1.Introduction

1.1.Brand Community

The concept of "brand community" was first introduced by Albert Muniz and Thomas C. O'Guinn in the article "Brand Community" proposed, the article mentioned that "a brand community is a special consumer group that is not restricted by geography. It is based on a series of social relationships formed by consumers who use a certain brand." From a conceptual point of view, community is the way for consumers to understand the brand and form experiences. The construction of community helps to emphasize the core position of consumers in the market and the value of interactive experience in consumption behavior. Users' feelings and attitudes towards the brand are profoundly affected by the community. Therefore, consumer behavior and consumption intention have a community foundation, which makes the current brands pay more attention to online and offline community building, giving the brand more relationship value, starting from customers. Starting from the perspective of marketing, people can better guide marketing practice [1]. As a representative company in the development of community marketing, Xiaohongshu makes full use of community marketing strategies to promote the development of cross-border e-commerce companies and various corporate community economies, and provides information for the development of imported cross-border e-commerce platforms under the Internet background. More feasibility. [2] As an important medium for online life, WeChat in the "social +" model has developed into one of the important positions of community marketing. With the development of the Internet, whether a company can use social marketing to adjust its marketing model and focus and attract more consumers is crucial to its survival and development. WeChat makes full use of the social marketing strategy to integrate into public life and become an indispensable part of people's lives [3].

1.2.User Segmentation Theory

User segmentation theory originated from the market segmentation theory of marketing. It is a marketing theory proposed by the famous American marketing scientist Wendell Smith in 1956[4]. User segmentation specifically refers to the use of market research methods, based on the differences in user needs, desires, purchasing power and other aspects [5]. In recent years, user segmentation theory has been widely used in major enterprises, such as airline companies to conduct user market research on routes. Segmentation [6]. Sports brand companies conduct user segmentation on the audience market.

Lululemon is an international sports and leisure clothing brand. It was founded in Vancouver, Canada in 1998. The founder of the brand is Chip Wilson. The yoga trend he founded laid the foundation for the brand. The brand positioning is inspired by yoga. Lululemon started in Vancouver in 2000 The company went public in 2007 after opening its first store. Lululemon owes much of its success to Chip Wilson's marketing. lululemon has a clear insight into the blue ocean of the women's sports market and the needs of women who love yoga. It seizes the new trend of Athleisure, cuts into the segmented track, and positions itself as a "yoga-inspired sportswear brand." Lululemon focuses on local community operations, cooperates with yoga instructors and fitness professionals from all over the country, and regularly holds yoga, meditation, fitness seminars and other activities. It not only improves product reputation, but also promotes brand products and establishes a sense of belonging among local consumer groups. The theme of this research report is lululemon's precise positioning of consumer groups and the enhancement of the brand's consumer stickiness through community shaping. This study only explores the impact of the use of two marketing strategies, community building and user segmentation, on consumer stickiness. And you can learn more about how lululemon has achieved great success in brand marketing through the two strategies of social marketing and user segmentation.

2.Case Description

Lululemon is an international sports and leisure clothing brand, and its brand positioning is inspired by yoga. The marketing dilemma it faces is how to have its own place in the highly saturated sportswear market (sport brands such as Nike and Adidas occupy a large market share).

Lululemon took a different approach, downplaying the marketing model of advertising endorsements, turning to social marketing, and achieved success. Its success is inseparable from its unique marketing model: community + word of mouth = high stickiness. Lululemon accurately locates consumer groups and enhances the brand's consumer stickiness through community building. It builds emotional bonds with customers through community marketing and enhances brand loyalty.

Zhang Yufei pointed out: The success of Lululemon brand marketing is based on the following reasons:

Lululemon makes full use of the community economy and has formed a brand-unique community marketing model to strengthen the connection between the brand and consumers. To present positive value and achieve profitability, the community economy relies on the emotional bond between community members and the community itself. With the help of interactions and influences among members, it can better understand the needs of members to add value to products and improve its ecosystem [7].

Lululemon drives brand development through three concepts: culture (forming Lululemon's characteristic culture), marketing (adopting the "DTC" marketing model), and service (adhering to the purpose of consumer first) [8].

Analyzing the above cases, people can see that social marketing has become a key factor affecting the competitiveness of sports brands. This article uses research methods such as literature analysis and case analysis to analyze the social marketing of Lululemon, a well-known Canadian sports brand.

This case is helpful for analyzing how to better integrate social economy and marketing methods, thereby giving brands more social marketing inspiration. At the same time, it analyzes how to stimulate consumers' desire to purchase and drive brand development through ideas and spiritual power. Communities are closely related to user stickiness. Based on this, this study will conduct a more expanded analysis on user stickiness when describing community marketing. In this way, you can have a more comprehensive understanding of the benefits of social marketing.

3.Theoretical Analysis of Cases

3.1.Analysis Based on Theory

Lululemon uses a community-building marketing model to accurately locate target groups to increase consumer stickiness, which helps to increase the brand's own value.

In its process, the application of the SIPS (Sympathize; Identify; Participate; Share & Spread) model is reflected. SIPS model It is a model used to analyze user consumption behavior in the social media era. This model is based on the previous AISAS model. The AISAS model is a consumer behavior analysis model for the Internet era, including attention, interest, search, action and sharing. stage. The SIPS model further refines and expands these stages to adapt to changes in the social media era. The SIPS model divides users' consumption behavior into four stages: resonance: stimulating users' motivation and interest in understanding the product and seeking product value. Identity: Based on resonance, users identify with the product. Participation: Users actively participate in the consumption experience. Sharing and diffusion: A good consumption experience prompts users to share through social platforms, attracting more users to participate.

Compared with the AISAS (Attention; Interest; Search; Action; Share) model, the SIPS model places more emphasis on the two-way interaction between users and enterprises, as well as the special needs of users. Lululemon's social marketing not only embodies the SIPS model, but is also inseparable from the 4R marketing theory. 4R marketing theory is proposed based on 4C marketing theory. 4R marketing theory is a theory that takes relationship marketing as its core, focuses on the long-term interaction between enterprises and customers, and focuses on building customer loyalty. It not only starts from the interests of manufacturers but also takes into account the needs of consumers. It is a more practical and effective marketing winning technique.

3.2.Social Marketing Strategy Analysis

Lululemon's community marketing strategy is not limited to building a community, but uses a series of strategies to create a user circle with high stickiness, high conversion, and self-propagation. First of all, it focuses on emerging niche groups and subdivided vertical scenes, such as the new era of unmarried and childless women with high education and high income, as well as yoga enthusiasts. Lululemon adheres to the original intention of conveying the "hot sweat philosophical approach" and has a real dialogue with users through yoga and hot sweat forms other than yoga to share the brand's core values. Let the target customer group resonate with developing a healthy lifestyle. This strategy not only helps the brand accurately locate the target market, but also gives the community a stronger sense of belonging. Inspiring users to resonate with the brand fully embodies the two stages of resonance and identification in the SIPS model. Secondly, lululemon uses "space" to enhance the penetration of the community, giving the community the concept of a "sacred place" landmark, allowing community members to gain a sense of belonging and participation. In addition, brands also use "people" to activate the momentum of the community, such as through roles such as image ambassadors, to convey brand concepts and values enhance users' brand loyalty. Finally, lululemon's community strategy also includes defining the value of the community in terms of "lifestyle" and conveying the lifestyle represented by the brand through brand ambassadors and community activities, thereby deepening connections with consumers. Lululemon uses the above methods to allow consumers to have a good user experience based on recognition and spontaneously recommend and promote the brand. It embodies the two stages of sharing and diffusion in the SIPS model. Lululemon's entire community marketing process takes relationship marketing as the core, focusing on the long-term development of the brand and users, and focusing on user loyalty. It fully embodies the core of 4R marketing theory.

3.3.Target Customer Group

3.3.1.Target Customer Group Classification

Lululemon's target customer base is mainly the middle class who pay attention to the quality of life and pursue health and fashion. They are usually men and women between 25 and 45 years old, with a strong interest in sports, especially yoga, running, fitness, etc. This group of people has high spending power and is willing to pay for high-quality, high-performance sportswear. At the same time, they are also consumers who pursue fashion and comfort, and have certain requirements for brand design and style.

Specifically, Lululemon’s customer groups can be divided into:

Professional sports enthusiasts: Professional sports enthusiasts’ demands for clothing mainly focus on materials, styles, comfort, colors and special functions. They want to improve the effectiveness and comfort of their exercise exercises by choosing the right clothing and accessories. Lululemon's clothing materials are comfortable and breathable, the styles are simple and elegant, and the wear is soft and fit, which well meets the needs of professional sports enthusiasts.

Pursuers of healthy lifestyles: In addition to professional sports enthusiasts, Lululemon also attracts many consumers who pursue healthy lifestyles. They may not be people who often engage in high-intensity exercise, but they pay attention to daily exercise and body management, and are willing to choose comfortable and fashionable sportswear to improve their quality of life. A large proportion of them are professional women who love sports. This group of people was Lululemon's early core customer group. They usually have high education and high income, pay attention to personal image and body management, and are willing to pay for high-quality sportswear. Lululemon's yoga pants, yoga clothes and other products are deeply loved by this group of people. In addition to its core female customer base, Lululemon has begun to expand the male market in recent years and has launched corresponding sportswear for middle-class male consumers. This group of people also pays attention to quality and fashion, and has a strong interest in sports.

In general, Lululemon's target customer groups are young, highly educated, high-income, and focused on health and fashion. Through continuous product innovation and market expansion, the brand strives to meet the diverse needs of this group of people, thereby winning their loyalty and love.

3.3.2.Analysis of Characteristics of Target Customer Group

After Lululemon accurately positioned its audience group, it analyzed the target customer group and obtained user portraits of its target customer group. Lululemon found that most of its audience is in the middle to upper income bracket.

The circles formed spontaneously by middle- and high-income groups are often a social aggregation phenomenon based on common interests, values and lifestyles. These circles not only provide members with platform for communication and interaction, but also become to some extent an important place for their identity and social needs to be met.

First, middle- and high-income groups usually have higher social status and similar educational backgrounds, which allows them to share a common language and cognition in many aspects. They may all be successful entrepreneurs, senior professionals or elites in other fields. Therefore, they have extensive space for communication and cooperation in career development, investment and financial management, lifestyle, etc.

Secondly, middle- and high-income groups often pursue high-quality life experience and spiritual enjoyment. They may be keen on activities in art, culture, tourism and other fields, or pay attention to social issues such as health and environmental protection. These common interests and hobbies prompted them to spontaneously form various circles in order to better share resources, exchange experiences, and achieve common growth.

In addition, middle- and high-income groups also have unique characteristics in terms of social needs. They usually pay more attention to the expansion and maintenance of network, hoping to bring more opportunities and possibilities to their careers and lives by establishing deep friendships and cooperative relationships with like-minded people. Therefore, these circles tend to be somewhat exclusive and private, and the interactions between members are deeper and closer.

Taking advantage of the above characteristics, Lululemon launches a community marketing plan to create a sense of identity and belonging among its target customers, thereby increasing loyalty to the Lululemon brand.

4.The Solution of Marketing Problems Arising in the Case

Problems and solutions in social marketing mainly include the following points:

1. The problem of community activity unstable community activity often occurs. When community activity is low, it may lead to poor information transmission, reduced member participation, reduced community cohesion, and damaged brand image. , social value becomes lower and other negative results. In order to increase community activity, brands can hold online and offline activities, initiate topic discussions, and issue coupons. At the same time, brands need to strengthen community management, respond to users’ questions and messages in a timely manner, and improve user participation and satisfaction.

2. The problem of members withdrawing from the group: Members may withdraw from the group because the value provided by the community does not match their needs, the community is improperly stratified, or the value provided is insufficient. The withdrawal of members from the group may greatly reduce the cohesion of the brand community. Brands should screen and stratify community members, strengthen communication with users, and provide the value they need.

3. Dealing with negative voices: The emergence of negative voices will damage the brand image. When brands deal with negative voices, listen patiently, put yourself in the customer’s shoes, and act quickly. Acknowledging mistakes, making amends, solving problems, and optimizing community operation processes or customer service processes are all crucial.

4. The issue of community scale expansion: To expand the community scale, operating costs and service improvements need to be considered. Brands should expand the scale of the community after forming a unique brand culture system and preparing a reserve of operational talent.

5. Issues with offline activities: Offline activities can enhance emotional communication and extend the life cycle of the community. Where conditions permit, offline activities should be held appropriately. For example, Lululemon often holds yoga classes in offline stores.

Solving these problems can help improve the effectiveness of community marketing and increase the satisfaction and participation of community members. Improve users' brand loyalty and strengthen user stickiness.

5.Conclusion

In general, lululemon's social marketing strategy emphasizes the deep connection between the brand and consumers. Through social activities, customers can realize that what they are buying is not only sportswear, but also a lifestyle and life circle. This study analyzes Lululemon’s main audience groups. The research shows that most of Lululemon’s audience groups are people who pay attention to brand quality and pursue healthy lifestyles. They have higher requirements for fashion, comfort, etc., and at the same time have strong spending power and Brand loyalty. Lululemon successfully delivers its brand value by creating shared values and lifestyles, continuously strengthening healthy lifestyles, and meeting the emotional and social needs of its audience. A consumer community with high loyalty and strong participation has been established. Lululemon's social marketing strategy is worthy of reference and serves as an example for other brands to improve user loyalty.