In June 2005, a visit from the head of Red Bull's Guizhou office changed the trajectory of Wu Yonghong, then general manager of Bijie Sugar, Tobacco and Alcohol Company. "We talked for an afternoon, I thought it over for a night, and signed the contract the next day." What moved him was not only the great sincerity and down-to-earth style of the China Red Bull business representative, but also his optimism for the continued development of China's functional beverage market. As future events proved, this decision benefited Wu Yonghong for a lifetime.

Twelve years, a cycle. After experiencing lows and highs, setbacks and resurgence, Wu Yonghong found a down-to-earth path in the fiercely competitive FMCG industry. From initial annual sales of less than 3,000 cases of Red Bull, he achieved over 100-fold growth in 12 years. Wu Yonghong, based in the southwest corner, and his Red Bull team brought the market to excellence.

"Red within ten meters, gold within three meters"

Around 2005, Red Bull's advertising was ahead of its time, with catchy slogans like "Cars need fuel, I need Red Bull" and "Tired or sleepy, drink Red Bull" already famous across the country. While Red Bull markets in eastern and southern metropolises were on the fast track, sales in Bijie, Guizhou, were stagnant.

Wu Yonghong, who had just obtained the distribution rights, faced a severe situation. "Guizhou's GDP ranked sixth from the bottom nationally, and per capita GDP was the lowest. Although Bijie's economic aggregate ranked in the top three in Guizhou, the proportion of agricultural population in mountainous areas was very large. Per capita GDP was the lowest in Guizhou." He added, "In 2005, one can of Red Bull could buy three bowls of rice noodles."

Wu Yonghong firmly believed that this "small product" in terms of sales could have "big ambitions." Bijie is located at the junction of Sichuan, Yunnan, and Guizhou provinces, a place with diverse ethnic groups, splendid culture, and abundant resources. "With the development of the southwest economy and ecological agriculture, consumers in Bijie will definitely have demand for Red Bull. The primary task was 'Red within ten meters, gold within three meters' — that is, on streets with high foot traffic, within ten meters you should see Red Bull full-case displays and advertising atmosphere, and within three meters you should see prominent displays of Red Bull's gold cans, so consumers can buy Red Bull anytime, anywhere."

To quickly increase distribution coverage, transportation was the biggest problem at the time. Motorcycles became the most convenient means of transport, but they couldn't carry much. "Our salespeople got up early, planned the most efficient routes, then broke down full cases into 6 or 12 cans for distribution, repeatedly delivering and restocking. This process lasted five years. When I first went to Guiyang for the provincial distributor meeting, only seven distributors attended. As the 'latest entrant' with the 'worst performance,' I was praised by the head of China Red Bull's Guizhou market, which greatly encouraged me," Wu Yonghong recalled.

From grocery stores, chess and card rooms, hotels, gas stations... they tackled outlets one by one based on customer profile cards. "We tried to get into street freezers, places selling cigarettes and alcohol, and beverage shops." The scenes of the past seem etched in Wu Yonghong's memory. "The key points were places with high foot traffic like bus and freight stations, and water service points along township roads where vehicles refill. This is also a feature of the Bijie market."

All first attempts were inevitably difficult. "Almost every outlet refused us; it was very tough." Recalling those scenes, Wu Yonghong was emotional. "At that time, thanks to the Red Bull salespeople, those young men did very detailed work. If we failed once, we went back repeatedly, talking more times, moving them with sincerity, and gradually got in. "

Wu Yonghong often thinks back to the hard early days. His Corolla, from zero mileage to scrapped, traveled every corner of Bijie's streets, villages, markets, and mountain fields, witnessing the diligent and arduous entrepreneurial process of Wu Yonghong and his team, and earning hard-won outstanding results.

Today, although Wu Yonghong focuses on coordinating with over 30 secondary distributors, the terminal promotion team he formed with Red Bull is still active on the front lines, and orders can be flexibly and quickly serviced by distributors. "The hardest days often leave the deepest impressions. Our current rapid progress is inseparable from solid distribution work," Wu Yonghong said. From 2005 to 2009, he visited every corner of the 36 towns under his and his team's responsibility.

"In Bijie's entire beverage stalls and daily food market, our Red Bull is everywhere; wherever beverages are sold, our products are there. Sales in the first six months are now equivalent to two or three days' shipments." Wu Yonghong's pride was evident.

"Three Years of New Leaps, Three Years of New Glory"

The Bijie market under Wu Yonghong saw a turning point in 2008, with sales exceeding 10,000 cases, followed by about 60% growth in 2009, meeting the best opportunity in market history.

"Bijie was generally poor, and many young people went to Guangdong to work. They came back every year and brought back consumption habits from there. Especially in 2008 and 2009, the financial crisis hit cities with a large proportion of Guangdong's foreign trade orders, and many young workers returned home. During festivals, giving Red Bull as gifts became a matter of face, and drinking Red Bull for leisure gradually became a trend. At that time, national support for Guizhou also increased, and Guizhou's economic aggregate grew at double digits for several years." Speaking of the factors driving Red Bull's growth in the Bijie market, Wu Yonghong said.

Red Bull's Guizhou branch keenly grasped the trend and, leveraging the favorable situation, proposed two "three-year plans" to make the market a major sales province in the southwest: The first three years (2010-2012) were called 'Three Years of New Leaps,' focusing on horizontal growth, expanding outlet scale, and requiring the overall market growth rate to peak in 2011. The second three years (2013-2015) were called 'Three Years of New Glory,' focusing on vertical growth, increasing investment in core outlets, deepening market cultivation, and increasing overall market volume. The grand plan was a new shock and a new challenge for Wu Yonghong at the time.

Specifically for the Bijie market, Wu Yonghong faced unprecedented changes.

The restructuring of the Bijie Sugar, Tobacco and Alcohol Company, which Wu Yonghong originally led, had been ongoing for a long time. "The biggest change Red Bull brought to me and my team was new concepts that allowed me to keep up with the times. When I took over the company in 2003, there was no platform, no funds, employees couldn't be paid, and people had nothing to do. Employees came to work just to sign in and wait for their salaries. After cooperating with Red Bull, the Red Bull team proposed 'Everyone has something to do, everything has a goal, and goals are assessed,' which gave me the determination and methods to start restructuring in 2007. During the 'Three Years of New Leaps' in the Red Bull Bijie market, sales increased about threefold, especially a 1.5-fold year-on-year increase in 2011, and employee income grew 3-4 times during these years. Everyone finally had the heart to work together, which consolidated the results of the restructuring and stabilized my company. So Red Bull gave me a reassurance during the most difficult stage of my restructuring." Recalling this experience of corporate and management system reform, Wu Yonghong was quite grateful to the Red Bull team. "If I hadn't improved after the 2007 restructuring, I would have resigned on my own without anyone asking me to leave."

Wu Yonghong stayed in his humble office for 14 years

Bijie is surrounded by mountains, and since ancient times there has been a saying, "Miao do not leave the borders, Han do not enter the caves." According to statistics, at that time the road base bearing capacity was very poor, the road network was incomplete, about 40 townships had no roads, and the total oiled road mileage did not exceed 250 kilometers, accounting for only 4% of the total mileage. Wu Yonghong and the Red Bull joint team firmly believed that markets are made by people; if they didn't act, the two "three-year plans" would remain a pipe dream.

"Our approach was six words: walk thoroughly, check thoroughly, do thoroughly. " Wu Yonghong said.

The first step was to "walk thoroughly," which meant understanding the conditions of each township, because the roads were bad at that time, and it was necessary to know what kind of vehicle could deliver goods on those roads. Then, the distances had to be determined, because in Wu's team's travel expense rules, there were different standards for within 50 kilometers, over 50 kilometers, returning the same day, and not returning the same day. We had to understand this situation to optimize costs.

The second step was to "check thoroughly," which meant understanding the character of distributors and the specific locations of distribution points, whether the local foot traffic was high, and whether the owner was a local, because many transactions were cash on delivery, and some dishonest people would run away midway, causing significant losses. Wu Yonghong explained, "We first developed large secondary distributors in the towns, and through them extended points further down, step by step." Now products are distributed not only in towns but also in natural villages.

The third step was to "do thoroughly," which meant distribution: after understanding the locations and partners, the next step was to fully distribute the products, creating a sales atmosphere through consumer activities, promotional materials, and display events. Moreover, they increased visit frequency as much as possible, visiting remote townships twice a month, and closer townships once a week.

Red Bull's Guizhou branch also strongly assisted distributors in taking the initiative, sponsoring local events such as the "Azalea Festival" and "Yi Torch Festival" to promote consumer experience and interaction, and also befriending social organizations such as Bijie government departments, the Sports Bureau, the Culture and Broadcasting Bureau, and the Mountaineering Association, building a platform for cultivating consumer groups.

The advanced concepts and diligent efforts finally paid off handsomely. Wu Yonghong's career advanced rapidly during the 'Three Years of New Glory,' breaking through 200,000 cases, 300,000 cases, and 400,000 cases in three consecutive years, with three new breakthroughs. At the same time, the healthy channel development also laid a good foundation for his market expansion of other brands.

"Successor: Train First, Then Take Office"

After twelve years of "Red Bull time," Wu Yonghong sat down for the first time to reflect on the changes China Red Bull had brought him, his gratitude evident.

Looking back, this company, which later repeatedly created sales miracles, seemed so out of place twelve years ago. Facing the deep-seated "chronic problems" of the old state-owned enterprise system after restructuring in a poor mountainous area, commercial success had never been in Wu Yonghong's dreams. "Being able to support the company's people and give everyone something to do" was his most urgent practical need at the time. It wasn't until he joined Red Bull that his concepts changed, he started a business, and the wheel of life turned in a new direction. As he said, "Red Bull helped the company through its pain and gave it new life. During the most difficult stage of corporate restructuring, doing Red Bull created profits, boosted employee income, and allowed the restructuring to proceed smoothly. For this, I am grateful to Red Bull."

The story of breaking out of the cocoon includes not only the body but also the mind. In Wu Yonghong's view, through the influence of various management and marketing concepts, the man who once joked "I'd be satisfied if I could pay salaries" gradually built his own distribution coordinates and value judgments. He was also influenced by the help of the Red Bull people around him.

Wu Yonghong admitted that his concepts were originally far from the market economy, and Red Bull's business philosophy led him onto the true market economy path of FMCG. "The biggest concept is still that saying: Everyone has something to do, everything has a goal, and goals are assessed."

After years of working on the FMCG front lines, Wu Yonghong knows the brands and their operations like the back of his hand. But what impressed him most about Red Bull was not profound: "They keep their word and value integrity. Every month I don't even look at the reconciliation statement; I just sign and stamp it." Wu Yonghong added, "They calculate more accurately than I do." In the FMCG industry, "keeping one's word" means responsibility and not being short-sighted. This honesty and credit, accumulated over time, also brought mutual understanding and trust.

Looking back on his career, Wu Yonghong was full of emotion: "I have done many brands—beer, milk, other beverages—and gave up after a few years." What made Wu Yonghong particularly sensitive to brand integrity was a painful experience more than twenty years ago.

In 1996, he was the distributor for a nationally famous liquor brand. At that time, the liquor's advertising was already household. Wu Yonghong went to great lengths to build the distribution network in Bijie and soon tasted success. "The first batch, two train cars, sold out in a month." But the honeymoon was too short. Just as he ordered two more train cars, the liquor was exposed for serious quality problems.

"The loss was very heavy. Two train cars meant over 100,000 yuan, a huge amount of money twenty years ago. After experiencing it personally, you realize that any product can collapse and decline overnight. The Red Bull team not only helped us make money but also helped us transform and upgrade comprehensively."

After going through hardships and rebirth, Wu Yonghong, a native of Bijie, now looks forward to welcoming the new life of this revolutionary land together with Red Bull. His "small city" Bijie now has a "big heart": "In five years, Bijie will become the most livable place in Guizhou and even China." Wu Yonghong has reason to be optimistic about his business. "Bijie has many projects under construction now, and the increase in floating population drives the local economy." In Wu Yonghong's view, "The consumption level and capacity of Bijie people are also continuously growing. Especially in high-end liquor and Red Bull, sales have not declined but have risen."

Wu Yonghong, now 58, has two years until retirement. He said his greatest wish is to pass on the torch rooted in Red Bull. "In two years, I will leave my leadership position, but the main work in the past two years has been to cultivate the 'second generation of Red,' where 'Red' is from Yonghong's 'Red' and Red Bull's 'Red.'"

Wu Yonghong said in an interview: "My daughter wants to come now, but why don't I let her? I only have this one daughter, and I'm afraid she's spoiled and can't endure hardship. I need to train her to endure hardship now. Her workplace is more than ten kilometers from her home. She has to drive every day, and with traffic, she has to get up early. I told her, once you form the habit, go to work on time, manage yourself, and when your thinking reaches that level, then you can take over." Old Wu's words could not hide his expectations and love for his daughter.

Looking to the future, Wu Yonghong is full of confidence: "Today's young people are more creative than us, with broader thinking, and society now provides conditions for everyone to fully utilize their talents and start businesses. As long as they have the heart and focus, I believe my daughter will be an excellent 'second generation of Red.' I hope she will be like Bijie's azaleas, brilliant and bright, burning red." With a simple smile, Old Wu, about to turn 60, is already inseparable from China Red Bull.

Source: China Red Bull

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