△Dongpeng Beverage Group Chairman Lin Muqin For years, Lin Muqin has developed a habit: whenever he drives past a highway service area, he instinctively glances at the trash bins to count how many empty beverage bottles are his own products. This practice keeps him alert and diligent. By 2017, Dongpeng Beverage had grown from a nearly bankrupt state-owned small factory into a well-known functional beverage enterprise with annual sales exceeding 4 billion yuan. The mastermind behind this "grassroots counterattack" is Lin Muqin, the current chairman of Dongpeng Beverage. On February 27, reporters met this plain and low-key Chaoshan businessman in Beijing. At a time when China's beverage industry was already a red ocean, Lin Muqin managed to "fight a bloody path." In conversations with him, reporters felt the power of focus and innovation. The Birth of a Market "Dark Horse" Lin Muqin has deep roots in the beverage industry. Before taking over Dongpeng, he worked for a joint venture beverage company for 10 years. Starting as a line leader on the production floor, he climbed step by step through roles such as production manager, technical development manager, and sales manager. From raw material procurement to product market strategy, "I can imagine the situation at every link and every position with my eyes closed," he joked to reporters. This decade of experience became the foundation for his successful operation of Dongpeng. In 2003, when the state allowed state capital to withdraw from generally competitive industries, Dongpeng was on the verge of bankruptcy, unable to pay employee wages. The company's senior management planned to transfer assets to internal employees first to weather the crisis. Lin Muqin, then general sales manager, was eager to try, but faced two choices: one was to pool funds with many others to buy the company's land and factory buildings covering over 20,000 square meters, but with a small personal share; the other was to buy the company's brand and production equipment at a lower cost and continue making beverages, but with himself in charge. In Shenzhen, where land is precious, Lin Muqin chose the latter, which others deemed worthless. "I wouldn't say I was very confident, but I had passion. I've been in beverages for so many years; I just wanted to do this well!" Compared to the loose management of the past state-owned enterprise, Lin Muqin controlled costs down to the "li" (a unit of currency) level. Every cent saved on packaging procurement was equivalent to earning an extra cent in sales. "Only by understanding production, raw material processes, and product development can you make products cheaper and more technologically advanced than competitors, which was a key advantage in product competition at the time." From 2003, when Lin Muqin took over Dongpeng and privatized it, to around 2010, the company's output value increased from 15 million yuan to 250 million yuan. Lin Muqin's focus on the beverage industry helped Dongpeng complete its initial capital accumulation. But new problems arose. Before 2010, Dongpeng had focused on beverages but with many categories, unclear product features, and insufficient competitive advantage, relying mainly on cost control and deep cultivation of the Guangdong market. He knew that relying solely on "saving money" couldn't make the company big, so he kept looking for new breakthroughs. Lin Muqin keenly perceived the huge potential of the functional beverage market, believing it was a breakthrough for Dongpeng to enter. At the end of 2009, with strategies of packaging and price differentiation, he launched the bottled Dongpeng Special Drink with a dust-proof cap, which is still used today. That same year, he invited Kang Qizu and Miss Tang from the TV series "Foreign Son-in-law, Local Daughter-in-law" as spokespersons for brand promotion in Guangdong Province. Bottled Dongpeng Special Drink offered the same quality as other functional drinks but at a more affordable price, quickly opening up the market in Guangdong. Lin Muqin felt the opportunity had come and decided to push for large-scale brand promotion. In 2013, Dongpeng Special Drink invited Nicholas Tse as spokesperson and began appearing on national media platforms like CCTV; in 2015, it officially established the "brand rejuvenation" strategy, with slogans like "Tired and sleepy? Drink Dongpeng Special Drink" and "Youth means staying awake to fight," quickly making it a well-known national brand. Its market share climbed steadily, becoming a famous national functional beverage brand. Dongpeng Special Drink became a "dark horse" in the market, and many marveled at its sudden emergence, but only Lin Muqin knew the hardships and difficulties. "No successful product is born from a decision-maker or designer just snapping their fingers in a short time. Expanding a category's market is also very difficult; it's common to spend 8, 10 years or even longer honing it. For a long time, you must focus on this, so you can seize opportunities when others feel tired, because your earlier accumulation and groundwork put you half a step ahead." In October 2016, Lin Muqin (second from right), chairman of Dongpeng Beverage Group, attended the 2016 Golden Investment Awards Forum in Shanghai, discussing innovative platform marketing models. The Innovation Path of "Embracing the Internet" Besides focus, Lin Muqin's other magic weapon is innovation. Dongpeng Special Drink's innovation is not only reflected in product updates and category optimization but also in marketing and communication. "In the last five years, mobile internet has profoundly changed our lives. As a traditional industry, whether we can embrace the internet through innovation and do well in user experience affects the entire company's development." Although in a traditional industry, Lin Muqin has a strong "internet mindset." Under Lin Muqin's leadership, Dongpeng Special Drink has been paying attention to new technologies, scenarios, experiences, and marketing in the internet field for five years. In 2015, Dongpeng launched a new marketing experience activity where consumers scan QR codes on bottle caps to win red packets, accumulating over 70 million unique consumer profiles and application data, with daily active users exceeding 1.5 million. "I checked the backend yesterday; 1.7 million people scanned the QR code to participate," Lin Muqin proudly told reporters. "With such huge traffic, we can now charge others for advertising." For Lin Muqin, innovation not only brings tangible benefits to the company but also creates many unexpected business opportunities. In 2016, Dongpeng partnered with video platform iQiyi to try a new form of contextual product placement in the TV drama "The Mystic Nine." This placement method, vividly called "band-aid," avoids the annoyance of traditional ads while integrating product efficacy and concepts into the plot, achieving effective brand communication. This advertising format was an idea Lin Muqin came up with while watching dramas on video sites. Dongpeng's brand awareness greatly increased with the drama's broadcast. The success of the "band-aid" also led other brands to imitate. "Innovation is just being half a year or a year ahead; once you succeed, others follow immediately, so innovation can never stop." Lin Muqin knows well that to seize the time window, one must always maintain a sense of urgency. Currently, big data, cloud computing, and other technologies are profoundly impacting traditional retail, giving rise to the "new retail" concept. Lin Muqin believes the retail industry is undergoing a "circulation revolution." In the future, he hopes to "shake hands directly with hundreds of millions of consumers." "In 2018, our goal is to use new technology to directly communicate with 1 million sales terminals, achieving better and more interaction with consumers." It seems Lin Muqin has even greater "ambitions" on the path of innovation. Unwavering Commitment to Local Brands Although it has become a national brand with a relatively high market share in functional beverages, the gap between Dongpeng Special Drink and the industry leader, Thai brand Red Bull, is still obvious. Lin Muqin told reporters that Dongpeng's market share is around 19%, while Red Bull accounts for 60%. The reason is the power of the brand. "Red Bull first introduced the concept of functional drinks to China and is perceived as a high-end international brand. We still lag behind them in brand influence." Lin Muqin does not shy away from admitting shortcomings, but he also says that while Dongpeng needs to put more effort into enhancing brand influence and added value, it doesn't necessarily need to imitate Red Bull's brand style; instead, it should develop its own style. Since the launch of bottled Dongpeng Special Drink, its price has been much lower than competitors like Red Bull, and it is affordable and convenient, attracting a large number of blue-collar consumers. On the other hand, due to the plastic bottle packaging and the product name with strong local flavor, it has been questioned as "a bit rustic." Some have suggested Lin Muqin change to a more "foreign" name and packaging, but he remains "unwavering." In his eyes, Dongpeng Special Drink is like a child he has nurtured, with deep affection and an understanding of its growth difficulties. "Without foreign or state capital background, without multinational marketing experience, relying entirely on my employees and me to build it bit by bit, from an unknown small brand to a leading Chinese functional beverage brand, it has a bit of a 'grassroots counterattack' flavor. Our product carries the imprint of this history, but we don't avoid it because it symbolizes our national confidence and product confidence." In Lin Muqin's view, although Dongpeng Special Drink "originates from grassroots," it aims high. This is also the concept he hopes to convey to young people through the power of the brand: as long as you work hard and focus, there will be various opportunities and possibilities; be brave to create your own world. China's beverage industry is increasingly competitive, and with consumption upgrading, many foreign brands are also coming on strong. Lin Muqin, who often travels abroad for inspections, tells his team: "The more you go abroad, the more you love your country." As a national entrepreneur, he is full of confidence in the future of Dongpeng Special Drink and Chinese brands. "At the beginning of reform and opening up, foreign brands brought us advanced manufacturing experience, marketing, and brand images, making many people think foreign brands were more reliable and of better quality. But with China's development over the past 30 years, especially the last 10, our product quality is now completely comparable, and we better understand China's characteristics and needs." The development of Dongpeng Special Drink is a microcosm of the rise of Chinese brands. Lin Muqin's vision is to tell consumers through more quality products that the quality of national brand products can proudly rival that of any country. Source: Global People -END-