Marketing is often considered the compass of the product economy. As the product economy continues to evolve, the demand for marketing professionals in the field continues to grow. From a Chinese perspective, the term “市场营销” (marketing) is more intricate than its English counterpart, “Marketing.” It is a compound word where “市场” represents the scope of doing marketing, “营” represents methods of conducting marketing, and “销” represents the goals or marketing positioning. The core objective of most businesses usually revolves around “sales,” so individuals well-versed in the intricacies of marketing theoretically have the potential to adapt to various positions within different companies.
In a broader sense, marketing primarily studies the characteristics of markets, business philosophies, and sales tactics. It aims to assist businesses and organizations in understanding, adapting to, and even influencing the market to obtain profits, sustain their existence, and drive business growth. Therefore, graduates with a degree in marketing should be versatile, and capable of comprehending the entire process from product to activities, planning to execution, and production to sales. In recent years, changes in the socio-economic environment and political landscape have introduced numerous new marketing approaches and strategies. This continuously sparks the thoughts of professionals in the new media field: which marketing methods are successful and worthy of promotion?
In this ESS, we were glad to have Mr. Zhao Fei Fan, the Head of Strategic New Business Integration Marketing at NIO, share his seven years of experience in the marketing industry and his unique insights into marketing.
Innovative Marketing: Seizing Opportunities
Feifan’s extraordinary journey in the field of marketing began with an opportunity for a short-term internship at Jiangsu TV, which he stumbled upon by chance. This experience revealed his deep interest and innate talent for marketing, leading him to make the pivotal decision to wholeheartedly pursue his passion after graduation. Fueled by enthusiasm, he joined an internet company after graduation, embarking on his exploration of the marketing field.
During his serving at NetEase Games and Tencent, he held various roles spanning different areas, including public relations, brand management, and marketing, covering virtually every facet of marketing positions.Together with his teams, he successfully completed numerous projects, varying in budget from tens of thousands to millions. After accumulating a wealth of practical experience, he made a resolute decision to step out of his comfort zone and transition into an entirely new domain: new energy vehicles. Leveraging his talent and hard work, he has now emerged as the Head of Strategic New Business Integration Marketing at NIO, a leading player in the industry.
Looking back at past collaborative endeavors with his team, one of Zhao Feifan’s proudest achievements was their remarkable contributions during their tenure at Tencent, particularly in the realm of the domestic shooting game “Game for Peace.” At the anniversary celebration of “Game for Peace,” they launched a real satellite containing the IDs of all players, establishing an image of the product as a “highly technological brand.” During the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics, they joined as the sole gaming partner, standing out among dozens of official sponsors and becoming a successful “David vs. Goliath” marketing case. In 2020, they constructed a large-scale offline IP-themed amusement park around the in-game “Level 3 Helmet” IP from “Game for Peace” in Harbin, encompassing an area of 3,000 square meters. This project earned him and his team a national-level tourism promotion award and injected vitality into Harbin’s tourism industry during the pandemic.
Furthermore, in commemoration of the 75th anniversary of the victory in the War of Resistance Against Japan in 2020, they established connections with veterans and brought over a million players’ appreciation and blessings to the Veterans Foundation, providing both tangible and spiritual support to veterans. Regarding these meaningful collaborative cases, Zhao Feifan believes that while games inherently possess strong entertainment value, incorporating deeper cultural content into gaming products can be mutually beneficial for both the brand and the users. It is for this reason that he and his team annually engage in partnerships with charitable projects, showcasing the social value of their products and brand to the public.
Market Shifts: Rises and Falls
The reason why Zhao Feifan and his team were able to develop such remarkable products is due to his unique insights into the market. He defines marketing as “connecting products with the consumer market through marketing means, achieving business growth in the process of creating or satisfying consumer needs.” He firmly believes that building a brand should begin at the level of addressing people’s most basic needs, ensuring that the brand genuinely assists users in problem-solving and precisely positioning the brand through three key questions: “Who am I?”, “Why do I exist?”, and “Why choose me?”He emphasizes that “serving business growth” is one of the core elements of successful marketing. Additionally, “choosing the right marketing strategy” is also quite crucial. Over the past few decades, the development and transformation of media have been remarkable. More and more brands are leveraging social media platforms such as YouTube, TikTok, and Xiaohongshu to promote their products. Brands centralize their content, seek suitable influencers on public platforms, harness their influence to disseminate products and influence users’ mindsets to achieve promotional objectives.
However, nowadays, an increasing number of users tend to prefer seeking feedback from “real consumers” rather than pursuing influencers with many followers – the latter is no longer the most suitable brand marketing model. Brands need to return to fundamental marketing principles and shape customer communication channels in more creative ways. For instance, in the case of “Game for Peace” during the Winter Olympics, by accurately identifying market opportunities, integrating the official Winter Olympics venues and champion images into the game, closely associating with the Winter Olympics, covering multiple user levels, and running advertisements during event broadcasts, users were able to have an immersive experience with the product. The effort put forth by Zhao’s team achieved exceptionally high player satisfaction and successfully met this version’s reaching active users goals.It is evident from this case that marketing strategies and channels are crucial for enhancing a product’s impact.
Preserving Original Intents: Revealing Your Essence
Talking about the most successful cases, one of Zhao Feifan’s personal favorite brands, NIKE, stands out for its clear brand positioning and far-reaching vision, delivering innovation and inspiration to global users. One of NIKE’s corporate cultures is “integrity”, where every element – its logo design, brand shaping, or system development, seamlessly aligns with each other, strictly adhering to consistent standards. This consistency allows NIKE to maintain its original mission, and allow audiences to vividly and multi-dimensionally interpret its brand mission and spirit through “JUST DO IT.” NIKE’s clear-cut marketing approach showcases its universality, meets users’ advanced needs, and conveys NIKE’s cultural code, significantly enhancing consumer awareness of the brand.
In terms of marketing, NIKE employs a belief-guided approach to the masses. From its inception to the present day, NIKE has steadfastly upheld the belief in “JUST DO IT,” instilling the idea in consumers that “if you have a body, you are an athlete.” This belief ensures that when users make a purchase, they are not just buying a pair of sports shoes but also acquiring a unique story and experience.
NIKE’s emphasis on brand philosophy is prominently evident across its major social media platforms, with statistics indicating that the brand’s spiritual beliefs account for as much as 76% of its total content on platforms such as Instagram, Xiaohongshu, and TikTok. In fact, many renowned athletes have been guided by the beliefs conveyed through NIKE products, consistently upholding the spirit of athleticism and eventually becoming stars in the world of sports, some even becoming brand ambassadors for NIKE. In China, NIKE’s two most famous endorsers are Liu Xiang and Li Na, their names have been given to two office buildings at NIKE’s Shanghai headquarters. This action displays NIKE’s respect and support for athletes, which also solidifies NIKE’s position in the Chinese market.
Zhao Feifan pointed out that each industry leader possesses unique and charismatic qualities. As individuals, everyone should first develop their own unique preferences, a trait that enables you to remain authentic and be irreplaceable. If you intend to enter the field of marketing, then you must deeply contemplate and understand your perspective on your career. This is because the key to mastering the market lies in influencing human minds, and the prerequisite is to influence human minds via understanding the way people think, comprehending cultures, and gaining insights from real-world interactions.
He sincerely hopes that every student can discover their own distinctive brilliance and consistently shine in their beloved fields.
