During the 2019 Tmall Double 11 shopping festival, Genki Forest's Japanese-style white peach flavored sparkling water beat beverage giants like Cola and Red Bull to rank among the top three in beverage single-item sales, sparking heated discussion. Consumers developed a strong curiosity about sparkling water. More and more young people began to pay attention to sparkling water, considering it an excellent substitute for carbonated drinks. The low-calorie, healthier label has made sparkling water a new internet sensation. Apart from the niche 'sparkling water enthusiast group', the most intuitive factor for the general public to measure sparkling water taste is sweetness. Statistics show that over 41% of carbonated beverage consumers believe sparkling water has moderate sweetness and are willing to switch to it as a substitute. This has contributed to the success of Genki Forest's product. -01- The domestic sparkling water trend has taken shape In May 2019, Genki Forest launched its sugar-free 'Qi' sparkling water, which was a great success and officially fired the first shot to ignite the trend. According to Kantar Worldpanel data, from 2017 to 2018, the sales growth rate of the sparkling water market reached 36.9%, and in the future, the expansion speed of sparkling water will continue to maintain high growth. At the same time, a research report released by Nielsen pointed out that in 2018, the sales growth rate data for beverage sub-categories showed that ready-to-drink sparkling water and other FMCG products focusing on 'low sugar, health' showed rapid growth. The epidemic during the Spring Festival has also profoundly strengthened consumers' health awareness. 'Strong health awareness has changed people's purchasing habits for food and beverages. 83% of Chinese consumers will actively adjust their diet to prevent health diseases, which is 13 percentage points higher than the global average. They also pay more attention to healthy food and beverages and are more willing to consume them.' In addition, 79% of consumers pay attention to the ingredients of the food and beverages they consume, and 82% are willing to pay more for products with safe ingredients, far higher than the global average (68%). In the Chinese market, products with 'low sugar, health' attributes are even more powerful. At the peak of the trend, dividends follow. How to ride the waves? -02- At the peak of the trend, Genki Forest stands out, and Yexian Paoha follows closely At the beginning of 2020, Youyang Beverage, which had previously launched the hot-selling banana milk, after years of layout, brought distributors a sparkling water with '0 sugar', '0 fat', and '0 calories' that is comparable to Genki Forest. The new strategic product Yexian Paoha - Sparkling Water is ready to meet new challenges! 1. Product positioning Youyang Beverage's Yexian Paoha Sparkling Water targets people aged 15-35. Beverage taste: sweet, refreshing, and stress-relieving. Young people have no resistance to the sweetness brought by sweet taste, and what's more, this sugar-free product completely eliminates their anxiety. Youyang has put great effort into the selection of raw materials for this product, using the same high-standard sweetener formula as Genki Forest: erythritol and sucralose. Erythritol is the only sugar substitute officially certified with an energy coefficient of 0 in China, and its cost is far higher than other sweeteners. It ensures sufficient sweetness while guaranteeing sugar-free and zero calories. In this regard, there are very few sparkling water brands in the market that can match it. 2. Partner positioning What kind of partners are most suitable for operating this product? I suggest considering the following aspects. (1) Distributors in urgent need of adjusting their product structure 1) Seasonal complementarity: If your product structure's main sales season is winter, then this Yexian Paoha Sparkling Water and Yexian Qiha Small Soda will balance your operating costs and increase your operating profits. 2) Channel complementarity: The market capacity served by distributors is limited. Only with full-channel and full-outlet coverage can profits be maximized. This Yexian Paoha Sparkling Water and Yexian Qiha Small Soda, which are deeply favored by young people, will perfectly improve your regional catering channels, leisure and entertainment fitness channels, campus channels, office building convenience systems, and other gathering places for young people. 3) Channel profit increase: Distributors' profits come from the number of outlets * SKU count per store. If you are a beer distributor, for your exclusive stores, I believe this visually stunning and high-profit Yexian Paoha Sparkling Water and Yexian Qiha Small Soda can well maintain customer relationships such as business district catering channels, while also bringing you considerable profits. 4) Product complementarity: If your product structure lacks the sparkling water segment, I suggest you do not give up this wave of FMCG dividends. 5) Holiday gifts: Young people's gift needs are innovative, different, and unique. This product goes without saying. (2) Distributors in urgent need of adjusting their profit structure In the market, we are accustomed to classifying products by sales volume into several types: first-line brands, second-line brands, and third-line brands. The main purpose of first-line brands is to 'drive sales', third-line brands mainly aim for profit, and second-line brands play a connecting role. For distributors of first-line brands, we have something to say: In terms of profit: The return on investment is very low, with comprehensive gross profit below 8%. After deducting warehousing and distribution costs, personnel wages, expenses, losses, and taxes, the net profit is almost negligible. In terms of operation: First-line products are usually 'must-sell' in channels. You can use their platform to 'drive sales', quickly build your own channel network system, bear the basic operating costs of the enterprise, and ensure the normal survival of the enterprise. Overall: Operating only first-line brands is a very low-return investment. Yexian Paoha Sparkling Water and Yexian Qiha Small Soda can greatly increase your operating profits and enable the enterprise to develop rapidly and healthily. (3) Markets where Genki Forest has a strong presence in your area As we all know, in the field of sparkling water, the most successful is Genki Forest. If Genki Forest is very active in your market, at least two pieces of information are released:

  1. Consumers in this category have already recognized or accepted it, and you may not need to spend much effort on consumer education;
  2. Following is the best entrepreneurship, with low risk and sufficient dividends. From the perspective of marketing 4P: product, price and profit, channel, and promotion, as long as you are willing to learn more, I believe you will make a wiser choice. (4) Distributors who need to follow strong enterprises A big tree provides good shade. When selecting products, an important indicator for distributors is the comprehensive strength of the brand owner and its attention, expectations, and resource investment in the product. Youyang Beverage's 2020 strategic goal: Position the sparkling water series as a strategic product in the product matrix. Over the past decade, the three strategic products—banana milk, Yexian Energy, and Kaimeiquan bottled water—have formed Youyang's core competitiveness. In product promotion, they spare no effort to build brand awareness and reputation. After strict selection and review by CCTV, it finally appeared in the advertisement before CCTV-1's 'News Broadcast'. In addition, Youyang also signed famous host Wu Xin and popular actor Sheng Yilun as brand ambassadors for Youyang Beverage.

-03-

The '5-yuan era' for the beverage industry has arrived

It is not difficult to find that the birth of new categories targets young groups, who have three characteristics:

  1. Concept of consumption in advance, target customers of credit cards/Huabei; 2) Willing to try new things and accept new concepts; 3) Pursue novelty and uniqueness, and are willing to pay for it. Along with this, beverages in the 5-yuan price band have sprung up like mushrooms, which has also accelerated the pace of the 5-yuan price band becoming the mainstream. This is a trend and a fact that has already come to consumers. Why can Yexian Paoha Sparkling Water stand firm in the 5-yuan price band? I believe it has the following four characteristics.

1) Ultimate taste: Yexian Paoha organically combines soda water and sparkling water, infinitely expanding the 'refreshing' taste. 2) Significant recognition: The health line of 0 fat, 0 sugar, and 0 calories strengthens consumers' 'big health' awareness. 3) Physiological needs: Young consumers cannot resist the 'refreshing' feeling of carbon dioxide bursting in the mouth. 4) Personalized packaging: The overall packaging accurately conveys the brand's youthfulness and trendiness, closely following the trendsetters.** -04- Brand communication + deep distribution + deep sell-through Three-in-one strategy to make manufacturers and distributors soar 1. In terms of communication: To get closer to young consumers, Youyang uses the new form of 'WeChat, Weibo, and Douyin' to convey the brand's youthfulness and trendiness. For the strategic products under the 'Ha culture'—sparkling water and small soda—Youyang Beverage will use KOLs, popular variety shows, Douyin short videos, and copywriting and poster creation to accurately convey the 'Ha' character, creating a new product that is attitude-driven, cultural, and interactive with young people. 2. In terms of deep distribution: Youyang's marketing team has accumulated distribution experience over ten years. Combined with its own channel strategy, channel promotion policies, and network building experience, it is believed that it can quickly guide distributors to occupy target channels and outlets in the market. When the peak season arrives this year, we will join hands with you to create brilliance together. 3. In terms of deep sell-through: Youyang's marketing team has spent ten years deeply studying the underlying logic of sell-through based on its own product characteristics, ensuring that products have repeat purchases once distributed. This includes but is not limited to the following:

  1. Category display, highlighting competitive advantages and shaping new consumer awareness; 2) Marketing scenario layout, highlighting purchase intent and shaping new consumer awareness; 3) Atmosphere creation, closely combining with holiday atmosphere to shape new consumer awareness; 4) Locking special high-sales outlets, implementing exclusive sales, allowing consumers to choose within the brand; 5) Gift empowerment, accelerating sell-through, changing consumer awareness, and competing in a different dimension. A series of sell-through logics will eliminate distributors' worries. Once the tip is adopted, a payment of 400-2000 yuan will be made.