---
title: "My Views on Breaking Through with New Products in the Domestic Energy Drink Market"
description: "This article discusses the key to breaking through with new products in the domestic energy drink market by examining the development of domestic and foreign product lines. It highlights the failure of imitators and the challenges faced by foreign brands, and offers insights on how to succeed through solid foundations, thorough preparation, and effective execution."
author: "人在中途"
publisher: "New Distribution"
email: "zhaobo258@gmail.com"
telephone: "+8615854817671"
published: "2023-05-20"
language: "en"
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# My Views on Breaking Through with New Products in the Domestic Energy Drink Market

> This article discusses the key to breaking through with new products in the domestic energy drink market by examining the development of domestic and foreign product lines. It highlights the failure of imitators and the challenges faced by foreign brands, and offers insights on how to succeed through solid foundations, thorough preparation, and effective execution.

Below, we discuss the key to breaking through with new products by examining the current development of both domestic and foreign product lines.
**The Sorrow of Imitators**
So far, the leading brand Red Bull seems unshakable, with sales steadily around 23 billion yuan (combined for three variants). The second-place brand, Dongpeng, has temporarily widened the sales gap with products like Lehu and Tizhi Nengliang with sales of 10 billion yuan, but it still hasn't escaped the dominance of PET plastic bottles, basically continuing the cost-effective route.
Many brands, including Dongpeng, have also launched canned products imitating Red Bull's 250ml gold can bestseller, hoping to shed their high cost-performance image and enter the mid-to-high-end market with higher margins, but none have succeeded. Consumers seem unwilling to pay for these seemingly novel canned products, with sales almost negligible.
Not only well-known brands like Dongpeng and Lehu, but since the birth of China Red Bull 28 years ago, there has never been a shortage of imitators or even counterfeiters of Red Bull's gold can, but all have ended in failure.
Can we assume that the small gold can has become Red Bull's exclusive image and color in consumers' minds, deeply rooted and hard to change (first-mover mindshare occupation)? Other energy drinks that imitate it are doomed to the tragedy of blind imitation.
**The Hard Sutra to Chant for Foreign Monks**
With domestic wolves at home, America's Monster and Thailand's Carabao are not to be outdone. The former leverages Coca-Cola's highly mature channel network for rapid penetration, while the latter allies with Renhe Group, hiring former executives from Red Bull and Wahaha at high salaries to make a splash, hoping to win in one battle. But unexpectedly, behind the beautiful prospect of China's growing functional beverage market, there are pitfalls everywhere, causing severe maladjustment.
The diversity, differentiation, and cultural uniqueness of the Chinese market have dealt them a heavy blow. Even with Coca-Cola's mature channel system, Monster still struggles to break through the limitations of transportation and supermarket channels, and is hard to find in traditional channels like mom-and-pop stores, restaurants, and entertainment venues. Carabao, after a high-profile performance copying Red Bull's sports marketing and the successful rural promotional experience of Thai Carabao, has quietly continued its low-key offensive in some regions.
Copying successful foreign experiences doesn't work, and imitating Red Bull like drawing a tiger but ending up with a dog, they all seem to have fallen into a state of stubbornness and confusion, still "crossing the river by feeling the stones."
But is Red Bull truly an insurmountable Everest, a god-level challenge that remains unattainable in the future? Perhaps not...
**My Views on Breaking Through with New Products**
The domestic energy drink market, whether compared by per capita consumption internationally or domestically, or by its growth rate relative to other beverage categories in recent years, has huge space and a promising future, beyond doubt.
But competition homogenization and brand concentration are also widely recognized. As the saying goes, "Success and failure both stem from the same factor." Energy drinks are a tasty morsel; if eaten well, they can complement old and new, strengthen the body; if eaten poorly, they can lose troops and suffer great damage.
Below, I share my views on breaking through with new energy drink products:
**1. A Mighty Building Rises from the Ground: Lay a Solid Foundation**
A good product is the root and foundation of successful sales, like guns and ammunition for soldiers. If the foundation is not solid, the earth shakes.
The criteria for "good" are composed of multiple small standards, mainly: good name, good taste, good efficacy, good design, and good quality.
As the saying goes, "Clothes make the man, and gold makes the Buddha." Generally, young people are the first to try new beverages, and today's young people are picky. If the name isn't strong, the taste isn't refreshing, the efficacy isn't evident, the design is a bit low, and the quality fluctuates, they'll be judged dead on sight. Even if later promotions, renaming, beautification, or plastic surgery are done, it's hard to turn around.
Is this initial threshold high? In my opinion, if you want to make a long-term product or brand, the threshold must be high; if you just want a short-term, trend-following product, the threshold is low.
The former requires all small standards to be good, plus continuous resource matching, unwavering determination, and a bit of luck (like Nongfu Spring's "Oriental Leaf"); the latter only needs to be distinctive in some small standards, essentially relying on luck, with no long-term goals or determination, casting a net to see if there are fish, happy to gain and indifferent to loss (as with most products at the Sugar and Wine Fair)!
**2. Sharpening the Axe Won't Delay Cutting Wood: Be Fully Prepared**
To do a good job, one must first sharpen tools. Our sales team's "tools" include not only the product itself but also product positioning, pricing, and strategic and tactical planning such as marketing strategy, brand strategy, and media communication strategy.
**Blind Imitation:** Too many manufacturers rush in, often eager for quick success and looking high but acting low. They fail or refuse to deeply invest in early product polishing, target consumer research, selection of initial model markets, and scientific strategy planning. They blindly copy the successful paths of Red Bull or Dongpeng, without deeply analyzing their own characteristics and strengths and weaknesses, or being blindly confident in their own advantages. They think that hiring those haloed professional managers, having people, money, and products, everything is ready, and victory is just around the corner. That's wrong.
**Aiming Too High:** They often make a big show, with large distribution, big advertising, and big promotions, mechanically applying and reciting scripts, like performing the Eighteen Arhats Fist, each punch fierce but landing on cotton. They set high goals, starting with 300 million, 500 million, or even over a billion. They don't know that haste makes waste. With insufficient preparation and astronomical goals, the pressure transmitted and distorted often leads to a high-profile start but a weak finish.
At the execution level, everyone pretends to be confused, pocketing high salaries and other benefits first, being insincere, and just going through the motions. In this regard, it's advisable to review the success of Genki Forest. We can't just see its rapid breakout and the meteoric rise of sparkling water, without exploring or selectively ignoring the fleeting appearance of its "fruit tea" at the start. Its approach to motivating teams, balancing performance goals, and understanding human nature is also commendable.
The devil is in the details. Many unsuccessful energy drink products still striving for breakthroughs should examine themselves and fill gaps!
**3. To Forge Iron, One Must Be Strong: Execution Must Be in Place**
No matter how good the product or perfect the strategy, it relies on people to execute. When new projects launch, they often expand too quickly, with many mixed elements and imposters among them. A team with mixed quality, no unified goals, and lacking continuous professional training will surely be unable to handle complex and fierce long-term market competition.
Building a long-term brand product is a long-distance race. Many startups may quickly explode in volume based on the first two points, establish local advantages, and become regional strong brands, seemingly about to transform and leap over the dragon gate. But if the team lacks stamina or fights for credit halfway, causing internal chaos, they often fail at the last step, which is regrettable.
To build an iron army that can win battles, maintain stability after victory, fight hard battles, and sustain long-term warfare, performance alignment, training through combat, and survival of the fittest are essential. "Commanding like an arm directing a finger" is easier said than done. Whether it's a team or a gang, the task is arduous and long, not the work of one person or one day.
In summary, I have elaborated my views on breaking through with new functional beverage products from three micro-level aspects: product, strategy, and team. A good wind can lift me to the clouds. With the sound of war drums and the clamor of battle, how many more years can energy drinks sing loudly? Why not ride the wave and enjoy the battlefield. Finally, I wish all colleagues in the energy drink market to whip their horses and sail far!
Bio: Founder and CEO of Zhanying Energy Drink; former general manager of Huabin Red Bull in multiple provinces; former northwest regional manager of Carabao China; served as regional partner and marketing consultant for several startup energy drink brands.


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