---
title: "New Technology + New Consumption Era: The Underlying Logic of Marketing and the Path to Breakthrough!"
description: "Facing today's rapidly evolving technology and unpredictable consumer demands, where should brand marketing go? Old marketing tactics are becoming less effective, so how should the growth flywheel of the new consumption era spin? At the main forum of the 11th China FMCG Conference (CFC) held from March 16 to 18, Wu Dinan, founding partner of Mingdi Investment/Mingdi Empowerment, delivered a keynote speech titled 'Marketing Breakthrough in the New Technology + New Consumption Era.' He pointed out that to find a breakthrough in the current market environment, one must first clarify what is changing and what remains constant."
author: "吴迪年"
publisher: "New Distribution"
email: "zhaobo258@gmail.com"
telephone: "+8615854817671"
published: "2026-04-06"
categories: "Brand Marketing, Consumer & Categories, Industry Trends"
language: "en"
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original_source: "https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/GlbEhTrJ2nIN7__j8lbcwA"
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attribution: "New Distribution — https://xinjignxiao.com/en/articles/new-technology-new-consumption-era-the-underlying-logic-of-marketing-and-eaf1fdd5/"
citation: "吴迪年. “New Technology + New Consumption Era: The Underlying Logic of Marketing and the Path to Breakthrough!.” New Distribution, 2026-04-06. https://xinjignxiao.com/en/articles/new-technology-new-consumption-era-the-underlying-logic-of-marketing-and-eaf1fdd5/"
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---

# New Technology + New Consumption Era: The Underlying Logic of Marketing and the Path to Breakthrough!

> Facing today's rapidly evolving technology and unpredictable consumer demands, where should brand marketing go? Old marketing tactics are becoming less effective, so how should the growth flywheel of the new consumption era spin? At the main forum of the 11th China FMCG Conference (CFC) held from March 16 to 18, Wu Dinan, founding partner of Mingdi Investment/Mingdi Empowerment, delivered a keynote speech titled 'Marketing Breakthrough in the New Technology + New Consumption Era.' He pointed out that to find a breakthrough in the current market environment, one must first clarify what is changing and what remains constant.

Facing today's rapidly evolving technology and unpredictable consumer demands, where should brand marketing go? Old marketing tactics are becoming less effective, so how should the growth flywheel of the new consumption era spin?

At the main forum of the 11th China FMCG Conference (CFC) held from March 16 to 18, Wu Dinan, founding partner of Mingdi Investment/Mingdi Empowerment, delivered a keynote speech titled "Marketing Breakthrough in the New Technology + New Consumption Era."

He pointed out that to find a breakthrough in the current market environment, one must first clarify what is changing and what remains constant. In the future marketing context, technology handles efficiency, while humans handle insight and empathy—both are indispensable. Future marketers must evolve into "π-shaped talents."

The following is an edited transcript of Mr. Wu Dinan's on-site speech, compiled for our readers.

**The Underlying Logic That Hasn't Changed in the Past 20 Years**
**And Won't Change in the Next 5 Years**

Today, everyone is talking about new technology, new consumption, AI large models, and omni-channel operations. Many FMCG colleagues feel extremely anxious in this process, feeling that past experience is no longer useful, traditional methods have failed, and overnight we seem to have lost control of the market.

But if we look past the surface fog and get to the essence of business, you'll find that what hasn't changed in the past 20 years and won't change in the next 5 years is the underlying logic of marketing.

I condense this underlying logic into five "forevers," corresponding to the essence of brand, product, consumer, price, and channel:

1. **Trust is always the core (brand essence)**
No matter how marketing tactics change or where traffic shifts, users will always choose things that are reliable, trustworthy, and well-reviewed.
The essence of a brand is to reduce consumers' choice costs, and the prerequisite for reducing costs is trust. In an era of information explosion and severe product homogenization, trust has not depreciated; instead, it has become the scarcest premium asset.

2. **Value always comes first (product essence)**
Solving real problems, being useful, and having solid quality will always matter more than flashy marketing gimmicks.
Consumers are not fools; the impulse to buy may come from a live stream or a product review, but the decision to repurchase must come from the absolute value of the product itself. Marketing without product strength will die faster the more traffic it gets.

3. **Always pursue "value for money + delight" (consumption essence)**
Have today's consumers changed? Yes, they have become more demanding. They always pursue "value for money + delight."
Value for money means extreme cost-performance and not paying IQ tax; delight means experience and emotional value.
We cannot simply interpret this as consumption downgrading; consumers are seeking the same or even higher physical and mental pleasure at lower prices.

4. **Always revolve around "value perception" (price essence)**
Is a product expensive or not? FMCG companies often price based on "cost + margin," but consumers only look at "value perception." Whether it's expensive depends on whether users feel it's worth it, not the number on the label.
If you can provide extremely high emotional value and social currency, they'll think a few hundred yuan for a blind box is worth it; if it's just an ordinary thirst-quenching drink, they'll hesitate over an extra yuan.

5. **Always ensure "convenient purchase" (channel essence)**
The form of channels changes, but the core of "efficiency" remains the same.
Wherever users are, channels should be built there. If consumers are scrolling on Douyin, your products should be on interest e-commerce; if consumers are strolling in communities, your products should be in snack collection stores.
From people finding goods to goods finding people, enabling consumers to "conveniently buy" the moment they have the thought is always the ultimate goal of channel construction.

**In the Past 20 Years**
**The "Form" of Marketing Has Undergone Huge Changes**

Since the underlying logic (the spirit) of these five "forevers" hasn't changed, why do people still feel business is getting harder?

Because times have changed, and the "form" and "field" of marketing have undergone structural changes. If we still use 20-year-old methods to deal with today's market, we are like a man marking his boat to find a lost sword.

Looking back over the past 20 years, these three major changes have profoundly reshaped our industry:

1. **Brand transformation: from "authority endorsement" to "personified empathy"**
In the past, how did we build brands? Through CCTV's top bid winners, strong exposure in major media, and authoritative endorsement by celebrity spokespersons. As long as you bombarded prime time, consumers would buy.
But today? Brands are moving toward word-of-mouth, persona building, content depth, and personification.
Consumers no longer blindly trust authority; they trust KOC's real reviews more and prefer personified brands that are warm, have values, and can "talk" to them.

2. **Product transformation: from "functional satisfaction" to "emotional and customized"**
In the past, FMCG mainly addressed basic functional needs: eating enough, staying warm, quenching thirst, and removing stains. That was the era of "big single products" conquering the market, with one formula for the whole country.
But today, products are racing toward high aesthetics, emotional satisfaction, niche segmentation, and customization. Products are no longer just a collection of physical attributes; they have become social currency for consumers to express themselves and seek group identity.

3. **Channel and promotion transformation: from "single chain" to "omni-channel fragmentation"**
In the past, our channels were linear: manufacturer → first-tier distributor → second-tier distributor → terminal → consumer.
Promotion was one-way: brands broadcast ads, consumers watched ads.
But today, the paths to reach consumers have become extremely fragmented, with online and offline omni-channel integration, and the explosion of interest e-commerce, instant retail, and private domain communities. The boundary between promotion and transaction has completely blurred; what you see is what you get, and brand and performance must be unified.

**Technology for Efficiency**
**Humanities for Insight: Three Steps to Immediate Implementation**

Facing the unchanging "underlying logic" and ever-changing "market forms," at the intersection of new technology and new consumption, what is the breakthrough strategy for FMCG companies?

My core conclusion is: **Fully embrace AI large models and big data. Let technology handle efficiency, and let humans handle insight, empathy, and strategy—both are indispensable.**

AI and generative AI are not distant concepts; they are the breakthrough tools we must master today. They can massively replace traditional repetitive work, allowing companies to truly focus on personalization and precise prediction.

To implement this strategy immediately, I suggest a "three-step plan":

**Step 1: Data foundation, say goodbye to crude投放**
Many companies still have a mess of accounts. We must comprehensively sort out the full journey data of users, not just their purchase behavior, but also their browsing preferences and emotional tendencies.
Based on this live data, build truly predictable user profiles.
Only with a data foundation can we hit the target in omni-channel marketing, saying goodbye to the crude approach of "I know half my advertising budget is wasted, but I don't know which half."

**Step 2: AI empowers efficiency, freeing up manpower**
Don't treat AI as a toy; turn it into a productivity tool. In daily business processes, we should extensively introduce generative AI.
Use AI to quickly generate Xiaohongshu seeding copy, Douyin short video scripts, and e-commerce detail page posters; use intelligent customer service to handle massive daily inquiries; use AI models for dynamic smart pricing based on market supply and demand. Free our employees from these tedious, low-efficiency execution tasks, allowing them to do higher-value work.

**Step 3: Humanities for differentiation, replacing sales with empathy**
When everyone uses AI to improve efficiency, efficiency is no longer the only moat.
Where is the ultimate differentiation of a brand? In "humanities." Machines can generate perfect copy, but machines don't have human empathy.
We need to deeply bind brand values, create immersive consumption scenarios (whether in offline concept stores or the metaverse), and use deep emotional resonance to break through consumers' minds. Replacing hard-sell advertising with empathy is the highest-level way for brands to thrive in the AI era.

**Future Marketers Must Be "π-shaped Talents"**

With the strategy set and tools in hand, who will execute it? Ultimately, it's the organization and the people.

In the new technology + new consumption era, the original organizational structure and talent model of enterprises can no longer match future needs. In the past, we needed "single-skill" talents: media people only knew media, channel people only knew channels. Later, we emphasized "T-shaped talents," requiring one specialty with multiple skills.

But today, facing such a complex marketing environment, future marketing talents must evolve into "π-shaped talents" or even composite structures. What is a "π-shaped talent"?

* **Left leg of π: Technology integration capability.** They must understand AI tool applications, be proficient in various new technologies and data platforms, and use technology as an extension of their brains.
* **Right leg of π: Human insight capability.** They must deeply understand people, perceive consumers' emotional demands and deep values, and possess strong empathy and compassion.
* **Crossbar of π: Omni-channel growth capability.** They need a holistic business perspective, able to combine technology and insight to achieve closed-loop operations across all channels and the entire chain, taking responsibility for final business growth.

This requires our companies to completely abandon old path dependencies in future recruitment, training, and organizational structure building, and to seek and cultivate composite special forces who understand both technology and human nature and can fight hard battles.

FMCG colleagues, when the times abandon you, they don't even say goodbye. But in uncertainty, we can still grasp the certain things. Arm yourself with the most advanced technology and embrace consumers with the softest human care—this is our greatest confidence in the changing situation!

**Final Thoughts**

Although the current market environment is full of challenges and everyone is shouting "difficult," the underlying logic of marketing—trust and value—will never change. What changes are media, channels, expression methods, and consumption scenarios.

Authenticity, professionalism, long-term relationships, and AI efficiency will determine future victory.

May all FMCG professionals accelerate organizational evolution in this clash between technology and humanity and find their own path to breakthrough!


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## Citation metadata

- Publisher: New Distribution
- Author: 吴迪年
- Published: 2026-04-06
- Canonical: https://xinjignxiao.com/en/articles/new-technology-new-consumption-era-the-underlying-logic-of-marketing-and-eaf1fdd5/
- Original source: https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/GlbEhTrJ2nIN7__j8lbcwA

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