---
title: "Deep Dive: How Yakult Captured 37% of China's Probiotic Market with a Single Product"
description: "Since its launch in 1935, this product, which has been popular worldwide for 80 years, has relied on the concept of 10 billion active lactic acid bacteria, a small red bottle, and a team of mothers to go its own way and lead the pack in the wave of diversification. Behind Yakult are Snow Brand, which has been left far behind, and Calpis, which is struggling to catch up. Similarly, Mengniu, Yili, Sanyuan, Guangming, and Taizinai are no match. 1. The Heartfelt 80,000 Yakult Ladies: This is an era of speed and efficiency..."
author: "路胜贞"
publisher: "New Distribution"
email: "zhaobo258@gmail.com"
telephone: "+8615854817671"
published: "2015-07-21"
language: "en"
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# Deep Dive: How Yakult Captured 37% of China's Probiotic Market with a Single Product

> Since its launch in 1935, this product, which has been popular worldwide for 80 years, has relied on the concept of 10 billion active lactic acid bacteria, a small red bottle, and a team of mothers to go its own way and lead the pack in the wave of diversification. Behind Yakult are Snow Brand, which has been left far behind, and Calpis, which is struggling to catch up. Similarly, Mengniu, Yili, Sanyuan, Guangming, and Taizinai are no match. 1. The Heartfelt 80,000 Yakult Ladies: This is an era of speed and efficiency...

Since its launch in 1935, this product, which has been popular worldwide for 80 years, has relied on the concept of 10 billion active lactic acid bacteria, a small red bottle, and a team of mothers to go its own way and lead the pack in the wave of diversification. Behind Yakult are Snow Brand, which has been left far behind, and Calpis, which is struggling to catch up. Similarly, Mengniu, Yili, Sanyuan, Guangming, and Taizinai are no match.

1. The Heartfelt 80,000 Yakult Ladies

This is an era that emphasizes speed and efficiency. Everything is running; those who run fast must run, and those who run slow must also run. The only purpose of running is to avoid falling behind competitors. Running fast can win attention, coverage, and sales.

Mengniu took only ten years to spread its products to every village in the country, and Yili took only five years to occupy supermarket terminals across China. Compared with competitors, Yakult's speed is the lowest. To this day, it only controls 28 markets, less than one percent of its competitors, and outside cities, it is unknown.

But this does not matter. A narrow market does not mean a lack of ability to expand. In a narrow market scope, there is an active team that rivals fear. Wherever they point, products appear. From local to overall, from point to surface, like a trickle of water, they penetrate every corner of the community, with distinctive characteristics and effectiveness. Nearly two-thirds of Yakult's sales performance comes from them—the Yakult Ladies.

From 1935 to the present, Yakult has existed in the lactic acid bacteria beverage market for a full 80 years. Snow Brand raced with it, and Calpis competed for speed. The logic of race-style competition is that defeating one opponent will bring a new opponent. In the end, defeating opponents becomes the goal, and those who defeat others are ultimately defeated by others. This is the law of the market.

Yakult's founder, Minoru Shirota, understood the ultimate logic of the market, so his company does not race with competitors. While others are busy launching dazzling products and expanding channels without limit, he insists on his one bottle, one team, and limited market. He has not been defeated in Japan, not in South Korea, and has stood firm in Taiwan and Hong Kong for over 50 years.

The main channels for probiotic beverages are convenience stores, distribution, supermarkets, and special channels, but Yakult does not do this. This medical doctor once stubbornly believed that his product could only defeat any competitor by relying on his unique Yakult Ladies.

Yakult Ladies can receive order calls at any time and deliver products to subscribers within 30 minutes, whether it is scorching hot or freezing cold. No matter how many customers they have, Yakult Ladies remember clearly who is who, what their habits are, when they ordered, and when delivery is needed. Moreover, Yakult Ladies fully ensure that the product is delivered to subscribers at a temperature below 4°C to keep the live bacteria from dying. Without relying on supermarket channels, even the two presidents of Yakult China, Haruki Anzai and Susumu Hirano, firmly believe that only through this unique sales team can the product be delivered to consumers, ensuring the entire cold chain process from production to consumer is under control.

Globally, there are over 80,000 Yakult Ladies. In China, at 33 distribution centers in 28 cities, there are over 1,500 Yakult Ladies with strong execution. The company can arrange for customers to visit the factory, invite customers to social activities, develop a set number of subscribers, provide力所能及 services for subscribers, and ensure price stability. This unique sales team can ensure that the company's strategic intentions are implemented and executed without compromise.

What Yakult needs to execute is not mysterious or complicated. In one sentence, it is to deliver a reliable product to customers with quality and quantity, making subscribers feel warm.

The special insulation box provided by Yakult ensures that probiotics are delivered to consumers alive and active, not like competitors who put them in milk boxes. The Shirota strain, tested for 80 years, can make intestinal peristalsis more effective, and also makes Yakult Ladies feel a sense of identity and trust in the company. Yakult Ladies also introduce the product to subscribers through personal experience, and this emotion can be positively transmitted to consumers, infecting subscribers.

To support the community expansion of Yakult Ladies, Yakult does not casually stock convenience stores; supermarkets are only limited. Competitors' promotions are never participated in, and there is no follow-up hype. Everything is to maintain the seriousness and unity of Yakult and to support the work of Yakult Ladies in the community. Of course, Yakult Ladies come from all walks of life, with different educational backgrounds and experiences, but they are mostly women from the lowest levels of society, some laid-off workers, some breadwinners of families. This team has the unique diligence, resilience, optimism, and agility of women. Because they come from the grassroots, they cherish their jobs even more, and many have worked at Yakult for decades. Because they are down-to-earth, this team is more familiar with the communication style of consumers, so their achievements are almost surprising. One person's daily task may be only 70 bottles, but diligent Yakult Ladies can discover up to 150 subscribers.

On the other hand, inland competitors like Mengniu, Yili, and Guangming rely on traditional supermarket channels, which in turn rely on distributors. Because distributors control many brands, their demands for profit and performance are inconsistent, which not only leads to inconsistent prices and promotions at supermarket terminals, but even the low-temperature storage requirements cannot be implemented. Inland brands have strict performance assessment systems and pursue an endless strategy of market coverage. Terminal maintenance personnel and business managers are endlessly busy with product items, and these city managers and sales representatives are overwhelmed by performance pressure, resulting in huge execution loopholes. Not only is it difficult to ensure terminal quality, but it is also harder to interact directly with consumers.

At the other end of the competition, Yakult Ladies play the dual role of city manager and sales representative, and also serve as a bridge between the product and consumers, with no distributors, no complex promotions, and no complex distribution or product item tasks. At the same time, Yakult Ladies can focus on operating their single product. To increase the income of Yakult Ladies, one area is assigned to one Yakult Lady. In addition to a guaranteed base salary, Yakult also gives about 50% of profits as rewards to Yakult Ladies. The company's interests are their own visible interests, and the enthusiasm of Yakult Ladies is subtly mobilized. This simple working relationship reduces internal friction and wear in complex management systems, allowing strategies and tactics to be executed quickly and effectively.

The company's support for this sales team is also reflected in advertising. Mengniu uses Xiao S, Yili uses Yang Mi, and Yakult uses Kim Soo-hyun, Shin Se-kyung, and Yoona from Girls' Generation. On the surface, they all follow a trendy and fashionable route, but at the end of Yakult's ads, the image of Yakult Ladies always appears classically. Mengniu and Yili convey stars, while Yakult conveys its own sales team on which it relies. Advertising again enhances the pride and sense of belonging of Yakult Ladies, and their enthusiasm ultimately turns into unwavering trust and execution of company policies.

To help this team better understand the company's intentions, Yakult posts the theme of each period's advertising in the office, which helps Yakult Ladies clarify the main purpose of recent advertising campaigns so they can introduce them to residents in the community. Daily morning meetings, monthly home delivery center meetings, and monthly visits by distribution centers to delivery customers, as well as the annual "Best Yakult Lady" selection, make Yakult Ladies feel like they are in a big family team, while also subtly standardizing the execution of the company's sales strategy.

Heartfelt management and heartfelt strategies create simple and effective execution. Yakult Ladies have expanded territories, opening up Hong Kong, Malaysia, South Korea, Vietnam, and also 21 first-tier cities in inland China. Relying on these 21 cities, they have fought against Yili and Mengniu, which cover nearly 10 million terminal stores across 31 provinces, municipalities, and autonomous regions.

Comment:
Complex management often leads to distorted execution. Inland dairy brands generally have strict market supervision systems, but these cannot guarantee that market strategies and product strategies are executed without deviation or deformation by their business teams. However, complex systems often bury city managers and business managers in complex product expansion, assessment systems, and performance pressure, ultimately leading to psychological boredom and physical slackness.

Yakult's difference is not that it designs everything simply—simple products, simple tasks, simple management, simple performance—but the foundation of simplicity is that this team, with great individual differences, not only does not need to execute too many indicators, but also stimulates a strong willingness to communicate with consumers, allowing more time to engage with consumers' inner thoughts.

A steady and pragmatic market strategy allows Yakult Ladies to maintain a calm and pragmatic mindset to expand the market.

Competitors' sales personnel, on the other hand, spend more energy on distributors and channel merchants. They are one layer away from consumers.

A distributor can sometimes be understood as a money-making machine; it executes everything that benefits it, not everything that benefits consumers. As for what happens beyond sales, it seems irrelevant to them.

2. Light Luxury Narcissism and Pure Persistence

Compared with the market logic of Mengniu, Yili, and Guangming, which bloom in multiple flavors and series, Yakult appears lonely and alternative in the dairy market.

In 2002, Yakult, originally from Japan, entered inland China after 50 years of rooting in Taiwan and Hong Kong. Its first opponent was Taizinai, a pioneer in room-temperature lactic acid bacteria beverages.

In 1996, Taizinai emerged and, relying on lactic acid bacteria beverages, created a category miracle of 150 million yuan in the gap between the two pure milk giants, Yili and Guangming. However, Yakult's arrival again caused a huge change in the lactic acid bacteria beverage market. Starting in Guangzhou, Yakult adhered to its successful experience, tried to avoid product form complexity and concept complexity, and fully promoted a single 100ml red bottle of low-temperature lactic acid bacteria beverage. It competed with Taizinai's two sub-brands, "Sunrise" and "Prince," with more than 10 specifications of room-temperature lactic acid bacteria. Relying on a single product and single specification, by 2006, its sales scale surpassed Taizinai. In terms of sales channels, Yakult adopted a model of direct sales by Yakult Ladies combined with supermarkets, and used the active probiotic Shirota strain as the product's unique selling point, competing with Taizinai in the Chinese market.

Relying on this simple product and market strategy, by 2008, relying on a few cities like Guangzhou and Shanghai, sales rose to 400 million yuan. By 2011, it rose to over 2 billion yuan, becoming the leading brand in the low-temperature lactic acid bacteria market.

Yakult's marketing model is incompatible with the inland dairy industry model. Domestic dairy companies generally pursue a strategy of full channel coverage and a strategy of many products. Yili's products cover nearly 100 types, including room-temperature liquid milk, yogurt, frozen food, and dairy beverages, with thousands of specifications. Mengniu and Guangming are similar.

In 2014, Mengniu's sales were 50.05 billion yuan, and Yili was also 55 billion yuan.

In China, Yakult only had annual sales of 2.7 billion yuan in inland China. But Yakult, with a single specification and single product, in only 28 cities, with coverage less than one percent of competitors, while globally, Yakult's annual sales were 27 billion yuan. On the surface, whether in sales or market share, Yakult is at a disadvantage.

Even in low-temperature lactic acid bacteria beverages, Yakult's strategy is incompatible with domestic dairy brands. Mengniu and Yili both targeted Yakult's weakness: single product, single specification, single appeal. In 2011, Mengniu launched its own low-temperature lactic acid bacteria beverage, Youyi C, to compete for the lactic acid bacteria beverage market. Shortly after, Yili launched its own low-temperature lactic acid bacteria brand, Meiyitian. Chinese dairy brands follow a fast-fashion marketing rule, using rapid product updates and upgrades compared with competitors to create market freshness and shape their image as market trendsetters. In 2012, Mengniu and Yili, based on 100ml lactic acid bacteria beverages, launched 340ml, 350ml, 900ml, and five specifications and nearly 10 flavors, including yellow peach, sweet orange, and aloe.

To form competitive differences, in terms of probiotic composition, Mengniu and Yili, targeting Yakult's single Shirota Lactobacillus casei, implemented a multi-strain strategy. While turning the Shirota strain into Lactobacillus paracasei, they also added Bulgarian bacteria, Lactobacillus acidophilus, Bifidobacterium, and other strains, implementing a group bacteria tactic against Yakult. At the same time, targeting Yakult's 70-year-old claim of 10 billion live bacteria per bottle, they put a 300 billion live bacteria mark on their packaging. Targeting Yakult's strategy of one-size-fits-all consumer groups, Mengniu and Yili adopted a strategy of segmentation and encroachment: the elderly, young people, women, men, sub-healthy people, and people who stay up late, further positioning consumer groups. In terms of price, they also adopted a strategy of sticking close and killing, tightly biting Yakult's 2.2 yuan, setting prices at 2 yuan or lower. Use price to trigger consumer buying frenzy. The participation of Mengniu and Yili stirred up the lactic acid bacteria beverage market. In 2014, Wahaha, Haocaitou, and other room-temperature lactic acid bacteria beverages also launched 100ml products, raising the banner of high-resistance six-strain lactic acid bacteria fermentation, competing for the lactic acid bacteria beverage market.

While competitors' performance is rising, and channels and products are double-killing, Yakult seems to have great confidence. Not only does it not add new products, but it also does not waver on price. The retail price of 2.2 yuan is ironclad. As for competitors' multi-strain strategy, Yakult adopts a strategy of "let him be strong, let him be strong," not paying attention, not responding, and not upgrading or changing products. Instead, through its direct sales team—nearly a thousand Yakult Ladies scattered in various communities—it uses the opportunity of zero-distance contact during milk delivery to explain in detail which bacteria can reach the small intestine and achieve the health effects of "cleaning the intestines" and "helping digestion," and which bacteria will lose activity under the corrosion of gastric acid and choline.

Yakult's single Shirota strain is a topic that Yakult Ladies love to talk about. Using subscribers' free time, they chat with customers about how Shirota discovered probiotics in 1936 and how it was welcomed by customers in South Korea and Taiwan. To prove the excellence of Yakult, they even invite parents and elders among consumers to bring their younger generations to visit Yakult's factories in Tianjin and Shanghai.

A group of devout and diligent Yakult Ladies have turned the single-minded Yakult into a professional product that is refined, pragmatic, and purely considerate of consumers. Relying on this pure singularity, Yakult expanded from Guangzhou to Shanghai, from Shanghai to Beijing, and after establishing a foothold in more than 20 first- and second-tier cities, it immediately stopped expanding to other cities, carefully cultivating existing markets, strengthening its singularity and purity, and also cultivating its Yakult Ladies team, expanding from the initial 100 people in Guangzhou to over 1,500 people in 28 markets.

Yakult's market stability did not bring calm to the market, but instead led to further competition from inland brands. At this time, first-tier brands like Mengniu, Yili, Guangming, Junlebao, and second- and third-tier brands like Xile, Yangyou, and Weidongli all concentrated in large and small supermarkets and convenience stores, all using the usual sales tactics: "continuously updating products and constantly bombarding with advertisements to remind consumers!"

But after 2013, Mengniu and Yili's sales of lactic acid bacteria products reached nearly 2 billion yuan and then stopped rising.

To seek greater sales, price wars became the last weapon to kill opponents. Yili's Meiyitian started "buy one get one free," "buy two get one free," and "second item 50% off" promotions from 2014, and Mengniu's Youyi C followed with "buy one get one free" promotional battles. The relentless competitive pressure forced a large number of dairy brands to embark on a path of high dependence, or even one-sided dependence, on price competition strategies. The Chinese lactic acid bacteria market fell into the inherent fate of inland brands without suspense. Behind the price war is price suppression spreading to upstream resources. In 2008, there was a dairy crisis, and in 2010, the melamine incident occurred again, both of which were footnotes to this melee. In the lactic acid bacteria beverage market, the biggest result was that by the first quarter of 2015, Yakult's profit growth rate exceeded 30%, while the profit competitiveness of inland brands generally declined.

Some have asserted that, like the Japanese people's usual forbearance, as long as Yakult is willing, it can overnight have the ability to compete with any dairy brand with sales exceeding 50 billion yuan in inland China.

Yakult believes in late-mover advantage and accumulating strength for a burst. It treats the market like a lover. Although it has the ability to love more people, it still concentrates all resources and energy to please only one person. Heartfelt marketing is about doing what you should do and giving up what you should give up. Do what you should do with your heart, and leave what you give up to those who are reluctant to give up.

People who have been to Japan know that at Yakult headquarters, its products cover dozens of varieties and hundreds of specifications, including room-temperature liquid milk, low-temperature yogurt, low-temperature probiotics, milk powder, and even butter. But whether in South Korea or Taiwan, these products are not seen. It shows a light luxury attitude, exuding a noble and pure atmosphere, and also builds a unique competitiveness. If you ask some channel distributors of lactic acid bacteria how they view Yakult and inland lactic acid bacteria products, the answer is: Yakult is a long-term product, while inland probiotic beverages are more like short-term products.

Comment:
Can a single point be taken to the extreme? This applies to both lactic acid bacteria beverages and other industries.

In the early stage of the third technological revolution, the trend was comprehensive product supply, comprehensive market expansion, and broad population coverage. In the middle and late stages of the third technological revolution, with the increasing maturity of the Internet information industry, technology barriers were gradually broken, changing from "some can do it" to "everyone can do it." The flaw of "everyone can do it" is that each competitor finds it difficult to master technology different from others, and products become homogeneous, leading to homogeneous competition. At this time, the innovation point of product competition returns to the craftsman era before the Industrial Revolution: focus on polishing one thing, polishing one product, and becoming an expert in an industry.

Yakult, with its single product and single function, does not necessarily have the strong resources of competitors when entering each market. In Japan, it does not have the strong technical resources of Snow Brand; in South Korea, it does not have the strong product portfolio of Namyang Dairy; in Taiwan, it does not have the strong financial resources of Wei Chuan; in inland China, it does not have the strong grassland culture resources of Mengniu and Yili, and even cannot compare with the strong brand resources of Taizinai, the pioneer of lactic acid bacteria beverages.

Although all this seems weak, and even at a substantive level, the Shirota strain and product that Yakult controls are not as high-tech as imagined, it has one advantage: it is an enterprise specializing in active lactic acid bacteria beverages. With a craftsman's mentality, it focuses on polishing its product. No matter what you claim, no matter how the product changes, as long as it is a lactic acid bacteria beverage, it has the ability to make you unable to surpass it, because it only makes one product, and it will not stop until death. This alone can move users. To achieve the extreme is to be unique. The proliferation of homogeneous thinking in the information society makes people increasingly crave personalized refinement. Do simple things repeatedly, do repeated things with heart. When you take the most inconspicuous thing that others disdain and do it to the extreme, you become a Buddha and can go anywhere.

3. Not to Please You, but to Truly Love You

No matter what kind of product, sales model, or channel, one important node cannot be avoided—communication with consumers. This is a rhetoric about trust in a love affair, with the ultimate goal of winning consumers' hearts and making them willingly accept everything about you.

To make consumers trust them, local brands tend to favor young consumers.

In 2014, Mengniu's Youyi C attracted 3.73 million users to join the "Big Meat Party" through PGC+UGC, launched cute quotes for Youyi C, and used online and offline interactive communication to launch packaging quotes like "No meat, no joy," "You are my dish," "Brother treats," and "Sister has a dinner party tonight," striving to create a sense of fashion for the product through these trendy elements.

Yili also does not refuse this kind of flattering communication. In 2014, Yili's Meiyitian was implanted in "Dad, Where Are We Going? Season 2." To more effectively establish an emotional connection between the brand and consumers, in 2015, while sponsoring "Dad, Where Are We Going? Season 3," Yili used WeChat, Weibo, and Weishi to carry out various activities to embrace more young consumer groups.

If Mengniu lacks a matchmaker like Yakult to connect with consumers, its matchmaker is advertising and distributors.

Then Yakult's link with consumers is the Yakult Ladies.

In the actual marketing context, consumers generally prefer this flattering relationship, which is somewhat romantic and warm. At the terminal, they have the freedom to choose who to buy from.

The intervention of Yakult Ladies is similar to direct selling, which has been popular globally for 70 years. In the real social environment, direct selling has a poor image in most people's minds, and some even see it as hard-selling. Yakult seems to know the drawbacks of this intervention, so in 80 years, it rarely strongly introduces products to consumers, but instead uses more opportunities to let people try. To avoid a strong salesperson situation, Yakult even prefers to hire laid-off or financially disadvantaged women. Yakult's approach is not the popular online concept of equality between seller and consumer, but rather making the customer feel superior and the seller slightly humble.

Psychologically, consumers first occupy a sense of advantage. People with a sense of advantage often have a natural tolerance for sellers in a lower position. Once a customer recognizes the product and places the first order, the Yakult Lady will appear at the consumer's doorstep every day, rain or shine, ring the doorbell, wipe the mist off the bottle with a clean towel, and a family's life begins. But even strong consumers are living people with various glamorous social roles and the most essential family roles. Yakult's intervention with customers is gradual. After product contact, Yakult Ladies always chat about daily life, gradually conveying the product concept, and even subscribers are willing to tell Yakult Ladies about their family situations, then unconsciously accept the penetration and reinforcement of Yakult products. When the subscriber's initial wariness and sympathy disappear, the relationship becomes equal and sincere, and even in this intervention, subscribers recommend it to their neighbors or colleagues. At this time, Yakult Ladies can even invite their family and neighbors to visit the factory through these lovely subscribers. Factory visits are a strong ritualistic participatory activity that can strengthen and ultimately subtly influence consumer decisions, completing the final push at the moment consumers decide whether to buy.

A real product, a group of sincere people, in exchange for sincere returns from consumers. Yakult has intervened in about 700,000 families in China and has cultivated a large marketing team capable of subverting all competitors.

Comment:
Whether in the industrial age or the information age, the biggest obstacle to communicating with consumers is making customers feel strong intervention and sales pressure. A way to win customers is respect and humanized service.

Cultivation determines that sellers need to pay more attention to long-term subtle influence on consumers, and need to treat consumers with the mentality of being married for a lifetime. Products can be romantic and stylish, but they cannot tolerate any self-packaging that cannot withstand the test of time.

Yakult believes that consumers are rational. Every day, they treat Yakult as a part of their diet, which consumers have already done. So the Yakult Ladies team continuously inputs dietary concepts to consumers, and even uses the current feature of consumers obtaining information through the Internet to continuously strengthen this concept with soft science popularization. It is cultivating a dietary habit among Chinese consumers, a habit that has been verified and tested in South Korea and Japan, so consumers are willing to accept it, or gradually accept it.

In contrast, inland brands ignore this cultivation of habits, treating products as fashionable items that can be bought and consumed at any time. Therefore, this kind of purchase often relies on agitation and temptation to gain consumer trust. Agitation and temptation often require quickly creating a hot topic, then creating another hot topic, packaging themselves as high-end and grand, with endless gimmicks. But this way of courting customers in the network era with infinite information is either easily familiar to well-informed consumers and then rejected, and they change tactics to find another, or the customer gets the benefit and the promise disappears.

4. Be a Fool in the Market, Talk a Heartfelt Love

What is the essence of buying and selling? It is nothing more than selling or buying a useful commodity.

Dazzling marketing methods, product overexploitation marketing, and face-changing products have not brought consumers closer but have increased their wariness, raised marketing costs, and increased the psychological threshold for products to enter consumers' minds. Yakult's decades-long Yakult Ladies team and 80 years of persistence respond to the infinite changes in the world, using unique heartfelt marketing to talk a heartfelt love with consumers.

Heartfelt requires strong self-confidence and a loyal and humble attitude, as well as persistence and the determination not to be confused by various temptations.

Many researchers believe that if Yakult wanted to reach or surpass the scale of any inland dairy company, it would not be difficult.

If it wanted to surpass Yili or Mengniu's market share, or increase sales tenfold, perhaps it would only need to expand the scale of Yakult Ladies several times, expand the number of cities it currently restricts several times, and expand the variety and specifications of products several times. Everything would undergo earth-shaking changes.

But Yakult's popularity is more of a wisdom of giving and gaining. It contains the profound wisdom of knowing when to advance and retreat, and knowing when to stop, revealing the dialectics of "refinement" and "foolishness."

Let's look back at our competitors who regard competition as their duty and unlimited market occupation as their goal: they are busy defeating consumers every day, feeling endless depression and entanglement over making money and defeating consumers. This provides a new inspiration for commercial competition: market sales may really be a love affair. Especially in this era of extreme information expansion and people-oriented approach, shouldn't we think that it is time to talk a heartfelt love with consumers? This love affair does not have to be Yakult's 80-year foolish persistence, but even if it is 10 years, you must talk it with heart and devotion. Marketing is nothing more than talking a heartfelt love with consumers.

Comment: In July 2015, a survey again showed that in the inland lactic acid bacteria beverage market, with annual sales of 20 billion yuan, Mengniu, Wei Chuan, Junlebao, and Yili occupy the most important positions in the Chinese lactic acid bacteria market with 22%, 12%, 10%, and 9% respectively. Yakult from Japan, with annual sales of 2.4 billion yuan, occupies 37% of the market share. In the past 2014, Yakult's global sales of lactic acid bacteria were 27 billion yuan, and in inland China, annual sales were approximately 2.7 billion yuan.

Few people pay attention to this report card. This is a proposition in the Internet+ era. We focus on efficiency and occupation. We chase everything, and our bodies cannot keep up with the pace of our souls. Every company is exhausted. In fact, Yakult is one of the few companies in the world that persists so purely and thoroughly. Of course, I forgot to mention that besides Japan's Yakult, which does not talk about market share or speed, there is also German manufacturing. Whether they have the ability to subvert our understanding of marketing, each has its own answer.

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