On February 27, 2025, with only 100 days left until the Gaokao, the author observed that many schools are holding adult ceremonies with themes like '100-Day Oath, Achieving Dreams' to cheer on senior high school students. At this crucial moment, Six Walnut has launched its limited-edition new product, the 'Zhuangyuan Can', to provide a 100-day escort for national exam candidates. This initiative is not just a scenario-based marketing campaign but also a deep emotional communication with students' parents. So, how does Six Walnut stand out in the fiercely competitive Gaokao marketing, and how does it capture minds through product and emotional resonance? Countdown 100-Day Escort Limited-Edition 'Zhuangyuan Can' Makes a Grand Debut The Gaokao, as one of China's most important social events, concerns the future of every candidate and deeply touches the emotions of thousands of families. For parents, the Gaokao is not only a competition of knowledge and ability but also a major event concerning the future. At this critical moment, parents are most concerned about their children's health, not only physical nutrition but also psychological stability and a positive mindset. Therefore, parents have a particularly strong demand for health products, making them a must-have during the Gaokao season. To better accompany students in facing the Gaokao, Six Walnut launched the limited-edition 'Zhuangyuan Can' at the 100-day countdown. This can not only continues Six Walnut's health quality of genuine ingredients and high nutritional value but also cleverly integrates emotional sustenance and good wishes for the Gaokao. From the packaging appearance, the 'Zhuangyuan Can' uses red as the main tone, symbolizing auspiciousness and success, paired with gold 'Zhuangyuan Can' lettering, creating a strong visual impact and conveying good wishes for candidates to pass the exam with honors. Additionally, the can features gold blessing phrases like 'May you come out on top, be listed on the honor roll, and have a bright future', blending traditional Chinese Zhuangyuan culture with modern emotional sustenance, full of ritual. As Six Walnut has always insisted, 'genuine ingredients' is not just a product concept but also a commitment to health and quality. To ensure product quality, Six Walnut has for years established raw material bases in the three golden walnut production areas of Xinjiang, Yunnan, and Taihang Mountain, purchasing over 100 million kilograms of walnuts annually to ensure the quality and safety of every walnut. Six Walnut's '5·3·28' process, whole walnut CET cold extraction process, and five-fold fine grinding process maximize the retention of nutrients such as unsaturated fatty acids, protein, and vitamin E, providing health assurance for consumers. It is through strict control of product quality and continuous innovation that Six Walnut has won consumer trust and successfully established a brand perception of 'healthy, nutritious, and reassuring'. During the mentally intensive Gaokao period, Six Walnut provides the most basic health support for students. However, the significance of the Gaokao goes far beyond functional needs; it carries family emotions. Six Walnut deeply understands this. Besides focusing on product functionality, this year it cleverly captures parents' emotional pain points about their children's exam preparation through the customized 'Zhuangyuan Can', perfectly combining emotion and function. By giving the product more ritual and emotional sustenance, Six Walnut not only provides health support but also sends warmth and blessings to parents, successfully breaking the boundaries of purely functional products and deeply binding the brand with consumers' emotions. Awakening Parents' Emotional Tasks Building Mental Barriers with Scenarios Toshifumi Suzuki, founder of 7-Eleven, said that consumers buy not a product but an event. A consumer's reason for buying is often not because the product is good, but because in the scenario at that moment, the product can help solve a problem. Clayton Christensen, the father of 'disruptive innovation', pointed out in his 'Jobs to Be Done' (JTBD) theory that consumers buy products not just for the product itself but to accomplish a task or satisfy an emotional need. This means that Six Walnut not only meets parents' needs for health products but also allows them to express deep care and expectations for their children through purchase. Emotion-driven purchasing decisions are the key to Six Walnut's marketing success. For parents, the Gaokao is not only about grades but also about their children's health and psychological state. Facing this moment of intertwined emotions and pressure, parents have a particularly strong demand for functional and health products during the Gaokao period. However, merely meeting functional needs is far from enough. The 'Zhuangyuan Can' customized product launched by Six Walnut cleverly combines emotional sustenance with functional needs. By initiating the 'National Gaokao 100-Day Escort', Six Walnut embeds the product into scenarios such as the final 100-day sprint, pre-exam blessings, and post-exam congratulations, making the 'Zhuangyuan Can' not just a purchased product but a form of scenario participation. This scenario marketing strategy makes parents unconsciously regard Six Walnut as part of the 'emotional event' when participating in this major life event, thereby strengthening brand awareness and consumption motivation from an emotional level. Furthermore, JTBD theory also emphasizes social tasks, where consumers convey specific social roles and values through purchasing behavior. Through emotional symbols, Six Walnut enables parents to express care and expectations for their children in a considerate and ritualistic way in the social scenario of the Gaokao. This not only enhances the product's social attributes but also helps parents complete the social task of being a 'responsible parent' in their social role, further strengthening purchase motivation. Through the strategic upgrade from 'selling products' to 'completing emotional tasks', Six Walnut not only stimulates consumers' purchase motivation but also successfully occupies consumer minds in the Gaokao scenario, building a strong brand barrier, making it an unignorable choice for parents and students during the Gaokao period. From 'Blessing Can' to 'Zhuangyuan Can' Continuous Deepening of Brand Warmth In fact, Six Walnut's brand exploration in the Gaokao scenario has gone through multiple stages, continuously deepening the brand's emotional warmth.
In 2019, Six Walnut released the micro-film 'Win the Gaokao Together - Xiaomin's Story', showing the real exam preparation stories of candidates; In 2020, it launched the warm documentary 'Come On' to cheer on students; In 2021, Six Walnut held the first 66 Brand Day and held a solemn 'Confucius Temple Blessing Ceremony' at the Confucius Temple in Qufu, Shandong, inviting parents and students to participate; In 2022, Six Walnut launched the '100-Day Preparation Plan', and while holding the 'Confucius Temple Blessing Ceremony', it also launched the 'Confucius Temple Blessing Can'; In 2023, Six Walnut, together with national distributors, launched the 'Love for Exam Delivery' activity, providing free rides for candidates and giving away Six Walnut drinks, establishing closer emotional ties with parents. Swipe left to see more At every Gaokao node, Six Walnut continuously interprets the brand's emotional symbols, from the 'Blessing Can' to the 'Zhuangyuan Can', continuously deepening the brand's warmth. It is this sustained brand behavior that has given Six Walnut a unique position in the Gaokao scenario and has had a profound impact on the brand and channels. 1. Brand influence increases year by year: Through years of emotional marketing, Six Walnut has successfully established a brand image of 'Gaokao escort', becoming the first choice for parents and students as a 'Gaokao essential'. 2. Channel penetration further strengthened: Through cooperation with distributors, Six Walnut's 'Love for Exam Delivery' and other activities not only expanded product coverage but also established deeper channel cooperation relationships. The active participation of distributors enhanced brand recognition and made them more willing to promote product sales, increasing cooperation stickiness. 3. Brand warmth drives sales growth: Six Walnut's emotional marketing not only improved brand reputation but also directly promoted sales growth. Products like the 'Zhuangyuan Can' are full of ritual, evoking parents' expectations for their children's future, effectively boosting sales during the Gaokao period. 4. Cultural identity strengthens brand barriers: Six Walnut cleverly combines traditional cultural symbols with modern consumer needs, not only conveying brand blessings but also establishing deep cultural resonance with consumers. In a highly homogenized market, this cultural identity further strengthens the brand barrier, consolidating Six Walnut's unique position in consumers' minds.** The End of Brand Marketing Is Becoming Part of User Memory Six Walnut's Gaokao marketing has transcended simple node marketing and transformed into a brand-building process deeply embedded in consumer emotions. From the 'Blessing Can' to the 'Zhuangyuan Can', Six Walnut not only firmly binds the brand to the important Gaokao scenario but also, through the creation of ritual, deeply imprints the brand in the emotional memories of candidates and parents. Reviewing Six Walnut's Gaokao marketing path, it has gradually built a systematic brand asset accumulation system by continuously deepening the brand's warmth and emotional connection. This long-termism not only enhances brand awareness but also builds a strong mental barrier, making Six Walnut an indispensable choice for parents and candidates during the Gaokao season. More importantly, in the increasingly competitive FMCG industry, Six Walnut's strategy provides a new way of thinking—the ultimate competitiveness of a brand is not price wars or short-term traffic battles, but how to become a part of consumers' lives. Through the special Gaokao scenario, Six Walnut has achieved a transformation from 'selling products' to 'conveying emotional value'. This is not only a successful demonstration of brand marketing but also a powerful validation of emotion-driven business value. In the future, how to continue this emotional resonance in more consumption scenarios will become an important proposition worth considering for Six Walnut and the entire industry.