The moment I mention Coconut Palm coconut juice, I want to drink a can. Coconut Palm's status in China needs no elaboration; it has consistently ranked among the nation's most beloved beverages. Just like the endless debate over sweet versus savory zongzi and tofu pudding, there's an unwritten rule: "Northerners drink Lulu, Southerners drink coconut juice." Before the Chinese New Year this year, a netizen posted a photo of a shelf in a large southern supermarket, showing that Coconut Palm coconut juice, as one of the New Year goods, quickly sold out. Abroad, Coconut Palm coconut juice is also a sought-after drink. In the Japanese series "Solitary Gourmet," the character Goro sits by the roadside and downs a can of coconut juice; Korean beauty blogger Pony also made a video recommending Coconut Palm coconut juice. Many friends around me say that Coconut Palm coconut juice is truly delicious, and its packaging is definitely a mudslide in the advertising world. At the beginning of 2018, Coconut Palm coconut juice changed its packaging slogan as scheduled, from "29 years of persistence in Hainan Island" to "30 years of persistence in Hainan Island." That is, any coconut juice produced after January 1, 2018, clearly shows this on the packaging. Netizens marveled, "What a meticulous company." Moreover, this design, resembling a telephone pole ad, has become the most distinctive mark of Coconut Palm coconut juice. Every sentence on the packaging seems to be heartfelt truth: "Authentic," "No added flavors," "Fresh coconut meat," "Hainan specialty"... The designers of Coconut Palm coconut juice are committed to piling all the "rigor" and "straightforwardness" onto the packaging. How can you get through life's major moments without Coconut Palm coconut juice? To this day, Coconut Palm's design has formed a brand-new style. With its quirky packaging and consistently high sales, Coconut Palm coconut juice can be considered one of China's unsolved mysteries. The Secret of Coconut Palm Group's Designers Some joke that the designer of such an ugly Coconut Palm coconut juice packaging once made an atomic bomb for the boss. Actually, it's not that simple. The mastermind behind this mudslide-style design is none other than Chairman Wang Guangxing himself. As a veteran in the art world, Wang Guangxing was the first to propose making coconut juice in black cans. He abandoned the common tactic of using candy colors or fluorescent colors to attract consumers, and instead went against the grain, believing that black best represents the steady and noble character of Coconut Palm coconut juice. Therefore, all coconut juices on the market, whether genuine or fake, come in black packaging. In fact, Coconut Palm coconut juice originally had an art team. In the memories of many born in the 80s and 90s, Coconut Palm coconut juice didn't always look like this. From around 1989 to 2004, the packaging was handled by professional artists. But due to some minor conflicts, the design team was removed from their positions, and since then, the design has been personally handled by Chairman Wang Guangxing. Wang Guangxing, like a caring mother, crammed all the advantages of Coconut Palm coconut juice onto the packaging. To make it eye-catching, he also used "contrasting colors," adding bright color blocks to the black can. With just a few small changes, he transformed the steady and noble Coconut Palm coconut juice into a walking billboard that is noble but not expensive. The font must be big! The colors must be bright! Wang Guangxing used only Word to create a packaging style that has been popular for over a decade. In the Marketing World, Only Coconut Palm Can Beat Coconut Palm Besides the mesmerizing packaging, its TV commercials are even more baffling. Minors under 18 must watch with parental guidance. Regardless of appearance, the models must be fair-skinned and curvaceous. Female models climbing trees at the drop of a hat. The ads, which have been criticized to the point of turning red, have brought discussion heat but also attracted much criticism. Coconut Palm Group has even been complained about and fined multiple times. In response to public criticism, Coconut Palm placed its response directly at the company's main gate. Whether it's packaging ads or TV commercials, Chairman Wang Guangxing always says: "The product needs close-ups, the voiceover must be clear, and the subtitles matching the product must be large enough so that viewers, whether watching in front of the TV or busy in the kitchen, can clearly receive the information about Coconut Palm products." So, This Is the Coconut Palm Group In the 1990s, Hainan had not only Coconut Palm coconut juice but also a once-popular brand called "Coconut Wind Unstoppable." "Coconut Wind" once bid 139 million yuan for CCTV's 1997 prime-time advertising slots, and "Coconut Wind Mango Juice" was famous for ranking first nationally in "market share" and "market competitiveness." In the spring of 1996, a commercial starring Leon Lai, then known as one of the "Four Heavenly Kings" of Hong Kong, was broadcast on CCTV and 103 provincial and municipal TV stations across the country, quickly sweeping the nation with a "unstoppable" coconut drink trend. But the good times didn't last. Around 1997, Coconut Wind Group expanded during reforms but ceased production due to poor management and improper use of funds. As a result, many young people born in the 90s don't even know about "Coconut Wind Unstoppable," a local brand that once enjoyed nationwide fame. Similarly, Coconut Palm Group also experienced a low point in the 1980s, but in the 1990s, it became the "National Banquet Beverage," and in 1994, it ranked first in sales among beverage companies nationwide. Wang Guangxing, as the head of Coconut Palm Group, has witnessed the rise and fall of this old beverage factory. Of course, along the way, there has been a motherly love for the product, as seen in the advertising and packaging, and he has not been stingy with praise for employees. Coconut Palm Group has established a college entrance examination scholarship for direct descendants of regular and rehired employees, with two tiers: 5,000 yuan for admission to a first-tier university and 1,000 yuan for a second-tier university. Of course, money is just part of it; the most impressive is that outstanding students also receive a diary signed by Chairman Wang Guangxing. Coconut Palm Group was also one of the first enterprises to establish an employee stock ownership mechanism. At the time, employees could generally buy 50,000 shares, but with rules: shares could not be transferred among employees, could not be sold to non-Coconut Palm employees, and could be sold back to Coconut Palm. In the mid-1990s, the group would distribute several thousand yuan in dividends to employees holding shares at year-end, and by 2016, the dividend was 0.06 yuan per share. From this perspective, Coconut Palm coconut juice can be considered China's most "maverick" beverage, not only because of its advertising, packaging, and business philosophy, but also because of its taste. To be honest, there is no other coconut juice drink in China that can match the flavor of Coconut Palm coconut juice. A Hainanese who has been drinking coconut juice for over 20 years says that the beauty of Coconut Palm coconut juice lies in the slight astringency in the throat after drinking, which sometimes requires water to neutralize. But this "astringency" precisely indicates that Coconut Palm coconut juice is freshly squeezed from coconut meat, with high concentration and greater purity. Despite the impact of various foreign beverages with fancy packaging and exotic flavors, Coconut Palm Group persists in making its product, and consumers keep drinking it. I think this is the scene that old domestic beverage factories most hope to see. After learning more about the story of Coconut Palm coconut juice, I think I must express my love for it with "one cup in the morning and one cup at night," as the ad says! Source: ZHICHINA (ID: ZHICHINA2017) -END-