With less than two months to the end of 2024, how can distributors break through the fiercely competitive Spring Festival marketing? The author recently talked with some distributors, who said that a successful Spring Festival sprint requires collaboration between manufacturers and distributors, and Lay's does this well. This article will discuss from two dimensions: first, from the brand's perspective, using Lay's as an example to analyze how it helps distributors with Spring Festival sales; second, from the distributor's perspective, what actions are needed for successful Spring Festival marketing. At the end, the author summarizes some Spring Festival stocking strategies. The Key to Spring Festival Stocking: Differentiate with 'New' The Spring Festival is an extremely critical period for selling goods throughout the year. First, high traffic. The biggest difference during Spring Festival marketing compared to usual times is population movement, which brings huge consumption opportunities. Second, strong festive atmosphere. The habit of buying New Year goods has long been formed, especially in scenarios like family gatherings and New Year visits, where there is always a demand for gift boxes. For distributors, with limited shelf and display space, they prefer to give it to manufacturers that can drive sales. A regional top snack food distributor shared that he handles over 70 snack brands, and basically every brand is preparing for Spring Festival. However, from past data, Lay's overall performance during the Spring Festival period has been quite good. The reason is simple: Lay's makes differentiated innovations every New Year. The distributor told the author that people want a new look for the New Year. Products that sell well on shelves usually have good quality, but at this time, highlighting 'new' is crucial. How does Lay's do it? By creating gift boxes. It launched over 10 Spring Festival limited-edition combination packages, with packaging designs that fit the festive atmosphere, giving consumers a visual impact of 'newness'. It is worth mentioning that Lay's launched the Fortune Bucket and Family Bucket this time, with gold and red as the main colors respectively, paired with New Year painting style patterns, highlighting a strong festive feel. There are also simple-style gift bags in four different sizes to meet the needs of different consumer groups. The Fortune God Hat gift box features a three-dimensional pattern, fitting the auspicious meaning of welcoming the God of Wealth in the New Year. From the consumer's perspective, the new gift box packaging design makes consumers feel the Spring Festival scene and atmosphere, stimulating their purchase intention. From the distributor's perspective, Lay's gift boxes, through the 'new' combination of products, help distributors cover multiple price points, meet different levels of consumer demand, and also help increase profits. Ensuring Product Movement is the Top Priority for Growth Recently, I discussed a topic with many distributors: in the current market, goods are abundant, but few products can sustain movement on shelves. Especially during Spring Festival, when everyone is competing, the challenge for product movement is even greater. Why can Lay's maintain high product movement during Spring Festival marketing? In the view of New Distribution, there are three key points: First, consumption scenarios: consumers can see it at first glance and be attracted when entering the store. The gift boxes and packaging designs mentioned above are part of the scenario. Through new packaging with a festive feel, gift box designs, and in-store displays, Lay's quickly captures consumer attention, allowing consumers to understand the message at a glance and be attracted. At the same time, offline, the brand focuses on Spring Festival reunion scenarios, setting up displays and end-cap displays in supermarkets. Through shelf displays with New Year elements, consumers can not only have the intention to buy but also feel Lay's creativity and fun. Second, brand awareness: after being attracted, consumers have a strong intention to purchase. There are many products on the shelves, but few can achieve 'category equals brand'. For example, when mentioning potato chips, consumers naturally think of Lay's, which is brand mindshare. Lay's already has extremely high brand awareness among consumers. During Spring Festival marketing, Lay's further strengthens brand awareness through online communication and offline scenario channels. This year, Lay's Spring Festival theme is 'Eat Lay's, Have Fun', using the Spring Festival scene to build an emotional connection with consumers, conveying the good wish of 'New Year brings good luck, and good things happen one after another', thereby further strengthening Lay's mindshare. Third, product strength: consumers recognize the quality, taste, and design, and are willing to repurchase. Snack food is a large category with many brands and rich products, but very few products have consumer loyalty. However, the distributor told the author that Lay's potato chips are a product with consumer loyalty in the snack category, and both terminal stores and consumers have high recognition. This is related to Lay's continuous investment in products. A snack distributor from Henan told the author that Lay's played production videos at distributor meetings, which left a deep impression on the quality of Lay's products. In terms of taste, Lay's has always been based on local consumer needs. As of this year, it has launched regional limited-edition flavors for five consecutive years, so consumers in different regions can find flavors they like. With the Right Methods, There Is Still Growth During Spring Festival At the beginning of the month, I communicated with two regional top distributors and asked about their expectations for Spring Festival sales. Surprisingly, both distributor friends said they would stock more than last year and expected growth. Their thinking is: the market has entered a stage of stock competition, and while some people's business declines, others naturally rise. The key is how to do the market. Here, the author summarizes the methods shared by distributor friends. First, analyze past sales data well. Based on important historical data and industry changes, provide good products that meet the needs of terminals and consumers. What is a good product? There are three criteria: has a brand, can move, and few returns. Look at industry data and your own data to determine the main products for Spring Festival. At the same time, conduct a detailed analysis of outlets, list high-selling outlets with stable movement, mark their priority, and assign dedicated personnel for tracking and maintenance. Also, break down the overall Spring Festival performance target into monthly, channel type, and product targets. Second, screen core outlets well. Rank channels by importance, invest heavily in key channels, and maximize the input-output ratio. Distributors should focus on lower-tier markets, emerging channels, and special channels. The consumption power in county and township lower-tier markets is still maintaining a certain growth rate, far better than high-tier cities. Especially with strong demand for New Year gifts, gift boxes in lower-tier markets remain a key stocking priority. Emerging channels, such as snack stores and discount stores, are in a rapid growth stage, and as long as you can do it, it is an opportunity for growth. Special channels, such as fresh food stores, milk stations, and corporate group purchases, usually have large sales volumes and must be developed with focus. Third, cooperate well with brands or manufacturers. This point is important because high-quality brands and manufacturers are crucial. Spring Festival selling is not just the distributor's business; it is also the brand's and manufacturer's business. From two dimensions: first, whether the brand manufacturer has made innovative moves for Spring Festival marketing; second, whether the brand manufacturer is willing to work with distributors to formulate a comprehensive Spring Festival plan and execute it together. The feedback from distributor friends is that Lay's performs excellently in this regard. It continuously innovates on the product side, invests in online promotional resources, and offline sales representatives also work with distributors to formulate Spring Festival sales plans. After doing these three aspects well, distributors have the opportunity to seize business growth around the Spring Festival.