We often observe a phenomenon: many FMCG brands are deeply loved by the post-70s and post-80s generations, but they are not so well received by the post-90s and post-00s. Of course, many would say it's due to product aging, failure to keep up with trends, fundamental changes in consumer needs, or being replaced by better products. There are many such FMCG brands, and these situations do exist.

Essentially, the post-90s and post-80s represent a watershed. The material conditions of survival have changed significantly, leading to shifts in needs and aesthetics. Moreover, products themselves have four life cycles: introduction, growth, maturity, and decline. After entering the decline phase, consumer loss inevitably becomes more severe, which is normal.

But why do many first-tier brands like Coca-Cola remain "evergreen" in the industry? There are indeed questions worth pondering. Consumer disconnect or loss is a problem that many established companies must face.

(Those who win the youth win the world. Image source: Chaos Academy)

Consumer Disconnect Is a Common Ailment at a Certain Stage of Enterprise Development

Why is consumer disconnect a common ailment when enterprises reach a certain stage? I once provided training and market research for a seasoning company. Their main product was fermented bean curd. The marketing team attributed declining sales to the fact that post-90s consumers, now the main consumer group, have increased health awareness and resist high-salt products.

I don't fully agree with this view. Spicy strips (latiao) are not only high in salt but also high in sugar and oil, yet the main consumers are also post-90s, and their numbers are growing. Is it a product problem or a promotion problem? I have summarized three deviations.

1. Tactical Deviation

Consumer disconnect involves at least two aspects: first, there was a previous consumer base (if not, it's not a disconnect but a complete absence), and second, the repurchase frequency of the core consumer group has decreased, and the speed of attracting new consumers is slow. This period coincides with the enterprise transitioning from 0 to 1, moving towards 1 to 100.

From 0 to 1, consumers need to be accumulated one by one. Brands will make efforts both online and offline, from fragmented media投放 to ground forces conducting point-to-point, one-on-one consumer experiences.

From 1 to 100, the logic of online and offline investment changes. Manufacturers want to become fat in one bite, believing offline is inefficient and costly, so they focus resources on online, while offline focuses more on sales volume and profit.

Little do they know that today's consumers have become immune to information. Every consumer has an "information cocoon." To break through, one must pay attention to offline.

Only offline product experiences (consumers tasting and trying while promoters introduce product features, creating resonance and making consumers like it) can impact consumers through the five senses: sight, hearing, touch, smell, and taste. This is slow but essential, and investment cannot be reduced.

2. Execution Deviation

Prioritizing sales over market development is a common ailment at this stage. Companies adjust KPIs to shift grassroots staff's focus and energy from basic market work to sales targets.

Performance assessments make salespeople focus more on stocking channels daily, neglecting interaction with consumers.

It's important to know that sales are a renewable resource for the market, but sustainable market development must be ensured. In other words, for the market, sales require both taking and cultivating. What to cultivate? Naturally, the contributors to sales—consumers.

3. Strategic Deviation

More attention is paid to the competitive landscape (attacking competitors, increasing market share), while ignoring internal factors (product improvement, attention to core consumer groups).

In domestic FMCG, almost every product has countless competitors, especially in recent years' stock market. Every bit of growth is like snatching food from competitors, so companies inevitably shift focus to competitors.

For example, increasingly severe price wars (there's always cheaper), channel competition (investing channel fees to buy exclusive quality outlets and shelves), and product strategy follow-the-leader (whatever sells well in the market is quickly imitated). Consequently, they neglect self-improvement: Does my product need upgrading? Are my core consumers increasing or decreasing? How to stabilize and add new core users?

Nongfu Spring's Three Basic Actions to Avoid Consumer Disconnect

Nongfu Spring's success today makes it an industry benchmark, not just in performance and profit but in every aspect.

1. Water Knowledge into Elementary School Classrooms

In 2013, Nongfu's sales exceeded 10 billion. At that time, the sales team's most common activity on weekends (Saturdays and Sundays when they could skip field visits) was community water stations, communicating water knowledge one-on-one with consumers in communities. From Monday to Friday, the goal was to bring water knowledge presentations into every elementary school classroom in the region, rotating every few months.

Imagine, ten years later, these children will become the new main consumer force. How will they choose drinking water? This confirms the saying: "One who doesn't plan for the whole cannot plan for a part; one who doesn't plan for the long term cannot plan for the short term."

2. Event Marketing with Zero Distance to Consumers

Take the 2020 Wuhan epidemic as an example. During the full lockdown, Nongfu Spring launched a community convenience unmanned sales model, which on one hand avoided personal contact, and on the other hand demonstrated the brand's full trust in consumers. A bucket of water warmed a family, from the elderly to children, all engaging in zero-distance communication with consumers.

For Nongfu, such activities are frequent, with the constant goal of getting closer to consumers.

3. Frequent Online-Offline Interaction and Close Connection

I won't elaborate much on this. The previously launched Music Bottle and Forbidden City Bottle are successful cases, gaining massive followers online and converting offline, attracting various consumers. Multi-channel, multi-form consumer connection has always been Nongfu's market trump card.

Summary: The example of Nongfu is to tell some brands that no matter what stage of development, they cannot get carried away. Internet technology has brought a marketing revolution to the FMCG industry, but some marketing fundamentals cannot be abandoned. The emotional connection between brands and consumers is not something that can be achieved with a few short videos, red packets, or vouchers.

The ultimate goal of a product can only be consumers. If an enterprise does not rack its brains to build its consumer base across all age groups, sales and profit loss are inevitable sooner or later.

Indeed, entrepreneurs should be reminded: As long as the direction is right, don't fear the long road; slow work yields fine results.

Three Key Points to Avoid Consumer Disconnect

1. What changes have today's consumers undergone?

  • Information cocoon: With too much information, people can only process information related to or liked by them, inevitably entering an information cocoon.
  • Feed mode: Information is too easy to obtain; people no longer deliberately remember content unrelated to them.
  • Rising experience threshold: Material satisfaction diminishes, while the meaning and connotation attached to products become more valued.
  • Lack of meaning: This generation cannot get dopamine rewards from the waiting process of pursuing goals.

The times are changing, and consumers are changing accordingly. The first step to connecting with consumers is to understand today's consumers and upgrade current consumer communication and education models.

2. Multi-dimensional consumer reach is needed

  • Combine offline and online: Online consumer reach only satisfies visual and auditory needs, characterized by wide scope but insufficient depth. Offline consumer reach can satisfy all needs including sight, hearing, touch, smell, and taste, characterized by relatively narrow scope but sufficient depth.
  • Online reach principle: Where users' attention is, we appear. Use all means to deliver product information to users. Common online consumer reach methods include four ways.
  • Offline reach principle: Find gathering places of core consumer groups, build offline consumption scenarios, and prepare product introductions and tasting experiences. This is the core competency of many FMCG companies and cannot be abandoned.

3. Four concepts that distributors must transform

Often, manufacturers and distributors seem to have a consensus: brands handle branding more, distributors handle channels more, and consumer communication and education mostly belong to the brand side. Some distributors even resist participating in activities. This is clearly no longer feasible. Distributors must transform these four concepts:

  • Abandon game theory thinking; manufacturers and distributors should cooperate deeply, have a holistic view, and be sufficiently open.
  • Abandon the low-margin, high-volume model; gradually shift to high value-added, high-margin models; reduce channel gift expenses and shift to consumer interaction and communication.
  • Abandon the mere goods-moving model; transform from distributor to operator, shifting focus from retailers to consumers.
  • Upgrade from informatization to digitalization; connect with consumers online, precisely, and efficiently.

Final Thoughts:

Zhang Xiqiang, president of Totole, once said: "Interacting more with young consumers means gaining insight into their inner thoughts and needs. I believe few young people are willing to repurchase products their parents' generation used. I deeply feel this."

Indeed, today's youth have far more opportunities to be exposed to brand promotions than the previous generation, and this is undeniable.

Weibo, WeChat, Douyin; text, short videos, offline experiences; brand marketing methods have already filled the lives of young people. Traditional crude brainwashing ads can no longer occupy consumers' minds; they can only deepen memory.

In the traffic era, it's all about sincerity; being able to discover pain points, directly hit them, and solve them is what consumers truly need. Only then can we truly get closer to consumers of all ages.

Finally, I want to clarify: This article does not analyze the reasons for the decline in performance of traditional FMCG brands due to product aging and missing out on new-generation consumers. There will be a separate article on product-type decline that will elaborate on that.