Introduction: At the starting line of 2023, all marketers and distributors, get ready, set, go!

After three years of fighting the pandemic, the dawn of victory is finally in sight

December 1st, the first day of the last month of 2022.

In the morning, the two trending topics on Weibo that dominated the screen were: "Omicron's pathogenicity has significantly decreased" and "Experts say there is currently no evidence of long COVID."

A confirmatory study from a domestic research team showed that compared to the original strain and other variants of the COVID-19 virus, the pathogenicity of the Omicron variant has decreased exponentially.

Professor Chong Yutian, an infectious disease expert at the Third Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University and head of the Guangzhou Huangpu Fangcang Hospital, said in a media interview: "Currently, the academic community has not confirmed that COVID-19 has sequelae. At least, there is no evidence to suggest sequelae."

The above information comes from authoritative media reports including People's Daily, Xinhua News Agency, CCTV, Global Times, and China Youth Daily, and its authenticity and authority are unquestionable!

The significant changes in the virus's characteristics will lead to major adjustments in our epidemic prevention policies. Xinhua News Agency reported that on November 30, Vice Premier Sun Chunlan held an expert symposium at the National Health Commission, attended by eight experts including Zhang Boli, Shen Hongbing, Liang Wannian, and Du Bin.

Sun Chunlan pointed out: "With the weakening of Omicron's pathogenicity, the widespread vaccination, and the accumulation of prevention and control experience, China's epidemic prevention and control is facing a new situation and new tasks."

The most critical passage from the meeting was:

People-centered, prevention and control work should advance steadily, prevention policies should continue to optimize, take small steps without stopping, continuously improve diagnosis, testing, treatment, and isolation measures, strengthen immunization for all populations, especially the elderly, accelerate the preparation of therapeutic drugs and medical resources, and implement the requirements of "Prevent the epidemic, stabilize the economy, and ensure safe development."

This means: epidemic prevention policies are being continuously improved and optimized, key and vulnerable groups are the focus of prevention and treatment, and both epidemic prevention and economic development are equally important.

At the same time, the phenomenon of excessive epidemic prevention measures across the country has been fundamentally reversed! According to China News Service, recently, multiple places including Shijiazhuang, Zhengzhou, Guangzhou, Chongqing, Chengdu, Hohhot, and Shenyang have announced the orderly restoration of production and living order, with public transportation and business activities resuming in an orderly manner.

Today, we can finally make a bold inference: after three years of arduous struggle, the Chinese people have finally seen the exponential decrease in virus virulence, and we have finally welcomed the dawn of victory!

The horn for returning to growth

is about to sound. Are you ready?

For almost the entire year of 2022, China has been under the shadow of recurring epidemics. Repeated lockdowns and bans on dine-in services have had a huge impact on consumption.

In such a highly uncertain environment, the development of China's FMCG industry in 2022 has also been under great pressure. Sales growth has been extremely difficult, and the huge pressure of inventory disposal has eaten away most of the profits. The Matthew effect is evident in the industry; apart from industry giants that can still develop, the entire FMCG industry has almost fallen into a state of stagnation.

The difficult times are about to pass, and the three-year fight against the pandemic is about to be won. We judge that 2023 will be a year for the FMCG industry to return to the theme of growth! If things go quickly, this Spring Festival peak season market will give us FMCG professionals a surprise.

The question is, in the face of returning to growth, are we FMCG professionals ready?

First, is our team capable?

An excellent marketing team is the organizational guarantee for growth. During the difficult fight against the pandemic, has our team withstood the challenges? Have they become stronger and more courageous with each battle?

Some companies' marketing teams have been scattered, morale has been lost, and the team has not grown stronger during the pandemic. In such a situation, it is difficult to seize growth opportunities.

So, pay attention to the current state of our team immediately. Build, train, and inspire our marketing team to prepare them for the new tasks of 2023.

Second, has our growth strategy been determined?

In the face of the significant changes in the epidemic prevention situation over the past two days, have senior management taken action? Have they conducted in-depth research and discussion?

In the face of huge uncertainty, it is difficult to focus on growth, but we must never give up close attention to growth. In the upcoming Spring Festival peak season, our thinking and actions will directly affect the market performance during this period.

Over the past few days, we have exchanged views with many senior executives about the current and next year's market. An obvious feeling is that everyone has not yet deeply recognized the imminent victory over the pandemic and appears to lack confidence.

If there were doubts before, now that we have seen the guiding spirit of the high-level national meeting and the changes in epidemic prevention and control across the country, we should take action immediately.

Third, once the strategy is set, are we ready to mobilize the team and channels?

In fact, the earlier the mobilization of teams and channels, the better! Many excellent companies have never given up during the three-year fight against the pandemic. They set very challenging and imaginative goals, fully mobilized all teams and partners, and ultimately achieved achievements that everyone found incredible.

When the market returns to growth, a company with excellent mobilization capabilities will act the fastest and have the strongest execution! At this time, whoever's people reach the terminals first, the terminals belong to them; whoever's people visit customers first, the sales belong to them.

So, we need to review whether our company has strong mobilization capabilities and resources. If not, should we start studying today how to better mobilize our team and channels, what preparations to make for the upcoming growth, and how to act?

In 2023, the horn for "returning to growth" has sounded. We may have missed almost the entire 2022, but we must not lose at the starting line of 2023. All marketers and distributors, get ready, set, go!

Chen Siting, CEO of New Distribution, senior FMCG media professional, and consultant.

Former editor-in-chief of "Sales and Marketing" magazine, marketing consultant for Tanmuzhu, and founder of the internet supply chain project "Wanchao Bang". He has conducted in-depth research and practice in brand planning and communication for consumer goods, transformation and upgrading of distributor models, and supply chain innovation and reform, using a professional perspective to study the Chinese market.