Concept, offering a novel proposal

In a homogenised consumer market, the moat formed by functionality and price is gradually drying up, while traditional self-promotional marketing tactics are increasingly failing to capture users' attention.

Against this backdrop, many brands are shifting their focus towards uncharted territory: predicting and guiding future trends.

Conceptual creations transcend conventional frameworks, expressing ideas through novel and distinctive forms.

From futuristic concept bicycles to smartphones with interchangeable camera lenses and laptops featuring vertically rotating screens, these conceptual products challenge existing norms, offering unique perspectives on future design.

Concept marketing transcends the product itself; it does not directly peddle goods, but rather presents a hypothesis about the future.

When a concept is introduced, it enters the market in product form, subsequently validating that such a demand exists. It then gains broader consumer consensus, ultimately evolving into a new consumer category and a fresh competitive arena.

The ever-thirsty consumer market rewards pioneers who dare to be first. When brands introduce novel concepts, they propose fresh lifestyles, thereby carving new pathways through intense competition and generating fresh growth opportunities.

The Battle for the Mind

There's a line in ‘Tongue Tips of China’ that says a single flavour is difficult to present on its own, and that the best way for the five flavours to exist is to be harmonised and balanced.

In the marketplace, so-called sustainable fashion, tech accessibility, metaverse socialising, and digital nomadism are essentially contrived concepts.

Concept marketing is fundamentally a battle for mindshare, planting seeds in consumers' minds by introducing novel, cutting-edge, and compelling ideas.

When a brand pioneers such a concept, it naturally becomes the category's “first mover”, enhancing its exclusivity and authority.

This authority can then nourish the brand image: concept phones often reinforce an impression of being an innovation pioneer; concept cars lend automotive brands a sense of technological sophistication and forward-thinking; concept stores imbue retail brands with a distinct lifestyle ethos.

The trajectory of commerce and trends is rarely linear or predictable; it demands continuous experimentation, and concept marketing inherently carries an experimental nature.

Concept marketing serves as a low-cost testing ground, proposing hypotheses about lifestyles or consumption scenarios. Through practical implementation, it validates these hypotheses to refine market strategies.

Concept products possess inherent virality, attracting media attention more readily and sparking widespread discussion on social platforms.

与平庸的产品相比，它们为用户提供了引人入胜的对话开场白，将产品的概念提升到不仅仅是产品，而是动态的、鲜活的内容，在社交媒体上流通。

一个绝妙的主意

这一概念并非天马行空的想象；它的本质在于有目的的探索。

在构思概念之前，必须先提出问题。概念的诞生源于对这一具体问题的探索和回应。

概念营销的出发点不仅仅是思考“用户现在需要什么”，而是更广泛地考虑“他们将来可能需要什么”。

最初，当所有手机制造商都在争夺键盘材料时，史蒂夫·乔布斯提出了一个问题：为什么手机一定要有实体键盘？这一发人深省的问题推动了智能手机从实体按键向触摸屏的转变。

概念可以无限延伸；单一的想法或视角可以成为概念营销的核心。这些超越既定规范的前瞻性设想，为企业提供了更具启发性的视角。

概念的创造并不一定需要完全全新的元素；它也可以涉及通过全新的概念组合来重新构想传统的、日常的事物。

星巴克的“第三空间”概念源于对一种城市现象的观察：除了家和办公室之外，缺乏既能满足社交需求又能满足独自思考需求的空间。

因此，星巴克将门店设计成以木制家具、温暖的灯光和咖啡香气为特色的公共空间，将咖啡消费转变为逃离日常生活喧嚣的一种方式。

咖啡和公共空间都不是什么新鲜概念，但这个异想天开的想法将它们编织成一个全新的故事，重塑了咖啡消费的逻辑。

在商业环境中，概念营销必须源于以品牌为中心的思维，挑战过时的观念，以塑造能够引起当代受众共鸣的当代叙事。