Click 'Read Original' for details. July is the peak season for beverage sales each year, and all beverage manufacturers and distributors engage in fierce promotional battles with various tactics. Recently, while visiting the market, I found that even top brands' promotions have significant problems. Although the promotional intensity is high and methods are diverse, the biggest issue is the lack of resonance, often leading to twice the effort with half the results. Below is a summary based on personal experience and market observations. Let's discuss the purpose and effects of promotions—this is common knowledge that needs to be understood. 1. Shorten the product's market entry process. Using promotional tactics aims to provide short-term incentives to consumers or distributors. Within a certain period, stimulate people's purchasing enthusiasm, cultivate customer interest and usage habits, and help customers understand the product as quickly as possible. 2. Encourage first-time purchases to achieve usage goals. Consumers generally have resistance to new products. The initial consumption cost of using a new product is double that of an old product. If consumers are dissatisfied with the new product, they have to spend the same amount to buy the old product, meaning they pay twice to get a satisfactory product. Thus, many consumers psychologically perceive buying new products as costly. Consumers are unwilling to take risks to try new products, but promotions can reduce this risk awareness, lower the initial consumption cost, and encourage acceptance of new products. 3. Encourage repeat purchases and establish consumption habits. After trying a product, if consumers are basically satisfied, they may have the intention to repurchase. However, this intention is initially weak and unreliable. Promotions can help realize this intention. A continuous promotional plan can stabilize the consumer base. 4. Increase sales performance. Undoubtedly, promotion is a form of competition that can change consumers' usage habits and brand loyalty. Driven by benefits, distributors and consumers may stock up and purchase in large quantities. Therefore, during the promotion period, consumption often increases, boosting sales. 5. Offensive and defensive competition to increase market share. Whether a company launches a market offensive or an incumbent launches a defensive counterattack, promotion is an effective tool. Market aggressors can use promotions to strengthen market penetration and accelerate market share gains. Defenders can also use promotions to counter competitors and block their advances. 6. Drive related product markets. The primary goal of promotion is to sell the promoted product. However, promoting Product A can also boost sales of related Product B. For example, tea promotions can drive teapot sales. When more coffee pots are sold, coffee sales increase. In 1930s Shanghai, an American oil company gave away kerosene lamps to consumers, resulting in a significant increase in kerosene sales. 7. Festive rewards. Promotions can add to the festive atmosphere during holidays or company anniversaries. When regular holidays arrive, or companies have major celebrations, or store openings and listings, promotions can express gratitude and celebration to consumers. After understanding the purpose and effects of promotions, let's explore the four key points for successful promotions: Product Flow Regular sales can be simply defined as the flow from manufacturer to distributor to wholesaler to terminal store to consumer. This is an upstream process, meaning the product flows from low potential energy to high potential energy. Without sufficient kinetic energy, the flow slows down. Promotions act as a kinetic energy supplement, accelerating the product flow. 1. Manufacturer: How to use this kinetic energy supplement effectively in the product flow? First, understand the manufacturer's motives. The purposes of manufacturer promotions are generally:

  1. Proactively or reactively attack competitors
  2. Increase market share
  3. Increase sales and profits
  4. Adjust production capacity to alleviate inventory
  5. Quickly recover funds The manufacturer is the primary force behind a promotion and also the point of lowest potential energy in the product flow. The greater the promotional intensity, the greater the initial kinetic energy, and the faster the product reaches consumers. If you think manufacturer promotions are just price discounts or purchase bonuses, that's too narrow. Manufacturer promotions include:

1) Personnel promotion: Invest in promotional staff at key points like KA channels, gas stations, scenic spots, etc., to communicate product differentiation. 2) Advertising promotion: Advertising is an information transmission activity and the most widely used promotional method. It acts like the air force, quickly enhancing product reputation. 3) Public relations promotion: Build a good corporate image and increase consumer trust. 4) Sales promotion: As the name implies, price discounts or purchase bonuses. 5) Distributor incentive promotion: Set incentives for distributors to achieve certain sales volumes or market share within a specified period. When a company plans a promotion, it should go all out in these five areas. 2. Distributor: Most distributors in China are followers. Since that's the case, play the role well. The best way for distributors to follow is to improve execution. I once saw a distributor who, after the manufacturer's five moves, still hadn't started channel distribution, resulting in wasted effort. So, what role should distributors play in promotions?

  1. Cooperate with the manufacturer's various media promotions.
  2. Use the manufacturer's sales promotions to develop their own channel promotion policies, quickly opening up wholesalers and terminal stores to accelerate product flow.
  3. Suppress competitors by occupying wholesalers' and terminal stores' warehouse space and funds.
  4. Cooperate with the manufacturer on key point consumer promotions, including on-site promotional staff, product bonuses, and prize draws.
  5. Increase promotional intensity based on market conditions. Some distributors run their own promotions but stop them when the manufacturer starts one. This is unscientific. In today's homogeneous market, low prices and product concessions never go out of style. 3. Wholesaler: Wholesalers are a channel supplement. They offer a wide range of products, short service radius, timely delivery, flexibility, and serve dense points. They are popular with customers who need small quantities and a variety of products. Of course, due to survival needs, their loyalty is low. In promotions, they act as the distributor's secondary source of funds and warehouse. Their decisive role depends on the distributor's control. 4. Terminal Store: Terminal stores are the final battlefield for consumer competition and the last stop in sales. I've detailed how to handle terminal stores in previous articles, so I won't repeat here. It's worth emphasizing that manufacturers and distributors must not neglect terminal market expense investment. For beverages, during peak season, terminals need investments in freezer displays, cut-case displays, shelf displays, end-cap displays, and stack displays. Many companies make the same mistake: no change in terminal market expense investment between regular sales and promotional sales—a classic case of starting strong and ending weak. In recent years, some companies like Nongfu Spring's "Heaven-sent God of Wealth" (rewarding free bottles for filling freezers or stacking boxes in prominent positions), Ganten (rewarding 10-20 yuan cash for stacking a case at the terminal door), and C'estbon (bundling display fees with bonuses for in-store stacking) have combined terminal promotions with display investments, achieving a 1+1>2 effect. 5. Consumer: Consumer promotion is the terminal point and scoring station of a promotion. Whether a promotion is qualified and how many points it scores depend entirely on consumers. Common consumer promotions include buy-one-get-one-free, QR code scanning, "one more bottle" instant wins, promotional staff introductions, and free samples. It's worth reminding that when your product's power is insufficient, consumer promotions must be implemented. Without pull, there's no sell-through, and all previous efforts are often wasted. Summary: The above describes the product flow of promotions. To successfully execute a market promotion from the manufacturer's starting point to the consumer's endpoint, every channel must be clear. Wherever there's a blockage, clear it. One problem in any link can lead to total failure. Of course, the operator's assessment includes not only unblocking ability but also cost investment and efficiency control across all links. Assessment Chain Product flow refers to the flow of products during promotion; the assessment chain refers to the personnel issues in each promotional link. A good promotion plan requires people to execute. The same plan executed by a wolf-like team versus a sheep-like team will yield vastly different results. Human nature is to seek benefit and avoid harm. As I've said before, where assessment is, there is execution; where incentives are, there is motivation. Try not to go against human nature. What are the personnel flows? Manufacturer workshop team—Manufacturer logistics department—Manufacturer sales, marketing, and other departments—Distributor team—Wholesaler and terminal store teams—Terminal store on-site promoters. These units are parallel, with different roles and different assessment and incentive systems. 1. Manufacturer Workshop Team: A team often overlooked in assessment and incentives. Consider a beverage company: the peak season is June-August, the hottest months, with workshop temperatures reaching 35-40°C. Even with highly automated production lines replacing some labor, the remaining staff should be cared for. Generally, companies don't have backup staff for the production team. Increased workload without incentives leads to imbalance and problems, such as reduced efficiency, higher equipment wear, increased damage, insufficient capacity, failure to generate improvement proposals, and frequent absenteeism. This is like planting a time bomb at the source of the promotion. So, set assessment and incentives for the workshop team based on these issues. 2. Manufacturer Logistics Department: Currently, few domestic manufacturers have their own logistics systems. The logistics department's job is to coordinate with logistics companies to arrange shipments. Usually, this department is only noticed when supply is short or at month-end sales pushes. Once a promotion plan is set, sales will surge. At this point, the logistics team's real-time and accurate shipping, responsibility in later coordination with distributors, and handling of emergencies become critical. The market is like a battlefield; timeliness is crucial. Your product is not irreplaceable. A one- or two-day delay could lose orders. So assessment and incentives must keep up. 3. Manufacturer Sales, Marketing, and Other Departments: These are the key assessment targets for manufacturers. I won't elaborate much, but I want to emphasize the "other departments" like HR and finance. When the front line fights, there will be personnel turnover and expenses. If downstream teams aren't replenished in time and expenses aren't approved promptly, results will suffer. I personally experienced a distributor whose market expenses weren't reimbursed for three months and whose manufacturer contact was vacant for two months. As a result, that market took years to recover, losing over 20 million in annual sales. Assessment and incentives are also a manifestation of high responsibility within the bounds of policy. 4. Distributor Team: This team consists of the owner and employees. Consider this: a powerful promotion requires manufacturer-distributor cooperation. Distributors also give up profits, including team rewards and channel concessions. If distributor sales multiply but profits don't increase, their mindset during budgeting will change. It's recommended to give the distributor team assessment and incentives, such as assessments for market share changes, distribution point increases/decreases, sales volume changes, and payment collections. 5. Wholesaler and Terminal Store Teams: Strictly speaking, this team shouldn't be called assessment but rewards. Adjust channel promotion prices to incentivize wholesalers and terminal stores to take goods, occupying their funds and inventory. For wholesalers, distributors can offer new product introduction rewards and new point development rewards. For both, set periodic cumulative sales rewards on a monthly or quarterly basis. 6. Terminal Store On-site Promoters: Promoters are frontline marketing personnel and must be trained and qualified before starting. The main issues with promoters are high turnover, weak responsibility, and difficulty accumulating promotional experience. If promoters change frequently during peak season promotions, they can't accumulate experience in answering various consumer questions, leading to poor handovers. Also, without a sense of belonging, they may slack off. Ultimately, selling the product to consumers is the best persuasion. So the assessment needs to address: reduce promoter turnover during peak season and increase sales rewards. Summary: The assessment chain is a strong guarantee for the success of a promotion from start to finish. Through an effective assessment system, constrain all participants and build a community of shared interests to achieve twice the results with half the effort. Common Sense on Promotion Types Promotions come in many forms; I won't list them all, but I'll emphasize a few points:
  1. By duration, promotions are long-term or short-term. Long-term suits regular promotions and shouldn't change often. Short-term suits flash promotions; keep them brief, or you'll sacrifice profits and reduce the product's perceived value.
  2. Channel promotions come in two forms: product bonuses and physical gifts. For new products, physical gifts are recommended to avoid devaluing the product.
  3. Advertising promotions should start at least one month before the distribution team's activities and end after the distribution team's activities conclude. This reduces distribution difficulty and increases sell-through speed. Timing, Location, and Harmony Timing: Manufacturers operating nationwide must consider objective factors like weather when launching promotions. I once served a water company that launched a 12-day promotion in June nationwide. During those 12 days, the south experienced heavy rain and severe flooding. After the promotion, sales were lower than usual. So, promotions should be uniformly planned but executed flexibly within a certain timeframe. Location: Every product's market regions have strengths and weaknesses. Promotional intensity should not be uniform. With a fixed overall budget, invest more in personnel incentives in strong regions and more in channel expenses in weak regions. Harmony: Unity of purpose and concerted effort lead to renewed success. In general, under any socialized mass production and commodity economy conditions, on one hand, producers cannot fully know who needs what, where, when, and at what price consumers are willing and able to accept. On the other hand, consumers cannot fully know what products are supplied by whom, where, when, and at what prices. Because of this objective "information separation" between producers and consumers, companies must use communication activities, advertising, publicity, personal selling, and other promotional tools to convey production and product information to consumers and users, enhancing their understanding, trust, and purchase of the company's products to expand sales. As competition intensifies and products multiply, with rising consumer incomes and living standards, in a buyer's market, consumers demand more and have more choices. Thus, communication between companies and consumers becomes even more important. Companies must strengthen promotions, using various methods to deepen consumer awareness of their products, so consumers are willing to spend more to buy them. The role of promotion is to push the product, enabling it to enter the market faster and expand. We see that not every company advertises, but every company without exception engages in promotion. However, the effectiveness evaluation is often not ideal. Finally, I hope every promotion approver can care about and understand the product flow, assessment chain, evaluate promotional forms, and grasp timing, location, and harmony to take their business to the next level! If you wish to communicate with the author