Source | Pin Yin Hui Observation ID | DrinksSHOW Author | Silas
"Becoming first is better than being better." This maxim from Jack Trout, the father of positioning theory, in his book "The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing," is quietly becoming an "invisible rule" in China's beverage market.
From quasi-first-tier to second- and third-tier brands, from billion-yuan blockbuster products to million-yuan niche items, various beverages are joining the battle for market position certifications in sub-segments. The author learned from industry insiders that in the past two years, almost every day, several products announce they have received "market first" certifications. In 2024 alone, thousands of companies obtained such certifications.
Image source: Xiaohongshu user @小红薯6748BC66
The author learned that currently, the "threshold" for beverage companies to obtain such certifications is not high. Typically, by paying 100,000 to 500,000 yuan, within 10 to 30 days, they can obtain market position certification certificates such as "Sales No.1," "Category Pioneer," or "Leading Brand" from third-party agencies.
Facing this growing certification trend, the industry has two voices: one side believes it helps brands seize consumer mindshare and achieve differentiation; the other questions the authenticity of the certifications and worries that abuse will lead to increased market homogenization. Is this certification craze beneficial or harmful to the industry? What value does it bring?
Why is the beverage market witnessing a wave of market position certifications?
The current rise of market position certifications in the beverage industry is essentially an external manifestation of the intensified survival pressure on non-first-tier brands in an era of stock competition.
From the 1980s to the first decade of the 21st century, China's beverage market experienced a "golden age" of rapid expansion. At that time, channels were not yet fragmented, and "channel is king" was the industry's iron rule. As long as products could be distributed, sales were not a concern. The market was in a state where demand exceeded supply, and leading brands were busy harvesting the mass market, leaving little time for niche segments. This allowed many non-first-tier brands to thrive in their own "one-third of an acre," forming a relatively balanced coexistence with the giants.
Looking back at that history, it was basically a process of first-tier beverage brands narrating their leading advantages. After the 2008 Beijing Olympics, Wanglaoji emphasized "China's No.1 beverage can" in its advertisements, highlighting its leading position in canned beverages. In 2009, Xiangpiaopiao launched the slogan "Selling over 300 million cups a year, cups lined up can circle the Earth," declaring its No.1 sales in cup milk tea. Additionally, classic slogans like "With Huiyuan, it's New Year" and "When tired and sleepy, drink Dongpeng Special Drink" also bound brands to leading positions in specific scenarios.
At that time, first-tier beverage giants were sparing no effort to establish their industry status. However, with dramatic changes in the market environment, China's beverage industry entered a new stage.
On one hand, the explosion of consumer goods pushed the market into an era of stock competition, and sovereignty shifted from producers to consumers. Demand became more diverse and personalized, with higher requirements for beverage quality, health, and taste.
On the other hand, channels became increasingly fragmented, with emerging channels such as e-commerce, convenience stores, and vending machines continuously appearing. Consumers' access to beverages became diversified, making the era of relying solely on channel distribution for sales a thing of the past.
Image source: Xiaohongshu user @故食月饼
In this context, first-tier brands accelerated their expansion into lower-tier markets, sub-channels, and product lines, continuously eroding the living space of non-first-tier brands. At the same time, the industry's long-standing "follow the trend" phenomenon also encroached on the market share of boutique brands focused on product quality. Non-first-tier boutique brands urgently need to find new breakthroughs.
Trout pointed out in "The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing" that if competitors have already occupied a certain position in consumers' minds, it will be very difficult for a company to seize the same word. He suggested that companies either create a new field where they can become "first" or find a new category they can enter first.
With positioning theory deeply rooted in people's minds, market position certification naturally becomes an important breakthrough for non-first-tier brands. Looking at the certification content in the past two years, "XX industry pioneer," "XX category sales No.1," and "XX category leading brand" dominate, confirming companies' strategic intention to "find the first" and occupy a unique position in customers' minds, in order to survive and develop in the red ocean.
Similar phenomena exist in other highly competitive industries. For example, in the automotive industry, from top brands selling 100,000 units per month to mid- and tail-end brands selling a few hundred, all are competing for "No.1" labels in sub-segments, price ranges, and time periods. Although the beverage industry's concentration is not as high as the automotive industry, the Matthew effect is increasingly evident, which also fuels the growing trend of market position certifications.
Does "market position certification" actually work for brands?
Currently, in China's beverage market, which has reached new heights of competition, "market position certification" has basically become an essential element in the marketing of non-first-tier brands. What value does it bring?
Mr. S, who is engaged in certification services, introduced to the author: "Market position certification is based on objective data, proving a brand's relative position in a specific industry or sub-market through third-party agencies, including sales rankings, product innovation, market share, and category creation certifications."
"Corporate market position certification has two significant values.
First, brand value: In the current context of homogenization, fragmented information, and diversified consumption in the beverage market, market position certification helps companies legally use absolute terms like 'No.1' and 'leading' in advertising, reducing consumers' memory costs.
Second, investment attraction value: Market position certification can also reduce the difficulty of dealers' decision-making and improve the conversion rate of investment attraction," Mr. S added.
However, companies only partially agree with this. The head of a new-style health water company affirmed its investment attraction value, saying: "Now, once a category becomes popular, a bunch of copycat products immediately appear. We focus on a sub-category, and the trust foundation for both the brand and the category is relatively fragile. When copycat products flood in, it causes serious cognitive confusion, which adversely affects our channel investment attraction."
Image source: Xiaohongshu user @蜂蜜柚子茶mmm
"After obtaining market position certification, we can more clearly show dealers our unique advantages and distinguish between 'Li Kui' and 'Li Gui' (i.e., the real vs. the fake). Moreover, our customers face similar problems, and the certification provides them with a set of sales scripts to convince end customers." However, he did not mention the role of market position certification at the C-end consumer level.
The marketing head of another emerging brand said bluntly: "Our core consumers are students who are both rational and emotional. They may ignore the brand because of price, or ignore price because of brand co-branding, but they basically won't buy us because we are sales No.1 or category pioneers. The reason we do market position certification is mainly to add trust endorsement to dealers during the Sugar and Wine Fair."
It can be seen that "market position certification" has practical value in the investment attraction process. But the question is, how long can this endorsement last?
From the trend, the number of market position certification certificates obtained in China's beverage market in recent years is growing geometrically. When "market position certification certificates" were still a rare resource in the industry, they indeed gave dealers considerable trust endorsement during channel investment. But once they are no longer scarce, when "everyone is No.1," their recognition and trustworthiness will inevitably be greatly reduced.
Image source: @公众号北清创新医药
Fundamentally, the success of investment attraction ultimately depends on sales velocity, not the brand endorsement brought by market position certification. Certification may increase willingness to cooperate in the first round of investment attraction, but long-term cooperation still depends on whether the product sells. The author learned that some brands have been abandoned by dealers due to poor sales velocity, heavy inventory pressure, and difficulty in fulfilling promises, despite holding several market position certification certificates.
In the future, the ultimate direction of this market position certification trend is to push non-first-tier beverage brands toward "premiumization" differentiation. Boutique beverage brands will grow stronger under the wave of market position certification, while others will be accelerated elimination, i.e., the good drives out the bad.
For dealers, the criteria for evaluating boutique brands are becoming clearer: setting aside the "No.1" title, can the brand provide "No.1" profit solutions and sales velocity support? The answer is always on the shelves and in the cash registers of the market.