In March 2022, a1 Snack Research Institute held its '2022 New Product Strategy Launch Conference', releasing this year's bakery new products and introducing the meat product line 'a1 Love Meat'. At the same time, a1 partnered with spokesperson Yang Yang, using interactive marketing with the spokesperson to fully attract consumer groups, and formed a strategic cooperation with Xinchao Media, leveraging national community elevator media for strong brand exposure. As an FMCG brand established less than six years ago (founded in 2016), achieving such high visibility is rare. Of course, it's not just visibility; in the market, they have also produced frequent hits: Starting with the a1 Egg Yolk Pastry in 2018, they have launched an industry hit almost every year: the a1 Cloud Cake in 2019, the a1 Watermelon Toast in 2020, and the a1 Milk Tear Butter Bread at the end of 2021, which again triggered a frenzy across all channels. Whether in terms of scale or sales, as a newly born innovative consumer brand, I think this is enough to attract the attention of innovators in the new consumer goods industry. This article combines insights shared by a1 Snack Research Institute founder Zhou Weiping in industry forums, and we deconstruct a1's marketing methodology from the relatively simple 4P marketing perspective: product, price, channel, and promotion. Product 'Three Essentials' Mr. Zhou Weiping shared three core viewpoints about a1's product development at a forum: Products must be good, products must be broad, and products must be few. Products must be good to meet consumers' quality needs. Consumer demand for food has gone through three stages: from the earliest 'whether it exists', to 'whether it's abundant', to now 'whether it's good'. Here, 'good' means quality, and the foundation of high-quality food is craftsmanship and raw materials. It is understood that a1 has launched a 'Super R&D' plan, collaborating with Jiangnan University and the Guangdong Ecological Design Industrial Research Institute to build a global food research institute, and is working to establish a global food R&D center comparable to ADM in the US and DSM in Switzerland. In 2020, Mr. Zhou Weiping mentioned a1's quality in an interview with New Distribution, stating that the food industry is one where there is no shortcut; the choice of raw materials determines 70% of product quality. For example, butter from New Zealand or Europe is indeed better than ordinary butter, but the price may be ten times higher. Therefore, in terms of raw materials, a1's costs may be 20-30% higher than comparable products on the market. These are the two dimensions of product goodness: raw material selection and product R&D standards. Products must be broad; here 'broad' mainly refers to the target consumer group being as wide as possible, as the saying goes, 'only a big pond can raise big fish.' If the target group is niche, the market capacity will be too small, making it impossible to break out, let alone become an industry hit. Although in the past two or three years, we have emphasized consumer personalization and diversification, in the food consumption field, if entrepreneurs aim to become a household name, they inevitably cannot avoid the mass market and broad consumer groups. Products must be few; Zhou Weiping explains this as 'more leads to confusion, less leads to clarity.' Positioning themselves as professionals, they help users choose and discern what is good, what is the best match, and what can be cut, from the user's perspective. The specific approach is to eliminate long-tail products and concentrate SKUs. Take a1 Cloud Cake as an example; it has only one flavor. In the past, they might have offered six or eight flavors for consumers to choose from, but a1 did not; they focused on one SKU, focusing and focusing again. Regarding having few products, we have already seen clear practice with a1 Egg Yolk Pastry and Cloud Cake. Price 'Two Degrees' Mr. Zhou Weiping once gave an example: a cake with a market retail price of 5 yuan and one at 50 yuan. If only looking at the product itself, the 50 yuan one is definitely the best. But from the perspective of the actual purchasing power of the user group, 5 yuan is the most appropriate choice. There is a famous saying in the industry: 'Pricing determines life or death.' Why? Because each price point corresponds to a portion of the consumer group that can afford it. As Mr. Zhou Weiping said: 'The pyramid of price and scale is always there; for every yuan you increase, your consumer group shrinks, and for every yuan you decrease, your consumer group expands.' Therefore, for innovators and entrepreneurs, the first consideration in pricing is consumers' tolerance for price. Based on the mainstream price range in the market, how to make the product excellent and high-quality is key. The second consideration is the 'acceptance' of price margins by offline channel terminals. Understand and respect the significance of offline distributors; reasonable profit is the basic threshold. Do not neglect the profit incentives for channel partners just because your product quality is good, your brand is loud, or you are an internet sensation. Offline, a product goes from distributors to sub-distributors, to retail stores, and finally to consumers. This chain has been through 30 years of baptism; believe that existence is reasonable. Respect offline business rules, give distributors reasonable profits, outline market operation strategies, and let channel partners sell your products to more places. Channel 'Omni-channel' Omni-channel layout online and offline. Regarding online cooperation, they have completed 100+ online cooperation platforms so far; offline is divided into two categories: 500,000+ points of sale coverage, such as Walmart, Yonghui, China Resources, etc., and self-operated membership stores, with 50+ brand membership stores opened so far. Regarding self-operated membership stores, some entrepreneurs might wonder why an innovative consumer brand would open its own stores offline. Wouldn't it be too heavy and tiring? But Zhou Weiping believes this is very valuable: In the past, due to technical limitations and market conditions, brands could only continuously acquire and wait for customers through external third parties. But now, with mature technology and complete tools, brands can establish two-way communication channels, achieving direct connection between a1 and consumers. In the past, a user might buy 30 yuan worth of products and then disappear. But now you can find him anytime, through information outreach and themed activities, and he might buy 500 or 1000 yuan worth of products in a year. Regarding the layout of various online and offline channels, Zhou Weiping explains: 'From the beginning, you must learn to operate different channels.' Besides different channels having different positioning and value, the core is that building diversified channels is the key path to increasing product sales scale and extending product life cycle. Online and offline linkage, integrating resources with an omni-channel, all-scenario, all-store ecosystem, eliminating retail barriers, a1 is charging towards the goal of achieving 10 billion yuan in revenue by 2026. It is because of this goal and plan that they initially practiced the 'three-legged' approach of online and offline. Promotion 'Two Determinations' With the successful operations of product, price, and channel, and after the market has a certain sales volume and reputation foundation, the next stage is to amplify it and build the brand. Here there are 'two determinations': determine the promotion strategy and determine the promotion media. In terms of promotion content, a1, as a brand born for family, naturally focuses its promotion strategy on scenarios shared by the whole family. Once the promotion strategy is clear, choosing the media is relatively easier. The mainstream media that can cover the whole family and influence family decisions is community elevator media. Therefore, we can understand why a1 Snack Research Institute chose Xinchao Media; Xinchao Media focuses on family consumption and has the advantage of covering hundreds of millions of family groups. a1 uses 'community elevator media' for high-frequency exposure and repeated reach, conveying the core concept of 'Born for family, making safe snacks for family' to family consumers from multiple angles and across the board, achieving rapid and efficient ignition, deeply embedding the brand in people's minds, and ultimately promoting consumption decisions. This logic also applies to new brands and new categories that want to quickly build awareness. Summary: The above is a summary of a1's most distinctive and core methodology within the marketing 4P framework. As a benchmark representative among many innovative consumer brands, a1 not only drives the progress and iteration of the food industry but also provides many new consumer entrepreneurs with more referenceable and valuable growth models and paths. Are you 'watching' me?