---
title: "Product Innovation: Moving from B-end Products to C-end Products!"
description: "The article discusses the boundaries between B-end (channel) and C-end (consumer) products, arguing that B-end organizations are street-sweeping while C-end organizations are people-sweeping. It explores why B-end products fail in C-end markets, how C-end organizations can sell B-end products, and the key differences between the two, offering strategic advice for traditional FMCG companies."
author: "方刚"
publisher: "New Distribution"
email: "zhaobo258@gmail.com"
telephone: "+8615854817671"
published: "2018-05-31"
language: "en"
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# Product Innovation: Moving from B-end Products to C-end Products!

> The article discusses the boundaries between B-end (channel) and C-end (consumer) products, arguing that B-end organizations are street-sweeping while C-end organizations are people-sweeping. It explores why B-end products fail in C-end markets, how C-end organizations can sell B-end products, and the key differences between the two, offering strategic advice for traditional FMCG companies.

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I've been thinking about a topic: are the boundaries between B-end products and C-end products clear or blurred?
That is, how do you define whether your product is a B-end product or a C-end product?
**In fact, the boundaries between B-end organizations and C-end organizations are clear: B-end organizations sweep streets, C-end organizations sweep people.**
Note: B-end specifically refers to channels (distributors + terminals), C-end refers to consumers.
I once posted a few disjointed words on my social media: **B-end organizations cannot find C-end genes.**
Two years ago, when O2O was extremely hot, some traditional enterprises rushed to apply traditional channel products to it, even spending heavily on developing apps, only to end up in agony, like vomiting for the sake of vomiting.
01
**Using B-end products for C-end is a false proposition, because no matter how you do it, it's still B-end posture and routine.** Why is that?
1. **The essence of FMCG is to eliminate scarcity**: instant decision-making, low-cost consumption. Being available, being heard, being thought of is the mission of FMCG. The survival soil for such products must be an efficient and low-cost channel layout, diluting costs through maximum coverage.
2. **The open nature of traditional channels is inherent**: that is, in traditional channels, you have to accept the reality that bestsellers don't make money, and money-makers don't sell well.
3. **The survival logic of traditional channels is "bandit logic"**: This mountain is opened by me, this tree is planted by me; if you want to pass, leave toll money. Those with more money pass first. Like the Strait of Malacca, before a new canal is dug, you have no choice. This gave birth to Chinese-style marketing known for "bribery" marketing: channels can make or block brands.
B-end is naturally the mountain king; after good days for too long, they become lawless, fearing nothing except consumers, especially in an era of material abundance or even surplus.
Sweeping streets made B-end organizations successful because in the past, distributors only sat in their shops and didn't come out. Sweeping streets became the best way to force distributors to come out: Are you coming out or not? If not, I'll give the customers to Sun Erniang. That's what manufacturers said. In this context, **distributors fear losing terminals the most.**
After ten years of street sweeping, the customers (terminals) were well served, their appetites were whetted, and terminals became roadblocks.
**Who do terminals fear? They fear consumers.**
So go sweep consumers. But when you turn around, you see the brothers behind you with brooms are used to sweeping streets; they don't know how to sweep people, and even with a broom, they can't sweep groups of consumers into their arms...
**Today, B-end organizations have lost their martial arts, and C-end organizations have become sharp weapons.**
02
So, a question arises: Can B-end products be handled by C-end organizations?
Answer: Yes.
**The upper body is C-end organization, the lower body is B-end organization—that's the characteristic of such enterprises. Use C-end organization for communication, and B-end iron army for sales.** Brands that have mastered this skill include: Jiangxiaobai—using F2C2C for communication, Xiaoshile's F2B2C, but still relying on traditional channels for sales with B-end organizations.
Of course, Jiangxiaobai's e-commerce is also quite good.
03
Now that we understand the boundaries between B-end and C-end organizations, are there differences between B-end products and C-end products? Where are they?
**1. B-end products can use C-end communication, but may not be suitable for C-end sales.** That's why mass B-end products die when they touch the internet, and why O2O can't work.
**2. C is the head, B is the waist. C must be sharp, B must be strong.** Sharp means having differentiation and communication attributes, being niche rather than mainstream.
C-end products suit closed gameplay and wide distribution; B-end products suit open gameplay and dense planting.
**Niche products die in mass channels** (by Liu Chunxiong), which is like planting corn using the method for wheat.
Some might say: precise channel selection will solve this. Yes, in theory, but KPIs won't forgive you.
**3. B-end is a stabilizer and amplifier; C-end products have weaker stability and life cycles than B-end products.** C-end products catch trends; after the trend, they become mainstream. The hardest part of converting from C to B is grasping the critical point and controlling the rhythm. **Doing only C-end won't make you big; doing only B-end won't make you strong.**
04
Having said all this, I just want to say a few words to companies that shout transformation and innovation as strategy:
1. Do you have new products? Are your products B-end or C-end?
2. Do you have new channels? Are your exits in the hands of the mountain king or in your own hands? **Energy is conserved; the money you give to the mountain king is about the same as the cost of building new channels.**
3. Do you have new communication? **The era of slogans is over; the era of social media has long arrived.**
4. Do you have new organizations? Street-sweeping troops or people-sweeping troops? **Make sales light, products heavy, and empower with communication.**
5. **The next dividend after deep distribution: precise distribution.**
For many traditional FMCG industries, B-end has thousands of troops, while C-end is almost uninhabited.
When the pain of crowding lasts too long, why not enjoy the loneliness.
Source: New Beer
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