flow, sharing and co-creation; new brands must not only provide better products, but also continue to create new "value". Where should "we" go?
There is only "dialogue".
Only "dialogue" can break into and integrate into the discourse system/circle/life of new consumer groups, and condense the emotional value from consensus to resonance; it is possible to break out of the rules and positioning/super symbols/hot hits/traffic set by the super manufacturers. Chi, etc., open up your own "new continent".
Take the cross-border marketing of Luckin x Moutai as an example.
- The first is attitude, "dialogue" with users from an equal perspective; integrating their discourse system into life scenes, from consensus to resonance.
- Secondly, inject the current "emotional value" (the "collapse" of the new middle class and the anxiety caused by the polarization of rich and poor), and complete the "emotional release" through showing off and expressing again and again.
- Finally, "our" sense of participation and "our" co-creation are indispensable. This is how a sense of belonging is unconsciously established.
Compare the joy of HeyTea ?
3. Marketing in the post-new consumption era starts with “dialogue”
At this time, let’s re-examine what Wu Sheng said in "New Species Explosion·Wu Sheng Business Method 2023" - "Dialogue" is more important than "connection".
- A consumer is not a port, but a real person with diverse needs. Real consumption is not created by "connection", but the growth and beauty generated by the "emotional value" brought by the companionship of "dialogue".
- "Dialogue" and "connection" are not antagonistic. Dialogue is a deep connection. The "careless" connection is far less than the "rock-solid" connection.
- The purpose of "connection" is to obtain a user ID/information/use tags to define interests/consumption capabilities, which is essentially business; the purpose of "dialogue" is to co-create meaning and share beauty, and its essence is to create a future together.
"Dialogue" is an "ordinary" word. It is also a word that is so familiar that it is almost unfamiliar. It is also a word that can describe the sustainability and creativity of post-new consumption.
When we inject "love" into meaningful exploratory "dialogue", find "like-minded people" in companionship-style "dialogue", create "surprises" in consensus-based scenario-based "dialogue", and use "sincerity" as the basis for co-creation When "dialogue" deepens belonging, "new consumption" is completely different - "dialogue" has a new mind: equality, equal attention and parallelism; it also has new values: co-construction, co-creation and symbiosis.
During the dialogue, questions begin; during the dialogue, ideas surge; after the dialogue, future imagination begins.
This is a start. We are standing at the beginning.