Communication, a seemingly familiar concept, has had its fundamental logic completely revolutionized in the new media era.

Li Auto's crash test video sparked nationwide scrutiny, Pagoda's "educating consumers" remarks triggered massive backlash, and iKang Healthcare's medical examination controversies continued to ferment and reverse... Today, all companies and individuals find themselves in an unprecedented communication transformation. Information flows like torrents, viewpoints clash intensely, and public opinion changes in an instant. For enterprises, a single careless move may trigger enormous waves; for individuals, mere fragments of words on social media can invite unexpected storms.

How can one "see the direction of the current" amid this cacophony and grasp the truth of communication? "The Logic of Communication: 30 Truths About Igniting Brands, Stories, and Viewpoints" by Zhao Ming, Chief Marketing Officer of Lexin, who has distilled over 20 years of frontline practical experience and deep thinking, provides an extremely insightful guide.

**Multi-disciplinary Theoretical Perspectives Combined with 20+ Years of Practical Experience Create a "Communication Toolkit"**

"The Logic of Communication" integrates theories from communication studies, social psychology, sociology, psychology, economics, management, and other disciplines, constructing a systematic framework for communication cognition and operations. However, this book is far from empty theorizing. As a former senior media professional and current CMO of Lexin, who has also held senior marketing communication management positions at renowned companies like 360 and Youku, author Zhao Ming is a practical expert who has been deeply engaged in the communication field for over 20 years. He has personally experienced the communication transformation from traditional media through internet media to the new media era, and deeply understands the subtle boundary between enterprises and the public.

Zhao Ming previously restored entrepreneurs' stories from a media perspective in his book "The Logic of Entrepreneurs." Now, he turns to communication itself, answering a more fundamental question in his new book "The Logic of Communication": In an era of scarce attention and emotion-driven social media, how can information penetrate noise and truly reach target audiences?

Zhao Ming integrates his rich experience into the book, building upon a multi-perspective theoretical framework and using a series of vivid cases to meticulously analyze various issues in modern communication, such as the traps behind "reversal news," emotional manipulation on social media, brand story construction, and how to achieve effective communication through balancing rationality and emotion.

As Zhou Hongyi, Chairman and CEO of 360 Group, writes in his foreword: "Rather than calling this a book studying communication theory, it's better described as a practical methodology for corporate communication. As a veteran still fighting on the communication frontlines, Zhao Ming uses new perspectives to analyze communication theory, integrating his years of accumulated communication experience and concepts, presenting them eloquently and leaving readers wanting more."

**Multi-dimensional Full-chain Deconstruction of Communication's "Underlying Logic"**

"The Logic of Communication" starts from audience insight as the starting point of communication, determines core methods for carrying information through stories, then predicts and resolves public opinion risks in communication, ultimately landing on the ultimate goal of communication shaping brands and transmission evolution adapted to changing times, constructing a complete logical loop around brand communication in the new media era.

The essence of communication is the connection between information and people, so all actions must inevitably start with understanding people. The first chapter of "The Logic of Communication" directly addresses core issues, sparking reflection through classic theory collisions: on one side is Le Bon's "The Crowd" proposing "collective wisdom becoming foolishness," where groups experience decreased intelligence and become easily manipulated by emotions after gathering; on the other side are concepts emphasized in Mussayed's "The New Crowd" and Surowiecki's "The Wisdom of Crowds: How to Make the Smartest Decisions," such as how platforms like Douban ratings and Dianping approach objective evaluations through group averages.

Through combining numerous case stories with theory, the book further elaborates on the theoretical essence of group psychology while eloquently describing how group behavior influences public opinion transmission in the social media era. Through progressive layers, from group psychology to individual behavior, from theoretical conflicts to practical applications, the author ultimately points to: the masses need to find a balance between rationality and emotion within information cocoons and group tyranny, discerning the truth of public opinion, which means seeing the direction of the current.

Deep deconstruction of audience psychology not only answers what kind of people communication must face, but also directly determines subsequent strategies of "how to reach these people," serving as the logical origin of all communication strategies. Once it's clear who to speak to, the next step naturally involves thinking about how to speak so audiences are willing to listen and remember.

"The Logic of Communication" proposes that "successful communication is telling good stories." The core of good stories is not creating from nothing, but building upon audiences' existing cognition, which perfectly echoes the previous insights into audience psychology: only by fitting familiar cognitive frameworks can stories quickly resonate and influence audience behavior. The book points out that good stories must be rooted in audiences' value cognition, using underlying narrative logic (such as the hero's journey model from "The Hero with a Thousand Faces") to construct discourse systems that tell authentic stories, thereby rapidly triggering audiences' instinctive interest.

Based on this underlying logic, the book details diverse means for crafting communication stories. Leveraging trends is key to catching attention - whether borrowing hot topics, major brands, or celebrities, the essence is forcibly establishing connections and converting advertorials into news; comparative communication is a common shortcut for enterprises - Xiaomi SU7 comparing to Porsche, Luckin comparing to Starbucks, online shopping product pages "comparing with major brands," etc. In the social media era, attention must also be paid to "new PR communication packages" - "internal letters" can completely convey company intentions and serve as powerful tools for external communication, while memes and jokes are core carriers of viral transmission, whose self-propagating attributes allow information to quickly leave impressions in users' minds, influencing audiences' irrational aspects.

When a good story successfully spreads, what does it ultimately mean for enterprises? The author reveals the truth in the book: communication value ultimately points to two levels - building relationships and building brands, with ultimate value lying in competing for mindshare. New media era communication has shifted from unidirectional to multidirectional, with story tellers needing to balance "what to say" with "how to say it," skillfully using psychological mechanisms like the Goebbels effect, labeling effect, and exposure effect to make stories deeply ingrained through repetition and exposure, ensuring audiences not only "hear" but also "listen."

As a communication leader for multiple renowned companies, the author has witnessed numerous public opinion events. In "The Logic of Communication," he uses extensive coverage to demonstrate the dynamic and complex nature of public opinion events along with handling techniques and methods. Through concepts of common knowledge and public knowledge from game theory, the author reveals public opinion ignition mechanisms, pointing out that the core of public opinion crises lies in information transparency and emotional connection: enterprises need to proactively communicate to transform implicit risks into public awareness rather than passively respond. Using the wisdom of Bian Que's "treating未病 (pre-illness)" as an example, the author advocates for front-loading public opinion management, achieving silent crisis resolution through daily hazard investigation, which represents the highest realm of PR communication.

Currently, social media has reconstructed the rhythm and boundaries of crisis communication. The book proposes that enterprises need to use flexible strategies like showing weakness and self-deprecation to maintain public favor rather than stubbornly defending image, while corporate executives must be cautious in speech and action to avoid exacerbating crises through hasty statements.

"The Logic of Communication" not only analyzes changes in audience psychology in the social media era and explores characteristics of sentiment, communication patterns, and the art of rational and emotional communication in information-explosive environments, but also discusses the relationship between communication and brand marketing as well as communication evolution in current environments around two core logics: "how brands effectively connect with users" and "how communication adapts to changing times," providing readers with a comprehensive, systematic perspective to help them find certainty in uncertain times and enhance personal and organizational influence.

**Industry Leaders' Joint Endorsement: A "Must-Read" Book for Decoding New Media Communication**

In his preface, Zhao Ming states he hopes this is a business book helpful to entrepreneurs, business professionals, and practitioners in brand marketing and communication; a cognitive enhancement book beneficial to journalism and communication students, media practitioners, and influencer economy workers; and a guide for government officials, enterprise leaders, and publicity personnel to understand current communication and public opinion patterns...

In an era of scarce attention and emotion-driven dynamics, "The Logic of Communication" provides readers with a key to decode the new media era, helping them anchor direction in the ocean of information and firmly grasp discourse power amid storms of public opinion.

Beyond forewords by Zhou Hongyi and Xiao Wenjie, "The Logic of Communication" has received recommendations from numerous renowned figures in business, media, and academia.

Qi Xiangdong, Chairman of Qianxin Technology Group, said: "Starting from vivid cases and combining reflection on classic theories, this book answers a series of questions about 'effective expression' in an era of information overload and attention scarcity... The entire book is lively, interesting, thoughtful, powerful, deep, and broad."

Xie Xinzhou, Dean of Peking University's New Media Research Institute, believes: "Zhao Ming's 'The Logic of Communication' starts from new media era insights, discussing key aspects of corporate core strategies like brand building, marketing creativity, and communication methodology in new media environments, providing a complete set of practice-based thinking and methods. For readers hoping to achieve something in the new media era, this book is an extremely inspiring must-read."

Scholars and experts including Chen Wenling, Chief Economist of China Center for International Economic Exchanges; Jing Lin, Dean of Chinese Academy of Social Sciences Evaluation Research; and Zhang Guoyou, Chief Economist of Peking University Institute for Advanced Information Technology, all highly recommend this new work combining theory and practice.

Famous host Chen Weihong evaluates "The Logic of Communication" as "like a key unlocking audience psychology... helping you 'see the direction of current' in communication waves and opening new pathways for effective communication." Media leaders including Sina CEO Deng Qingxu, Yidian Zixun President Chen Tong, Sanlian Life Weekly Editor-in-Chief Li Honggu, 36Kr Board Co-Chairman and CEO Feng Dagang, and China Economic Times Chief Editor Che Haigang also consider this book essential reading for understanding current communication transformation and cognitive enhancement.