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If there are media friends present, the content we've covered earlier might have made some of you unhappy, and I apologize for that. The issue we're about to discuss may also directly upset our competitors. However, the more our competitors' eyes widen and the more they can't resist joining this war, the happier we should be.

Why do I say that? Because our goal in digging pits for strong enemies and getting them to argue with us is to set traps for them to fall into—this itself is a publicity stunt.

For example: The boss of Nongfu Spring's parent company, Yangshengtang, once said in an interview with CCTV about a brilliant campaign by Nongfu Spring: "At that time, I wanted the industry leader Wahaha to 'scold' us and 'suppress' us, because Nongfu Spring was still a completely weak brand. To achieve extraordinary growth, it needed to 'fight' with the strong brands in the industry, even the number one brand. Once Wahaha 'fought' with us, because of the strength of the opponent in a war of words, and because of the scale and momentum, consumers would think that Nongfu Spring was good enough to stand on the same stage and compete with Wahaha."

What specific event was the boss of "a little sweet" Nongfu Spring referring to? He was talking about a war of words in 2000 that Nongfu Spring orchestrated over whether purified water was beneficial to health, claiming that natural water was healthier than purified water. At that time, Nongfu Spring was still relatively weak and was preparing to transition from purified water to natural water, while most water companies, including Wahaha, were still producing purified water. This war of words, because Wahaha took the bait and participated enthusiastically, became even more sensational, with news media hyping it up and giving the Nongfu Spring boss "surprising" amounts of coverage and time. This played right into the "farmer's" hands, and Nongfu Spring became a national strong brand after that battle.

This case of Nongfu Spring brings us an insight: To make a strong opponent fall into our trap, we need to use offensive tactics, preferably cutting the ground from under their feet, directly attacking their vital points, and targeting their weaknesses. This "weakness" must be something "unfavorable" to consumers, and it must be our own strength—something that can help consumers solve this problem and meet this need.

In our catering industry, someone has also done this. That person is Qiao Ying, the boss of Red Sorghum. In the mid-1990s, Qiao Ying established a Chinese fast-food chain under the brand "Red Sorghum" and became famous across China within a year. How did they do it? They challenged the Western fast-food chain "McDonald's" at every turn, opposing McDonald's and other European and American fast-food businesses. This publicity stunt was very successful, but also very unsuccessful. It was successful because it created awareness for "Red Sorghum" at a low cost; it was unsuccessful because Qiao Ying, the boss of Red Sorghum, was carried away by temporary victories, expanded blindly, and the capital chain broke, leaving no time to consider the tastes and habits of customers from all over. This made the brand's substance hollow and not solid, unable to support its growth. Finally, after just one year, "Red Sorghum" fell into trouble and collapsed.

The lesson from "Red Sorghum" again tells us that to oppose strong competitors in the catering industry, you must have "substance"—the characteristics and quality of your dishes, your service, and so on, must withstand scrutiny. In short, if you want to say something bad about an opponent's aspect, you must be very strong in that aspect yourself.

Worried about opponents attacking or suppressing you? It doesn't matter. Once the leading catering companies and brands in the industry also want to attack and suppress you from other aspects, they have already placed you on the same platform as themselves, and many of our customers will equate you with these well-known catering companies and brands. Of course, it must be emphasized that we need to have something, to have "substance" (Note: Based on a speech by Li Zhengquan).

Source: Business Trends --------------------------------------------