Author: Mia
"I really can't figure it out, does the words energy and youth have anything to do with Jay Chou?"
"I don't know what the brand's market research is doing, Jay Chou's fans and the brand's audience don't coincide at all"
"Does he have a half-dime connection with the positioning of these brands? Brands don't care about their own positioning in order to get the right traffic."
......
Two days ago, LA MER (La Mer), the top luxury skin care brand of the Estee Lauder Group, sparked controversy in the selection of spokespersons, and LA MER, which focuses on the keyword "high-end", officially announced Jay Chou as the brand ambassador, and the top Chinese and nearly 100-year-old brands stood on the cusp at the same time.
You must know that in the past cognition, Jay Chou likes to endorse "brands that his fans can afford", such as Yoremi, Emma Electric Vehicle, Metersbonwe, China Mobile (dynamic zone), and the food is the best finger cake, "Jay Endorsement Universe" is generally down-to-earth.
Although there have been more luxury endorsements in the past two years, following the endorsements of the world's top brands Dior, RIMOWA, and TUDOR, La Mer, the world's top skincare brand, it seems that the public and the market do not buy these cooperations.
If you want to ask why finding Jay Chou's contemporary spokesperson makes some people feel "ridiculous", mainly because the positioning of the La Mer brand is a little subtle. "This brand still needs a spokesperson", speaking of the mystery of LA MER La Mer, as the Rolls-Royce of the skin care industry, it should be known to everyone, taking the star best-selling product "Classic Essence Cream" as an example, 100ml as high as 4780 yuan.
La Mer, on the other hand, sells products, focusing on the aura of effect, which is expensive, and the price is in line with the degree of popularity. La Mer has carried out a spiritual baptism for consumers who uphold the belief of "can't stop the price of a penny", and the combination of high positioning and high price strategy has attracted many people to plant grass for this old brand, the more expensive the better it sells, especially among high-end consumer groups.
On the one hand, fans are generating electricity and running for love, and on the other hand, netizens see this as a ridiculous move by the brand to backstab consumers. The main controversy that aroused doubts this time is that there seems to be a sense of separation between the choice of spokesperson and brand positioning, and the comments of netizens are mainly "completely inconsistent with the brand image".
In real terms, the controversy caused by this choice is hard not to remind people of the discussion when Jay Chou endorsed Dior - "I don't know whether to congratulate Dior or Jay Chou". Today, the same question plagues La Mer, which is controversial over whether the choice of spokesperson matches the brand's positioning.
However, the key is how brands accurately select spokespersons who are highly compatible with their brand image and values, which not only needs to be in line with the topic and influence, but also show obvious blessings in terms of sales promotion.
As soon as this move came out, the public's attention was whether La Mer, which is famous for its luxury skin care products, was lowering its price? Could it be that Estee Lauder really rushed to the doctor in order to open up the Chinese market?
La Mer signed South Korean actor Jun Ji-hyun as its brand ambassador last year, not to mention Jay Chou as a global brand ambassador, the luxury skincare brand's first-ever male global brand ambassador.
For a while, #周杰伦代言海蓝之谜# became the freshest topic, and the freshness lies in the fact that this two-way rush is beyond everyone's expectations.
Having said that, there are so many brands that are looking for Jay Chou's endorsement, how can it be said that La Mer didn't choose the right one? This also needs to start from the consideration of the brand's choice of spokesperson, and in general, it is nothing more than the following three purposes.
One of the most common demands of brands to choose spokespersons is to break through the bottleneck of sales and achieve a breakthrough in the circle of target users, mainly focusing on the ability to bring goods, traffic and purchasing power.
It is difficult to find the increment of each track, so it has to be rolled up in the stock, forcing the brand to make adjustments to its marketing strategy. From the perspective of actual results, holding hands with traffic stars is still one of the most direct and effective marketing methods at present, and it has become the norm for major beauty brands.
Judging from the current market feedback, the ability to bring goods is generally closely related to male traffic stars, and most brands prefer the current explosive traffic. But having said that, luxury beauty has always been cautious in the choice of spokespersons, and in the entire industry trend, most of the cooperation between male stars and beauty products is still hovering back and forth between mid-to-low-end brands.
A large number of hugging traffic stars has been proven to be an effective strategy before, don't ask, ask is really to make money. The most intuitive example is Xiao Zhan's endorsement of YSL, which sold half a billion in two hours after the official announcement, and the brand's marketing data skyrocketed on the same day, rewriting the marketing pattern of skin care brands.
It is not difficult to see that behind it is actually the underlying logic that the brand is trying to rely on celebrity marketing to harvest, which is a win-win "real fragrance" victory for the brand, celebrities and fans, and endorsement has long become a large-scale real-life online game between brands and fans.
In comparison, compared with the current traffic stars, national singers like Jay Chou are not known for their ability to bring goods. Although Jay Chou has a huge fan base, his effect on bringing goods has not been verified, and the consumption power of fans is not necessarily comparable to that of young traffic star fans, nor does it show the behavior of crazy purchases. For example, in 2016, Jay Chou's endorsement of Luxgen Automobile, although it hoped to attract more young consumers, the strategy did not change the outcome of its bankruptcy reorganization.
It is not difficult to understand that "Jay Lun Endorsement Universe" is biased towards more popular and down-to-earth brands and products, compared with the effect of bringing goods, his influence is more used to build brand awareness and gain more market attention.
Secondly, it is very important for the spokesperson image to be highly consistent with the product function, and the selection of spokespersons that match the product function can effectively convey the brand's function and concept in marketing and strengthen brand trust.
In the commercial society, reliability is the most important, for female consumers, the spokesperson often bears the expectation of the immediate effect display of skin care products, and the items that male celebrities can best drive sales are often lipsticks, sunscreens, facial masks and other commonly used daily chemical products, in contrast, the types of products that female celebrities can bring are more extensive and refined.
Taking Helena Rubinstein, a high-end skincare brand that also attracts much attention, as an example, Helena's choice of Faye Wong as the spokesperson has always been regarded as a positive marketing case.
A practitioner of a medical beauty platform also told Chop Pepper that Helena is very popular among a large number of female celebrities and ladies, which is largely due to Faye Wong's endorsement. Faye Wong is not only regarded as the most ideal spokesperson, her personal image is highly consistent with the high-end positioning of Helena's products, and her endorsement effect is so strong that consumers believe that using these products may make them have similar effects and charm to Faye Wong.
The first campaign between Jay Chou and La Mer was themed around The Treatment Lotion. However, in the official promotional pictures, Jay Chou's swollen facial state does not seem to be tight or young, the overall image does not match the anti-aging and firming effects of the product at all, and his public image is not completely in line with high-end skin care or technology, which is difficult to arouse consumers' desire to buy.
Pushing it further, as early as in the previous variety show, Shen Teng, a rough comedian who didn't seem to have anything to do with beauty, wiped his face seriously with bottles and cans, and was ridiculed as a clear ineffective or even reverse act of bringing goods, which persuaded a wave of consumers.
Huang Bo's endorsement of Shiseido's high-end line product "Night Glass" cream is also one of the examples. Although it focuses on plumpness, firmness and youthful contours, it has been sharply commented by netizens because of the mismatch between Huang Bo's image and product functions: "How did the brand department choose the ambassador, and the spokesperson's face state and product are not suitable." ”
Nowadays, young consumers are not easy to fool, from questioning the spokesperson to questioning the brand, consumers are also looking forward to the efficacy of the product in the process of awakening their blood, and sneering at the brand's calculation of wanting to "cut leeks". It can be seen that the brand that the star chooses to endorse needs to be consistent with his own image, and the star chosen by the brand must match the tone of the brand, so as to take the star as the core in the communication and circle consumers.
In addition, spokesperson marketing, in order to become a brand asset, the fit between the spokesperson and the brand itself for mutual achievement, shaping and interpreting the brand value has also become a level that brands care more about.
In today's market environment, the mutual benefit and win-win situation between brands and spokespersons no longer only rely on unilateral traffic support, but pay more attention to how to interpret and deepen brand value through the image and influence of spokespersons.
Last year, Prada's partnership with the Chinese women's football team was a perfect example of the brand's philosophy of "continuous pursuit of innovation and quality". In the official release, the frank smile of each women's football girl was recorded, and the sonorous sportsmanship of the continuous improvement was not only an improvement of the brand image, but also a celebration of the power and sportsmanship of women.
Compared with the past, the brand is more about cooperating with traffic stars, and this cooperation with the positive image of the Chinese women's football team allowed Prada to finally "pull back" a game, and this heat was also fed back to the stock price, after the official announcement of the cooperation, Prada shares rose 4.52% in the Hong Kong stock market.
For high-end luxury brands, in addition to brand functions and traffic, story-based content and high-quality brand expression can tell a good brand story, create textured content, and support brand power with endorsement.
In retrospect, La Mer's brand philosophy of "Eternal Youth" emphasizes not only superficial youthfulness, but also the pursuit of a sustained state of youth from the inside out, which represents a deep, long-term philosophy of beauty. However, despite Jay Chou's wide influence, his image and personal style may not fully fit the brand values of deep feminine power and comprehensive beauty advocated by La Mer. Whether it is in the "weight" of public influence or the "depth" of image, there are certain differences between Jay Chou and La Mer's brand concepts.
Endorsement marketing should focus on long-term content narrative, and the spokesperson is also a brand asset, and choosing the right spokesperson undoubtedly has the ability to convey brand connotation and brand value orientation.
Estee Lauder's choice of Jay Chou as the spokesperson of La Mer is obviously an urgent game-breaking move for the Chinese market, aiming to save and improve performance.
In the past two years, Estee Lauder has had a hard time, according to its latest financial report for the second quarter of fiscal year 2024 from September 30, 2023 to December 31, 2023, the group's revenue was $4.279 billion, down 7.38% year-on-year. net profit was 324 million US dollars, a year-on-year decrease of 18.39%. In particular, sales in the skincare category decreased by 10% from $2.427 billion in 2022 to $2.173 billion in 2023, while sales of cosmetics also decreased by 8%.
The research found that the problems faced by Estee Lauder include but are not limited to slow product updates and lack of innovation, especially the drastic changes in the makeup market in the past two years, and the rise of niche and emerging brands has directly impacted the living space of traditional brands.
At the same time, success is also high-end, and defeat is also high-end. The Estée Lauder Companies' core brand strategy remains focused solely on consumers in the premium and luxury markets, but in the context of the economic downturn and consumption downgrade, this strategy is clearly unsustainable, which gives the group a clear advantage in competition with its old rival L'Oréal.
Estee Lauder Brand Matrix
Overall, after seven consecutive quarters of declining revenue and profit, Estee Lauder couldn't bear it.
On the one hand, the group has carried out a round of price increases for about 1,500 of its products, involving many brands such as Estee Lauder, La Mer, MAC Meike, Tom Ford, etc., and the price of some products has increased by as much as 44%, and the 100ml model of HAMMER Classic Essence Cream has risen from 4,655 yuan to 4,780 yuan.
On the other hand, the Estee Lauder Companies announced in its financial report that it will further expand its Profit Recovery Plan in the second half of fiscal 2024, and is expected to lay off 3%-5% of its workforce, with an estimated net reduction of about 1,800-3,000 global jobs.
However, it is worth mentioning that the growth momentum of La Mer is still strong, especially in the Chinese market.
Fabrizio Freda, the group's chief executive, said in the earnings report, "La Mer achieved double-digit growth last year, doubling growth in key markets such as China, which is also part of the parent company's growth plan. In addition, the brand has seen growth in various regions. ”
During the 2023 Double 11 period, benefiting from the sales performance of Estee Lauder and La Mer, the group's net sales on Douyin have more than doubled, and Estee Lauder and La Mer have both entered the Top 10 sales list.
While this is a significant growth within the Group, the substance and sustainability of this growth needs to be further assessed in the context of competition across the industry. Specifically, in the top 20 list of Douyin beauty in the first quarter of this year, the rankings of Estee Lauder and La Mer have both declined to varying degrees, and La Mer has dropped by 7 places.
It is clear that the Group is trying to penetrate a broader lower-tier market through the platform of Douyin, expand the target group and enhance brand recognition, but the effect of the new channels in reaching the minds of target users and enhancing the depth of brand awareness and loyalty of users may not be satisfactory. In addition, in the first half of this year, La Mer's general price increase strategy also affected the consumption of customers in the sinking market.
In this case, the choice of spokesperson is particularly crucial, and more attention should be paid to its long-term positive impact on brand recognition and the lasting construction of brand image, however, Jay Chou's effect as a spokesperson is not ideal in this regard, even among users in the sinking market, it is not the best choice to open up the market.
Next, Estee Lauder seems to be aiming at the increasingly competitive Chinese market, hoping that La Mer can push hard behind it, regain Chinese consumers, and fight a beautiful turnaround.
However, the top brand La Mer is not only facing a battle to optimize the channel strategy, but also a battle of innovation in marketing concepts.