Click the image for details The first wave of black articles in 2017 came earlier than usual. 2017 Heroes being vilified Su Dingfang couldn't understand why, after his northern strike against Jieli, western annihilation of the Turks, eastern pacification of Baekje, and southern suppression of Tubo, spanning ten thousand miles, he ended up being portrayed in storytelling and drama as a villain who schemed against loyal officials (who were even fictional). Wasn't it all about patriotism? Every one of Su Dingfang's achievements was a great deed defending the Tang Dynasty's prosperity. Zhang Shigui also couldn't understand: he participated in Li Shimin's "Xuanwu Gate Incident" and discovered Xue Rengui, so how did he become someone who coveted Xue Rengui's merits and even gained a fictional son-in-law named He Zongxian? (Su Dingfang, the Tang Dynasty general vilified in storytelling) Blue Moon didn't understand: they left the retail stores only because the fees were too high, and they wanted to develop a new channel. How did it become that they were removed due to product quality issues? When they returned to the stores, a group of competitors' promoters said to consumers with a seemingly sincere face, "Our laundry detergent doesn't contain fluorescent brighteners." But damn it, when they sued Wang Hai, the court had already ruled in Blue Moon's favor, and the washing association repeatedly stated that fluorescent brighteners are not carcinogenic. Some say history is a little girl dressed up by anyone. Who knows which writer Su Dingfang and Zhang Shigui offended. **Luo Qiuping (Blue Moon's boss) stepped forward and said: "Nonsense, the industry leader is also a little girl dressed up by anyone." Zong Qinghou patted Luo Qiuping on the shoulder and said: "Brother, I understand your pain. They say my brand is aging; I accept that. They say I'm too old to keep up with the times; I accept that. They say my marketing is outdated; I also accept that. But you know what? Every March, a wave of black articles says Wahaha's Nutri-Express and AD Calcium Milk are carcinogenic. I can't accept that." I've been through storms and waves. I've faced many twists and turns, and my products have never had problems. But today, a bunch of public accounts come out saying my products cause cancer! Yili took a deep drag on their cigarette: "We always get shot for no reason, always get splashed with dirty water. If it weren't for the infighting among dairy companies, foreign milk powder wouldn't have a chance to show off." "Don't smoke, it's bad for your health. Afraid of getting heaty? Have a can of JDB," said JDB, sticking its head over. "Don't compare miseries. I'm worse off than all of you. They stripped my clothes off, and people laugh at me for not wearing my old clothes. I'd love to wear them, but when a rogue knows kung fu, no one can stop him. They say they'll beat me every time they see me wearing them." Coca-Cola cried: "Mondelez and Kraft, do you remember the Coca-Cola by Daming Lake back then? Didn't you promise to marry me? Why are you now eyeing Unilever?" "Guys, what's the date today?" Master Kong asked with a confused look. "You might not believe it, but I've lost track of time. I thought it was January 2, 2017, because every day dozens of people tell me that Master Kong disbanded on January 1." Why are leaders always targeted? Lao Na looked at these industry leaders. Their combined wealth is over a trillion, but now they are like birds startled by a bow. They don't know who will jump out and splash dirty water on them. In recent years, FMCG hasn't been easy. It can be said that these FMCG helmsmen have lost their direction. More precisely, the FMCG leaders have been wounded and don't know how to steer the industry in the right direction. When you can't even keep your ears clean, how can you think clearly? Some say the marketing level in the FMCG industry is declining and not keeping up with trends. But when black PR can hinder competitors' development, who has the leisure to think about marketing? Aesop's fable says the lion fears not the tiger but the mouse. If you respond to it, it will boast to others: "See, I fought with a lion." If you ignore it, it will harass you daily, leaving you no escape. In marketing, there's a tactic called "challenging the industry leader." No matter what you do, you must tell others that your opponent is the industry leader, and if you can challenge him, you're at least the third in the industry. Especially with the promotion of product upgrades and consumption upgrades, many companies use the banner of upgrading to do shady things. After all, step-by-step marketing is too laborious. The shelf space at the terminal is limited, and competitors are everywhere. So it's better to muddy the waters, confuse consumers, and sell faster. Although these short-sighted practices have caused great harm to the entire industry, and those companies that take shortcuts don't end well, it doesn't stop others from following the same path, because it's simple and easy. You know, blackening the leader's sales by 100 million is much easier than making 100 million yourself. Especially in this era of rampant self-media, everyone is a voice, everyone is a so-called "truth maker." Few are willing to go to the scene to interview and seek the truth, because information from the internet is too easy, but the cost of going to the scene is too high. As Jiang Wen said in "Let the Bullets Fly": "People are unwilling to believe that a bandit's name is Muzhi; they prefer to believe he's called Mazi. They especially want to believe that his face should be covered with pockmarks." Remember when Evergrande Spring Water was just established, some self-media asked Evergrande to invest in advertising, or they would use all their accounts to publish negative articles about Evergrande every month. Yes, Evergrande's ads were everywhere at that time. Who wouldn't want to be the target of this wealthy sponsor? Over the years, whether self-media or traditional media, various irresponsible articles have poured in. The biggest reason is that the cost of crime is too low. Although Wang Jianlin sued a public account, Taobao sued a public account, and Jay Chou sued a public account, these former criminals took the opportunity to hype themselves up, acting like "I'm weak, so I'm right" and "You're rich, so you deserve it," reducing the punishment to a verbal apology and nothing more. If you block my account, I'll just open another one. If you can't even deal with these thugs, how can you find the mastermind behind them? A wave of black articles in 2017 The black articles in 2017 came earlier than in 2016. Before 3.15, countless companies seemed on the verge of collapse. A few days ago, someone posted a video claiming that laver companies use plastic as laver. For a time, the laver industry was in panic. The phones of Fujian laver companies were blown up by all kinds of people. Last year, Xiduoduo's coconut jelly was said to be made of plastic in a video. This year, they say laver is made of plastic. Do you really think plastic is free? Lao Na is not a fan of Fujian companies. I always thought Fujian only has successful companies, not great ones—they are extremely good at imitating products, but no company can lead marketing or create new ideas. But precisely because they know their innovation ability is not as good as the leaders, they are particularly strict with their product quality. You can survive without innovation, but if the quality of your imitated products has problems, you can only die. So those who doubt the quality of Fujian companies' products are either brainless or blackmailers. Remember the steamed buns made of paper reported by CCTV? Remember the beef glued together? These bottomless news attracted attention but corrupted morality. They take things out of context, use fake news to cause panic, and then profit from these immoral news. They are scarier than vampires. Also, I suggest laver companies learn from Xiduoduo by catching the rumor-mongers, and learn from JDB, Blue Moon, and Master Kong by strengthening themselves when rumors strike. Over the years, JDB has faced wave after wave of rumors. Many people are waiting to see JDB fall, but JDB resolutely stands firm. It simply responds to rumors and focuses on strengthening itself. When everyone said JDB's gold can was a failure, its market share remained around 55%. When rumors were fiercest, JDB's payment collection exceeded 3 billion yuan, completing about 30% of the Spring Festival payment target. In this year's Spring Festival battle, JDB's Henan distribution completed 103% and payment collection 105%, setting a new record. After two years of transformation, Blue Moon has returned to the hypermarket system. Everything is being rebuilt, and rumors are hitting one after another. But there is a Chinese saying: "Rumors end at the wise." Blue Moon knows what it lost during the two years away from the stores and how much these rumors have hurt it. But "Let him be strong, let the breeze sweep the mountain ridge." Based on Lao Na's understanding of Blue Moon, it will definitely defeat those unscrupulous peers and continue to be the leader in laundry detergent. Fujian is close to Taiwan, and Fujian enterprises, like Taiwanese enterprises, are resilient. Especially Master Kong should be a role model for these laver companies. Over the years, Master Kong's achievements have been selectively ignored by many. Blue Moon's peers say "New upgrade, no additives," and Master Kong's peers say "Braised carp, braised pork ribs, braised every day, isn't there anything different?" Later, Master Kong launched the old jar pickled cabbage noodles, and they said "Some imitate my face, some imitate my noodles," all full of malice. While peers think about layoffs and inventory reduction, Master Kong thinks about how to change consumers' impression that instant noodles are unhealthy. So Master Kong cooperates with NBA, marathons, CUBA, etc., to tell people that instant noodles can replenish nutrients lost after exercise. When the post-90s generation began to dominate the stage, Master Kong used new brand stories to capture these "new new people." So we see famous singer and comedian Xue Zhiqian telling stories for Master Kong's black and white pepper noodles, and TFBOYS bringing a new dream-chasing journey for braised beef noodles. Master Kong's cooperation with three major international beverage companies is also moving forward amid controversy. Master Kong values Pepsi's brand, while Pepsi values Master Kong's strong execution. However, such a mutually beneficial cooperation is not seen as a win-win but as a chance to see both sides fail. While everyone was waiting to see the joke, Master Kong and Pepsi delivered impressive results in 2016: Pepsi's overall carbonated beverage market share rose to 31.4% year-on-year, and in the cola-type carbonated market, it reached 49.4%, becoming the market leader, surpassing Coca-Cola. In the fruit-flavored carbonated market, it reached 40.1%, ranking second. Recently, Master Kong cooperated with Ovaltine, a brand under Associated British Foods. Like Starbucks and Pepsi, Ovaltine values Master Kong's market operation ability, while Master Kong values the brand power of these brands. Especially Ovaltine, although its awareness is slightly lower, has always been synonymous with nutrition, which is very beneficial for Master Kong to tap into the 180 billion yuan dairy and beverage market. But this also touches the cheese of some companies. A wave of black articles is surging. In this tide, Master Kong looks at the sinking giant ship of FMCG and says: "I think FMCG can still be saved. I'm trying." The guy next to him says: "Nonsense, save your breath. Let's sink this ship and get a new one. Come on, throw stones. Who said it could be saved? Throw them overboard too." Heaven and earth are not kind; they treat all things as straw dogs. We can't change fate, so we can only advance against the black articles. Giving up would be easy, but not giving up doesn't guarantee success. But think about it: our efforts are for those who believe in us, and we can't let those who blacken us have an easy time. Why should we reflect on ourselves just because these bastards curse? Why should we close our doors just because these bastards spread fake news? If you don't persist, these bastards will only become more arrogant. Lao Na says: Some say this is a whitewashing article. Indeed, it is a whitewashing article for the FMCG industry. If I could whitewash the FMCG industry, many companies might erect a memorial tablet for me and burn incense. Lao Na is not someone who can rally the masses with a wave of his arm. I know my abilities are limited, but I still don't give up the last glimmer of hope. If people's hearts are righteous, the industry will be righteous. We see dead FMCG brands not because of the external environment, but because of internal industry struggles and internal power struggles. This rotten ship of FMCG gets worse year by year. Throwing a stone is easy, but repairing is too hard. I want to jump ship, but I don't know which ship to board. Come on, let me brew a cup of Master Kong's black and white pepper noodles, add some Fujian laver, a glass of Yili milk, and for dessert, Xiduoduo coconut jelly. I don't believe I can't outlive those blackeners. Source: FMCG Disciples -END-