Chinese people's snacking experience has transformed from monotony to diversity and from scarcity to abundance, with various leisure foods now serving as the 'fourth meal' and driving the market scale into the trillion-yuan level. In your bag, you carry a Perfect Diary lipstick for touch-ups; when thirsty, you grab a Genki Forest sparkling water; when craving a snack, you have a piece of Daily Dark Chocolate; when skiing, you bring a Zihaiguo self-heating hotpot... Unconsciously, these new consumer brands are occupying more life scenarios. CBNDATA data shows that in 2019, the number of new brands online increased to 2.49 times that of 2017. The strength of the 'back waves' of brands is not only reflected in quantity but also in their excellent combat effectiveness. Taking Tmall as an example, during this year's 'Double 11' shopping festival, 360 new brands secured the top spot in their subcategories, compared to just 11 last year. 'There are too many new brands this year; this is not an isolated event but supported by a logic,' said Chen Yuwen, founder of Perfect Diary, witnessing the explosion of new brands during 'Double 11'. So, what is this logic? Why are the 'back waves' of brands surging? Today, we launch the 'Decoding New Consumer Brands' series, inviting you to follow our reporters to uncover the growth logic of new brands and explore the future of new domestic brands. Snacks are a source of happiness for many. Whether in supermarkets or online shopping platforms, the dazzling array of snacks is most enticing. From Cuban sugar to crispy noodles, from spicy strips to oatmeal, over the decades, Chinese people's snacking experience has transformed from monotony to diversity and from scarcity to abundance. Today, various leisure foods have become the 'fourth meal', driving the leisure food market scale into the trillion-yuan level. This red ocean market has never lacked competition. While old brands consolidate their positions and expand their territories, rising stars are catching up. Zhongxuegao, Wangbaobao, and Daily Dark Chocolate, all established less than three years ago, have quickly gained a foothold in their respective subcategories and become the top sellers in Tmall's 'Double 11' subcategories. What is the secret to their emergence from the cracks? -01- More Distinctive Brand Personality 'Let's just call it Zhongxuegao!' 'What does that mean?' In the early morning of 2018, Zhou Bing, vice president of Zhongxuegao, received a call from founder Lin Sheng, who sounded very excited. They had been trying to create an ice cream brand and were struggling with a name. 'It means 'Chinese-style ice cream', and we'll use the homophones of three Chinese surnames!' Lin Sheng felt that surnames accompany the inheritance of Chinese culture and are one of the oldest DNAs in China, making such a name best express the brand's attitude. With the name decided, the appearance and design also needed to be distinctive. A brainstorming session swept through the startup team. Someone mentioned roof tiles. 'We hope to integrate our understanding of Chinese culture into our products. Tiles construct the oriental charm of ancient architecture. Whether for nobles or commoners, under the tiles is home,' Zhou Bing said. 'The meaning perfectly fits the family consumption scenario.' And that is exactly what Zhongxuegao aimed for. In Zhongxuegao's view, the Chinese ice cream market is polarized. On one hand, international giants occupy the high-end market, while local strong players compete fiercely in the mid-to-low-end market, shifting from 'incremental competition' to 'stock competition'. On the other hand, in family consumption scenarios, snack baskets are rich, but ice cream consumption is rarely mentioned. With the gradual improvement of e-commerce platforms and cold chain logistics, the new family ice cream consumption scenario has broad prospects. 'As national income levels continue to rise, consumption upgrading is an inevitable trend,' Zhou Bing said. 'But existing products cannot meet some market demands; consumers need fresher and more distinctive brands.' Facing new consumption trends, many industry giants and old brands in the leisure food sector have the problem of 'slow transformation'. According to Kun Cheng, a Tmall industry operator, the Chinese oatmeal market is controlled by international brands like Calbee and Quaker, but the two main types of oatmeal on the market have obvious defects: plain oats are nutritious but taste bad, while puffed oatmeal adds starch and rice flour, tasting good but lacking nutrition. The question of how to have both fish and bear's paw also troubles the chocolate industry. How can one enjoy the happiness brought by chocolate without worrying about weight gain? At the same time, 'more and more imported goods are entering the domestic market, making consumers more picky, which forces local brands to upgrade.' Zhou Yu, founder of Daily Dark Chocolate, also observed the gaps and opportunities left behind by old brands in the chocolate industry. Targeting these gaps, new brands have entered the market in force. -02- Higher Quality Pursuit Accurate insight and clear positioning are just the first step of a long march. As new entrants in the food industry, how to capture consumers' hearts is even more critical. Wangbaobao focuses on health and appearance. 'The new generation of young people pursues 'punk wellness' like 'soaking goji berries in a thermos', and high-appearance food brings more happiness,' said a Wangbaobao representative. Thanks to their experience in food and beauty self-media, the founding team knows young consumers' preferences well. Low-temperature baking technology solves the taste problem while preserving the nutrition of oatmeal; the auxiliary ingredients use natural plant-extracted steviol glycosides instead of white sugar, ensuring health without sacrificing sweetness. A series of products that cater to fashionable and personalized tastes, such as Beibei pumpkin instant oatmeal and strawberry yogurt baked oatmeal, are paired with fruit pieces of different particle sizes, making them more attractive and creating taste surprises. Being both a snack and a meal replacement, many consumers struggling with weight loss regard Wangbaobao as a 'favorite'. 'Every bite is full of satisfaction,' some comment. Zhongxuegao, on the other hand, patiently refines its taste. Food raw materials are agricultural products, and a major problem with agricultural products is the instability of quality. 'The same cow may produce milk with different flavors due to differences in mood or physical condition,' Zhou Bing said, but such indicators cannot be quantified. Routine testing only includes items like solids and protein content. After passing these indicators, the product is considered qualified, but Zhongxuegao has an additional hurdle: Lin Sheng and the sensory evaluation team members taste each batch of products. 'A good tongue can discern subtle differences in products, which machine testing cannot achieve. I was kicked out because my sense of taste was not sensitive enough,' Zhou Bing joked. Sensory evaluation team members sometimes taste hundreds of products a day, leaving their stomachs as cold as ice. Products that fail this test are not available to consumers. However, as manufacturing processes become increasingly mature, unstable factors are gradually eliminated, and fewer products are destroyed. 'Unlimited repurchase; during weight loss, this is the only way to satisfy cravings.' With '0 white sugar added' as the entry point and aligning with the industry's sugar reduction trend, Daily Dark Chocolate is also popular among health-conscious people. Searching for high-quality ingredients worldwide to create the ultimate taste is nothing new, but Daily Dark Chocolate directly chose Switzerland as its factory location. 'When it comes to chocolate, people think of Switzerland and Belgium, which have world-leading supply chains and are more conducive to creating a world-class chocolate brand,' Zhou Yu said. By placing both flavor development and production in Switzerland, local abundant production resources are fully utilized. Before each product goes into production, it must be tasted by 10 chocolatiers, making the taste adjustment more professional. Traditional milk chocolate is too sweet, and dark chocolate is too bitter, neither being popular enough. The birth of the star product 'Black Milk Chocolate' is inseparable from the careful polishing by local professionals. From 40% to 55%, the product team sampled different cocoa contents to test subtle taste differences, and 48% became the final plan. This product became a hit as soon as it launched, selling 500,000 pieces on the first day. Now, different flavors have been developed, and it is sold in nearly 80,000 offline terminals. -03- Embedding Culture in Products But consumers cannot see the stories on the production line; what they see is the 'back waves' of brands constantly bringing new faces and new flavors to whet their appetites. Every 2-3 months, Wangbaobao releases a new flavor. 'Products are the cornerstone of all marketing; the essence of marketing is a deep insight into consumer demands. The post-95s and post-00s have become the main force of consumption. They are willing to accept new things, pursue individuality, dare to try, and are easily 'planted' (influenced). They want to enjoy the diverse flavors of leisure foods without affecting their health and nutrition,' said a Wangbaobao representative. With the help of e-commerce platforms, the cost of product trial and error has become lower. Kun Cheng introduced that Tmall has opened the highest data authority 'Strategy Center' for Wangbaobao, and the platform also releases insight reports, making consumer preferences and trends clear at a glance, greatly reducing the cost of brand trial and error. In the past, testing a product's market response through offline channels often required millions of yuan, while online this cost is almost zero. 'Freshness' is also repeatedly mentioned by Zhongxuegao. In Zhongxuegao's view, for food companies, 'good taste is just the bottom line'. 'Consumers also pay attention to whether the product looks good in photos and whether there are interesting stories,' Zhou Bing said. These contents determine the product's social attributes and vitality. On the basis of reasonably arranging evergreen products and seasonal products, Zhongxuegao occasionally launches hit products to create topics and bring more surprises to consumers. In July this year, a fan left a message on Zhongxuegao's brand Weibo saying they wanted a plum-flavored ice cream. The message received an immediate response. Adjusting the formula, balancing the taste, and updating progress to fans from time to time: 'Today I'm going to taste the plum-flavored product', 'The R&D guy tested the milk plum ice cream for half a month but ultimately lost to the blind test of the sensory evaluation team'. The interesting interaction strengthened the audience's expectations, and the sentence in the product's preheating poster, 'This is a product co-created with you', quickly brought the brand closer to the audience. The product name 'Mei Ni Bu Xing' (a pun meaning 'You can't do without me') reinforces the impression of co-creation with users through a homophone pun. Synchronized with product development is advertising creativity. 'There is gravity, and I have you', 'There are two people in my heart: one is you, the other is still you', 'Clouds want clothes, flowers want makeup, I just want us to be affectionate'... The brand 'invited' figures from different times and spaces, such as Jing Ke, Li Bai, Lu Xun, Einstein, and Newton, to imitate their tones and say 'cheesy love words', teasing users' emotions while repeatedly repeating 'Mei Ni Bu Xing' to deepen user memory and promote the new product. Zhou Yu also shares the same feeling: 'From a product functionality perspective, homogeneous competition is inevitable. Therefore, the spiritual attributes of products are the key to differentiation and building a brand moat.' He believes that as a new brand, the spiritual attribute of Daily Dark Chocolate is confidence. Sponsoring rap variety shows, inviting trendy artists as spokespersons, and collaborating with sports brands... 'The brand impressions of youth, fashion, sports, and trendiness are conveyed to consumers, which is the source of sustained competitiveness.' Source: People's Daily Overseas Edition, Author: Kang Pu Important Conference Preview! January 19-20, Wuxi, Jiangsu New Distribution will join hands with 500+ FMCG distributors from five provinces in East China to gather in Wuxi, Jiangsu, to provide a meeting for brand owners and distributors aimed at product selection, cooperation, and exchange. Make plans before the new year, start working after! Don't wait until after the Spring Festival! Interested brand owners or distributors are welcome to contact us. Please scan the WeChat QR code below to register for the meeting or exhibition. Exhibition Contact: Tips will be paid 400-2000 yuan once adopted.