(1) Overpopulation—Many children, but unable to support them Wuliangye's situation is a microcosm of many Chinese enterprises: they focus on production and channel resource optimization without considering brand planning, management, or carrying capacity. As the company grows, inadequate brand planning and management lead to a serious loss of brand core value, brand weakness, and broken chains, leaving hidden dangers for brand development. In just a few years, Wuliangye, through brand buyout operations, created over a hundred brands including Huopaojiu, Laozuofang, Guoyuchun, Songfuli, Liubaisui, Wuliangchun, Wuliangchun, Wufuye, Jinliufu, Liuhechun, Tiegemen, Ganyibei, Sihaichun, Jingjiu, and Liuyanghe. These brands have repetitive positioning, varied selling points, and chaotic brand images, mostly low-to-mid-tier. These products clash with Wuliangye's flagship image as a top Chinese liquor brand, damaging its long-accumulated brand equity. Now, Wuliangye has awakened and begun to retract, proposing the "1+9+8" project. This focuses on 18 brands in total. Later, based on "1+9+8," they proposed "Three Builds": building one world-renowned brand, a batch of national brands (nine), and a batch of regional brands (eight). During this lengthy process, underperforming brands will be managed by new brands. This "money over people" approach means distributors only use Wuliangye's brand resources to make quick profits, not to build the brand. Deciding a brand's fate purely by sales exposes the lack of overall brand strategy and outdated brand management concepts. The licensing model allowed Wuliangye to quickly achieve scale effects and build a nationwide market, but it also overdrew the brand's core value, planting significant market risks. (2) Short-sightedness—Concept hype, fleeting excitement Chinese home appliance brands seem innovative, constantly creating concepts and hot topics, but they are actually picking up sesame seeds and losing watermelons. Different concepts lack organic connection and do not reflect a common brand identity, so each campaign fails to consistently convey the essence of the brand's core value. Such concept hype may look lively and even boost sales temporarily, but over the years, the overall brand value does not rise. How to bring real benefits to consumers, rather than engaging in so-called concept marketing, is a challenge Chinese enterprises must face. (3) Self-praise—Advertising wins, awareness is enough In health products, liquor, shoes, medicine, cosmetics, and most other industries, the majority of enterprises still adhere to traditional advertising-winning concepts, spending heavily on ads, shouting "Don't accept gifts during the holiday, only accept XXX." They fail to realize that increasingly rational consumers will not increase brand recognition or leave brand equity from such self-praising ads. The tragedy of Qinchì must not be repeated. (4) Early death—Focusing only on commercial operations, dying prematurely Many companies, under sales pressure, often use heavy promotions to pave the way for sales performance, busy with holiday promotions, event promotions, theme promotions, etc. For the brand, such short-sighted practices may boost sales in the short term but are harmful to brand building. A former executive of Shangwutong said thought-provokingly: "Shangwutong was once so popular; we thought it was a brand success, but later we realized it was just a successful product commercial operation, not true brand management." (5) Weak legs—Lack of support, empty organization Brand management is a professional science that requires dedicated brand management talent and related organizational structures to establish a systematic and scientific brand operation mechanism within the enterprise. The common situation in Chinese enterprises is that most marketing departments focus on sales volume and promotional planning, unable to shoulder the long-term management of the brand. Without a dedicated internal brand management organization, brand strategy and management are inadequate. (6) Weak body—Lack of management, insufficient stamina Lack of brand management capability is a common ailment in domestic enterprises, as exemplified by the failure of Xiaohushi mentioned earlier. Many companies succeed with one or two products, but when they diversify, they lose their footing, develop weakly, and decline. (7) Hollow—Famous but lacking substance Brand hollowness is mainly manifested as the brand being purely symbolic, with empty concept hype and no personalized substantive connotation. This is especially prominent in the Chinese home appliance industry, where brands stay on the surface of advertising. Some liquor brands, with average quality, sell at high prices through so-called cultural hype, lacking substantive brand connotation, hence the saying "a liquor brand is drunk down within a year." (8) Aging—Lack of innovation, moving toward old age When a brand's awareness and reputation decline in the market, along with reduced sales and market share, the brand is aging. Many brands were once familiar, and we still remember them, but few truly survive in the market today. The most memorable is Kongfujia, which was famous nationwide with "Kongfujia, makes you miss home," but in recent years, it has been quiet. Everyone knows Kongfujia, but people just don't buy it. (9) Blindness—Chaotic structure, self-inflicted confusion Currently, brand acquisitions and multi-brand operations have become a trend. Many enterprises, regardless of whether they are suitable for a certain field, plan to enter aggressively as long as there is profit, without considering the brand architecture. This blind development leads to chaotic structures and confusion. Once one brand falls, its sub-brands suffer. China Resources, for example, has entered beer, supermarkets, real estate, etc., without careful brand structure planning or managing relationships between brands, causing mutual interference. (10) Scapegoat—Helpless in crisis Sudden events cause changes in the market environment and consumer habits. When the consumption environment changes, many products appear fragile; they cannot keep up with the changes and can only rely on improper means or other ways to maintain survival and sales. In industries closely related to people's lives, the impact is strongest. During the 2008-2011 inferior milk powder incidents, many enterprises were implicated. For example, a dairy company called Big Head Doll, due to its brand name, overnight went from a best-selling product to an unwanted scapegoat. (11) Trap—Arbitrary extension, self-degradation Once a brand product succeeds in the market, companies recklessly extend the brand in various directions, thinking the brand is omnipotent and can be used to make money anywhere, without considering suitability or negative impact. In fact, brand extension is mostly a trap. Mitsubishi Motors' performance is well known, with good off-road vehicle production and sales. Later, they leveraged the Mitsubishi brand to enter finance, establishing Mitsubishi Bank, which ultimately failed. Wahaha also used its brand for a cold medicine, damaging its image among children, and the product Wahaha Ping'an Cold Medicine ended in failure. Excerpted from "Adoption Methods: Solving 8 Major Local Marketing Problems" edited by Zhu Yutong.
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