Basic principles of brand ecology

Ecology emphasizes the interaction between the components in the ecosystem, and the change of any component will cause the change of other components, both natural ecosystem and brand ecosystem. In the brand ecosystem (Tom Duncan, 1998), there is an inherent two-way interaction and overlapping phenomenon among related interest groups, which makes the brand ecosystem constitute an extremely complex whole. Therefore, when studying the brand ecosystem, customers, employees, shareholders or competitors cannot be studied in isolation, and when planning the brand ecosystem, it cannot be limited to a certain stakeholder group.

* * * coevolution principle

Anthropologist Gregory Bateson pointed out that behaviors in systems (companies, groups and families) are coevolutionary. According to batson, * * * coevolution is a more important concept than competition or cooperation, and it is also true in business circles. Some of the most efficient companies in the world (such as Intel, Hewlett-Packard, Shell, Wal-Mart, etc.). ) led the economic development through learning and developed new business advantages. Therefore, we should not only study the competition and cooperation of brand ecosystem, but also pay attention to the mechanism and mode of brand "* * * isomorphism".

Ecological flow principle

All forms of life are inseparable from energy flow, material circulation and information transmission. Without these ecological flows, there would be no life activities and no ecosystem. In the brand ecosystem, besides logistics, there are all kinds of important energy. Energy flows (such as capital flows, ownership flows and knowledge flows) are more complicated, but the basic principles are the same. Energy flow and material flow are accompanied by brand information transmission, or are guided by brand information.

Niche principle

Generalized niche refers to the relative position and functional relationship between a population and other populations in time and space. The survival of each brand and brand group needs certain ecological space and resources. In order to obtain these resources and space, there is a tendency to expand and expand its market ecological distribution. But both resources and space are limited, which will inevitably lead to competition between brands and groups with the same needs. Due to the influence of competition, the realized niche currently occupied by a brand is always smaller than the basic niche it could reach without competition. Although resources and space are limited, consumers' demands and demands are diverse. Through competition and selection, brands and their groups have niche isolation, so that niches do not overlap or overlap less, thus realizing the existence of many brands in a certain range. Replacing market share and market share map with niche and ecological map can help enterprises adapt to the changes of market ecology more effectively, because ecological map can not only express the meaning of share in traditional market analysis, but also explain the biological chain among the main members in market ecology.

Restrictive factor principle

This is an important principle in ecology, which means that the survival and reproduction of organisms depend on comprehensive environmental conditions, and any situation close to or beyond the tolerance range may become a limiting factor. It includes two meanings:

1) The growth and development of organisms are controlled by the minimum number of comprehensive environmental factors they need. This is Justus von Liebig's law of minimum factor.

2) The growth and development of organisms are also controlled by their tolerance limits (insufficient or excessive) to environmental factors, that is, the tolerance law of V.E.Shelford. In the development of brand ecosystem, there are also some factors that play a limiting role. While applying the principle of limiting factors, we should also establish the concept of factor compensation, that is, the interaction between factors can change the utilization rate of factors, thus playing a compensation role in a certain range.

Ecological succession principle

The development or succession of ecosystem is the common feature of all ecosystems, and brand ecosystem is no exception. The significance of succession is:

1) succession is an orderly process, which develops regularly in a certain direction, so it is predictable;

2) Although the change is caused by external factors, the succession is controlled by the internal life system of the system;

3) It is based on the development of a stable ecosystem.

The succession of natural ecosystem is the whole succession sequence from one community to another, which is usually called succession series, the transitional community is called succession stage community, and the last stable community protected by external interference is called climax community. As usual, the brand ecosystem is also changing and developing, and it can also be divided into several stages or development periods. The brand ecosystem formed in the initial stage is relatively narrow and simple in scale and structure, and gradually develops until its production capacity adapts to the market capacity and the market environment resources of the brand community, which makes the main body of * * * tend to be stable, leads to the struggle for power and profit within the same body, and finally leads to the self-renewal or extinction of the system.

Principle of ecological balance

In a relatively stable ecosystem, the composition and proportion of the system are relatively stable, and the input and output of energy and matter are relatively balanced. Such an ecosystem has a tendency to resist pressure and maintain a balanced state, which is called a steady-state mechanism in ecology. When the external force is strengthened, the ecosystem can achieve a new balance at a new level through automatic adjustment, so a series of "steady steps" may appear. At this point, although the system can still achieve control, but can not return to the original same level. In this case, even a small change will have a far-reaching impact. The stability mechanism of ecosystem is limited. Beyond this limit, the positive feedback is uncontrolled, which will eventually lead to the destruction of the system, and the normal operation of the brand ecosystem is also dominated by this principle.