Click to read the original text for details Cailian Press, August 2nd: At the 2022 Yabuli China Entrepreneurs Forum Tianjin Summit, Moutai Group's Party Secretary and Chairman Ding Xiongjun stated that the 'i Moutai' app has generated over 6 billion yuan in sales and attracted over 20 million registered users in just over two months. He also revealed that the collaboration with Mengniu has been highly successful, with Moutai ice cream currently in short supply. Recently, Moutai's official app 'i Moutai' has gradually opened up online purchasing for Moutai ice cream in various regions. Areas in Guizhou, Jiangsu, Shaanxi, Hubei, Guangdong, Zhejiang, Beijing, Shanghai, and Hunan have gained online access to purchase Moutai ice cream. This is undoubtedly good news for many curious consumers. It is understood that previously, Moutai ice cream priced at 59-66 yuan was hyped by resellers to 200 yuan per box. Now, on 'i Moutai', there is no purchase limit, and with 3-hour instant delivery, each order incurs a 45 yuan delivery fee; with SF cold chain delivery, orders under 12 cups require a 35 yuan delivery fee. Upon checking the 'i Moutai' app, the author found that the homepage carousel ads have 3 screens, with 2 already dedicated to Moutai ice cream, and the Moutai ice cream shelf is also pinned to the top. This summer, Moutai ice cream has become a phenomenal product, breaking out of its niche. Behind the explosive popularity of Moutai ice cream, the author attempts to uncover what other lesser-known brand marketing strategies and plans Moutai might have. 01 Moutai's Crossover into Ice Cream: Signs Were Already There Brand crossover is nothing new, but you might not expect that a steady player like Moutai has also engaged in quite a few crossovers. Moutai has previously launched Moutai red wine, Moutai beer, and other products, but they didn't gain much traction and became marginal products. The ice cream crossover was not a spur-of-the-moment idea. In November 2019, Moutai ice cream was first introduced in Tianjin. At that time, the Moutai ice cream exhibited was also a collaboration, also limited in time and quantity, but it did not create as much impact as this time. Why is that? It is reported that the previous Moutai ice cream was made by mixing Kweichow Moutai liquor with regular ice cream, with an alcohol concentration of 3%, giving it a slight spicy kick. In addition to Moutai ice cream, there were also six other liquor-flavored ice creams, including Fengxiang, Qingxiang, Nongxiang, Cabernet Sauvignon, and sweet white wine. In contrast, the newly launched Moutai ice cream has a very clear positioning, with only three flavors, all containing 53-degree Feitian Moutai, and the alcohol concentration has been reduced to 2% or below: 2% classic original, 1.6% green plum wine, and 2% vanilla. These subtle changes indicate that the success of Moutai ice cream this time has fully absorbed lessons from previous trial and error. 02 Selling Brand Value Requires Consistency in Brand Perception Why did Moutai's beer and red wine not generate much response, but ice cream received positive feedback? A key factor can be discussed here: consistency in consumer brand perception. When you think of Moutai, what is your first impression? It's China's most expensive liquor, the luxury item among baijiu. Setting aside baijiu, when Moutai ventures into beer, red wine, and other categories, there are already leading brands that have captured consumer perception. Moutai's crossover into other alcoholic beverages can cause cognitive dissonance and be seen as straying from its core business. So why does Moutai + ice cream work? The reason is that Moutai's ice cream crossover does not deviate from the key element of Moutai baijiu; it only sells three ice cream flavors containing Moutai baijiu, further reinforcing the high-end image consistent with Moutai baijiu. Therefore, for brand crossover, having brand endorsement is not enough; it's more important to let consumers perceive brand value, and maintaining consistency in brand perception is crucial. Of course, this also serves as a warning to major brands: brand crossover requires caution. The direction and purpose of selling brand value must be clear. No matter how big the brand, if the direction is wrong, consumers may not buy it, and in severe cases, it could even trigger negative emotions toward the brand. 03 New Audiences, New Scenarios, New Experiences As a derivative of its own brand value, Moutai ice cream has maintained the sense of value in consumer perception. So, apart from Moutai's own brand value, let's further analyze the intentions behind Moutai's ice cream crossover. 1. Crossover is about expanding the audience Moutai's choice of ice cream is too obvious: it aims to attract young consumers. Ice cream, as a leisure snack product, has a low threshold for young consumers and satisfies the need for self-indulgence. The addition of Moutai baijiu undoubtedly gives ice cream wings to fly. After meeting the basic needs of ice cream, young consumers also gain a great emotional value experience. Coca-Cola once ran an ad showing that from the president to a beggar, regardless of status, everyone could enjoy the same Coca-Cola at the same price. This positioning quickly sparked nationwide enthusiasm, and consumers' inner monologue became: I'm drinking the same as the president. The same marketing approach applies to Moutai ice cream. Those who drink Moutai baijiu are typically older, experienced, and have a certain social status. Young people either can't afford it or find it unappealing or not worth it. For young people, Moutai ice cream has a low trial cost. On one hand, it satisfies their curiosity; on the other hand, the luxury value of Moutai baijiu raises their emotional threshold: this contains real Moutai! An industry insider said: Moutai ice cream plants the seed of Moutai in young consumers' minds, and when they have the means to pursue taste and prestige, they will naturally choose Moutai. The author agrees with this view. For the seed-planting action, Moutai has arranged two important tools: the i Moutai app and Moutai ice cream specialty stores. 2. Dual support from i Moutai and offline physical stores In the FMCG industry, scenarios and experiences are indispensable for brands to connect with consumers. Many people are pessimistic about Moutai opening offline physical ice cream stores. From a business perspective, the returns from Moutai's offline ice cream stores may indeed be less than a milk tea shop. After all, the ice cream category has seasonal peaks and troughs, and whether consumers will repurchase after the novelty wears off is a big question mark. Thus, high store rents and labor costs are major issues. An ice cream distributor told the author that the Modier brand previously attempted offline store expansion but failed to find a viable model. Ice cream is a non-essential product, making offline specialty stores very difficult. However, from a brand marketing perspective, the picture is different. Do you remember Li Ning's recent crossover into coffee? Li Ning's approach was also to open 'Ning Coffee' experience stores offline. Li Ning officially explained: The company focuses on the consumer purchase experience at retail terminals and hopes to enhance customer comfort and experience by optimizing in-store services. Offering coffee in stores will be an innovative attempt by Li Ning to improve the retail terminal consumer experience. As a space for experiential experiences, coffee shops also need to meet the requirements for photo-taking, socializing, and beautiful imagery. Li Ning's creation of a coffee scene combined with its own brand culture aims to get closer to young user groups and strengthen brand philosophy. This is actually similar to Moutai's offline ice cream specialty stores. Scenarios and experiences play a role in preserving and awakening consumer brand memories. For Moutai, which wants a deeper connection with young consumers, this may be what it values most. Now let's talk about the 'i Moutai' app. At the end of March this year, Moutai launched its self-operated e-commerce platform, the 'i Moutai' app. After a 49-day trial, it officially launched on May 19th. In just over a month, i Moutai users exceeded 13 million, with cumulative purchase applications exceeding 300 million, attracting many young people. It is reported that even some post-2000s are grabbing Moutai on i Moutai. Before launching Moutai ice cream, i Moutai also introduced a 100ml Feitian Moutai on its first day of official operation, priced at 399 yuan per bottle. By proactively lowering the consumption threshold, it's clear that Moutai has long been planning to attract young people. Whether Moutai can achieve deep interaction with young consumers through user accumulation and operation on the 'i Moutai' app remains to be seen. Although 'i Moutai' has been criticized for being full of bargain hunters, and young people seem to be chasing Moutai but actually become scalpers, only grabbing without drinking, from a long-term value perspective, Moutai's many attempts show the courage and boldness of a traditional enterprise. It's commendable. Final Thoughts: Can a brand ranked at the top of brand value lists in China and globally guarantee success in crossover operations? Moutai's experience with red wine and beer tells us that crossover operations often explore beyond existing brand boundaries, and even the strongest brands can suffer from cultural mismatch. If we define Moutai's ice cream crossover as a brand marketing campaign, it is undoubtedly very successful. In the author's view, does Moutai really want to sell ice cream? Perhaps not. Crossover operations and crossover marketing are two different things, and their approaches cannot be entirely the same. The former seeks visible business data, such as revenue, profit, and growth, while the latter pursues intangible benefits, such as brand value enhancement and reaching target consumers. Enterprises cannot escape growth, but Moutai's case gives us an insight: in the process of exploring growth, crossover operations are an attractive direction, but not as rosy as imagined. Countless brands have stumbled on this path, and some have even lost their main business due to side ventures. New Distribution recently raised a question: Where might the next major innovation and breakthrough in Chinese marketing occur? New Distribution CEO Chen Siting believes that after channel innovation, the next major innovation can only be customer-centric. Whether for brands or channels, the future requires seamless connection with massive customer bases. Only through deep connection, close proximity, and continuous interaction can customers create greater value for us beyond sales. Clearly, not just Moutai, but more and more brands are already taking action on this innovative path. Let's look forward to the next era, where marketing innovation based on two-way user connections can push Chinese brands to a new level. -END-