A prefecture-level city selling over 10 million is not surprising, but now a township market can sell over 10 million a year, and in heavy baijiu consumption markets like Jiangsu and Anhui, some brands achieve annual sales of around 100 million in township markets. With increasing industry concentration, how can ordinary distributors seize township markets and create a 'small area, big sales' comeback? This article details such a comeback case for readers, showing how a new brand achieved over a million in sales in a short time in a township market that major brands are now beginning to value and compete for. Case Overview: In a certain area under Shijiazhuang, Hebei, there are 3 townships and 18 villages with a population of about 130,000. The baijiu consumption level is relatively low, but the consumption atmosphere is strong. Mr. Zhang is a distributor for a certain brand in this area. He has been operating for 8 years with relatively complete channels. At the beginning of 2015, Mr. Zhang decided to adjust his product structure, discarding some products that were unprofitable or had high profit but no sales, and operate a new brand. From early March to mid-June 2015, the brand's sales in the area reached 1.08 million yuan. In the current industry environment, how did a new brand achieve such performance in a township market? Step 1: Know Yourself and Know Your Enemy, and You Will Never Be Defeated (Distribution) Generally, terminal channels require a profit of 20-50 yuan per box of baijiu (boxed wine, 1*6). The profit margins of mainstream brands in this township market, such as Hengshui Laobaigan, Luzhou series products, Shanzhuang, Bancheng Shaoguo, and Weidaofu, are all in this range. For the new brand he represents, Mr. Zhang hopes to stimulate consumers without affecting his own price system. Therefore, he formulated a dual profit incentive of 'smooth price profit + monthly rebate' to stimulate terminal purchases. The smooth price profit is controlled at 25 yuan, 30 yuan, and 35 yuan, which exactly meets the terminal's core pursuit of profit; the monthly rebate is 8% (about 20 yuan), which is an additional reward given to terminal stores that strictly follow the merchant's requirements. According to this calculation, the terminal store's profit has surpassed that of major competitors, making terminal store owners more willing to recommend the product. With such profit incentives, the new product reached 107 stores in March, achieving sales of 380,000 yuan. During the distribution period, to make terminal stores trust the brand more, Mr. Zhang personally accompanied salespeople to visit terminals and promote the product's advantages. "Actually, many terminal store owners have a face-saving complex. When I go for the first negotiation, the effect is much better than when salespeople go. Business is hard now, so managers also need to go to the market and act as salespeople," Mr. Zhang told the author. Step 2: Consumer 'Low-End Practical' Promotions to Stimulate Consumption After distribution, the goal is to make consumers willing to buy. In Mr. Zhang's view, consumers in township markets have relatively simple needs for baijiu. As long as the price is right and the quality is good, there is a market; brand is a secondary consideration for consumers. After distribution, Mr. Zhang specially carried out themed promotional activities in the area. The promotional items also chose practical needs of township consumers, using daily necessities such as large basins (for washing clothes), porcelain bowls, five-piece kitchen knife sets, and T-shirts as promotions. These items are all 'themed promotional items' and include product advertisements as carriers for brand promotion. Anyone who buys a box of any product at any terminal store receives a promotional item of their choice. The large-scale display of promotional items stimulated consumer purchases. By mid-April, the product had reached 158 terminal stores, with 76 stores making second payments, and April sales reached 470,000 yuan. Mr. Zhang also mentioned that he is both a distributor and a terminal store owner, and his own store sales were over 80,000 yuan. Step 3: Focus on Cultivating Key Opinion Leaders and Word-of-Mouth For township markets, word-of-mouth is very important and a key link in the sales process. "As long as everyone says it's good, the product is easily accepted by consumers, especially the key opinion leaders in a village and terminal store owners," Mr. Zhang said. Because of the strong herd mentality, people tend to follow the consumption brands of influential people, neighbors, relatives, and friends. So Mr. Zhang used his network to develop a key person in each village (village head, red and white event coordinator, rural chef), giving them two bottles of wine each month as a reward, and asking them to recommend the brand to fellow villagers, especially for weddings and banquets. If consumption occurs, there are additional rewards. Mr. Zhang also told the author that during the May Day holiday, the brand was used in 60 wedding banquets, with wedding banquet sales exceeding 200,000 yuan. Step 4: Do a Good Job of Terminal Store Visual Merchandising and Brand Promotion Terminal visual merchandising is something every liquor professional knows about. Mr. Zhang mainly built core stores in the township, selecting well-located core stores for packaging, creating image stores through terminal visual merchandising such as store signs, and creating a good sales atmosphere. Strengthen terminal POP advertising, such as store plaques, storefront decoration and window displays, inflatable ads hung outside, banners, interior decoration, displays, and posters. Choose advertising materials that are not expensive but have a large 'area' as the main promotional items. These serve to announce new products, arouse consumer purchase awareness, and create a sales atmosphere. Since the market is mainly rural townships, Mr. Zhang also made full use of wall advertisements for promotion, placing them at entrances and exits of townships, villages, and traffic arteries. Wall advertisements are a mandatory medium that is visible every day and cannot be refused. Mr. Zhang created about 20 wall advertisements in the area, all paid for through liquor exchange, turning advertising companies into his group-buying customers. He used the least money to achieve the greatest effect, turning the brand's wall advertisements into a scenic line of brand promotion in the township. From Mr. Zhang's case, the operation method for township markets is actually simpler than for prefecture-level and above markets. The core lies in terminal store profits and promotion forms that don't need to be too novel but must be down-to-earth. Terminal store owners value face and relationship maintenance. More importantly, it is necessary to target the consumption needs and psychology of township market consumers, whether it's product selling points or promotional items, and set and communicate accordingly. By June 13, Mr. Zhang had achieved sales of 1.08 million yuan, with an annual target of 5 million yuan for the brand. In Mr. Zhang's view, according to the current plan, achieving this goal is not a problem. Source: Shengchu Consulting, Zhao Haiyong -END-