On September 8, Nongfu Spring went public with a market value of HK$445.3 billion, and its founder Zhong Shanshan's personal wealth surpassed that of Ma Yun and Ma Huateng, making him the richest person in China. This caused a stir, not only breaking the perception that "selling water is not profitable" but also prompting major media to analyze Nongfu Spring's success. Some attribute its success to advertising, others to product, channels, or a combination of strategies. While these have merit, they overlook a critical point: the essence of commercial competition is winning customers, making them choose you over competitors. In other words, why do consumers choose Nongfu Spring over other water brands?

What sets Nongfu Spring apart from thousands of water brands is its creation of differentiated value, combined with a strategy of centralized media, social media, and PR events to capture mind-share, continuously investing in minds to achieve mind-share pre-sale. In consumers' minds, it has already won over competitors like Wahaha and C'estbon.

-01- Why is achieving mind-share pre-sale the real weapon behind Nongfu Spring's dominance?

Imagine your scenario when buying drinking water. Do you enter a store, deliberate in front of the shelf, and then decide which brand to buy? Or do you decide before entering the store and then go directly to the shelf, grab it, pay, and leave? I think most people do the latter, and the brand they choose is Nongfu Spring. Indeed, according to relevant data, Nongfu Spring's natural water holds 40% of the drinking water market; for every 10 bottles sold, 4 are Nongfu Spring. This is the power of mind-share pre-sale. Mind-share pre-sale means that before consumers reach the shelf, they already have a brand in mind, having considered and chosen it. For example, if you want a safer car, you might consider Volvo; for travel wedding photos, you might consider Bójué Wedding Photography.

It's important to note that mind-share pre-sale is a result, not a process. It's not that Nongfu Spring only achieved it today; in fact, when consumers exhibit the above behavior, Nongfu Spring has already achieved it. Over time, this behavior becomes stronger.

So why is it that consumers buy Nongfu Spring primarily because it has achieved mind-share pre-sale?

Category characteristics determine decision-making mechanisms. Drinking water typically costs 1-3 yuan. As a daily consumer product, involvement is very low; from need to brand decision often takes less than 3 seconds. This determines two main purchase paths and decision mechanisms: either recognizing the need for water—having a brand in mind—entering the store and directly choosing that brand; or recognizing the need—entering the store—and then quickly choosing a brand from the shelf. The former relies on mind-share pre-sale, where consumers decide in advance; the latter relies on in-store presentation, including price, packaging, and channel coverage.

From a price perspective: Nongfu Spring's core product is priced at 2 yuan, with competitors like Wahaha and C'estbon at the same price point. Below 2 yuan are brands like Master Kong and Ice Dew; above 2 yuan is mainly Ganten. With all three price tiers available, the middle price (2 yuan) is more popular due to the "compromise effect," but since Nongfu Spring isn't the only brand at 2 yuan, price is not the key factor.

From a packaging perspective: For products like drinking water, attractive and distinctive packaging can stimulate purchase desire. While Nongfu Spring's red packaging at 2 yuan is relatively prominent, brands like Wahaha and C'estbon also have distinctive packaging, so packaging alone is not decisive.

From a channel perspective: Channel coverage is crucial in the water industry as it determines how many people can buy the product. However, when multiple brands are available at the same outlet, the advantage diminishes. Today, almost all retail outlets sell multiple water brands, so channels are not the key factor either.

Regarding taste, almost all drinking waters are tasteless, making taste differences imperceptible. Thus, taste is not the key factor.

This shows that the vast majority of consumers decide or consider buying Nongfu Spring before entering the store, rather than choosing after entering. Even if consumers decide after entering, it's almost always because seeing Nongfu Spring triggers and releases information about it in their minds. Therefore, the key to consumers buying Nongfu Spring is that it has achieved mind-share pre-sale, not relying on in-store advantages. However, reasonable pricing, product quality, and channel completeness are the foundation for achieving mind-share pre-sale.

-02- Creating differentiated value is the prerequisite for Nongfu Spring's mind-share pre-sale

When you think of Nongfu Spring, what comes to mind? Many associations: the word "farmer" (Nongfu) suggests honesty and reliability; "spring" (Shanquan) suggests purity and health. You might also think of the "natural water" product feature and the two classic slogans: "Nongfu Spring is a bit sweet" and "We don't produce water; we are just nature's porters." These are Nongfu Spring's differentiated value, the key to being chosen before entering the store, and the prerequisite for achieving mind-share pre-sale.

Mind-share pre-sale, simply put, is selling in advance. There are two key points: being remembered—when consumers have a need, they can quickly think of you—and after remembering, they must also think of your value, which should promote purchase. In summary, you need a memory point and a value point. Why do more people consider Guazi Used Cars when they have a need to buy a used car? Because Guazi's memory and value points are superior. In terms of memory, Guazi is easier to remember than Renren or Youxin. In terms of value, the slogan "No middleman to earn the difference" promotes purchase.

In the drinking water arena, when other brands were still promoting purified water, Nongfu Spring was the first to introduce the concept of natural water. Among many brands, this provided differentiation and prominence, but the memory point was insufficient, not easily spread, and the value was not concrete or perceptible.

However, "Nongfu Spring is a bit sweet" and "We don't produce water; we are just nature's porters" are creative expressions of natural water, combining memory and value points, making it easy for consumers to recall and prompting purchase.

Can you think of other water brands? Maybe Wahaha, C'estbon, etc. You often think of the brand name, but they only satisfy the memory point, not the value point, so they struggle to achieve mind-share pre-sale. Look at their slogans: Wahaha's is "Love you forever" and C'estbon's is "Your and my C'estbon." Both focus on emotional communication, which is acceptable for memory but fatal for value. Consumers buy water to drink, focusing on product benefits, not emotional benefits. Emotional appeal is not the key to driving purchase.

When consumers have a need, if they can't recall you, mind-share pre-sale fails; even if they recall you, if you don't offer value that prompts action, it also fails. Nongfu Spring's prerequisite is creating differentiated value, forming absolute differentiation from other brands, and then using two slogans to make that value more memorable and valuable. Many other brands today fail to achieve mind-share pre-sale because they lack memory and value points. In a cluttered information environment with countless similar products, being quickly recalled is still the most important aspect for brands.

-03- Continuous cognitive shaping is the guarantee for Nongfu Spring's mind-share pre-sale

Why do consumers think of and choose Nongfu Spring first when they need water? It seems easy but is actually difficult; many brands never achieve it. This means Nongfu Spring must win over all other brands in consumers' minds. Creating differentiated value and making it memorable is only the prerequisite, the first step of a long journey; its decades-long investment in minds, continuous cognitive shaping, and winning the mind war are the guarantees.

In the process of capturing minds and shaping cognition, Nongfu Spring integrates centralized and social media, combined with PR events, truly focusing its efforts to embed its "natural, healthy" brand value into consumers' minds.

01 "Broad, Fast, Deep" Nongfu Spring's high-profile advertising

"Broad": refers to wide audience coverage. As a daily consumer product, drinking water targets a broad audience, so advertising must be broad, not niche, to reach more people.

"Fast": means acting quickly, faster than competitors. The water market is highly competitive; a slow step can miss opportunities and become a stepping stone for rivals.

"Deep": means long-term commitment to brand value output, making advertising messages deeply ingrained, influencing consumers more deeply and for longer.

Since its product launch in 1996, Nongfu Spring has been a regular on CCTV and other major TV stations, often using authoritative media for ads. At the time, CCTV had wide coverage, greatly increasing awareness, and symbolized authority, enhancing trust for a brand promoting "natural water." Besides CCTV, Nongfu Spring favors elevator media, collaborating with Focus Media multiple times. Whether launching new products or at key moments, it uses Focus to reach consumers quickly and sustain influence.

In 2014, Nongfu Spring released the ad "A Story You Never Knew," heavily placed on Focus Media. Although the video was 3 minutes long and hard to watch fully, Nongfu Spring valued Focus's wide coverage and the immersive environment of elevators.

In February this year, Nongfu Spring's fifth zodiac bottle launched on Focus's elevator media, hitting multiple cities. Recently, its Eastern Leaf tea has been rotating on Focus screens to capture minds. Nongfu Spring fully utilizes Focus's high frequency, low distraction, and wide coverage to influence consumers faster and longer, further consolidating mind-share.

Beyond high-profile ads on CCTV and Focus, Nongfu Spring excels at long-term brand value output. Its ad series include "Beautiful China, Beautiful Water" and "20th Anniversary," aiming not at short-term sales but at continuously shaping cognition, embedding the "natural, healthy" value deeply.

02 PR events Making brand value more deeply rooted

Nongfu Spring's PR tactics are equally impressive, once leaving competitors helpless and weakened.

In 2000, Nongfu Spring launched its first PR battle against then-leader Wahaha, using experimental comparisons to prove natural water is healthier than purified water. Though scientifically debatable, the perception of natural water's health benefits was firmly planted in many minds.

In 2007, against then-leader Master Kong, Nongfu Spring again used experiments, evaluating water quality by acidity/alkalinity. With its naturally weak alkaline water, it reinforced its "natural, healthy" value in consumers' minds.

Advertising is about long-term value output; PR is about short, sharp, and impactful moves. Nongfu Spring's combination is exemplary.

Looking back at its growth, Nongfu Spring is indeed a "ruthless" player, with "natural, healthy" messages everywhere. But whether it's the early CCTV bombardment, later PR attacks on competitors, or the current preference for centralized media like Focus and long-term social media output, Nongfu Spring consistently invests in minds, making mind resources accumulative and forming brand assets, achieving mind-share pre-sale and escaping shelf competition. Over time, its power in consumers' minds will only grow, and its industry barriers will strengthen.

All things have causes; Nongfu Spring's dominance is the effect, and its 20-plus years of mind investment is the cause.

-04- Final Thoughts

It must be said that Nongfu Spring's path to dominance was not smooth, especially with established brands like Wahaha leading the market. It survived in the cracks. But it teaches us that consumers don't care who is the leader; they care who provides better value. Nongfu Spring carved a path with differentiated value to where it is today.

Moreover, in an era of product homogenization, complete channel layouts, and rising traffic costs, true breakthroughs come from breaking through in minds, investing in minds, and achieving mind-share pre-sale to escape traffic and shelf competition. Today, Nongfu Spring not only represents natural drinking water but also the concept of "natural, healthy." Many of its products benefit from the "Nongfu Spring" symbol, triggering and releasing the potential energy stored in consumers' minds.

The future of Nongfu Spring is even more immeasurable.

Source: Brand New Insider (WeChat: pinpaixnc)