The market law is the law of the jungle: 'natural selection, survival of the fittest.' Whoever leads current market demand is the market leader. The 'law of duality' in marketing is relative; its essence is still a zero-sum game, so sharing market share equally with competitors is a false proposition. Apple made Nokia phones disappear; beverage giant Coca-Cola spends over $1 billion annually on advertising to maintain its dominance; in 2012, Uni-President's Laotan Sauerkraut Beef Noodles made rival Master Kong a follower, prompting it to launch its own version. This shows that the essence of marketing is market competition. In early 2015, Xiao Ming Classmate, priced at 5 yuan at convenience stores, surged ahead, achieving sales of over 500 million yuan in just five months, becoming another hot product for Uni-President and the fastest-growing product in the soft drink market. Many industry insiders have analyzed the success factors of Xiao Ming Classmate, but in our interactions with local beverage companies, we found that most companies show an attitude: Uni-President has big brands, big promotions, and strong channels, which we cannot learn in a short time. The attitude of local beverage companies is understandable, as brand and market resources cannot be resolved quickly. This is also why I analyze Xiao Ming Classmate from another perspective, aiming to uncover the best marketing methods that most companies can use and that suit the current market. Win Before the Battle When marketers talk about product marketing, they inevitably discuss product positioning. From a brand positioning perspective, Xiao Ming Classmate is a quirky, cute companion; from a product positioning perspective, it is the pioneer of cold-brewed tea. In short, it sells not just a beverage but a life seasoning and a sense of belonging recognized by the post-95s. As the saying goes, 'It's not that you don't know the goods, but that you compare them.' Let me use a table to show what most local beverage companies are selling:

  • Bottled water: Strontium (antioxidant, immunity), Selenium (anti-cancer, antioxidant), Zinc (immunity), Oxygen (no explanation), Sodium (maintains acid-base balance), water source, longevity
  • Plant-based drinks: Reduce heat, clear lungs, beautify, protect throat, protect stomach
  • Kudzu root: Protect stomach
  • Maca: Aphrodisiac
  • Burdock: Refresh
  • Walnut: Brain tonic From the above category functions, it can be seen that many beverage companies have collectively entered the health supplement industry. Especially bottled water, although no successful functional bottled water brand exists yet, many companies are brave enough to try, not afraid of failure, creating cognitive barriers and choice difficulties for consumers. Of course, there are successful functional positions such as reducing heat and brain tonic. However, I believe three conditions must be met: first, there is a common market perception, such as walnuts for brain health; second, there must be clear consumption occasions, such as Wanglaoji when eating hot pot or barbecue; third, there must be a clear consumer group. Otherwise, they will face huge market education costs and challenges, and the chance of success is naturally much smaller. Dare to Show the Sword Packaging is the first weapon in marketing. Creating a beverage that attracts consumers in the first second is key to market success. When consumer demand arises, the first second attracts attention through unique, iconic, impactful, and recognizable visual images, bringing priority selection opportunities. Xiao Ming Classmate's exaggerated expressions, large caliber, and high-saturation colors fully conform to the 'First Second Marketing Theory' proposed by Zhiye Marketing. From Vision to Consciousness Vision is the most important human sense. A strong visual impression can give consumers strong psychological hints, conveying emotions, fashion, quality, and other related information, occupying the forefront of consumer consciousness and achieving psychological resonance. From Image to Symbol When the visual image of a beverage repeatedly appears in consumers' minds and is mutually confirmed by different consumers, it forms a unique product symbol, becoming a representative of a lifestyle. For example, Xiao Ming Classmate's exaggerated expression, and consumers themselves can use this symbol to gain a sense of being at the forefront of trends, forming a fan-like identity and finding a sense of belonging. Weapons of Mass Persuasion Market communication is about giving consumers a reason to consume, stimulating consumption enthusiasm, and using various meaningful symbols to spread this reason, influencing people's thoughts, establishing consumption behavior and social behavior. Its essence is the establishment of a life concept. Mobilize All Forces 'Climbing high and waving, with the wind, shouting' tells a simple communication principle: with the help of media, one can greatly expand the scope of communication, improve communication efficiency, and even strengthen communication effects. In today's developed self-media, it is entirely possible to use WeChat, Weibo, various online forums, and other low-cost, high-efficiency communication platforms. This is also the main battlefield used by Xiao Ming Classmate for publicity. Internet celebrity Papi酱, with the help of a large number of low-cost self-media resources, became the hottest internet celebrity in early 2016. The Brave Win Communication must be based on product positioning, making the topic fierce and spicy. In the current information-flooded era, if you cannot make consumers feel a fiery sensation, your information will be quickly filtered out. Xiao Ming Classmate posted a graphic topic on Weibo: '#Uncle Don't Soak Me#', with posters depicting different types of weird uncles, including a potbellied nouveau riche uncle and an elegant uncle with a delicate gesture. The post-95s were instantly charmed by the quirky and bizarre Xiao Ming Classmate. In addition, Xiao Ming Classmate's offline campus activities used large posters in the form of blackboard newspapers to promote its unique concepts, such as: 'All activities not aimed at picking up girls have no one coming' and 'It's better not to say your dream of passing CET-4, what if you fail?' These black humor jokes make people laugh and stimulate young consumers to be irresistible. The competition in the beverage market is ultimately a relationship of knocking down and being knocked down. The core of defeating competitors is to provide products more valuable than competitors, lead new consumer demand, and share the happy life brought by new products with consumers and channel members. Zhao Bo's Comment: The inspiration of Uni-President's launch of Xiao Ming Classmate to the industry:
  1. Truly stand from the user's perspective, not the product's perspective Product appeals are no longer positioned based on the product's own functional attributes, but truly from the user's perspective, grasping the target users' consumption needs: 'entertainment first' to define the product;
  2. Abandon naming products by category, making it impossible for competitors to copy and imitate More critically, after launching the two star products Laotan Sauerkraut and Rock Sugar and Pear, which were quickly copied by Master Kong and blocked in channels, Uni-President became smarter when launching cold-brewed tea. It abandoned naming the product by category, that is, not calling it 'Uni-President Cold-Brewed Tea', but using a new brand to define a new category. Brand imitation cannot be followed by competitors.
  3. Super IP can quickly ignite communication Many people ignore a problem when analyzing Xiao Ming Classmate: the product name 'Xiao Ming Classmate' occupies a super and invisible 'IP'. In schools, Xiao Ming is the most frequently encountered name in textbooks for every educated 70s, 80s, 90s, and 00s. This imprint cannot be educated by advertising. Using a personified and well-known 'IP' to define a product brand, competitors simply cannot imitate. Master Kong cannot launch 'Li Lei Classmate' or 'Han Meimei Classmate', right? So, when a brand defines a category and uses IP to differentiate from opponents, Master Kong's channel advantages are useless here. To follow and copy, they have to re-develop consumer awareness. For a financial-oriented company like Master Kong, they are definitely unwilling to invest. This platform will soon organize distributor friends who are interested in transforming to B2B platform e-commerce to visit and learn from B2B platforms. Inspection enterprise model introduction: Organizational form
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