Source | Teacher Liu's Scenario Marketing ID | liuchunxiong1964 Author | Liu Chunxiong
Since the reform and opening-up, the evolution of marketing in China has been clear: it began with enlightenment from Western theories, underwent localization based on national conditions, embraced early internet marketing represented by platform e-commerce, and has now entered a new era of internet self-media marketing centered on IP and scenario construction.
In this grand historical process, the proposal and practice of 'Chinese-style marketing' is a key transitional node.
The Proposal and Validation of 'Chinese-style Marketing'
In 2003, when I worked with Teacher Jin Huanmin at Sales and Market, we vigorously promoted deep distribution. Later, it was named Chinese-style marketing. Sales and Market had a large circulation and significant influence. In 2009, based on summarizing localized marketing, Teacher Jin and I published Chinese-style Marketing, aiming to summarize and defend the local marketing practices at that time. After the book was published, we discussed the value of Chinese-style marketing and made four judgments:
- Localized adaptation: While acknowledging the mainstream status of multinational corporations' marketing systems, Chinese-style marketing is an adaptive product under the socialist market economy with Chinese characteristics.
In an era when multinational marketing systems were commonly used as a reference, without denying marketing epistemology, we regarded Chinese-style marketing as an effective method and summarized its methodology, thus providing a foundation for practical implementation.
Nurturing world-class enterprises: Relying on China's vast market, a group of enterprises with world-class scale would emerge from the market size of a single country.
Applicable marketing path for developing countries: The Chinese-style marketing system has extremely high reference value for the vast number of third-world countries transitioning from agricultural civilization to industrial civilization.
China's local marketing is not an original creation; it merely completes the long, slow, and unremarkable historical process that developed countries experienced, in a condensed and explosive manner. This process is barely mentioned in the marketing history of developed countries, but it is crucial for countries rapidly catching up in industrialization.
- The inevitability of moving from the periphery to the mainstream: 'Chinese-style marketing' will eventually advance to 'Chinese marketing', marking China's transition from a marketing follower to a setter of mainstream rules.
Looking back over the past fifteen years, these judgments have been largely validated by the times:
Deep distribution has become a resounding Chinese label, with the dual-wheel approach of 'channel-driven and brand-driven' forming a unique system distinct from the single brand-driven (1P model) of multinational corporations.
Leading enterprises in various Chinese industries have generally reached world-class scale, confirming the success of market size and marketing models.
As Chinese enterprises go global, the channel organization model of Chinese-style marketing is combining with internet tools, showing renewed vitality in developing country markets.
In 2024 and 2025, Teacher Jin and I had several more conversations about the future of 'Chinese marketing'. Our common feeling: the era of 'Chinese marketing' has arrived! This is the first time China stands at the forefront of marketing.
The World Value of 'Chinese-style Marketing': The Victory of the 'Stage Theory'
The core wisdom of 'Chinese-style marketing' lies in its 'stage theory' logic. As shown in On Protracted War, when the enemy is strong and we are weak, blind pessimism or unrealistic quick victory are both undesirable; only through scientific stage division can final victory be achieved.
In the early days of reform and opening-up, facing the comprehensive advantages of multinational corporations, Chinese enterprises had no chance of winning in direct confrontation on factors. Therefore, based on the diversity and tiered nature of the Chinese market, we chose a differentiated path: when brand resources were insufficient, we prioritized strengthening channel driving.
The specific practice was that brand owners actively 'embedded' themselves into channels, using strong organizational power to integrate the originally fragmented and inefficient circulation links (a legacy of the population distribution characteristics of agricultural society), thereby creating unique high channel efficiency. This approach, which developed countries might see as 'violating the principle of division of labor between manufacturers and distributors', was precisely the optimal solution for Chinese enterprises at a specific development stage.
Therefore, the world value of 'Chinese-style marketing' lies in providing a set of effective, condensed marketing catch-up processes, validated by Chinese practice, for many developing countries still in agricultural social structures or early industrialization.
The Times Are the Boundary of Theory: From 'User Marketing' to 'Scenario Marketing'
No theory can transcend its era. Modern marketing theory over the past century is deeply imprinted with the characteristics of American industrial society. It uses mass media as its engine and user needs as its origin, which can be called 'user marketing'.
However, the times have changed. When the United States entered deindustrialization and China took the lead in internet commercial applications, theoretical innovation was inevitable.
The media environment has changed. From mass media to internet self-media, the value formation system and communication system must change. A media revolution is the beginning of a marketing revolution.
The demand environment has changed. User marketing promoted mass consumption but was weak in user segmentation and service consumption. Scenario marketing has advantages precisely in these areas. The origin of marketing shifts from users to scenarios.
This is a transformation from industrial society marketing to information society marketing in the internet era. This transformation is epochal, not a change or iteration within the traditional marketing system.
The times are the boundary of theory. When the times change, theory must break through boundaries.
Moving Towards the Era of 'Chinese Marketing'
If a country's marketing community takes the lead in mastering new media and leads in practice, it will inevitably give birth to new marketing theories based on practice.
If a country's economic volume reaches world-class scale and it leads in marketing theory and practice, it will inevitably generate high potential energy for communication theory and practice.
With the vast scale of a single-country market, China has given birth to world-class enterprises. As Chinese marketing goes global, it will inevitably produce 'multinational corporations' originating from China.
Based on China's rich practice in internet commerce and its rising national influence, the mainstream marketing theory of the next century will inevitably bear the Chinese label. This is 'Chinese marketing'. Just as modern marketing bears the 'American label' and 'multinational label'.
China has basically completed its industrialization catch-up, and in the marketing process, it has highly condensed the marketing process of developed countries. In the era of internet self-media, many marketing practices are ahead of other countries in the world.
At this time, the user-oriented marketing system that uses mass media as the main medium and promotes mass consumption is being replaced by the marketing of the new era.
This is not a change in methods, nor a change in methodology, but a comprehensive transformation of marketing epistemology, methodology, and methods.
I define this new era of marketing as 'scenario marketing', which uses internet self-media as the main medium and scenario-based tasks as the marketing origin.
The name and definition itself may evolve, but its core is already clear: just as the last century was defined by 'user marketing' from the United States, the next century will be led by 'Chinese marketing'. China's success provides high potential energy for the worldwide dissemination of theories and practices originating from China.
'Chinese-style marketing' is the peripheral wisdom of the previous era, while 'Chinese marketing' will be the central mainstream of the next era.
The Future of Marketing
In China's agricultural society, there were businesses, buying and selling, and commerce, but no Marketing.
The first course named Marketing in the United States was offered at the University of Michigan in 1902, first used as a discipline name in 1910, a textbook named Marketing was published in 1914, Marketing organizations and positions appeared in 1920, and it replaced terms like trade and distribution in the 1950s.
In this process, Marketing evolved from a common word describing specific market activities into a vast business system encompassing advertising, branding, channels, market research, and more.
The history of Marketing's evolution is the history of American industrialization.
Will there be Marketing in the future? Perhaps, but it may not be mainstream. Its status may be replaced by other terms, and it may become marginalized like the businesses and transactions of agricultural society. Many words are bound to their era. When the era passes, they enter history.
Whatever term replaces Marketing in the future, China will surely be its birthplace.