National goddess, national husband... Anything that can carry the word 'national' must be loved by the public. In the past two years, a beverage labeled 'national soy milk' called 'Dou Ben Dou' has become a popular product among consumers. Consumers can see it in variety entertainment programs and on Focus Media elevator TVs in city CBDs.

This 'Dou Ben Dou' beverage comes from 'Dali Foods Group'. However, even with an extraordinary background, standing out in the fiercely competitive soy milk beverage market is not easy. So, how did this post-00s brand, born in 2017, achieve 1 billion yuan in sales in its launch year? And continue to sell well in the nutritional beverage market. Next, the author will analyze the deep reasons behind the popularity of this 'national soy milk'.

Reason 1: Launching at the right time, seizing the consumer demand for healthy beverages and quality life

From the overall background of the times, the explosive effect of 'Dou Ben Dou' has a natural timing factor.

In the new economic era of consumption upgrade, consumers have strong demands for high quality, personalization, and healthy living. Soy milk made from non-GMO soybeans, with natural, green, and healthy raw materials, aligns with this major health trend. Data proves this: according to Euromonitor International statistics, from 2011 to 2017, China's soy milk sales increased from 5.08 billion yuan to 9 billion yuan, with a compound annual growth rate of about 10%. In addition, Euromonitor International predicts that by 2020, China's soy milk sales are expected to exceed 10 billion yuan.

To this end, Dali Foods Group insightfully identified this new consumption trend and launched the 'Dou Ben Dou' brand with pure natural and no additives. The naming of Dou Ben Dou is simple but full of business logic. The character 'Dou' (bean) is associated with the soy milk category, conveying a focus on the soy milk industry. 'Ben' (origin) represents the root and origin, reflecting the product's 'pure' characteristics, while conveying to consumers the brand concept of returning to green, nature, and health. In terms of brand visual identity, Dou Ben Dou uses natural colors of green and white as the main tones, bringing a visual feeling of returning to nature and simplicity.

Reason 2: Redefining category value, continuously enhancing brand category status

At the initial launch, Dou Ben Dou soy milk repositioned soy milk, elevating its category value to the position of 'national nutrition'. This allowed consumers to re-recognize the status of soy milk in China's nutritional beverages. This leverages the inherent cognition in people's minds, bringing soy milk from a flavored, marginal beverage back to the mainstream nutritional beverage category, raising the height of the soy milk industry. After nearly a year of brand building, it established the recognition of 'Dou Ben Dou = soy milk = national nutrition', sparking a trend of drinking Dou Ben Dou soy milk for a healthy breakfast.

This year, after completing brand recognition building, Dou Ben Dou re-examined its position within the category, redefined its brand value, and proposed a new positioning of 'high technology, high nutrition' to establish high value in the soy milk industry. It clearly defines the difference between Dou Ben Dou's soy milk and competitors, sets a new benchmark for the entire industry, establishes a new standard for high-nutrition soy milk value, and proposes the communication slogan 'Dou Ben Dou, technology creates good soy milk'. It defines technological value through cell wall breaking and purification, defines high nutrition in the industry with 3.8 grams, and supports product technology with four major processes: cell wall breaking, purification, emulsification, and freshness locking, empowering the brand category.

Reason 3: Building a soy milk product structure, leading the industrialization of soy milk products

Upon launch, Dou Ben Dou soy milk introduced three 'firsts' to lock in industry height. It launched the first original soy milk without added flavors or preservatives, made only with soybeans, water, and sugar; the first pure soy milk without added sucrose, with a protein content of 4.0 grams per 100 milliliters; and the first organic soy milk to obtain national organic certification. This gave the nutritious soy milk industry a basic product line. The launch of these three products met the needs of different consumer groups.

Later, in the first half of 2018, adhering to the research and development strategy of no additives, it launched the black soybean series (original black soybean milk, pure black soybean milk) and the green soybean milk series (original green soybean milk and organic green soybean milk made from green soybeans with both green skin and green embryos), expanding the product line. Subsequently, targeting the breakfast market, it launched Dou Ben Dou Wei Zhen breakfast soy milk, enriching the consumption scenario.

Through different raw materials, different scenarios, and different consumer groups, it built a new soy milk product structure, industrializing the soy milk industry.

Reason 4: Multi-dimensional communication, quickly building brand momentum

This national soy milk became a market hit by adopting three core marketing actions.

First, it invited the popular actress Sun Li as brand ambassador. As a mother of two and a well-known actress, Sun Li has always advocated a healthy lifestyle in public, and Dou Ben Dou's partnership with Sun Li is very fitting in terms of health concepts. After Sun Li became the ambassador, Dou Ben Dou also collaborated with her on a series of public welfare activities, launching a campus breakfast care plan in universities in Beijing, Zhengzhou, Guangzhou, and other places. These included lectures on breakfast nutrition knowledge and soy milk nutrition knowledge for students, as well as offline promotional activities like distributing Dou Ben Dou soy milk, calling on students to eat nutritious breakfasts and drink nutritious soy milk, thereby raising students' awareness of healthy breakfasts. This combination of celebrity traffic and public welfare activities quickly enhanced the brand influence of Dou Ben Dou, and 'national nutrition good soy milk' became known to more and more people.

Second, in addition to leveraging celebrities and public welfare activities, one of Dou Ben Dou's marketing trump cards is bundling popular variety IPs and hit TV dramas such as 'Running Man' and 'Nothing Gold Can Stay'. Through popular variety shows and hit movies, it builds brand influence and heat among family and young audiences.

Third, for the Dou Ben Dou brand, it has been two years since its launch in 2019. Recently, its new brand advertisement can be seen on Focus Media elevator TVs in first-tier city CBDs like Beijing. Compared to the previous 'national nutrition good soy milk' brand communication, this advertisement focuses on 'technology creates good nutrition', aiming to convey to more consumers the nutritional and health value contained in Dou Ben Dou products.

From the overall advertising content and key information transmission, Dou Ben Dou mainly targets white-collar middle-class consumers. Through Focus Media elevator TVs, it can convey the brand proposition to 300 million mainstream urban people. Focus Media's mainstream consumer group is highly educated, high-income, and high-spending, contributing 70%-80% of urban consumption power, thus better igniting the brand. It is understood that Focus Media elevator media, with its scarce characteristics of active viewing and igniting mainstream, ignited many new economy brands in 2018 alone, such as Luckin Coffee, Feihe Milk Powder, Bosideng, Kuaigou Dache, and Yuhong Waterproof. According to the BRANDZ brand survey conducted by WPP, the world's largest advertising group, 81% of China's top 100 traditional clients chose Focus Media elevator media.

From the path to fame of 'Dou Ben Dou', it emerged at the right time, met the needs, stood at the top of the industry, promoted industry progress, and reached consumers through diversified marketing methods. It is a good case worth learning from for brand owners.

Tips will be paid 400-2000 yuan once adopted.

China FMCG + Internet Professional New Media

Committed to FMCG manufacturer and distributor transformation and channel digital solutions