Turning a regional herbal tea into a nationally renowned beverage fully demonstrated JDB's strength. After splitting with Wanglaoji, losing the product it had built over many years, it successfully created a new brand and achieved brand resource transfer, ensuring no loss in sales and market share, which further showcased its superb operational capability. This article analyzes JDB's outstanding moves! Business is like a battlefield; the intellectual battles in commercial warfare are no less exciting than those on the battlefield. In commercial competition, how air bombardment and ground contention effectively function and coordinate is crucial. Excellent enterprises often successfully build a marketing "net" to effectively capture the market. JDB fully demonstrated this strength when it initially operated Wanglaoji, turning a regional brand into a nationally renowned beverage. (I) The Past: Building a Strong "Ground Net" to Conquer the Northern Market Objectively speaking, in the initial stage of JDB's operation of Wanglaoji, its advertising and marketing skills were not deep. For northern consumers, "Fear of getting heaty? Drink Wanglaoji" was merely a differentiating point that made consumers remember it, not a reason to buy. After all, the north is different from the south; there is no habit of drinking herbal tea to reduce internal heat, nor a strong need for it. Unless the heat is severe, they might take medicine. The north does not have as strong health awareness as the south. Before 2010, if you asked northern consumers whether they bought Wanglaoji to reduce heat, most would say no. It was just a standout, differentiated feature, not a reason to buy. However, the capability shown by the JDB team in channel management at that time was truly commendable and definitely high-level. They built a powerful ground net, and in one word, consumers were surrounded by Wanglaoji operated by JDB. 1. Convenience Store Ground Net There are indeed many convenience stores. In residential areas, there are always multiple convenience stores, and you encounter many in communities or office buildings when running errands. In these stores, either the storefront was decorated with Wanglaoji signage, or if not, there were posters at the entrance, multiple posters, and posters on the freezer. Some stores even had Wanglaoji displays. Walking through a residential area, you would frequently see various Wanglaoji postings and promotional materials. 2. Dining Venue Ground Net In another frequently visited consumption venue—dining and entertainment places—first, there were numerous posters, and even toothpick boxes were labeled with "Fear of getting heaty? Drink Wanglaoji," and door handles at restaurant entrances had Wanglaoji stickers. It can be said that when JDB operated Wanglaoji, it built multiple encirclements in people's living and consumption circles, forming a three-dimensional bombardment. Such intensity made people curious: What is this Wanglaoji? Let's try it! Thus, combined with large-scale CCTV advertising as the "sky net," it succeeded. Objectively, Wanglaoji's ground net was far more effective than the sky net media. This must have involved people from Coca-Cola, Pepsi, and Master Kong, as few domestic companies could execute ground channel and terminal communication so thoroughly. (II) The Brand Transfer Battle Starting in 2012: A Masterstroke in Advertising and Marketing Advertising and marketing help build advantages for products in consumers' minds through communication; the success of this directly affects the battle situation! In 2012, JDB broke with its former partner. The split was an unavoidable fact for JDB and a matter of life and death. After all, the brand product built through years of effort would be lost, and all past communication resources, key investments, and brand building were focused on Wanglaoji, which had extremely high awareness and influence—the most premium resource. For the audience, the upcoming JDB was a completely new brand, a new resource. Would consumers recognize and accept it? If the transfer failed, it would completely lose the market. There are many similar examples in business: after the general distribution rights were taken back by the manufacturer, the general distributor's performance plummeted or even disappeared. It can be said that JDB faced an extremely dangerous and bleak situation at that time; if operations failed, the consequences would be unimaginable! However, through wise strategic operations, JDB successfully grafted and transferred the advantages built in the past, achieving an effective transition of brand advantage resources, realizing the rapid rise of the new brand, taking over the market and share, and building a new leading brand in the herbal tea market. The communication in this process is a classic of wisdom! If we borrow the classic theory of protracted war—defense, stalemate, and counteroffensive—JDB has already gone through the difficult strategic defense and stalemate stages, and did well! Let's analyze these successful advertising campaigns one by one: 1. The Red Can Herbal Tea with National Sales Leadership Changed Its Name When JDB anticipated losing the lawsuit, how to transfer Wanglaoji was put on the agenda. After all, JDB was a new brand. Although it had been the operator for many years, the brand that appeared was always Wanglaoji, and all premium resources were concentrated in Wanglaoji. How to transfer the most premium resources? There are two things JDB did brilliantly: first, transferring Wanglaoji's most premium resources; second, doing it cleverly. First, regarding the grasp of the most premium resources: when launching a new brand and inheriting the old brand's resources, consider what is most valuable: herbal tea, formula, history, industry position—these are all valuable. Advertising and marketing should shape and convey the product's unique advantages. Compared with competitors (Heqizheng also uses the herbal tea concept, and Denglao Herbal Tea has a long history), these values are not advantageous, especially since the lost original product would also claim these. Therefore, the most valuable advantage is undoubtedly Wanglaoji's market position and sales leadership—the most valuable resource, selling market advantage, which can create an excellent impression in consumers' minds. Second, the clever transfer: after finding the advantage resource, how to graft it onto the new resource? JDB used a name change: "The red can herbal tea with national sales leadership changed its name to JDB, same formula, same taste, fear of getting heaty? Drink JDB." This cleverly brought over Wanglaoji's resources. Combined with ground promotion, JDB's killer move—"meticulous channel cultivation"—need not be elaborated. I personally experienced that in small restaurants, JDB sent temporary promoters to tell customers that the red can herbal tea with national sales leadership had changed its name to JDB, and then recommended JDB. 2. Out of Every 10 Cans of Herbal Tea Sold Nationwide, 7 Are JDB After the "red can herbal tea with national sales leadership" ad was stopped by Guangyao's lawsuit, JDB's next ad was also commendable. In this process, JDB's biggest competitor was Wanglaoji; Heqizheng and others were not significant. Against Wanglaoji, JDB could not compare in herbal tea, formula, history, etc. The only thing worth mentioning was also an industry position—the only advantage it could claim. When we discussed it at the time, we thought JDB should hold onto one position: sales volume. It should claim market share leadership, thereby establishing a market-leading advantage and conveying this to consumers, using this advantage to suppress Wanglaoji and shape a high image for the product. Later, when I saw the ad, I found it was similar in effect and cleverly done, with a more concrete number: out of every 10 cans of herbal tea nationwide, 7 are JDB. This implicitly represents consumer recognition and means it can push Wanglaoji down. The number 7 also effectively avoided some issues. This ad conveyed JDB's advantage and was extremely clever. Note: A fortunate program worth mentioning: "The Voice of China" Sometimes, heaven rewards diligence, and fate may give opportunities to those who work hard! It is worth mentioning that heaven did give JDB an opportunity: Zhejiang TV's "The Voice of China," a program that unexpectedly became a huge hit, benefiting JDB and Wahaha's Qili drink. It was a program that initially few saw a future for, but like "Super Girl" which made Mengniu Sour Milk popular, it again hit the jackpot, making JDB successful. With the program's popularity, "Authentic Herbal Tea JDB" spread widely. Sometimes, one should not underestimate Chinese talent shows; later, the variety show "I Am a Singer" also became unexpectedly popular. For "The Voice of China," JDB should thank heaven's favor. It gave JDB a third sharp blade in advertising and marketing, finally tearing open a gap. While maintaining its ground killer move, these three advertising campaigns played a role beyond the past. Combined with the weak image in news PR, which triggered consumer sympathy and public support, JDB finally completed its strategic defense and emerged from the lowest point. If Wanglaoji had reacted quickly at that time, JDB might not exist today. In 2013, after these two ads and the successful sponsorship of "The Voice of China," JDB had successfully passed strategic defense, overcome the most difficult period, won the right to survive, maintained market advantage, and smoothly entered the strategic stalemate stage. As long as it leveraged its existing communication and channel advantages, it still had opportunities and space to rise! It was very confident in firmly sitting as the market leader! 3. Continuing to Occupy the Position of "National Sales Far Ahead" —Fear of getting heaty? More people drink JDB Advertising and marketing help build advantages for products in consumers' minds through communication; the success of this directly affects the battle situation! As the highlight of media air bombardment, the role of advertising communication is crucial! At this time, although JDB had passed the most difficult period, its brand's historical and cultural accumulation was still weak, and it was not yet time to sell culture or history. Its most advantageous point was still its market position. Adhering to this advantage as a selling point, which was very competitive in the market, we saw claims like "National Sales Leading Herbal Tea," "Herbal Tea Leader," and "Fear of getting heaty? More people drink JDB," all continuing this theme, focusing and concentrating on conveying the core advantage, thereby building a unified and focused brand image (in comparison, one can look at Hengda Ice Spring's advertising, which changed constantly throughout the year, with spokespersons changing like a revolving door, many without continuity, resulting in blurred communication focus and reduced effectiveness). 4. Celebrating JDB's Sales Winning Gold Again in 2014, Launching Gold Can Herbal Tea A move of helplessness, yet it achieved successful marketing again. In subsequent lawsuits between JDB and Wanglaoji, JDB was often at a disadvantage: losing brand usage rights, losing advertising slogans, and then possibly losing the red can—a striking identifier (the red can had become one of the brand identifiers built with effort, with high visual recognition, and the lawsuit result will be announced today). One by one, the distinctive resources built with effort were lost. However, compared to the life-and-death situation of a new brand when losing brand usage rights, it was not as dangerous as before. Initially, losing the brand name was like losing the lifeline and foundation; survival was at stake. After overcoming that crisis, losing the advertising slogan and the red can were minor issues, but still a small crisis for the company, as the long-term brand visual recognition was gone and needed adjustment. This time, JDB cleverly combined it with marketing. Beyond red, JDB launched a gold can in advance, and cleverly integrated it in communication: "Celebrating JDB's sales winning gold again in 2014, launching gold can JDB," cleverly combining the symbolic meaning of gold and the gold color with JDB's market advantage, forming an overall effective communication and further strengthening the product's advantage. At this point, although the resources built in the past were lost one by one, like a superb military commander, it flexibly resolved each attack with strategy. In these four years, JDB essentially recreated a new brand, just as it had successfully turned a regional herbal tea into a nationally renowned brand, it again successfully launched a new brand and built it into a well-known brand in the industry! The combination of moves JDB made in this process is worth pondering for marketers! -END- The best FMCG distributor learning platform in China Focusing on providing professional, practical, and actionable tutorials for enterprises and distributors Committed to helping Chinese FMCG distributors grow rapidly The most professional and practical knowledge base in the FMCG industry Reply with the red number below to get the corresponding content Reply with number 1 to view the complete knowledge base | 001 Excellent Article Selection | 002 Distributor Market Operations | 003 Terminal Visit Management | 004 Sales Supervisor Skills | 005 Sales Improvement Techniques | 006 Channel Expansion | 007 Managing Distributors | 008 Distributor Development | 009 Distributor Internal Operations Management | 010 Team Management | 011 Efficient Distribution Techniques | 012 Sales Manager's Eighteen Skills | 013 KA Operation Methods and Strategies | 014 First Lesson for New Salespeople | 015 Internet, Brand | 016 Distributor B2B Transformation |