In March 2022, the New Distribution team went to Guizhou and had an in-depth exchange with the China Resources Snow Breweries Guizhou Marketing Center team. Thanks to the precise impact of digital marketing,勇闯天涯superX achieved a 175% year-on-year sales growth from January to February 2022, and a 146% growth in 2021 compared to 2020, gradually forming the momentum of a core big product. How did the Snow Guizhou team do it? What are their plans and thoughts for future digital marketing? With these questions, the New Distribution team visited Guizhou again to gain an in-depth understanding of Guizhou Snow's digital marketing practices and thoughts, and wrote this article, summarizing 9 lessons at the end. Currently, major enterprises are researching and practicing bC integration and channel digitalization. We believe that summarizing the experience of Snow Beer Guizhou will not only help promote Snow Beer's digitalization experience nationwide but also provide important reference for the FMCG industry. Decisive Battle for High-End: Why Digital Marketing?
Before presenting the case, let's first explain Snow Beer's current core strategy, so we can clearly understand the background and significance of Snow Guizhou's digital marketing practice.
Snow is a company that places great emphasis on strategic planning. In 1993, Snow was just a single factory in Northeast China. Through the "Mushroom Strategy," "Along the River and Coast Strategy," and "Comprehensive Development Strategy," it became China's number one beer brand in sales in 2005, and has since maintained its position as China's top-selling beer brand. Currently, Snow is in the midst of a 9-year strategy, which it internally calls the "3+3+3" strategy: 2017-2019, themes: quality growth, transformation and upgrading, innovation and development __2020-2022, themes: decisive battle for high-end, quality development __2023-2025, themes: high-end wins, excellent development Currently, Snow is in the second stage, with its strategic focus on "decisive battle for high-end." The decisive battle for high-end is a natural result of Snow Beer's move towards higher-quality development after more than a decade of industry leadership, and it is also an inevitable choice to conform to the future development of China's beer market. In high-end products, Snow Beer has formed a "4+4" portfolio, including Chinese brands勇闯天涯superX, Mars Green, Craftsmanship, and Snow Face, and international brands Heineken, Sol, Red Stripe, and Tiger. Matching the decisive battle for high-end is Snow's channel strategy—empowering channels to make them bigger and stronger. "Make bigger and stronger" focuses on the large distributor model, which involves selecting and empowering excellent distributors to control key terminals; "empowering channels" includes operational empowerment, training empowerment, and another key word—digitalization. With over 10,000 channel partners and millions of terminals, how can Snow bring them online? Furthermore, can it reach and connect with consumers, open up the entire channel link, and integrate public and private domain traffic for better operations? In the past 20 years, the beer industry has been terminal-centric, but in the high-end market, merely occupying terminals is not enough; significant efforts are needed in consumer brand recognition. How to directly connect with consumers through digital means, communicate precisely with them, and increase brand penetration in consumer minds is a topic that high-end consumer brands must consider in the future. For Snow, digitalization is both a measure to serve the goal of "making channels bigger and stronger" and an inevitable choice to achieve the "decisive battle for high-end" strategy. Senior management sets the strategic direction, middle management plans and implements specific strategies, and grassroots levels resolutely execute—this is the key to Snow Beer's industry miracle and "Snow Speed" over the past decades. Under the unified strategic direction, each province and region advances according to local market conditions. As mentioned earlier, at different stages of its development, Snow Guizhou took the lead in planning and implementing a series of unique market tactics, which were later promoted to the national market. It must be said that in digital marketing, Snow Guizhou's practice and thinking have once again taken the lead. What's Different About Snow Guizhou's QR Code Marketing?
In 2021, Guizhou Snow sold over 500,000 tons, of which 180,000 tons were high-end and above.
Such a high proportion is largely due to digital marketing. Traditional marketing gives fees to distributors or terminals, but consumers are the ultimate users of products. How to directly connect with consumers, avoid waste in circulation, and improve fee conversion rates has always been something FMCG companies want to do. How? Snow Guizhou made a move on the QR code, an excellent carrier for communicating with consumers. First, the inner lid code. For the non-draft market, in August 2020, Snow Beer Guizhou first chose "勇闯天涯superX" 500ml cans for inner lid code marketing, later adding "Snow Pure" 500ml cans and "Mars Green" 500ml cans. When consumers buy a can of勇闯天涯superX500, they scan the QR code inside the lid with WeChat to receive promotional rewards. Rewards may include red packets, physical items (music festival tickets, celebrity peripheral gifts, terminal vouchers, etc.), super brave coin points, etc. The intensity of rewards can also be adjusted in real time based on market position, terminal requirements, consumer consumption periods, etc. In short, whatever consumers like is what is offered, and the backend adjustment is quick and convenient, completed with one click. Second, the inner box code. In the draft market, to encourage whole-box ordering, Guizhou Snow planned and carried out a "one item, one code" activity for "勇闯天涯superX" 500ml bottles, referred to as the inner box code. Guizhou consumers typically order by the bottle in the draft market (editor's note: this differs from the "people stepping on boxes" mode in Northeast China), which greatly affects capacity and drinking atmosphere. In response, Guizhou Snow decided to launch the "inner box code" activity, achieving multiple goals at once. The specific method is: strengthen activity promotion (posters, waitstaff, etc.), encourage consumers to order whole boxes, and after ordering and opening the box, consumers can see a card with prompts like "Scan for surprises" and guidance, and by scanning the QR code with WeChat, they may win Snow high-end products or gifts (100% winning rate). Terminal waitstaff, salespeople, or promoters verify on-site, and consumers receive rewards on the spot. Many companies are doing such QR code marketing; what's different about Snow Guizhou's approach? The key: precise delivery based on time and space The QR code marketing process is: factory codes the product (inner lid code), the region proposes an activity plan suitable for its area, and the marketing center's market department configures it uniformly. Based on internet technology, backend configuration can be adjusted in real time and with focus, achieving precise delivery that combines time and space. For example, an activity for the Guiyang region cannot be scanned in other regions; similarly, a special prize can be dynamically delivered to a specific business district or a key terminal at a specific time, achieving truly effective bC linkage, greatly improving marketing flexibility and maximizing ROI. At this point, you might think that from a content perspective, Guizhou Snow's QR code marketing seems nothing special. In fact, the content and technology of QR code marketing are not difficult; the difficulty lies in how you make it effective and how you increase consumer scan rates! Let's look at the specific numbers. Taking "勇闯天涯superX" 500ml cans as an example, from August 2020 to December 2021, 2 million cans were sold. As the activity progressed, sales continued to rise, and from January to February 2022, sales grew 175% year-on-year. Behind the sales growth is a continuously rising scan rate, from an initial 1% when first launched to a staggering 82% in December 2021, with an average scan rate of 76%. How did Guizhou Snow achieve such a high scan rate? How Did the Scan Rate Soar from 1% to 76%?
When the activity was first launched, the scan rate was only 1%. After in-depth research, the Guizhou Snow market department made two important adjustments:
First, simplify the process to enhance the experience. A major characteristic of consumers scanning QR codes is impatience. According to the initial process, it took 4-5 steps after scanning to reach the prize-drawing stage, which greatly hindered consumer participation. The market department found that if the experience was poor, many consumers would never scan again after the first time, and some even gave up midway. Ultimately, they simplified the process to the extreme: after scanning, only two steps were needed to get feedback, and the total scan time (from scanning to receiving the reward) was reduced from the original 35 seconds to less than 10 seconds. Second, adjust the reward intensity to enhance the sense of gain. Another characteristic of consumers is being driven by benefits. Initially, the maximum reward value was only about 9 yuan, lacked scarcity, and was not attractive enough, so many consumers were unwilling to bother scanning. The market department quickly adjusted the reward settings, with the maximum value of gifts or red packets reaching 18.8 yuan, or even 38 yuan. Although this amount is not large in absolute terms, relative to the price of the beer itself and the process of "grabbing and trying your luck," it is still quite attractive to consumers. It can be imagined that at a dinner party, as long as someone scans and gets a gift or red packet worth 18.8 yuan, all the bottle caps on the table will be scanned, and they might even post on social media to promote it. For key terminals or areas under focused attack, combined with the precise delivery in time and space mentioned earlier, such marketing effects are very significant. Of course, the above two points can only improve the experience of consumers who are willing to scan, but another characteristic of consumers is that they are easily forgotten. Faced with a flood of information, they are in a daze. How do you initially get consumers to think about scanning? Guizhou Snow's experience is: saturated notification, publicity detonation 1. All materials that meet consumers at each terminal must prompt "scan activity," doing whatever is effective and impactful; __2. Province-wide "big display" (standard: so large it cannot be displayed), especially in key stores, to find ways to make displays and stack displays, with the sole purpose of making people unforgettable at first sight; __3. Organize flying teams (3-4 people) to interact with consumers on-site by scanning fixed QR codes for games, creating a scanning atmosphere; __4. Two teams go out together, teaching terminal owners to scan codes, fixing key personnel. __ But that's not all. Guizhou Snow also planned different types of brand activities, closely coordinated with digital marketing, to strengthen consumer awareness of Snow Beer's brand and activities. For example, in 2021, Guizhou Snow joined forces with Meituan, Douyin, the Provincial Department of Commerce, and the Provincial TV Station to create the "Let's Have a Late-Night Snack Together" large-scale night consumption theme activity. This activity selected 1,000 late-night snack key terminals across the province, combined with precise QR code delivery, influencer live streaming, etc., to further expand the reach of the activity, and even distributed vouchers and specialty dishes for these terminals through QR codes, truly involving the terminals. The immersive on-site experience and extensive media coverage greatly enhanced the penetration of Snow Beer (specifically勇闯天涯superX) in consumer minds. In addition, Guizhou Snow also held various tasting events for勇闯天涯superX, inviting KOCs and KOLs to participate, driving consumers in specific circles to join. For the young consumer force, during graduation and back-to-school seasons, Guizhou Snow planned two "superX College Student Music Festivals" to lock in current and future young consumer groups. Qualifications or tickets for these activities can be obtained by scanning codes or redeemed with accumulated super brave coins, creating a closed loop between brand activities and QR code marketing. It can be seen that such a high scan rate is not the result of single-point optimization; consumer experience, incentive settings, atmosphere creation, social influence, brand promotion, and mind penetration are in fact a three-dimensional project, achieved only through systematic efforts. If we were just talking about experience and methods, the case analysis could end here, but we believe it is far from enough. Why? Liu Ming, General Manager of China Resources Snow Guizhou Marketing Center, said: Our experience is not learned from textbooks or elsewhere; it was personally practiced by our team. In digital marketing, technology is not the key; the key is the team and the organization. What Enables the Continuous Creation of Innovative Tactics?
Snow Beer is a team with strong goal orientation, execution, and learning ability, which is vividly demonstrated by Snow Guizhou.
1. Goal Orientation As mentioned earlier, the Guizhou Snow market department initially found that the scanning process was too cumbersome, affecting consumer experience, and ultimately simplified the process to the extreme, requiring only two steps. In fact, this was quite a struggle. The previous process included fixed steps that were unified nationwide. Guizhou Snow found it affected consumer experience and applied to headquarters for simplification. But perhaps no team had proposed it before, or the technology platform company needed major technical adjustments, so the process remained unchanged. However, through repeated communication and unremitting efforts among Snow Guizhou, headquarters, and the technical team, the optimal adjustment was finally made. So-called goal orientation is the ability to firmly set your goals and overcome all difficulties to achieve them. If it hadn't been for the persistence in improving experience and scan rates, and the tireless efforts to solve problems, they might have failed at this stage and wouldn't have achieved subsequent success. 2. Execution In the early stages of launching QR code marketing, the data was not ideal and the results were mediocre. Soon, Guizhou Snow achieved a breakthrough in Zhenfeng County. The aforementioned idea that "only saturated notification can initially trigger consumer scanning" was practiced in the Zhenfeng market. The local team leader required impactful posters and materials in key stores, and the team immediately executed, achieving 100% terminal coverage in some areas. The market was quickly detonated. In 2021, Zhenfeng County's勇闯天涯superX series sold 1,300 tons, but by 2022, just January alone reached 300 tons. Why could this be achieved? Liu Ming said: The Zhenfeng team has super execution and has also summarized a set of methods for creating ultimate customer relationships. They truly took vivid displays to the extreme, making products visible everywhere and available at hand. 3. Learning Ability Snow is a team that places great emphasis on action learning. After Zhenfeng detonated the market, Snow Guizhou immediately organized teams from other regions to go and learn. Saturated notification is indeed effective, but how do you persuade terminals to fully cooperate? Based on Zhenfeng's experience, Guizhou Snow summarized the course "How to Forge Ultimate Customer Relationships" and had the entire Guizhou Snow team learn and apply it in various regions. Breakthrough at a single point, expand from point to area, and the QR code scan rate rose steadily across the Guizhou market. Goal orientation, execution, and learning ability ultimately boil down to organizational capability, which is the key to ensuring an organization continuously creates innovative tactics. Currently, the Guizhou market has about 1.8 million scans per month, with total investment reaching tens of millions of yuan. The absolute amount of investment may seem high, but relative to overall sales contribution and total sales expenses, it is actually a very small proportion. Of course, what Guizhou Snow truly values is the increase in consumer mind penetration and the return on long-term brand effects. As mentioned earlier, in the past 20 years, the beer industry has been terminal-centric, but in the high-end market, merely occupying terminals is not enough; significant efforts are needed in consumer brand recognition. Directly connecting with consumers and better communicating and interacting with them is something high-end brands must do. In addition to super goal orientation, execution, and learning ability, Guizhou Snow has also demonstrated innovation for the future. What Will the Future Digital Marketing Front Look Like?
What made you successful in the past won't keep you successful forever.
Wang Liwei, Marketing Director of Snow Guizhou Marketing Center, has been thinking about the upgrade and iteration of digital marketing. Currently, they are building a consumer interaction platform based on the combination of "existing scan traffic, existing partner terminals, and existing product experience activities." This platform has several functions: 1. Data accumulation and integration to achieve precise communication with consumers. The data accumulated from past activities is fragmented and cannot be effectively integrated and utilized. Integrating all data together deepens emotional connections with users, gains insights into consumer needs, and in turn helps optimize activity innovation, improve market investment efficiency, and truly achieve "interconnection and mutual understanding" among consumers, terminals, and products. 2. Create a unified marketing activity window. Snow Beer Guizhou holds various brand activities every year, such as tasting events and music festivals, which can be precisely published and invited through this platform. Consumers can use accumulated super brave coins to purchase tickets on this platform, participate in crowdfunding draws, or initiate drinking or dinner parties, greatly enhancing consumer experience stickiness. In addition to the above two points, there are two highly innovative bC integration designs: 3. Attract traffic to terminals and create a marketing platform. Snow Beer's digital marketing is closely linked with terminals. Snow Guizhou connects about 200,000 terminals. How to stimulate their participation? Terminals need customer traffic, and platform traffic attraction incurs significant costs. Transfer terminal information to the Snow platform (mini-program) and publish their consumption vouchers, reservation information, service quality, etc. for free, then use Douyin promotion, influencer store visits, table tastings, etc. to attract traffic to terminals, achieving a win-win-win for products, terminals, and consumers. 4. Launch electronic wine storage cards to stimulate consumer consumption potential. Unlike baijiu, consumers do not have the habit of storing beer, which limits consumption potential to some extent. Based on the mini-program, a wine storage card function is introduced. If consumers do not finish their beer at Store A, they can continue consuming it at Store B next time. This not only stimulates consumption potential but also enhances consumer experience and increases stickiness with the brand and terminal stores. At the same time, Snow can also distribute tasting products to consumers through various activities, and consumers can use the electronic wine storage card to consume at partner terminals, with distributors settling with terminals based on backend data. You might say that many companies have long used mini-programs, so there's nothing new. Here we want to emphasize: Advanced tools and designs are not the key; the key is whether they align with business logic and help achieve business goals; the key is whether they originate from market insights and can solve business problems through practice. This digital marketing front for Snow Beer Guizhou is expected to go live within the next 3 months. Summary
At the end of the article, what lessons can we summarize from Snow Guizhou's digital marketing practice and thinking?
1. Align with strategy: Digital marketing is for the decisive battle for high-end and channel empowerment. Any specific market operation must revolve around the company's overall strategic goals, because sporadic efforts will get stuck in local details, lacking guidance and systematic support. 2. Understand consumers: In digital marketing, technology is not the most critical; the key is the process that matches business scenarios. Consumers are impatient and benefit-driven. Stand from the consumer's perspective, consider their experience, and set effective incentives. 3. Saturated attack: Consumers are easily confused and forgetful, so only through saturated notification and immersive experiences can you attract their attention and get them to participate. 4. Break the threshold: Investment cannot be sprinkled like pepper. Focus on key stores and key areas, concentrate investment in a short period, accumulate momentum to produce effects. If you don't break the threshold, many efforts are nearly wasted. 5. Create ultimate customer relationships: Terminal stores are the smallest unit of market operations and the fulcrum for leveraging digital marketing. Only with ultimate customer relationships can you have the opportunity to create immersive scene experiences for consumers. The premise of creating ultimate customer relationships is to deeply bind interests with terminals and mutually attract traffic. Digital marketing may not be the optimal way, but it is definitely an effective choice to "connect products, terminals, and consumers." 6. From point to area: First, thoroughly do a point, such as doing a store well, conquering a county, accumulating experience, then conquer another county, a city, a province. 7. Systematic efforts: Improving scan rates and achieving results is not the result of single-point optimization; it requires coordination with three-dimensional brand activities. It is the result of systematic efforts. 8. Reshape team execution: All things are done by people. Improving organizational capability and building a team with goal orientation, execution, and learning ability is the core of winning the market. 9. Dare to innovate: What made you successful in the past won't keep you successful. Maintain insight into market changes, don't stop or set limits on business, and dare to innovate to continue leading the market. The FMCG industry has entered an era of stock competition. Against the backdrop of consumption upgrading, competing in the high-end market is something many brands must consider. How to directly connect with consumers through digital means, achieve precise communication, build brand recognition, and increase brand mind penetration is also a path every enterprise must explore. Therefore, we believe that Guizhou Snow's practice has important reference value for the entire FMCG industry. Digitalization has only a starting point, no end. Snow Guizhou's practice is still ongoing, and New Distribution will continue to pay attention. The 9 lessons summarized in this article are not enough to fully explain the success of Snow Beer Guizhou team in digital marketing, but we believe readers can still gain something from them. Focusing on in-depth interviews in the FMCG industry, thinking about the latest changes in the industry. If you need to communicate, you can add WeChat by long-pressing. When adding, please indicate your unit, position, and name. Are you "watching" me?