Introduction: Though the enterprise has crossed a century, the brand remains forever young. Author |青山依旧 Review |王强 Layout |何雯

In 2023, consumption is recovering and the market is warming up. Although consumers are more rational in their purchasing decisions, the Chinese FMCG market is still returning to positive growth.

During the upcoming 618 promotion, many categories achieved good sales results, behind which lies the success of countless brands. The beer industry, after experiencing unstable sales declines in previous years, has seen new growth this year.

The growth in beer sales first appeared on online platforms. According to JD Supermarket's 618 full-cycle battle report for the alcohol industry, craft beer & fresh beer transaction volume increased by 210% year-on-year, while baijiu, Ningxia wine, and white spirits sub-categories also saw growth.

At the same time, according to JD's 618 beer battle report, during the full 618 cycle in 2023, beer category transaction volume increased by 30% year-on-year, with craft beer & fresh beer, white beer, and emerging brands achieving higher growth. This indicates that consumers are more enthusiastic about purchasing sub-categories of beer and have a stronger brand awareness.

New Distribution found that during this year's 618 full cycle, leading brands still occupied the top three spots. The familiar Tsingtao Beer not only became the number one beer brand in sales, but also its official flagship store ranked first in beer store transaction volume, with Tsingtao Beer Classic 500ml*24 becoming one of the best-selling items. Notably, Tsingtao Beer Original Pulp saw a 27-fold increase in transaction volume during 618, and Tsingtao White Beer category transaction volume increased by 49%, receiving consumer praise.

Similarly, during Douyin's 618 Good Things Festival, the alcohol industry also achieved good results, with GMV increasing by over 90% year-on-year.

Tsingtao Beer also achieved the top position in beer brands on Douyin 618.

As a 120-year-old brand, why has Tsingtao Beer become one of the beer brands chosen by most new-generation consumers?

Tsingtao Beer, 120 Years Old, Still Full of Vitality

In 2023, as consumption recovers, this year also marks the 120th anniversary of Tsingtao Beer, a significant year. After a century of development, Tsingtao Beer has gone from Qingdao to the world and become a beer brand loved by consumers. This achievement is certainly due to Tsingtao Beer's continuous innovation and development.

For example, around the 120th anniversary, Tsingtao Beer launched a series of marketing activities, including creating the Classic 1903 designer co-branded cans, filming a 120th anniversary micro-movie, and announcing spokesperson anniversary gifts to reward fans.

Each marketing activity closely connects the 120-year-old Tsingtao Beer with the most vibrant young people of today. Though the enterprise has crossed a century, the brand remains forever young.

In fact, the main reason most time-honored brands decline is that they fail to launch products that match the times. From the long-term popularity of Tsingtao Beer Classic, to the popularity of Tsingtao White Beer, to the high attention on Tsingtao Beer Original Pulp, each product behind it meets the current beer needs of consumers.

In addition to product freshness, Tsingtao Beer's success also lies in its diversified channels. In recent years, Tsingtao Beer has repeatedly achieved good results in promotions like Double 11 and 618 because it dares to innovate and break through, excels in marketing innovation, and through online and offline cooperation, creates online carnivals full of nostalgia for consumers.

Furthermore, Tsingtao Beer has created a series of activities that resonate with consumers around major e-commerce platforms, leveraging its own advantages. For example, during this 618, Tsingtao Beer partnered with JD Supermarket to create a "BOSS Price" executive live-streaming session, and on Douyin launched a "luxury live-streaming matrix" of quality store broadcasts and excellent influencer broadcasts. Through down-to-earth content, consumers gained an in-depth and comprehensive understanding of Tsingtao Beer's brand heritage and the selling points of its series products, allowing more young consumers to understand Tsingtao Beer more intuitively.

It can be seen that the reason why Tsingtao Beer, with its 120-year history, can maintain high activity and consumer recognition is inseparable from its brand heritage, online e-commerce channel construction, and new marketing content creation. Although the brand has a sense of history, the team growing with the brand is very young and understands consumers well.

Behind Tsingtao Beer's Online "Exam" Victory

Why does Tsingtao Beer still maintain strong competitiveness in the fiercely competitive beer market?

In fact, from this year's 618 battle report, we can see that the current Chinese alcohol market is moving towards product segmentation, brand concentration, and diversified demand. For traditional brands, competition is becoming increasingly fierce because they can be overtaken by newcomers at any time.

But in the view of New Distribution, some alcohol brands still maintain strong competitiveness, such as Moutai in the baijiu category, Tsingtao Beer in the beer category, Changyu in the wine category, Remy Martin in the foreign liquor category, and Guyue Longshan in the yellow wine category, all achieving good results.

So how does Tsingtao Beer maintain excellence like those leading brands in sub-categories?

First, brand power. With 120 years of development, Tsingtao Beer has accompanied the growth of several generations, witnessed the development of China's beer industry, and brought Chinese beer brands to the global market. Its strong brand power has not only won consumer recognition but also made it the preferred beer brand in consumers' minds.

Second, channel power. Offline channels have always been the key market for beer. Now Tsingtao Beer has established a multi-level offline distribution channel covering the whole country. Although it is a 120-year-old brand, Tsingtao Beer continues to try, innovate, and break through, becoming one of the most competitive brands in China's beer category.

Finally, long-termism. Tsingtao Beer always adheres to long-termism. As a national brand, while maintaining its original intention, Tsingtao Beer keeps pace with the times, innovates and breaks through, actively embracing consumers with good products, and providing distributors with more valuable services through good service.

Final Words

As the 2023 618 promotion draws to a close, we have once again witnessed the resilience and recovery potential of China's consumer market. As a popular summer beverage, beer has also become one of the fastest-recovering categories in 2023. Behind this is not only the surge in individual consumer demand but also the positive development of China's catering industry.

This year also marks the 120th anniversary of Tsingtao Beer, and the excellent results achieved during this 618 are undoubtedly the best tribute to this 120-year-old brand.

In the past two years, New Distribution has been paying attention to Tsingtao Beer's progress. Every new record and achievement is the result of the joint efforts of Tsingtao people, a reflection of Tsingtao's product strength, a manifestation of consumers' pride in national brands, and a symbol of the strength of this 120-year-old national brand.