New product launches may appear to be a strategic and tactical issue with ever-changing rules, but they deeply reflect a company's overall business strategy. The primary characteristic of FMCG new product launches is speed, because without speed, there is no successful future for FMCG. This is why Chinese FMCG companies have emphasized execution and attention to detail in recent years; the most important reason is that the pace and efficiency of new product launches are increasing. Rapid market push and mature market promotion have become key to FMCG companies winning in the market. Second is system. FMCG marketing is a vast system where any shortcoming can affect the progress and efficiency of a product launch, from production to logistics, from planning to promotion, from management to execution, from resources to environment. Therefore, building a mature marketing system is a strategic goal that FMCG companies strive for. Third is the focus strategy on regions and resources. For a new FMCG product to succeed, it must establish its own base market, because a stable base market provides cash flow, good experience, and room for strategic adjustment for the entire market. Fourth is the single-point breakthrough for new FMCG products. Do not underestimate the single-point breakthrough; opportunistic breakthroughs can bring systematic thinking and key nodes for breakthroughs. Therefore, I have always believed that single-point breakthroughs are valuable assets for FMCG companies. This article provides FMCG companies with insights from an experiential and practical perspective, through the dynamic process control of new product launches—namely, inventory (盘市), distribution (铺市), observation (看市), assessment (判市), attack (攻市), activation (动市), and protection (护市)—to examine and focus on key issues in FMCG product launches, offering some inspiration and general characteristics and rules from experience.

Inventory (盘市) Inventory is the prerequisite for ensuring the successful launch of FMCG products. We often call it the homework before launching a new product. An old Chinese saying goes, "Forewarned is forearmed; without preparation, you will fail." The market inventory before launching a new FMCG product is particularly important. How to conduct inventory, and the level of detail, have a significant impact on subsequent market activities. Based on the characteristics of FMCG, we believe the following elements need careful inventory:

First, distributor resource inventory. Distributors are important strategic resources for FMCG companies. If chosen well, the company may be very happy; if chosen poorly, the company may face many switching costs, just like in marriage, the right one is the best. Distributor research involves both quantity and quality. In terms of quantity, the focus is on perspective. Experience shows that for FMCG distributors, soft and hard strengths should be balanced. Especially for small and medium-sized enterprises with poor cash flow, they should abandon the vulgar concept of "anyone with money is a mother." Large enterprises with strong financial resources also need to pay attention to the distributor's own funds and personnel strength to reduce systemic resistance brought by new product launches. Distributor credit and strength survey:

  1. Region: The regional market the distributor covers, and judgment of regional channel resources;
  2. Level: The rating of the regional market in the overall marketing strategy; generally, provincial capital cities are rated A-level;
  3. Address: Office, business address, warehouse address, etc.; it is best to know their home address;
  4. Start of business: Evaluate the distributor's understanding of the market from their experience, and judge their ability to bear market risks;
  5. Previously operated brands: Judge the distributor's soft strength from the quality of brands they have represented, and determine whether their product attributes match ours;
  6. Distributor's education, experience, and hobbies: Judge the distributor's character and professional ability;
  7. Distributor's personal assets: Storefront, transport vehicles, warehouse, fixed assets, bank accounts, organizational books, capital, business license, peer evaluation, credit, etc.
  8. Others: Cooperation status with related manufacturers, current business situation, etc.

Second, channel and terminal inventory. FMCG channels are wide channel systems, so terminal research in the market is a meticulous task that requires both patience and care. Generally, there are 7-8 types of FMCG channel terminals, such as KA, catering, KB, wholesale, retail, entertainment, special channels, and group buying. Generally, channel terminal inventory requires making a basic judgment on the channel system and having a general understanding of the sales proportion of each channel terminal, so as to reasonably allocate human and promotional resources in marketing. For example, if a product is to be launched in May, we conducted terminal research in Lincang Prefecture, Yunnan, and obtained a rough distribution table of terminals in this market. Through this concise table, we can judge and estimate the approximate sales volume of various channel terminals. Linxiang District, Lincang City: KA 2, Catering 80, KB 20, Wholesale 30, Retail 280, Total 412. Linxiang District is a relatively economically underdeveloped ethnic region; KA is clearly not the main channel terminal in this market. The 280 retail outlets indicate that this market is basically a very marginal and dispersed regional market. However, when we researched Yingjiang County, we found that although it is a county-level market, due to its proximity to the border, its actual trade is more developed than the commercial channels of the prefecture-level city Lincang. If we only rely on regional division and speculate, our market strategy could make major mistakes. Yingjiang County (including Heihe): KA 10, Catering 120, KB 20, Wholesale 14, Retail 146, Total 310. For products with a "plate within plate" strategy, terminal research must be strict to specific store names and locations, store size, customer structure, consumption level, etc. Even the per-table consumption standard and the consumption situation in halls and private rooms must be described in detail. Therefore, channel inventory is a very deep and meticulous task.

Third, consumption capacity inventory. Consumer capacity inventory is an important indicator for companies to decide at what price and in what way to communicate with consumers. It includes both macro-level economic indicators and micro-level descriptions of consumer behavior habits and actual consumption capacity. The media strategy and promotion methods before entering a market are closely related to consumer spending capacity.

  1. Effective consumer population. If our product targets children aged 5-15, we should use the child population as the main statistical indicator; if our product covers all people, we mainly count the total population. Population indicators generally come from the local government's annual statistical yearbook. But note that the yearbook should be the latest version; do not use outdated data to avoid misjudging market positioning.
  2. Annual per capita income and economic consumption indicators. Regional economic indicators are usually described in depth in the government work report at the annual People's Congress; consider collecting this information.
  3. Consumer behavior insight. Consumer behavior is not necessarily consistent with actual economic spending power. We say that Yunnan's total economic output is not very high in mainland China, but this does not prevent Yunnan's catering industry from being very developed. Henan's GDP has reached one trillion yuan, but its catering consumption is still relatively conservative. Consumer behavior habits also manifest in media, entertainment, venues, values, etc. Therefore, consumer behavior insight is both quantitative and qualitative. The main purpose of consumer insight in regional markets is to quickly find a good breakthrough for new product launches, especially for regional brands.

Fourth, competitive brand inventory. The main purpose of competitive brand inventory is to judge the barriers to entering the market. Competitive brands are divided into direct and indirect competitors. Let's take Gejiu City, Honghe Prefecture, Yunnan, as an example to see the competitive brand inventory strategy. Gejiu is China's famous tin capital. The city is not large, with a population of 200,000, but its consumption structure is high. When we launched a milk fruit plate product, the competitive brand inventory revealed the barriers to entering this market. First, national brands. Since Gejiu was once the seat of the prefecture government and the tin industry is developed, many national brands are optimistic about this market. In Gejiu, the main national dairy brands include: Wahaha's Nutrition Express. It is the biggest and most direct competitor for Duohe Dairy's new product launch. Because from the product line, Duohe Dairy's product is exactly like Nutrition Express. Nutrition Express's strong execution is bound to be the biggest challenge for Duohe Dairy. Facts have proved that when Duohe Dairy's 1-liter product became popular in Gejiu and even Yunnan, Nutrition Express quickly launched a 1-liter package. And in price strategy, it firmly bit our product. Liziyuan series of milk beverages have been deeply cultivating Yunnan, and their low-end products and high distribution rate have an impact on us that cannot be underestimated. Second, local strong products and brands. After all, consumers' understanding of milk products is more based on a simple form. And Yunnan is a market with intense regional competition in China's dairy industry. In terms of quantity, there are nearly ten dairy companies of scale in Yunnan, including Dengchuan, Xuelan, Laisser, Qianjin, Haizi, Zhadian, etc., not including Liziyuan and Wahaha that have built factories in Yunnan. Therefore, we must have a very clear understanding of local brands and be cautious about their tactical moves. Substitute competitive products. There are even more substitute competitive products from the beverage industry. Uni-President's Fresh Orange, Master Kong, Coca-Cola, etc. As FMCG, substitute competitive products have a significant impact because changing beverage consumption habits is a struggle against old forces. Counterfeit products impacting the market. As the milk fruit plate moved in the market, a very similar product appeared: Milk Fruit Garden. This product not only has a similar name but also copies the entire design style. The main thing to guard against counterfeit products is the price system, because their costs may be very low. The market inventory before launching a new FMCG product should ideally form a clear market report. A concise market report is very important for management to formulate the launch strategy for the regional market. The report content should not be comprehensive but refined, simple, transparent, and accurate. Only then can the decision to launch a new product be based on scientific and rational grounds.

Distribution (铺市) Distribution is the key link determining the success of FMCG. At a national marketing conference, a multinational FMCG company said something very sincere: the most important gap between domestic FMCG companies and multinational FMCG companies is market distribution rate. They gave an example to illustrate the importance of distribution rate: generally, multinational companies like P&G, Coca-Cola, Master Kong, and Uni-President have market distribution rates above 80%; better domestic FMCG companies like Wahaha and Nongfu Spring can generally reach 60-70%; while poorer local companies have very low distribution rates, generally only 30-40%. Therefore, distribution rate is the most important key indicator for the successful entry of new FMCG products. New product distribution is a job that requires both effort and skill. The execution of new product distribution is a sign of a company's grassroots marketing capability, so FMCG companies across the country talk about execution. There are key points to note in new FMCG product distribution:

  1. Formulation and implementation of distribution policies. Due to the abundance of FMCG products, merchants' shelves are becoming smaller. Even with free consignment, merchants may not have shelves for you. Therefore, appropriate distribution policies are the guarantee for successful new product distribution. At the same time, distribution policies should prevent becoming a hidden killer of future market cross-region dumping. Facing thousands of terminals, distribution policies must ensure they do not affect future market operations.
  2. Investment and output of distribution advertising resources. To reduce resistance to new product distribution, supporting three-dimensional media placement is also a necessary foundation. Merchants are no longer as naive as before; without advertising resources, distribution will be very slow. Mature FMCG companies will launch a round of advertising campaigns when launching new products.
  3. Distributor mobilization and participation. Without distributor participation, it is unrealistic for the company to complete distribution independently. Therefore, we see that many mature FMCG companies may have few of their own personnel, but their distributor personnel are absolutely strong. We say we need to find distributors with strong operational capabilities, and the distributor's personnel structure is a criterion. Generally, distributors will temporarily increase staff to complete distribution in a short time. At this time, the company should do a good job of pre-job training and guidance, and supervise and manage the distribution process.
  4. Timing of distribution. The timing of new product distribution is also very important. For example, beer products generally do not choose winter for large-scale distribution; liquor products generally choose winter; non-alcoholic beverages generally choose summer. The development of things has its dialectical side. There are also many products that use seasonal reversal for distribution and achieve good market results. For example, launching beverage new products in winter. The advantage of winter distribution is that costs can be greatly reduced; the disadvantage is that consumer activation is not ideal.
  5. Terminal material display. According to experience, terminal material display is generally considered before or after distribution. Posting before distribution is conducive to creating momentum, educating consumers, and creating an environment conducive to distribution through ground activities; posting after distribution is conducive to activation, as consumers start to compare the product with the promotional poster, which encourages trial purchases.
  6. Several details in distribution:
  1. Safety. New product launches inevitably impact the market of other products, especially those that rely on local resources. We must attach great importance to product safety and personal safety during distribution. In the past, regional fights occurred during new FMCG product launches, such as between Jianlibao and Master Kong.
  2. Timeliness. New product distribution must pay attention to timeliness, especially for weak brands. If it is lukewarm, it is easy for competitors to exploit. Timeliness also helps consumers quickly recognize the product.
  3. Crisis. Crisis management must be done well during new product launches, especially since FMCG is easily attacked by non-market factors in regional markets, such as negative publicity from competitors or dumping depreciated products.
  4. Difficulty. New FMCG product distribution should follow the principle of easy first, difficult later. We cannot complete distribution in a regional market at once, but if we form momentum, it is easy to influence difficult terminals, and this increases our bargaining chips.
  5. Management. According to the actual needs of the regional market, reasonably and flexibly adjust vehicles and personnel to ensure effective forces are used in the most critical areas. At the same time, set up temporary organizations to ensure logistics supply. We often see many institutions and companies in a flurry during new product distribution, with some places overstaffed and others very tense. This is because of a lack of management control, leading to chaos.
  6. Compatibility. Handling the relationship between new product distribution and old product maintenance is of great significance to FMCG. If it is a substitute new product, the old product's terminal inventory will become an obstacle to distribution; before distribution, the backlog of old products should be dealt with. If it is a non-substitute product, the display and shelving of two or more products should be well managed. At the same time, test channel compatibility.
  7. Gap filling. After completing the large-scale distribution, classify and analyze the terminals that are difficult to enter and propose solutions, so that the distribution rate of new products reaches a relatively high level. New product distribution is a typical stage of "burying your head in work," but it is best to have some accumulation, that is, insight into the density and depth of channel terminals, to accumulate necessary information for subsequent market operations.

Observation (看市) Observation is the first review after completing the full market distribution. How to observe the market? Those who know look at the tricks; those who don't look at the excitement. After distributing new FMCG products, mainly look at ten indicators: First indicator: Distribution rate. Sales personnel should go deep into the streets and alleys to see the effect of the previous stage's hard work, judge whether the approximate distribution rate has reached more than 70%, and see where replenishment can be done quickly. Second indicator: Display. In response to the messy placement due to time constraints during distribution, issue product terminal display standards and quickly adjust product placement to achieve the best display effect. Third indicator: POP. See whether terminal POP can guide and educate consumers, and based on your market situation, put forward your own requirements and suggestions to the marketing department, issue POP posting standards, and remind sales personnel to do a good job of terminal POP maintenance and management. Fourth indicator: Visit terminals. Mainly listen to the opinions of terminal retail merchants and consumers, widely collect reactions from all levels of the market, organize market reactions, and form reports. Fifth indicator: Distributors. Communicate the problems after distribution with distributors, strive for necessary adjustments to terminals, and strive for resource tilt from distributors, transferring effective distributor resources to new products. Seventh indicator: Check policies. There are certain terminal policies during distribution. After distribution, check the implementation of distribution policies, punish business personnel who intercept policies, and if it belongs to distributor management, transfer to the distributor for handling. Eighth indicator: Model stores. To drive the regional market, new FMCG products can selectively build model stores, which drive the construction of other stores. At the same time, model stores can also become points for employee education and training in skills and execution. Ninth indicator: Supply chain. After distribution, enter the activation stage. Sales management personnel should promptly check the regional market supply chain to ensure the market is always in a state of smooth flow and goods supply is unimpeded. Tenth indicator: Adjust personnel. Re-divide the work of personnel involved in distribution and adjust the personnel structure so that each professional segment has professional personnel monitoring execution. The main purpose of observing the market is to establish a sustainable and healthy market. The above ten indicators are basic aspects, so FMCG companies will inevitably follow these rules when launching new products. If a regional market manager can use the above indicators to benchmark market construction, they can achieve stable regional market expansion.

Assessment (判市) Judgment of market conditions comes from familiarity and mastery of first-hand market data. Judging market conditions has moved from simple surface observation to deep thinking about problems, from focusing solely on oneself to comprehensive market judgment. There are several aspects to judging the market situation for new products. Consumer aspect: Whether consumers are enthusiastically pursuing and actively trying or even repeatedly buying is a very important indicator of consumer acceptance of new products. Consumer reactions are always three-dimensional; the key is that frontline personnel should develop the habit. In terms of consumer acceptance of new FMCG products, taste, packaging, advertising, price, convenience, etc., every point is the basis for the company to improve the new product. Therefore, understanding and researching the consumer aspect plays a very important fundamental role in judging the market problems faced by new products. Retailer aspect: The retailer aspect is mainly thinking from the business perspective. According to the general rules of new FMCG product launches, at the beginning, due to opaque prices, retail stores have high expectations for profits. As new product prices bottom out and competitive brands intervene, retailers' profit expectations will enter a stable period. Retailers also provide information about competitor reactions. In fact, much competitive information is obtained from retailers. Good retailer relationships are very helpful for indirectly understanding competitor market reactions. The third piece of information retailers provide is consumer composition. We can make a simple comparison: if retail stores near schools have high sales volume, while supermarket terminals have relatively average sales, we can basically judge that this product is very attractive to young consumers but may not be attractive enough to housewives. We must admit that we cannot have too much time and energy to track consumer footprints, but retailers are different. They come into contact with end consumers every day, and the amount and accuracy of information are greatly improved. Therefore, communicating with retailers about consumer issues is a shortcut to obtaining core consumer groups. Competitor aspect: Competitors are often our best teachers because they interpret whether our strategies are accurate from all levels. When our 1-liter product achieved certain results at the terminal, competitor Wahaha immediately launched a 1-liter package in specific regional markets, and Fresh Orange increased its winter offensive in Yunnan. Therefore, carefully studying competitors' reactions to the market is of great significance for judging our own success or failure. Competitors' price strategies are also a mirror for us; good competitors are indeed good textbooks! Trend: FMCG is always an industry chasing trends. As market judgment, if we can move from simple surface thinking to trend and forward-looking thinking, new product market competition may include competitive elements that conform to trends. What is the big trend? It is a judgment of the development direction of the industry. Let's take the development of non-alcoholic beverages in recent years as an example. The non-alcoholic beverage market in China started from the children's market. The earliest Chinese beverage market was actually simple products like fruit milk launched by Wahaha and Robust. Now it seems very naive, but even so, this product still occupies a very important position in their corporate development. Then Coca-Cola entered the Chinese market. Their red storm and market promotion quickly brought the urban beverage market into a Coke-dominated era. Then came the water beverage market, from mineral water to purified water to natural water, China's water market was surging. Juice drinks, functional drinks, tea drinks, and even current milk drinks. In fact, the big trend has a great impact on determining the correct direction and mainstream marketing style of FMCG. Regional market judgment requires looking at a larger market scope and thinking about cutting-edge market promotion plans. Judging the market is generally a matter for senior decision-makers, but if regional managers can dialogue with senior management at a higher level, it invisibly increases the value of regional managers. Therefore, all FMCG companies encourage forward-looking thinking based on doing their own jobs well. There are several very specific indicators for judging the market situation of new FMCG product launches: First indicator: Whether the new product has entered the consumer consumption stage or is still in the channel as inventory. Since it is the launch stage, it is sometimes difficult to judge whether the new product is being consumed or retained by the channel, which has a significant impact on the next market plan and the timing of consumer activation. Second indicator: Whether consumers are only trial purchasing or repeat purchasing, and what is the approximate ratio? We must judge the frequency of consumer purchases, because whether consumers identify with and accept the new product mainly depends on this key indicator. Third indicator: Whether competitor reactions are phased or strategic. For example, Duohe Dairy has this problem. The milk beverage products launched by Duohe Dairy and Wahaha's milk beverage products inevitably overlap in competition. As a giant enterprise, whether Wahaha disdains or attaches great importance to Duohe determines the different regional market strategies Duohe Dairy chooses. Fourth indicator: The prominent and systemic problems reflected during the new product launch. The problems reflected in new FMCG product launches include both urgent and breakthrough problems, as well as long-term and systemic problems. During the launch, attention should be paid to collecting this information to prepare for strategy adjustment. Judging the market is generally done on a monthly or quarterly basis, forming systematic reports. The report should balance focus issues and long-term issues, ensuring that there are both practical solutions and future adjustment directions, so that new FMCG product launches become institutionalized.

Attack (攻市) "Hit the snake at its head, attack the opponent's weakness." Attacking the market means attacking the opponent's weaknesses and using the shortest time to achieve rapid market entry. The opponent's weaknesses are fleeting, and for new FMCG products, all advantages are temporary. Therefore, attack strategies are tactical means used by local brands against giants. There are several methods for new FMCG products to attack competitors:

  1. Product weaknesses. It is safe to say that any product has its market weaknesses. Take Wahaha Nutrition Express as an example. Duohe Dairy launched the Yunnan-famous Milk Fruit Plate, cleverly targeting Nutrition Express's weaknesses. From the variety: Nutrition Express uses one fruit plus milk, while Milk Fruit Plate uses three fruits plus milk; From raw materials: Nutrition Express uses inland milk, while Milk Fruit Plate uses milk from the Red Soil Plateau; From endorsement: Nutrition Express is a milk beverage launched by a comprehensive FMCG company, while Milk Fruit Plate is launched by a fresh milk producer, with more guarantee in milk quality; From origin: Nutrition Express completely omits the origin concept, while Milk Fruit Plate is typical plateau sunshine milk plus three plateau fruits, plus Yunnan's unique passion fruit; From communication: Nutrition Express is consumer-oriented, emphasizing universal nutritional rules, while Milk Fruit Plate is differentiated, emphasizing the non-replicability of competitors. These unique product characteristics fully exposed Wahaha Nutrition Express's weaknesses in the Yunnan market!
  2. Channel weaknesses. Similarly, Wahaha is a brand that attaches great importance to channels and has strong channel coverage, but Duohe Dairy found a channel that Wahaha simply cannot follow: the catering channel. Therefore, attacking the opponent's catering channel is a killer move for regional brands.
  3. Communication weaknesses. National brands have universal advantages and often choose national media for communication, but regional brands should also be good at using regional media, breaking high-end blockades through close contact with consumers. Sometimes, appropriate use can also effectively stop opponents.
  4. Lightning strategy. Generally, national FMCG companies rely on distributor strength to do national markets, mainly due to opportunity costs. Regional brands can use this weakness of national brands, break the competitive brand's market rhythm through efficient execution, and use blitzkrieg to catch opponents off guard. Blitzkrieg has a bit of surprise attack meaning, but as long as it can tactically strike the opponent first, it can buy time for regional brand growth. In fact, after the launch of new FMCG products, the market is changing rapidly. Even the strongest opponents have weaknesses; the key is how to use and attack the opponent's weaknesses. But attacking the market must only be a phased strategy. Once opponents discover their weaknesses, especially some national brands, their resources are very rich. Therefore, attacking the market can never occupy a dominant position. Moreover, for FMCG, plainness is the truth; pursuing sensational marketing cannot last long. We see that whether it is the multinational giant Coca-Cola or the local big shot Wahaha, they have come this far by solid basic skills. On the contrary, those brands that operate with ever-changing strategies are fleeting.

Activation (动市) Consumer activation is an eternal topic for new FMCG product launches, and the means and methods of activation are rich and varied. Similarly, in the Chinese market, activation of new FMCG products has so far been replaced by promotions, although there are countless classic promotions, they have also become a no-profit game of "killing a thousand enemies and losing eight hundred." From the trend, activation of new FMCG products is shifting comprehensively to experiential marketing. Activation trend one: Experience replaces buy-give. I have always been a firm opponent of using physical objects for FMCG promotions. Because FMCG has the characteristics of high-frequency purchases and low unit prices, physical promotions can lead to a vicious cycle in the market. Experiential marketing is to allocate part of the funds used for advertising to consumer interaction activities, which is also a realistic need for social development and human liberation. Activation trend two: Media as super shelf. Media becoming a shelf is the future trend for new FMCG product activation. Companies no longer simply place didactic advertisements but bargain with media, and through integration with media, media becomes a well-deserved shelf. Activation trend three: Brand PR marketing. As the Olympics approach in China, FMCG companies are paying more and more attention to event marketing. Moreover, from the development trend, Chinese society is increasingly emphasizing sustainable development, and event-based marketing will be accepted by more and more Chinese companies. Activation trend four: Use of electronic platforms. It is hard to imagine that a few years ago, Chinese companies found it difficult to communicate through the internet, but with the internet deeply rooted in people's hearts and the maturity of electronic trading platforms, it is believed that consumer activation through electronic platforms will become more and more of a trend. Activation trend five: One-to-one marketing. It is hard to imagine how FMCG companies can do one-to-one marketing with such a large target population. Therefore, the database in new FMCG product market research and supermarket sales data become invaluable. Many FMCG companies have established network platforms connected to supermarket sales systems, making consumer needs clear at a glance. Special channel systems also create conditions for one-to-one marketing in FMCG, such as the catering and nightlife channels popular in hotels and bars, where foreign liquor has achieved good market performance through one-to-one marketing. The emergence of new activation trends does not mean that traditional activation methods immediately fail in the Chinese market. Due to China's vast territory, even in economically developed areas, outdated activation methods may be very avant-garde in less developed areas. Therefore, we believe that suitable activation plans generally have the characteristic of being tailor-made. The creative use of media in activation plays a huge role in promoting market structure upgrades.

Protection (护市) After the launch of a new product, it remains the focus of the regional market for a considerable time, and market maintenance work needs to be gradually established. Unlike inventory, distribution, etc., protection aims to establish an institutionalized sales product platform, continuously provide standardized manuals, and maintain the elements of the sales system so that the new product enters a relatively stable growth period. Mature FMCG companies are best at protection. Why? Because the process of launching thousands of new products has tempered them. For emerging FMCG companies, after the launch of new products enters the market maintenance period, we provide the following suggestions and opinions. Establish archives. Establish a complete set of archives during the new product market activities, record every bit of the new product's market performance, and adjust market activities and behaviors through phased analysis of original market conditions. Form systems. You can learn from the experience of large enterprises such as P&G, Coca-Cola, Uni-President, Master Kong, and Wahaha, and establish a set of market management system texts, constantly revising them in practice. Many FMCG companies themselves have many grassroots employees from large companies; let them contribute some experience. Clear processes. New FMCG product maintenance involves many key links. It is recommended to formulate clear processes for new product launch maintenance, and use processes to sort out the technical links of product maintenance. Crisis mechanism. Be sure to establish a crisis system for new product maintenance and construction. With the improvement of Chinese consumers' subject consciousness, crisis management is crucial for any Chinese FMCG company. Not to mention fledgling FMCG companies, even century-old Nestlé and P&G face constant product crisis attacks. The last point is the frequency and scale of FMCG product launches. Unlike durable consumer goods, FMCG faces market changes, and the frequency of new product launches is much higher than that of durable goods. First, quantity. Generally, it is normal for an FMCG company to launch 4-5 new products a year. Many large multinational FMCG companies can sometimes launch up to a hundred new products a year. Therefore, the FMCG market has always been a stage of brilliance. Second, the timing of new product launches is also difficult to define. It must be recognized that the FMCG market environment is completely under a "winter" environment. We cannot prepare for new product launches according to our own unilateral assumptions. Sometimes we can change the timing of new product promotion due to changes in the market competition environment. Therefore, the timing of new FMCG product launches needs judgment and adjustment. Third, the resource investment for new product launches is also a huge variable. FMCG companies have high requirements for cash flow, especially in a market environment like China. Therefore, many FMCG companies will budget for a loss period when they first enter the Chinese market. Fourth, the success rate of new FMCG product launches is not very high, especially compared with durable consumer goods. The sign of a country's economic development is often not monopolistic resource enterprises, but standardized consumer goods enterprises, especially FMCG companies, because FMCG sometimes consumes not only products but more often a culture. In this sense, Chinese FMCG companies' understanding of society, humanity, and trends will become parameters that determine the success of new product launches. In this sense, Chinese FMCG still has a long way to go!

Editor's PS: The editor has selected 1,067 articles from nearly 1,900 published on this official account, divided them into 14 categories and 57 knowledge points, and systematically made frontline marketing management content into a library for everyone to learn. From market to customers, covering practical combat and management, all are dry goods. Follow the official account and reply with the number "1" to browse and view related content.