After the morning meeting, Lao Wang reminded everyone not to visit stores this morning but to stay at the office and watch the headquarters' live-streamed new product launch. In the live stream, colleagues at headquarters, thousands of miles away, were passionately speaking: "This new product is amazing, it will definitely sell well..." In front of the computer, Lao Wang's team, also thousands of miles away, did not seem ignited by the headquarters' enthusiasm. Lao Li next to him blurted out, "The packaging is really ugly," and Xiao Liu, holding hot tea, agreed, "The price is too expensive..." Lao Wang couldn't listen anymore. He decided to correct the team's wrong attitude towards new products, because he understood that in today's market environment, selling best-sellers is for survival, and selling new products is for the future! Under the new situation of omni-channel distribution, the product strategy of frontline teams must be upgraded. When talking about marketing and FMCG sales, product strategy is often the first topic discussed. Over the years, training and books on product strategy have generally instilled in us product quality, packaging, differentiation, and even the somewhat mystical product life cycle. However, for the majority of frontline city managers in the FMCG industry, those product strategies from classrooms and books are mostly concepts without practical handles. To be fair, product strategy is indeed important for a company and brand! But frontline managers lack voice and decision-making power in this regard! Frontline city managers and supervisors are "sales laborers" who are busy from the beginning to the end of the month, regularly reporting numbers. In the fast-paced two or three years, how can they care about the "product life cycle"? Being able to protect their own "job life cycle" is their real life... Regarding the upgrade and layout of product strategy, what city managers need to do is how to plan and layout channels in their own territory, combining existing and future products, through insight and judgment of the local market, to maximize current and future sales and achieve sales targets. The core should focus on two points: First, how to precisely match existing products to various local sales channels to maximize sales in the current market environment; Second, how to layout new products and cultivate them into new best-sellers in the near future, thereby consolidating the best-seller battle group. In the era of omni-channel distribution, with more channels, changed consumers, and greater difficulty in achieving performance, companies are also constantly innovating. How to effectively sort out and reconstruct new and old product lines in a multi-channel environment will be the focus of this article.

1. How to correctly understand and position new and old products?

2. How to match new and old product lines with new and old scenarios?

3. How to match new and old product lines with different regions?

4. In the era of omni-channel distribution, the correct concept for promoting new products. -01- How to correctly understand and position new and old products? In a regional market, product classification often has many types, such as by specification, flavor, or price, but the ones that really sell well are often those few best-sellers, and the ones that really need full promotion are often those few new products. Selling best-sellers is for survival, selling new products is for the future. If best-sellers don't sell well, you can't keep your job; if new products don't sell well, there's no future growth. This is the basis for city managers to correctly understand and position new and old products. So the product focus can be divided into two categories: one is best-sellers, the other is new products. Most mature FMCG companies today are multi-brand, multi-SKU, and even multi-category. As a city manager, no matter how complex the product portfolio, you should firmly adhere to the logic of best-sellers and new products (future best-sellers), and implement product upgrades and layout at the SKU level, so that our strategy truly has a handle and a practical handle for daily perfect execution! 1. Sorting out the old product line The old product line can generally be divided into three parts: First, mature core best-sellers These sell very maturely and have been the pillar of local market business for years. Often a few key specifications and core SKUs can contribute 30%-50% of sales revenue, making them the lifeblood best-sellers for every city manager. However, they are often the most price-sensitive, and over-reliance means more risk. Second, growing core best-sellers These are often the main direction promoted by headquarters. They have been promoted for a while, and although sales are still not large, they already have the potential and signs of becoming future best-sellers. They are sub-new best-sellers launched to share the potential business risk of mature best-sellers. It is recommended that frontline sales managers follow the trend, align with the company's brand publicity and marketing push, and build them into the second best-seller echelon in the local market. Third, long-tail SKUs Except for the SKUs covered by "mature core best-sellers" and "growing core best-sellers," all others should be classified as long-tail SKUs, i.e., relatively "slow-moving products." In the current rapidly iterating market environment, product cycles have significantly shortened. These long-tail SKUs will continue to be a burden on old channels in the future. However, long-tail SKUs can meet the diverse and differentiated needs of new channels and new consumers, and with their price insensitivity, they are more suitable for new scenarios and new retail (such as community group buying platforms). 2. Sorting out the new product line The new product line can generally be divided into three parts: First, brand-new listed new products These can be divided into mid-to-low-end and high-end categories. In recent years, high-endization has been an obvious trend. With the improvement of our economic level and the continuous improvement of residents' quality of life, consumers' pursuit of "new, novel, and special" products has made high-endization increasingly popular. Although this year's pandemic has spawned many pessimistic predictions of "consumption downgrading," most FMCG categories, even at the high end, have very low absolute product prices. I believe high-endization will not be ended by the pandemic. As long as high-end new products are genuine and conform to consumption trends, the future market will not be smaller but larger! This pandemic is a touchstone. In the future, leading brands and manufacturers will further harvest market share. The days of "fast high-end" and "fake high-end," which previously relied on naked pricing models to encourage middlemen to earn large price differences, will become increasingly difficult. Second, re-listed best-sellers These refer to products re-listed every one to three years through upgraded formulas, new packaging, more grammage, etc. Strictly speaking, these are not new products but the rebirth and new packaging of old products. This is a common method for best-sellers to maintain their product life cycle. If they were best-sellers before, they will likely remain best-sellers after repackaging, so these products must be fully promoted. Third, re-listed long-tail products These are products that didn't sell well before and hope to survive or even turn around through re-listing. If they still don't sell well after the upgrade and re-listing, they will naturally be gradually phased out. The above is the overall sorting of the new and old product line structure by city managers, clearly knowing the positioning of each SKU, and then matching it with corresponding channels. -02- How to match new and old product lines with new and old scenarios? 1. Old scenario - Hypermarkets Even after the pandemic, hypermarkets remain the main gathering place for foot traffic. As the pandemic gradually ends, foot traffic in hypermarkets will gradually recover, and consumption will also gradually recover. Hypermarkets should strive for full distribution. Mature best-sellers and growing core best-sellers must be sold, and long-tail SKUs should be effectively maintained while being streamlined and cleaned up. Their relatively low price sensitivity can meet the occasional needs of home delivery and group buying. In the new product line, hypermarkets face consumers of all ages and are also one of the most important brand communication positions in the local market. It is recommended to introduce the entire new product line. If even hypermarkets and large supermarkets don't give new products (whether best-sellers or long-tail) a chance to try, the survival rate of new products launched each year will become lower and lower. 2. Old scenario - Small and medium supermarkets Compared to hypermarkets, small and medium supermarkets have relatively less foot traffic, lower consumption capacity, and limited shelf space. Therefore, long-tail SKUs in the old product line, high-end brand-new listed new products, and re-listed long-tail products need not be considered. Mature best-sellers and growing core best-sellers should be heavily stocked in BC stores and small and medium supermarkets. 3. Old scenario - Wholesale markets Wholesale markets generally only sell best-sellers, including old products and re-listed best-sellers. There are opportunities for mid-to-low-end re-listed new products, which can be tried. 4. New scenario - Online B2B The current operating philosophy of online B2B platforms is the best-seller logic. Although "expanding category width" is what every manufacturer hopes to achieve on Xintonglu and Retail Link, it is still very difficult at present. Of course, we should actively view the digitalization of ERTM platforms. Internet thinking makes leading B2B platforms good at data control of terminals. Therefore, growing core best-sellers can be cultivated on B2B platforms, but long-tail and new products are difficult to achieve real breakthroughs on B2B platforms in the short term. 5. New scenario - Online to home Online to home faces consumers aged 25-45, the backbone of consumption, who have a high acceptance of the Internet. Therefore, new product lines can be mainly promoted. Long-tail products that didn't sell well in the past, because they involve novelty, can be tried through new packaging and formula upgrades. Moreover, the target consumers of the home delivery channel are relatively less price-sensitive, making it very suitable for "promoting new and selling high." 6. New scenario - Community group buying The logic of community group buying is to sell best-sellers, no need to elaborate. For new products and long-tail SKUs, you can consider trying them in community group buying. Promoting new products in community group buying: on the one hand, it depends on the stickiness between the platform and the group leaders; on the other hand, new products don't have a stable price system yet, and the price system is relatively opaque. But one thing: the SKUs in community group buying should be appropriately differentiated from small and medium supermarkets, wholesale, and B2B channels, at least in terms of specifications. Community group buying needs best-sellers, and through product combinations, you can try some new products opportunistically. In addition, growing core best-sellers cannot be sold on community group buying platforms. After early cultivation, growing best-sellers have a stable price system and cannot be disrupted by community group buying. Note: The above product-channel matching is not absolute. Category differences will lead to different core channels. Frontline city managers need to comprehensively consider based on their own product portfolio and existing core channels. -03- How to match new and old product lines with different regions? Product layout must not only consider the matching of different channel scenarios and products but also fully consider the maturity of the regional market and its matching. In a prefecture-level market, it usually consists of a central urban area and several counties and towns. From the perspective of the overall market, city managers must do well in the mature urban area, not only because of the development of commercial formats and the relative advantage of consumption levels. More importantly, the urban area is often the base camp for sales managers and teams, where social resources and team energy are the strongest and best configured. If you can't even do well in the central urban area, let alone the county market. At the same time, the urban area also has a "lighthouse effect." Only when products sell well in the leading large stores and core channels of the central urban market can they radiate to surrounding counties and lower-level towns. Therefore, mature best-sellers, core best-sellers, and all new products should be operated and tried in the mature urban market. In addition, re-listed long-tail products can also be tried, because the smaller the place, the more you can do group buying through relationship networks. Long-tail products that don't sell well in supermarkets are relatively price-insensitive, so you can try group buying and special channels more. In mature counties, new products are mainly mid-to-low-end, because consumers with spending power generally go to the urban area for development and don't consume in the county. Therefore, counties focus on mid-to-low-end products. Weak counties only sell best-sellers. Use best-sellers to pry open the blank market in counties. If best-sellers can't pry it open, other products basically have no chance. -04- In the era of omni-channel distribution, the correct concept for promoting new products Promoting new products! This topic is the unchanging theme for FMCG manufacturers every year. Promoting new products has become a routine action for FMCG manufacturers. Like everyone else, I've been in FMCG for many years and have promoted many new products. In the era of deep distribution, the success rate of new product launches was basically one in ten. In the past, the few successful cases were nothing more than the "Seven Punches of New Products"— First: "Political Height";

Second: "Precise Decoding";

Third: "No Pressure on First Order";

Fourth: "Stick to Secondary Sales";

Fifth: "Lighthouse Focus";

Sixth: "Waves Surging";

Seventh: "Daily Monitoring, Daily Improvement." In the era of omni-channel distribution, channels are increasing, existing markets are being eroded, and incremental growth is more fragmented. The difficulty of promoting new products is increasing year by year. Moreover, careful research will reveal that new channels emerging in recent years seem unfriendly to new products, basically following the best-seller logic. Even if these new channels can sell new products, the costs and expenses behind them are higher than old channels. Under the new background of omni-channel distribution, a frontline city manager must adapt to the times and the situation when promoting new products.

  1. New product launches must fully understand and digest the sales manuals issued by headquarters and regions. The more channels, the more mechanisms, and the more precise the understanding must be;
  2. New product launches must do a good job in both online and offline, with a local landing plan for omni-channel distribution and sell-through, especially having 1-2 backup plans for new channels;
  3. In addition to quickly and accurately listing in offline stores, new product launches should also do cloud distribution listing on new channels such as online O2O;
  4. For new product launches, maintain a cautious attitude towards first orders online and offline. Don't aim to stock up, but ensure the speed of replenishment and reorders;
  5. After new product launches, monitor all terminals online and offline daily, starting from the first day of listing, monitoring secondary sales data daily;
  6. After new product launches, actively create a selling atmosphere every weekend, whether through roadshows in leading offline large stores or online live streaming to activate community marketing;
  7. The first month after new product launch is the decisive month. Every retailer, distributor, platform merchant, and channel customer must achieve reorders;
  8. Every progress and achievement after new product launch is a small milestone worth celebrating together as a team, thereby accumulating small wins into big wins. [For specific omni-channel new product promotion action breakdown, please see subsequent articles] But with the above, will new products succeed? Not necessarily! Because promoting new products now requires not only accuracy and ruthlessness but also speed! In the new retail and new omni-channel under the Internet era, how frontline city managers can promote new products with quality and "speed" will be crucial! Because new retail and new omni-channel distribution have spawned and emerged more channels, more slots, and faster iteration. There will definitely be more and more new products online and offline, and the speed of promotion and iteration will also become faster and faster! Therefore, promoting new products now should pay more attention to the start! —The speed of new product launch! Centered on rapid sell-through, based on the actual situation of the local market, comprehensively and precisely plan the "1-3-6 launch speed."

"1" means to pay close attention from the first day, achieve sell-through in the first week, reorder in the first half month, and create buzz for the new product in target channels (online + offline) in the first month.

Give distributors, retailers, and channel customers confidence and determination that makes their eyes light up;

"3" means the first quarter must survive. If there isn't enough sell-through and reorders in the first three months after launch, the product will basically enter the elimination period early.

The current market has almost zero patience for new products to grow slowly. No retailer or channel merchant is willing to let new products occupy their terminal shelves and channel resources while selling slowly...

"6" means if a new product survives the first six months of survival challenges, it can continue the flame. It will likely receive reinforcements from headquarters and regions. Surviving half a year means spring! "Waiting to die is worse than seeking death. Your attitude towards new products is waiting to die. If you only sell old products and best-sellers, what does the company need you for?" Lao Li and Xiao Liu lowered their heads in shame, feeling remorseful for their negative attitude just now... Seizing the moment, Lao Wang continued to everyone— Promoting new products is indeed difficult now! Although difficult, it must be done! The harder the thing, the easier it is to build your own moat! Every new product promotion is a good opportunity to restructure the local market; every new product promotion is a good opportunity to overtake competitors on a curve; every new product promotion is a good opportunity to awaken team morale! Bio: Xu Xiang, currently Sales Director of Unilever South China, with 20 years of experience in FMCG daily chemicals, dairy, and condiments, deeply engaged in regional market management and customer marketing, willing to exchange and learn with peers for common progress. Once the tip is adopted, a reward of 400-2000 yuan will be paid.