Brand awareness is the key to escaping price wars.

Original by Whale Business (ID: bizwhale) | Author: Darwin

This year's Singles' Day is different from previous years.

First, the event started earlier, making it the longest Singles' Day in history. Second, tech giants are "breaking down walls," gradually "sharing" logistics and payment infrastructures. Third, under new policies in the stock market and real estate, confidence among entrepreneurs and consumers is returning. Fourth, e-commerce is moving away from pure price wars and pursuing quality-driven low prices.

All this suggests that this year might be the most merchant-friendly Singles' Day yet. The industry is emerging from the gloom and welcoming positive trends. Merchants are busy preparing to make a big splash.

After a major reshuffle, traditional marketing tactics are losing effectiveness. Surviving merchants have realized that building brand awareness is the long-term strategy and the key path to escaping involution.

Consumer trends are now sharply diverging. How can brands navigate this? As they prepare for Singles' Day, how can merchants balance brand building and performance?

The "Second Awakening" of Brand Advertising

In 2024, the consumer industry is caught in a race to the bottom on pricing.

Under pressure, many advertisers have shifted more budget to performance-based ads. These ads deliver immediate results, providing 确定性 sales with relatively small investments in a cost-cutting environment.

But over time, advertisers have realized that performance ads are more like disposable items—effective only while running, with results vanishing once stopped. Many brands are trapped in a cycle of 流量 dependency. Short-termism prevails, and brands seem to be heading toward "extinction."

Data shows that compared to 2022, the value of the world's top 100 brands dropped by 19% in 2023.

Meanwhile, the rise of performance ads, which lack brand-building elements, has backfired. Consumers are becoming more fickle, and overall brand recall is declining.

The "2024 Consumer and Media Trends Report" shows that in 2022, consumers recognized an average of 173 brands, but this fell to 166 in 2023.

As consumers remember fewer brands, the strong get stronger, and the Matthew Effect becomes more pronounced.

This trend is predictable. The Harvard Business Review article "Advertising Spend: Growing Market Share" argues that cutting ad budgets to boost short-term profits is brand suicide.

The report shows that short-term performance marketing can achieve sales peaks with relatively low spending in the first six months, generating positive ROI. However, prolonged reliance on performance ads damages long-term profit growth.

Brand advertising is experiencing a "second awakening." At this critical juncture, most advertisers realize that brand ads still matter. The advertising landscape is shifting from performance to brand. After all, cost-cutting has limits, but building brand awareness can break free from price wars.

Meanwhile, economic recovery and 消费回暖 provide fertile ground for brands, restoring advertiser confidence. In the first half of this year, China's total retail sales of consumer goods reached 23.5969 trillion yuan, up 3.7% year-on-year; online retail sales of physical goods grew 8.8%.

In a 存量竞争 market, cultivating core users has become a 必修课 for merchants.

The key is execution. Brand advertising faces four major challenges:

1. Fragmented media resources. Consumer decision-making paths are shorter, and marketing is more 多元化. 2. Budget allocation difficulties. Each media platform operates in isolation, making budget balancing tricky. 3. Misaligned audience assets. Consumer data is fragmented, and 站内外 integration is lacking. 4. Hard-to-measure results. The ultimate goal of brand ads is shaping user mindsets, but advertisers lack a comprehensive evaluation system.

2024 marks the 10th anniversary of 京东's 精准通 (Jingzhuntong). To address merchant pain points，精准通 launched the more scientific "JD Advertising Science System," exploring solutions for efficient brand marketing.

Starting from Scenarios，精准通 Delivers a 组合拳

Brands at different stages have different needs. Emerging brands want quick awareness and support; growing brands need expansion; mature brands focus on loyalty and renewal. Despite variations, brand marketing revolves around promotions, new products, content, and 节点。精准通 offers tailored growth strategies.

Annual 大促 are critical for growth, but 流量 competition is fierce, price comparisons are rampant, and acquiring new customers is tough. Consumers no longer bulk-buy during promotions, opting for daily purchases instead. The dairy industry is especially competitive, with consumers habitually comparing prices. Yet during last year's Singles' Day, national brand Yili gained over 200,000 new customers while reducing acquisition costs by 10%+.

How did Yili do it? The brand found a new path through 精准通's 差异化运营。

First, it competed off-peak, building momentum pre-promotion to 锁定 core users. During 京东's September Super Brand Day，精准通 partnered with Yili for offline 草原 immersive experiences and 线上 live 互动. In October, Yili increased 站内外 ad budgets for early 预热. Second, it efficiently acquired new users 站内外， analyzing 潜在人群 and 拉新 scenarios to build targeted exposure matrices. Finally, it leveraged multi-platform marketing, collaborating with 京东's "8 PM Super Live" IP and other resources for 闭环转化。

Capturing consumer attention is harder than ever. Beyond promotions, launching new products is another challenge.

A limited-edition Magnum x JD gift box saw sales soar 50x compared to its 30-day average, topping the ice cream category.

Traditionally, new product launches relied on intuition, often missing user 痒点。精准通's 仿真测试 revealed that price and design were key factors, leading to the 京绣龙纹图案 and optimal pricing. Magnum's consumption scenario is 家庭分享装， not gifting.精准通 also addressed the 站内外 data disconnect, where 种草 metrics couldn't 回流 to JD for analysis.京东营销云 now tracks 全域 data, enabling user profiling and 偏好 analysis.

With 回流 data, brands can allocate resources more strategically for 全域爆款. Magnum's product page traffic surged 200x, store traffic rose 30x, CTR improved 90%+, new customers accounted for 30%+, and ROI increased 20%+.

For special 节点，精准通 boosts exposure through 站内外联动。京东国际 partnered with Phoenix TV to showcase "global premium milk sources"—a key concern for parents buying formula. Multi-platform 预热， offline 母婴店推， and 站内立体传播 drove purchases. The campaign reached 5M+ 母婴 users, with GMV up 50%+, 200M+ exposures, 50M+ video views, and 5M+ TV 观众 across 39 cities.

Content bridges users and brands.精准通 offers end-to-end solutions from 拉新 to user asset accumulation. During 京东超级 IP 日，优酸乳 teamed up with Donald Duck for a 新品首发 and sponsored the Hot Now Music Festival, tapping into youth 躺平 culture with slogans like "躺赢一夏" (Chill to Win) and "开心一点鸭" (Stay Happy).

Online，全网宣发 leveraged JD's 新媒体矩阵，小红书种草， and 站内资源 like 新品日 and 首页站通. The campaign achieved 1B+ exposures, 3W+ offline 触达， 600M+ 微博话题阅读， and 4.2M 直播 views.优酸乳 gained 100K+ new members, with 伊利 A2 人群 up 183%，全店成交人数增长 23%, and sales nearing 100M.

Uniting Brand & Performance: BRANDS Matrix Upgrade

Yili, Magnum，优酸乳， and others have gained loyal users and sales on JD, achieving 品效合一. Behind this is 精准通's 升级。

Marketing ultimately revolves around users—brand marketing is about befriending them.精准通's tools align with 心智 building, forming the BRANDS matrix to solve merchant pain points.

It serves merchants 全程: from 洞察 needs and setting goals, to 衡量 ROI, operating consumer assets, selecting platforms，全域覆盖， and 顾问式服务。

How does BRANDS ensure full-cycle brand marketing? Through upgrades in methodology, products, ad resources, and 组合链路。

The upgraded ACME methodology evaluates brands across 心智，粘性，共鸣， and 效率， guiding core strategies.

A tripartite product matrix integrates scattered data for 全域 user management，货品 lifecycle optimization, and 行业洞察。

Panoramic ad coverage combines 站内外合约资源，曝光资源，营销资源，种草资源， and 娱乐营销资源。

Efficient media 组合链路 connect 站外流量 with 站内 solutions for 再营销 and 生意增长。

BRANDS solves brand ad challenges. Once seen as mere sales channels, e-commerce platforms now help build brands.站内外 synergy retains consumer 心智 for 品效合一。

Balancing short- and long-term gains with 确定性抓手， brands prioritizing 品效合一 will thrive.精准通 will keep evolving. As tools improve and barriers lower, merchants can focus on branding. Singles' Day is a pivotal 练兵 opportunity—those who seize it can overtake rivals.