Not to be blunt, but Qiaqia is really quite the "Robert." No sooner had Chang'e-6 opened its Weibo account to report on its lunar soil collection than Qiaqia jumped on the trend with its own "soil-digging" style posts. But that's restrained. Normally, Qiaqia is busy playfully "flirting" with other brands across social media— When Mixue Bingcheng hopped on the CP trend from "Harbin 1944," Qiaqia figured it was a melon seed itself, so why not join in the fun with its snowman buddy? Seeing Dove and Moutai's romantic partnership, it hinted that "melon seeds also have a chocolate future," all while networking. It even ventured into the otome game space, getting "cozy" with Light and Night. But that's not the most absurd part—as an ordinary melon seed, it never gives up, engaging in indiscriminate social learning: Can anyone tell me why a melon seed needs to learn all this? After all, today's Qiaqia: ◆ Has a brand value of 1.822 billion yuan, ranking on the "TopBrand 2023 China's Top 500 Brands" list; ◆ Has consistently ranked first among the "Top Ten Famous Brands of Nuts and Roasted Seeds in China" by the National Nuts and Roasted Seeds Association; ◆ Its trademark is also one of China's 100 Most Valuable Brands as announced by the China Brand Research Institute... As a traditional brand leading China's roasted seed industry, what has shaped Qiaqia's outgoing "personality" today? What lies behind the "Robert" behavior? What is the intention of this snack brand? After 23 years, how does Qiaqia maintain its brand vitality?

The "Entertainment" Gene

Category attributes and brand DNA are the main factors determining Qiaqia's "Robert" personality. First, the category: Qiaqia's core product, "melon seeds," is a typical snack food. When do people eat snacks? While chatting, drinking, binge-watching, at parties... The core here is 'scenario,' emphasizing the 'leisure' of life; second is 'emotional value,' focusing on 'accompanying' you through leisure time. This is also the original function of all snack categories: entertaining companionship and emotional satisfaction. Qiaqia's "Robert" persona can be seen as an enhancement of this entertainment and emotional attribute, but it differs from snack brands born in the new consumer wave: most domestic snack brands grow from the functional soil of the category, with "entertainment" as their foundation. This entertainment attribute's effectiveness in the market is closely tied to the economic environment and the mood of the times. In 2001, when Qiaqia was founded, the world was moving forward: Putin took office, France won the World Cup, and China had just succeeded in its Olympic bid, joined the WTO, and launched the new century's "West-to-East Power Transmission" project... The economic and national strength took off, fueling people's enthusiasm for material consumption and driving demand upgrades. At this juncture, Qiaqia's founder, Chen Xianbao, was the first to spot the opportunity— He noticed that Chinese people at that time had three treasures: mahjong, chopsticks, and melon seeds. Especially melon seeds, which were the star of every household during festivals. But their producers were mostly stallholders, scattered and unsystematic, let alone branded. "Roasted seeds were created by the Chinese, and the industry should be scaled, systematized, branded, and even internationalized," thought Chen Xianbao, who was already a successful popsicle producer—his "Nunchaku" children's popsicle had driven product innovation in the frozen category, and in the freezing northeast, he broke through the traditional popsicle business with an "off-season" marketing approach. But to build a roasted seed brand, where to start? The 'brand name' was Chen Xianbao's first key to unlocking the brand. Most people hear "Qiaqia" and think: Isn't that from the "cha-cha" dance? Indeed. While strolling, Chen Xianbao was attracted by the joyful atmosphere of the cha-cha dance and quickly thought of the homophonic reduplication "Qiaqia"—easy to remember, catchy, and highly spreadable. As a sound symbol, it's light and rhythmic, instantly relaxing. To some extent, you can understand it as: Sound symbol "Qiaqia" = joyful association = extension of entertainment. This equation explains Qiaqia's brand DNA. Over the following decades, Qiaqia's marketing, from content to communication to emotion, revolved around the "entertainment" gene, using "Create quality products, spread the taste of happiness" as its slogan to this day, aiming to merge the original function of traditional snacks with the brand's "joyful" personality. That's how today's "Robert" persona came to be.

Refining the "Five Senses"

But "Robert" is just one facet of Qiaqia's entertainment marketing. In this facet, the 'emotional value' derived from entertainment marketing is Qiaqia's marketing "weapon" closely aligned with the times. 23 years ago, Qiaqia captured the public's joyful emotions through auditory (sound) associations. Visually, Qiaqia uniquely created a 'kraft paper' packaging with Chinese red patterns, blending traditional charm with retro texture, refreshing the visual experience and overturning the melon seed industry, which was still dominated by plastic packaging. Subsequently, Chen Xianbao boldly innovated the process, changing the production technique from "roasting" to "boiling," reshaping the public's taste experience with the aroma of melon seeds boiled with Chinese herbs. Within just one year, Qiaqia's fragrance spread across the country, quickly becoming China's hottest snack brand. In 2011, Qiaqia was listed on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange, becoming the first listed company in the nuts and roasted seeds industry. With this series of moves, Qiaqia established its core competitiveness in the category through its products, and also leveraged Martin Lindstrom's five senses (hearing, sight, taste, smell, and touch) marketing to trigger consumer freshness and mobilize emotions from multiple dimensions. However, today's traditional five senses marketing has evolved from emphasizing a single sensory experience to the "new five senses" that emphasize emotion, psychology, scenario, culture, and social interaction—

Sense of relaxation: Delve into consumer psychology to create a relaxed, healing lifestyle.

Sense of atmosphere: The unique temperament of product experience, forming collective appeal.

Sense of presence: Differentiated positioning to build unique audience memory of the brand.

Sense of authenticity: Natural and pure belonging and identity, mainly integrating into culture to resonate with consumers.

Sense of sociality: Build scenarios to achieve sharing and interactive social connections. But reviewing Qiaqia's marketing tactics, we find that even 20 years ago, its marketing core and path could match today's "new five senses" thinking. Qiaqia possesses an unreplicable foresight.

1. Sense of Presence: Leveraging CCTV for Comprehensive Reach

The herbal fragrance of "boiled" melon seeds, the retro charm of kraft paper packaging, and the catchy sound symbol (Qiaqia)—these differentiated selling points, distinct from the market and industry, were enough to leave a sense of presence for Qiaqia in the melon seed industry. But the question was: How to take this "presence" from Chen Xianbao's hometown of Hefei, Anhui, to the whole country? How to let the entire nation experience the new revolution of Chinese melon seeds? And how to spread the sound symbol and brand packaging of "Qiaqia" nationwide? Chen Xianbao made a bold decision: he spent nearly a year's profit, 4 million yuan, on CCTV advertising. That was the prosperous era of reform and opening up, when people's lives were thriving, and watching TV was considered a popular form of entertainment. CCTV was the most beloved channel. Its high viewership from national popularity could make a slogan last for decades (refer to Jingjiu's "Jingjiu is good, but don't overindulge"). Countless brands went from obscure local brands to industry leaders through prime-time CCTV ads. Qiaqia was one of them. After the ad aired, "Qiaqia fragrant melon seeds, boiled a hundred times, fragrant every bite" took root in people's minds, and distributors from all over the country came knocking. Later, Qiaqia continued to advertise on CCTV, with slogans like "Are you happy? I'm very happy" and "Qiaqia, the taste of happiness" spreading nationwide, making "Qiaqia" a playful symbol among children. Qiaqia's early CCTV ads Through CCTV, Qiaqia melon seeds established their position as China's "King of Melon Seeds." In 2019, Qiaqia once again leveraged CCTV for endorsement, jointly creating a "transparent factory" live stream for three consecutive years, showcasing its entire process from seedling, cultivation, growth, fruiting, to harvesting. Qiaqia's "strength and transparency" won consumer trust in food safety.

2. Sense of Authenticity, Atmosphere, and Sociality: First to Use the Red Mansion IP, Earliest Domestic Brand to Start Guochao Marketing

'Sense of presence' is the prerequisite for Qiaqia to lay a solid market foundation. With the rise of consumption grading, the appearance economy, and emotional consumption, 'sense of authenticity, atmosphere, and sociality' have become the entry points for brands seeking marketing breakthroughs. But Qiaqia was doing these three things long ago—20 years ago, Qiaqia printed "Twelve Beauties of Jinling" cultural cards on its "quality certificates," sparking a craze for collecting Red Mansion cards. People even bought melon seeds just to collect the cards, and the Red Mansion cards once surpassed Water Margin cards as one of the most anticipated card sets. Nostalgic memory: "Twelve Beauties of Jinling" collectible cards Qiaqia thus became "one of the earliest domestic brands to start guochao." Besides the Red Mansion, traditional culture like Tang poetry and Song lyrics were also cultural themes in each pack of Qiaqia melon seeds, and "melon seeds with cards" became another market image for Qiaqia. By exploring the spiritual culture of the cultural society through "Red Mansion card collecting," Qiaqia integrated the entertainment attribute of snacks into social interaction, connecting different circles and nurturing the 'sense of authenticity' of the brand culture. But this trend didn't last, until the "national studies fever" resurged in 2023, when Qiaqia renewed its connection with "Dream of the Red Chamber," launching a new TVC titled "Meeting the Red Mansion, Addicted to Shipping" for the Qixi Festival. The short film focuses on young people's trendy social behavior of "binge-watching and shipping CPs," and in "Dream of the Red Chamber," the residents of the Grand View Garden often tease about the love between Baoyu and Daiyu, and platforms like Bilibili are full of topics shipping "Grandmother Jia and Aunt Feng." Qiaqia cleverly connected the "cracking" of melon seeds with the "shipping" of CPs, linking them to the character relationships in the Red Mansion, offering a more contemporary spiritual supplement. At the same time, it launched kraft paper packaging of the "Twelve Beauties of Jinling," continuing the 'sense of sociality' and 'sense of authenticity' from 20 years ago, filling emotions with "nostalgia" and "homophone puns." If the Red Mansion guochao marketing added a cultural buff to Qiaqia's 'sense of authenticity,' then the "social butterfly" persona on Xiaohongshu is Qiaqia's channel to purely showcase its 'social nature' and 'entertainment gene,' and also an excellent path to create a 'sense of atmosphere' for user participation. Whether it's giveaways for iPhones, pure gold melon seeds, new product benefits, or incorporating memes, playing cat memes, or chasing trends, Qiaqia keeps pace with young people's online social habits. Its language system and mental state closely align with the emotional pain points of C-end users. I'd call it the "electronic pet" of the brand circle. Although managing a "social butterfly" persona is common in the domestic brand circle, this marketing move shows that the focus of social marketing for domestic snack brands has shifted from relying on the interaction between product, function, and public emotion to focusing on the deeper spiritual needs of the younger generation. For Qiaqia, sincere 'empathy' is the ultimate skill to win circle trust.

3. Sense of Relaxation: Always 'Anti-Rolling and Anti-Anxiety,' Happiness Matters Most

This brings us to the 'sense of relaxation' that Qiaqia has had since birth. From the slogan "Qiaqia, the taste of happiness" to its brand slogan, 'spreading happiness' has been regarded as a core part of the brand's temperament. After all, the application scenarios of roasted seeds are not just to enrich daily life; during festivals and gift-giving, Chinese people who value joy and celebration tend to choose brands with happy connotations, which can both entertain guests and enhance relationships. Qiaqia uses 'happiness' to precisely position its brand personality, giving the entertainment function of snacks a specific emotion, and in turn, feeding back into the audience's usage scenarios, social interactions, and psychological feelings. This is also what I admire most about Qiaqia: the 'happiness' it advocates breaks away from chasing collective consumer emotions, evolving only around the brand gene. In the past, Qiaqia's interpretation of 'happiness' focused on showcasing the product, with ads explaining the production process, adding family scenes for holidays, and ending with the familiar "Qiaqia, the taste of happiness," which was considered enough to convey the message. Click to listen to the ending "Qiaqia, the taste of happiness" Direct and straightforward, fitting the communication logic of the traditional advertising era. Back then, people's feelings of 'happiness' were experienced in daily life. Now, the 'happiness' in front of us has become blurred, and the emotional value 'elsewhere' is increasingly clear. Qiaqia also realized that the expression of 'happiness' cannot stay on the surface, but must truly think: What is happiness today? Earlier this year, Qiaqia's "Asking the Master" 2024 Chinese New Year film brought Qiaqia's interpretation of 'happiness' to a watershed: it integrated the understanding of 'the taste of happiness' into the comedic resolution of mental exhaustion events like excessive anxiety and thinking without doing. Even though it ultimately sells products, you still strongly resonate with the three pairs of groups in the film under the absurd plot. This is a major step forward in Qiaqia's expression of the 'happiness' gene: 'happiness' is no longer just an emotion, but a choice, a lifestyle, a redemption and counterattack against the current society's involution and mental exhaustion. But this counterattack is 'relaxed.' Because the deep expression of brand genes needs to fit the context of the times, enter the audience's spiritual territory, extract spiritual nourishment, and truly connect with consumers. Like Qiaqia's collaborations, they increasingly emphasize the depiction of life states. Collaborating with various game brands, Qiaqia highlights the quirky aesthetics of the 2D world, saying my product is perfect for you to enjoy while playing; Collaborating with Yujian Xiaomian to launch ice powder, focusing on summer healing, expressing that Qiaqia can also bring a touch of RIO's tipsy romance; As a fellow domestic snack brand, Qiaqia joined hands with "Weilong" to be the life of the party; Previously, the ad film "Qiaqia Flavored Melon Seeds 6 Treasures, Online Seeking Friends" launched on Bilibili, with its childish and rough art style + "no money, no ideas" + "cheeky" way of asking for help, rivals Robert's style of replying without reading... It can be seen that whether in ads or collaborations, Qiaqia's control of 'sense of relaxation' is closely tied to its brand gene, focusing on 'happiness' without boundaries, living in the moment, and being anti-rolling and anti-anxiety.

Incremental Growth Through Youthfulness

Admittedly, smooth marketing doesn't mean the melon seed category can always thrive. According to the "2022 China Melon Seed Market Research Report—Market Depth Analysis and Development Opportunity Research," from 2015 to 2018, China's melon seed demand showed a clear downward trend, and the growth of packaged melon seed business was nearing its ceiling. In 2018, Qiaqia Foods held a 54% market share in China's packaged melon seed sector, which dropped to about 50% in 2021. As a leading melon seed enterprise, Qiaqia realized that "sticking to melon seeds" couldn't be the only path. It took two actions to turn things around: expanding categories and actively going global. In 2017, Qiaqia Foods entered the nuts track, and in July 2020, it launched the "Nuts+" strategy, gradually forming a "melon seeds + nuts" dual-wheel drive strategy. Today, Qiaqia's "Daily Nuts" category ranks first in both online and offline comprehensive sales, becoming Qiaqia's second growth curve. Qiaqia's China National Geographic documentary "Seeds of Time," also known as "How Qiaqia's Nuts Are Made" In addition to nuts, Qiaqia's Kazirui potato chips have also been successfully put into production. The original melon seed product line is also continuously developing new flavors to attract more C-end consumers with fresh products beyond the basic fragrant melon seeds. This year, Qiaqia's "Tea Coat Melon Seeds" officially launched. The birth of these flavors proves Qiaqia's professional and technical strength in melon seed R&D. As for going global, Qiaqia actually set up its first overseas office in Vietnam as early as 2008, starting its overseas layout. From 2008 to 2018, Qiaqia has been promoting localized practices overseas. This is extremely difficult. Because there are fewer than 5 countries globally that eat melon seeds, and in some countries, melon seeds are used to feed hamsters and other small animals. Qiaqia's first challenge in going global is the difference in dietary culture and habits. At this point, combining category and taste becomes crucial. In China, Qiaqia's newly developed flavors like caramel, walnut, and sea salt are popular among young people, but these flavors don't work abroad. For example, in the Thai market, Qiaqia only truly opened the market after creating a coconut flavor product specifically for it. Of course, taste localization is just part of corporate localization. What Qiaqia wants is to build factories globally, establish distribution networks globally, and achieve localization of the entire industry chain. This step only reached an important milestone in 2019 when Qiaqia's Thailand factory went into operation, officially marking a significant milestone in its globalization strategy. Today, Qiaqia has not only built ten factories globally but also established a well-regionally-distributed export network, cooperating with nearly 100 overseas distributor clients, with products exported to nearly 50 countries and regions across Asia, Europe, and the Americas. According to financial report data, as of 2024, Qiaqia's overseas revenue is nearly 600 million yuan. Qiaqia was selected for the "2024 Chinese Brands Loved by Foreigners" This is the survival path Qiaqia has carved out for itself. Once again, I have to admire the brand's foresight and exploratory spirit, which enabled it to cope with the bottleneck in the domestic melon seed market a decade later.

Finally

Writing about Qiaqia always reminds me of Baixiang, which I wrote about before. Both are domestic brands, but their paths of rise, development, and change are completely different. Yet when you look back at how they grew and think about how they survive today, I can't help but recall a saying—'Brands win by spirit.' Qiaqia's spirit is its persistence in the brand's 'happiness' gene from its inception to today. It represents the spiritual core behind snack categories and roasted seed brands, and also represents a brand's journey from national to international. Marketing isn't just about tactics; any routine or trend will eventually fade. Only by holding onto your brand gene can you live up to every moment spent in the era. Just like the theme song "Happy Qiaqia" released for Qiaqia's 20th anniversary: "Good times, don't let them down"! Finally, I think people should be like Qiaqia: happy and self-consistent. From August 20-22, 2024, the "2024 6th China FMCG Conference" with the theme "Crossing the Era of Shrinkage," along with the "3rd China FMCG Hard Discount Conference" and the "3rd China FMCG Distributor Conference," will be grandly held in Shanghai. At this conference, we will focus on a top-tier guest matrix of China's leading FMCG brands, authoritatively interpret market trends, professionally analyze industry status, provide precise business matching and cooperation opportunities, help companies accurately grasp market pulses, formulate effective response strategies, and achieve resource sharing and coordinated development. At the same time, we will invite leading national retail platforms to thoroughly explain hard discount retail competition models from multiple perspectives, interpret long-term trends and opportunities through practical cases, and help companies find key opportunities to achieve hard growth across cycles. Gathering 500+ outstanding distributors from across the country, we will comprehensively interpret distributor business from growth paths, challenges and opportunities, and operational practices, helping distributors expand their survival radius and solidify their business inventory! For conference business cooperation, please contact: 🔺Scan code for ticket inquiries🔺 Recommended Reading