Today I spent the morning observing the beverage shelves at Walmart, watching the products and how shoppers selected from the many categories. I noticed two interesting points. First, Nongfu Spring's products feel visually seamless, with a subtle connection between them; seeing the products, the classic red bottle of Nongfu Spring unconsciously comes to mind. Looking at other brands' products, I didn't have this feeling; some even required careful reading of the back label to know they belonged to a certain brand. As a brand marketer, my first instinct is that this association is not simple! The second point is that most brands seem to have realized the importance of product packaging, and the designs are quite good. There are too many choices for consumers in the same beverage category, and many shoppers hesitated, seemingly finding it harder to choose. After a morning of observation, I pondered a question: Initially, when products were scarce, people had no choice but to buy what was available; then, when more products appeared, people chose safe options; later, when products met safety needs, people chose quality; and now that quality is assured, people choose good design. So, after meeting the demand for "high aesthetics" tomorrow, what else can we sell? From selling the essence of the product — selling safety — selling quality — selling "appearance" — what next? My answer is: sell the brand cognition that consumers already have. Now let's look at Xiao Long's exclusive interpretation, hoping it will inspire you. First, let me explain a principle that most marketing experts know: consumers prefer "better" things over "different" things; but from a marketing perspective, what truly works is not "better" but "different," which is what we often call differentiation. So where will I find differentiation tomorrow? 1 The biggest problem FMCG will face next "Homogenization" caused by excessive differentiation What is "homogenization" caused by excessive differentiation? I proposed this view a long time ago. It was in a design class where the teacher asked us to design a chicken, with the only requirement being uniqueness. Everyone followed the instructions, and each person designed a seemingly unique chicken. When all seventy-plus "chickens" from the entire major were posted on the same wall, you couldn't find any differentiation among them, but individually, they seemed different. The same applies to products: when you take a product out alone or place it in your own brand's category, it looks eye-catching. But when placed among hundreds of categories, it's hard to find obvious differences. I call this phenomenon "homogenization" caused by excessive differentiation. On large supermarket shelves, you'll notice that beverages are now all about fashion, and brands are striving to improve product "appearance." Looking closely, the selling points are similar: either healthy with zero additives, or all-natural... It's hard to find striking "differentiation," yet everyone knows its importance for product marketing. In this extremely awkward context, how will brands break through next? What else can we sell? Please continue reading: 2 Independent individual relationships and associations Yang Shitou from Beijing Zhilifang once said: "Everything is relationships!" I spent a month interpreting these six words. I also remember Engels said: "Man is the sum of social relations." Both sentences share a common element — relationships. After careful research, I proposed the concept that "brand is the sum of market relationships." Today, I want to upgrade this to version 2.0: "Brand is the sum of market associations!" Why do I say this? First, let's break down the market (incomplete): Research analysis product strategy — Product Development Department — Marketing Department — Distributors — Supermarket terminals — Consumers We break the market into independent individuals, but there is actually some association between these individuals. What is this association? Is it selling products? Building a brand? No, it's establishing a continuum of demand and satisfying demand. (Note: Not everyone needs to understand this.) Similarly, let's transform by breaking down the series products under our brand into independent individuals. Then look at whether each independent individual has an obvious association with the brand. Is there also an association between each individual? Obviously, many companies will answer no! Because you only focus on new products, fashionable packaging... Even if you are a prince, without noble markers, you are destined to be lost in the crowd. For example, in my previous article on Uni-President, I found this problem. Uni-President's new product development is undeniable, but there is a lack of specific brand element association between products. If you don't believe me, look at GOURUN, Tianmi Shiguang, Qingchang Jiaozhu, Shuiquduo... As new products, users may not even know you. If you don't have prominent brand elements, users will find it hard to associate them with the Uni-President brand. Nongfu Spring has historical foresight in establishing associations between individuals! They recognized the problem of "homogenization caused by excessive differentiation" early on. Now let's look at Nongfu Spring's brand approach. 3 Consumer brand cognitive association Back to the initial question: what do we sell next? Sell the brand cognition that consumers already have! Whether selling the essence of the product, safety, quality, or appearance, what we sell is related to the brand. What we need to do next is simply reorganize the brand associations that consumers already have, making the brand both talented and beautiful! (This is the latest view on brands; if you don't understand, don't force yourself, just as few understood the internet when it was born.) Nongfu Spring's brand approach

  1. Extract existing brand elements 1. First brand visual element extraction — classic red bottle When mentioning the name Nongfu Spring, the classic red bottle immediately comes to mind. The classic red bottle is the first brand visual element extracted by Nongfu Spring, and it was first used on the glass bottle packaging of high-end water. The pattern on the glass bottle of high-end mineral water was further refined and applied to baby water. Think carefully about what kind of cognitive association this will create in consumers' minds. Undoubtedly, this association is built on the fame of the classic red bottle and the status of high-end water. 2. Second brand visual element extraction — unique sports cap The sports cap design of Jianjiao was applied to Changbai Mountain Moyaquan, and the classic red also appears on the cap. Moyaquan became a hit due to its "Fairy Tale Changbai Mountain" pattern design, becoming Nongfu Spring's third-generation popular product. 3. Third brand visual element extraction — Moyaquan's "Fairy Tale Changbai Mountain" style pattern Tea π uses the same pattern style as Moyaquan, plus the classic red Nongfu Spring logo. With its unique style, Tea π is endorsed by the super popular Asian star BIGBANG, and Nongfu Spring incubated another star product. 4. Fourth brand visual element extraction — Tea π's cap and bottle design Tea π's cap and bottle design style was applied to NFC, fruit-flavored series, Oriental Leaf, and other products.
  2. Reorganize consumers' existing brand cognition and establish associations between products in the same series Nongfu's success in incubating one star product after another lies in invoking the brand symbols that consumers already have. Even if consumers see Nongfu's new product for the first time, through the unique brand elements on the new product's packaging, they immediately recall a series of existing brand cognitions about Nongfu Spring. Nongfu's products are not only outstanding in design; they also know how to invoke consumers' existing cognition! Many people trek through life but forget why they started. Whether selling the essence of the product, safety, quality, or appearance... aren't you selling the brand? If you didn't understand, it's okay! I only intended to write for the 80% who can understand. So the question is, why are you among the 20% who didn't? Perhaps that's the root cause of your business not doing well. If you understood, then think a bit more, share it with your own insights, and if you really don't know what to say, just click like below. Thank you! -END-