Today, the relationship between FMCG brands and consumers has undergone significant changes. In the past, the relationship between brands and consumers was largely one-way, with brands solving problems through heavy advertising or wide distribution. Today, the relationship between consumers and brands has become complex, spanning three dimensions: awareness, transaction, and relationship. Through these three dimensions, the slogan 'consumer-centric' is truly implemented. But where to start? As Luo Zhenyu mentioned in his 2024 New Year's speech: How can people solve problems? Not by sitting around discussing ideas every day, but by delving into the specific scenarios and actions of the world. In short, it's six words: Be specific, and you'll be profound. How to apply these six words to the FMCG industry? Lu Xiuqiong, Global Expert Partner at Bain & Company, proposed: Derive products from consumer motivations, design scenarios, and create scenarios. Shift from the past channel thinking to operational thinking, and do deep and refined product operations. Being consumer-centric is no longer just a slogan; Mondelez China is putting it into practice. ********Uncovering Potential Demand Lean Product Operations On March 29, at the landmark Xujiahui Academy in Shanghai, Oreo, a brand under Mondelez, launched the 'Treasure Hunt for Playfulness' series of activities. At the event, a lifelike dynamic 'Contemporary Hundred Children' painting showcased traditional Chinese culture. The animated figures moved through scenes of children's extracurricular activities, including playing football, painting, swimming, and playing instruments, contrasting sharply with the various exams and competitions in the background. The final soul-searching question: 'Don't people love to play anymore? Where has our playfulness gone?' is thought-provoking. This is also the original intention and inspiration of the Oreo event, prompting deep reflection in the fast-paced modern life. For this event, Oreo drew inspiration from traditional Chinese culture and launched the 'Contemporary Hundred Children' painting at subway stations and on a WeChat mini-program. Passersby at Xujiahui subway station could see this 'animated' scroll. After scanning the QR code to enter the mini-program, people could participate in interactive games, be inspired to rediscover their playfulness, and activate their curiosity, imagination, and desire to explore the world. In addition, Mondelez collaborated with trendy toy artist Hua Bei Lao Wang to design three traditional toys with a modern twist: the Luban lock, diabolo, and tangram. They also engaged with local communities and schools, actively practicing the corporate philosophy of symbiosis, shared prosperity, and empathy. Regarding the 'Treasure Hunt for Playfulness' event, Zhu Yijing, Vice President of Marketing and Development for Mondelez Greater China, said: 'We have observed that the pressures of modern society are putting both adults' and children's playfulness at risk, yet traditional Chinese culture is rich in play philosophy. Upholding Oreo's brand spirit of 'Play Together,' we hope to inspire big and little friends to discover, unlock, and rediscover playfulness in the fast-paced modern life.' During the interview segment of the event, Ms. Zhu mentioned: We cannot only look at consumers in the present, at the surface. We must adjust based on demographic changes, demand trends, and generational shifts. We are now thinking about what the consumer demand for the Chinese snack market will be by 2030. Therefore, Mondelez conducts in-depth consumer and trend insights every 3-5 years, adjusting across dimensions such as product packaging, taste, capacity, and functionality. Clearly, Mondelez has truly applied the 'Iceberg Theory' to product operations, shifting from channel thinking to operational thinking, refining product operations, uncovering hidden potential demands beneath the iceberg, and creating greater value beyond the product's basic function. C-end creates demand, B-end fulfills it. The 'Treasure Hunt for Playfulness' event is a good example. ************Product Function Should Be Lightly Embedded Emotional Value Is a Strong Demand Earlier, Ms. Zhu mentioned that Mondelez regularly and continuously releases professional, objective, and comprehensive insights reports on Chinese snack consumption. At the event, Ms. Zhu also emphasized this year's 'Snack Future Trends Report' launched by Mondelez. The report reveals five macro consumption trends shaping the future of the snack industry. One macro trend notes that approximately 43% of global consumers actively purchase products from companies that support causes they care about. Additionally, emotional brand stories—whether evoking nostalgia, creating joy, or inspiring—can build stronger bonds with consumers. In short: Tell a good brand story. A good brand story is the emotional entry point between consumers and brands, giving the brand spiritual connotation and soul, infecting or impacting consumers, fully stimulating their potential purchase awareness, and making them willing to 'stay loyal.' So, how to tell a good brand story? Take Oreo's 'Treasure Hunt for Playfulness' as an example, and analyze it layer by layer. 1. Emotional Resonance Era Anxiety: Contemporary Chinese society is like a 'sandwich' structure, from agricultural society, industrial society, to post-industrial civilization, overlapping into a complex and diverse social environment. Everyone is just a screw on the assembly line. After the post-70s and post-80s generations have passed the subsistence level, the need to pursue individual and self-worth is growing stronger. The post-90s and post-00s, amid the great social changes and transitions, have distanced themselves from their parents' thinking and lifestyles. They are free but lonely, searching for their own anchor and inner life. Social Anxiety: The fast-paced life today, especially in first-tier cities like Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Shenzhen, leaves many parents and children exhausted from work, life, and education pressures. The 'chicken baby' mentality (intense parenting) is also prevalent. Anxious social emotions cover all strata, and curiosity, imagination, and exploration are suppressed and unable to be released. Group social anxiety is intensifying. 2. Social Consensus More and more people are beginning to draw nourishment and answers from traditional culture. During holidays, you can often see friends in Jiangnan scenery wearing traditional Chinese clothing, lighting incense, sipping tea, some playing the guqin, some painting... This phenomenon gives a glimpse. The 'Hundred Children' painting created by Oreo is a folk-custom theme in traditional Chinese art, depicting ancient children's playful scenes. It uses the past to illustrate the present, depicting the state of contemporary children's extracurricular lives, including playing football, painting, swimming, and playing instruments. Through the interactive scrolling 'Hundred Children' painting, it provides modern people with a way to escape the cramped and anxious life, finding a spiritual sustenance and a poetic paradise. After experiencing restlessness, people can experience the spiritual stability of traditional culture. Entering the great tranquility and beauty of traditional Chinese culture is a major trend. We observe that throughout, the product is lightly embedded, while emotional resonance and social consensus are strongly embedded. Mondelez's brand story logic is: Sell the product without talking about the product itself, skip the surface, and go deep into the underlying logic to hit psychological insights. Rebuilding the Relationship Between Brands and Consumers Liu Chunxiong's new book 'New Marketing 3.0' introduces a concept: Today's consumer-brand relationship is a trinity of awareness, transaction, and relationship. This means that in the past, online and offline were separate, parallel marketing channels, but now they can be integrated through mobile internet. When this trinity is integrated, two viewpoints emerge: It's not 'goods find people,' but 'people find goods'; it's not about meeting consumer needs, but creating demand. The former is about consumer groups, the latter is about consumption scenarios. Consumer Groups The 'Treasure Hunt for Playfulness' event integrates product value, emotional transmission, and social consensus into a product matrix. From purchase needs to purchase scenarios to purchase motivations, the three are linked to form an efficient fulfillment model, penetrating the brand-consumer relationship into a trinity of awareness, relationship, and transaction, while spreading the consensus of traditional culture to more people. People may not have much in common in hobbies and lifestyles, but if you grasp social consensus, you can create ripples among the crowd... Over the years, Oreo has been adept at deep insights, using traditional research and digital tools like social listening to dig into local consumer needs, conduct data-driven marketing, co-create new flavors, products, and categories with consumers, and choose communication content and interaction methods that consumers enjoy, activating joyful moments and generating emotional resonance. Take Oreo cake as an example: Through social listening, they found that many consumers used Oreo cookies to make homemade cakes. To meet the common need for celebration and sharing, Oreo launched this new category nationwide last year. After its launch, the cake achieved impressive sales results and market share, leading category growth, and was listed on the 2023 NielsenIQ BASES Breakthrough Innovation list. Consumption Scenarios John Watson, an American psychologist and founder of behaviorist psychology, was a successful advertiser. Many of his classic cases followed a fundamental logic: Selling a product shouldn't just emphasize how good the product is, but rather create more opportunities for consumers to use the product, thereby changing their behavior. This opportunity to use the product is the consumption scenario. Mondelez has embedded Oreo cookie crumbs into various scenarios, seizing the market opportunity of 'snacks becoming daily,' matching the consumer demand for 'enjoying good snacks with heart.' Using Oreo cookie crumbs as the product base, through product extension, they integrate into milk tea, ice cream, baked cakes, and other products, creating outing scenarios, pairing with festive scenarios, creating a harmonious atmosphere and themes of love, allowing consumers to enter more consumption scenarios for eating Oreo. Today, Oreo's global sales have reached $4 billion, and China is Mondelez's second-largest Oreo market globally, achieving double-digit compound growth over the past few years. At the same time, Mondelez China's business achieved high single-digit growth in 2023. According to Nielsen data, Mondelez ranks first in market share in the biscuit category and second in gum. It can be seen that Mondelez is taking practical actions to rebuild the relationship between brands and consumers, and its development in the Chinese market is highly anticipated. Final Summary In 1997, at a press conference shortly after returning to Apple, Steve Jobs was publicly challenged by a programmer who questioned his technical knowledge and ability to lead Apple. Jobs responded: 'I used to try to educate users, but the market taught me a harsh lesson. You have to reverse-engineer the technology from the user experience, not start with the technology and try to sell it to users. Where the technology can be used is the right way to do things.' Reverse-engineering application scenarios from user experience is like the relationship between skin and hair: if the skin is gone, where can the hair attach? From Mondelez's high growth data in recent years, it's clear that Mondelez is rapidly transforming. As the main brand for Mondelez in the Chinese market, Oreo will lead the charge in its upcoming distribution plan, using its core products as a base to expand the biscuit business in China. Combined with Mondelez's deep insights into consumption trends, it's believed that in the near future, Mondelez may open a new landscape in the Chinese snack market.