International Case: GORE-TEX, a well-known apparel element brand

A product contains a unique element, the enterprise focuses on this characteristic to strengthen the promotion, so that the end consumers have a resonance with the unique selling point, so as to promote the sales of the product, this marketing mode is called "element brand" marketing. The world's most famous elemental brands include Intel, Tetra Pak, Dolby Audio, and for apparel, U.S. cotton fiber and Lycra fiber.

According to Kevin Lane Keller, an American brand management expert, elemental branding refers to the process of establishing brand equity for raw materials and components that suppliers must use in their downstream products. Intel began to promote the "Intel Inside" brand concept in the 1990s, before the concept of "elemental branding" emerged. Later, many companies began to follow suit, building trust with consumers and prompting ingredients to gradually become the brand standard for end-products. Another famous example is the apparel material brand GORE-TEX. In the early days, Gore was founded to research and develop polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE), and during the research process, it was inadvertently discovered that expanded polytetrafluoroethylene (ePTFE) material had the amazing property of low water absorption. In 1970, a patent was filed for GORE-TEX, and a fabric that combined waterproofing, breathability, and windproofing was introduced to the market.

As a B2B brand, GORE-TEX continues its consumer marketing efforts in order to influence the end consumer. Generally speaking, very few companies communicate directly with consumers about their B2B products because this business model can easily lead to price wars, and upstream suppliers are forced to lower their costs when downstream manufacturers have other options. In order to change the predicament of "price comparison", upstream manufacturers must change their mindset and find ways to make their own enterprise's elemental products change from downstream manufacturers' "choices" to necessary "demands". By publicizing their elemental products to end-consumers, consumers will rely on a certain commodity element, and then take the initiative to tell downstream manufacturers about their demands so that the products are irreplaceable, and ultimately, achieve the ultimate goal of premium pricing.

Elemental brand marketing focuses on strong product power and thorough understanding of the market. In addition to knowing its position in the market, it is necessary to analyze in detail which end-product manufacturers it should choose to cooperate with, the reaction of competitors, how to maintain its own competitive advantage, and how consumers evaluate the elemental brand, and it is pointless to publicize the brand if it cannot gain the trust of the consumers. Factor brands are becoming more popular and more homogeneous competitors are likely to emerge in the future. Enterprises should regularly assess the value of their product brands, take good brand protection measures, and carefully choose end manufacturers in order to deeply root their brands in people's hearts.