Recently, I've received calls from several former colleagues I hadn't spoken to in a long time. After the pleasantries, they all said work has become incredibly difficult. One former colleague, M, summed it up well:
The market environment has changed rapidly over the past two years, and almost every industry has become a stock market. Yet our company's boss still thinks in terms of growth, rarely considering how to upgrade aging products. All his energy seems focused on channel stuffing and promotions to maintain growth. Those of us caught between the boss and distributors have exhausted our means, yet we still can't make the market grow rapidly, and it even declines slightly. Fines, pay cuts, demotions, and even dismissals have become commonplace.
But even so, the boss still thinks it's a lack of execution or insufficient assessment...
When friends ask my advice on whether to stay in a company or leave, I usually say: jump out of such a company immediately, don't hesitate. Don't think you're still worth something now, but in a few years, you might not even be wanted even if you work for free.
Why do I say that? Let me share a story that Luo Pang (Luo Zhenyu) told about the evolution of weapons:
In the 18th century, the main weapon used by soldiers in war was the flintlock musket (a muzzleloader). Because the bullets fired from flintlocks were highly inaccurate, commanders required all soldiers to stand tightly together, march in neat rows with uniform steps, and advance slowly in rhythm to music and drumbeats. Soldiers were absolutely forbidden to fire at will. Only when the enemy came within effective range could they fire in unison upon command, forming a wall of bullets to maximize casualties.
This required strict discipline. Most training time was spent on drill, demanding that soldiers obey orders and execute precisely, making conditioned reflex movements in response to officers' commands.
In 1745, at the Battle of Fontenoy, the French and British armies met. After the French formed their lines and saw the British Guards approaching, the French commander called out to the British commander, asking them to fire first. The British commander replied very politely, "No, sir, we never fire first; you go ahead!" The British continued to advance slowly until the French were forced to fire a volley. While the French were reloading after their volley, the British, ignoring their fallen comrades, advanced to within 30 paces of the French before stopping to fire, instantly killing or wounding 19 French officers and 600 soldiers. The rest quickly collapsed.
Because armies were mostly conscripted, commanders had no illusions about the courage, loyalty, or team spirit of soldiers. They believed that individual soldiers, independent squads, or units without officer supervision were unreliable. Only strict discipline and continuous drill could turn an army into a tool with unified thought and will.
In that era, the decisive factor in winning wars was the organization and management of people. This is similar to the heyday of deep distribution a few years ago: frontline employees didn't need high individual capability; they just needed to strictly follow company requirements for store visits and standardized actions to manage the channel well. Companies invested heavily in market checks and evaluations, and as long as execution was in place, they could win market competition.
In 1866, the Austro-Prussian War began. The Austrians still used muzzle-loading flintlocks and fought in linear formations against the Prussians. But the Prussians had equipped their army with breech-loading Dreyse needle guns. The accuracy, rate of fire, and loading method had fundamentally changed. This meant Prussian soldiers didn't need to stand in formation; they could lie down and shoot from concealed positions at long range. As a result, the Austrians, despite their strict discipline and strong combat capability, were helpless against the Prussians, who could lie down, hide, fire faster, and shoot more accurately.
So in this war, the Prussians slaughtered the Austrians completely, even though every Austrian soldier strictly followed his commander's orders.
But unfortunately, the Austrian soldiers fell like cut leeks, row after row, and even after losing the war, they never understood why they lost.
Through this story, I want to tell you: As marketers guided by the 4P theory and focused on channel management, all the knowledge, training, and experience you've received are conditioned reflex-like mechanical actions trained to enhance channel power.
Unfortunately, as traditional channels are gradually dismantled by the internet, those who cling to traditional marketing, even if they do their current job perfectly, will be eliminated by more efficient, higher-dimensional internet marketing, just like the Austrian soldiers.
We are facing an era of drastic change. As individuals, our existing knowledge may still seem useful in traditional companies, and we might think we can work hard to get promotions and raises and secure a decent job. But when the company we work for can't adapt to this new era, how long can you remain decent in that company?
In traditional marketing, you think you can succeed through hard work. But when you climb to the top of the ladder, you find you've leaned it against the wrong wall. All your existing knowledge can't be applied in the internet competitive environment.
Indeed, choice is more important than effort.
You charge forward with a big sword, full of passion, but your opponent kills you with a single shot from hundreds of meters away, and you don't even know where the enemy is. You may be excellent in your field, but unfortunately, the internet and traditional marketing are not about skill levels; they are fundamentally different dimensions.
There's a popular joke online about how different generations perceive the internet: the post-90s are internet natives, the post-80s are internet immigrants, the post-70s are internet refugees, and the post-60s are internet disaster victims. This is partly in jest, but it makes sense. Internet practitioners and the post-90s are natives; their work and life are based on the internet, so they use all internet infrastructure to make their work more efficient. Those who transition from traditional industries to the internet are immigrants; they know some internet expertise and some traditional industry experience, so they can survive in the internet era.
But those who stick to traditional industries and don't want to change are refugees. They may still have some existing resources and seem to live well now, but think about it: how long can they remain comfortable?
So when friends ask me whether to leave traditional industries, I always firmly tell them: do it quickly, don't hesitate. While you're still worth something, make a rapid transition, find a position in an internet company where you can use your existing knowledge, and quickly enrich and change yourself.
This year, the B2B market is particularly hot. At the current pace, the supply and distribution landscape of China's FMCG market will be completely rewritten within a few years. Many distributors have already realized this crisis and are gradually changing themselves and their business methods. But I don't see any action or thought from marketers in companies. Many marketers are still oblivious to these changes and are living comfortably.
To become an immigrant, you need to understand the language—the language of the internet—and adapt to the internet lifestyle and information. Learn, communicate, think, practice, and first change your mindset.
Traditional marketing is a sinking ship. How much longer do you plan to stay on it?
This platform will soon organize several experience-sharing salons titled "How Distributors Should Operate B2B." We will invite some distributors who have already been operating in this field to share their experiences and discuss how they operate in their local markets. Interested distributors can long-press the QR code below to add the author's WeChat and participate in the sharing and exchange:
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