A few days ago, a piece of news went viral: Coca-Cola's CMO (Chief Marketing Officer) disappeared, and a new Chief Growth Officer was created. At the same time, another company of considerable size cut 70% of its marketing staff. If deep distribution is no longer being done, why do we need so many marketers? Why is the sales department shrinking? In China, successful FMCG companies are either channel-driven or driven by both brand and channel. Among these, channel driving is indispensable. What drives the channel? After 2004, it was deep distribution, which is a human-wave tactic for channel driving. Deep distribution can no longer be sustained. First, because labor costs are too high; second, because in previous years there was excessive inventory pressure. So the "provincial distributor" is making a comeback, the "second-tier distributor" is making a comeback, and the channel has returned to what it was fifteen years ago. Another reason is that with the popularization of visit software and B2B software, and the emergence of precision distribution, distribution efficiency has improved, and there is no longer a need for so many marketing personnel. The third reason is that incremental growth has disappeared, and there is no longer a need for so many people to fight for increments. Companies have also accepted their fate, no longer aiming strictly at sales volume, but instead focusing on profits. The shrinking of the sales department marks the end of a marketing era in China. Brand managers are disappearing The marketing department is only shrinking, but another department may gradually disappear, such as the marketing department and brand managers. In the internet age, what does the marketing department do? It seems to have little significance. The communications department has already taken on the role of the marketing department, and it has more new functions. A few days ago, I told a boss, "Don't set up brand manager positions anymore." Traditional brands are becoming garbage. Whether the new perception will still be called a brand is still uncertain. In the past, consumers' perception of products would be concentrated on the brand. Now, perception is concentrated on two major elements: IP and scenario. How to name this perception is not yet precise, but in any case, the title of brand manager is not appropriate. Marketing experts are losing their jobs Those losing their jobs also include marketing experts. I mainly refer to practical experts judged by performance. There is a type of expert who will never lose their job: those who act as referees, commenting on others. It is said that developed countries do not have the profession of marketing consulting; they have brand consulting, but not marketing consulting. I have long said that marketing consulting has no future. Future competition is not on the front line, but in the back office. Developed countries have basically achieved this. China's marketing has a complete 4P framework, while developed countries have basically reached 1P, and that 1P is the product, along with the back-office work around the product. Mr. Jin Huanmin was one of the earlier people to recognize this problem. He believes that marketing consulting can no longer save Chinese companies. I also gave up marketing consulting business three years ago because I believe that current marketing cannot solve companies' problems. Traditional marketing theories, including our summarized "Chinese-style Marketing," cannot solve current corporate problems. Facts also prove that most marketing experts cannot save companies, and these experts must accept their fate. The communications department is the new back-office department Marketing originates from information asymmetry, or more broadly, business originates from information asymmetry. Marketing solves information asymmetry that is unfavorable to oneself and creates information asymmetry that is favorable to oneself. If there is a true essence of marketing, it is communication and interaction, where communication is the means of interaction. This is precisely the advantage of the internet. Therefore, it is certain and inevitable that the internet dominates marketing. Internet communication is clearly different from traditional media communication. This depends on whether the company's back office has the ability to create information with communication energy. Some say IP is intellectual property, but I say that cannot accurately explain the essence of IP. I believe IP is the energy for re-communication. Without this energy, it can only be the hard communication of the past. IP-based communication must be soft communication; IP is communication energy. -END-