Market data shows that Qili, launched by Wahaha in 2012 with high hopes, has underperformed, with sales and reputation falling short of industry expectations. Other energy drinks like Lehu from Daliyuan and Dongpeng Te Yin from Dongpeng Industrial have also struggled. Meanwhile, Red Bull remains the undisputed leader with over 70% market share. Why have Qili, Lehu, and Dongpeng Te Yin performed so poorly? How long will Red Bull continue to dominate the energy drink market?

Failure: Not About Product, Not About Company

Product. In terms of ingredients, Qili, Lehu, and Dongpeng Te Yin all contain taurine, lysine, vitamins, caffeine, and similar components, with the same function of "refreshing and anti-fatigue." Thus, there is no essential difference from Red Bull in product composition and characteristics.

Company Strength. Wahaha Group (Qili) and Daliyuan Group (Lehu) are both giants in the domestic food industry, with unquestionable financial and channel strength. Dongpeng Te Yin has steadily developed in the southern market, with deep channel layout and broad recognition in Guangdong, Hainan, Fujian, Guangxi, etc. To expand nationally, Dongpeng even hired celebrity Nicholas Tse as spokesperson, clearly not short on funds.

However, as latecomers, the core issue for Qili, Lehu, and Dongpeng Te Yin is not product quality or company strength, but the "Red Bull dominance" problem.

As the global pioneer and leading brand of energy drinks, Red Bull has firmly secured the position of "number one energy drink" in the public mind. "Energy drink = Red Bull" is almost universal consensus; when replenishing energy, Red Bull is the first choice. In other words, Qili, Lehu, and Dongpeng Te Yin on supermarket shelves inevitably face direct consumer questioning: What makes you different from Red Bull? Why should I choose you? Let's look at their performance.

Qili: Suggestive Attack, Self-Amusement "Drink Qili, add power, refresh without harming the body, boost immunity! Treat both symptoms and root causes, authentic health product." Qili's main appeal of "adding power and refreshing" is consistent with Red Bull, failing to find a point that differentiates in the mind. The subsequent four phrases are alarming.

"Refresh without harming the body" is the first in the industry to suggest that functional drinks harm the body, lacking support in communication, merely conveying a baffling message. If Qili doesn't harm, does Red Bull? This touches the high-voltage line of inherent cognition, committing a major taboo in brand communication.

"Boost immunity" is lukewarm. Immunity is an abstract, neutral concept in consumer minds; abstract concepts cannot be immediately understood as concrete benefits, nor generate positive associations.

"Treat both symptoms and root causes, authentic health product" is an unnecessary addition to prove the correctness of the previous claims. "Treat both symptoms and root causes" is a typical strong drug efficacy claim, yet it emphasizes being an authentic health product. New brands emphasizing authenticity is also foolish; the positioning of "authentic" and "leader" must be based on existing foundational cognition.

Qili's differentiated appeal lists a bunch of arguments but lacks a sharp point, making it difficult to focus communication firepower. Such Qili is truly hard to empower!

Lehu: Frontal Assault, Foolish Arrogance Lehu: "Drink Lehu, refresh and fight fatigue, stimulate positive energy!" Clearly, "refresh and fight fatigue" is Red Bull's territory, and "attacking the city is inferior." If Lehu hasn't forgotten Red Bull's existence, it is foolishly arrogant. The cognitive rule of "first-mover advantage" reveals that if a follower claims the same product attributes as the leader, it not only fails but also strengthens the leader's position in the customer's mind. "Stimulate positive energy" is purely superfluous.

Moreover, Lehu's packaging is almost identical to Red Bull's, with virtually no difference (later adjusted to PET bottles). Similar advertising appeals plus the shiny gold can make Lehu a representative of counterfeit Red Bull. In this case, the more Lehu advertises, the more distinct its counterfeit image becomes, and against this backdrop, Red Bull's "authentic" status is further solidified. Additionally, due to lack of differentiation, the endorsement by Yi Jianlian and the "CBA designated drink" trust mark find no leverage. Trying to imitate but ending up unlike, Lehu, how can it be a tiger?

Dongpeng Te Yin: Packaging Is Not True Differentiation "Sleepy, tired, drink Dongpeng Te Yin" - another member joins the counterfeit army! Clearly, Dongpeng Te Yin directly copied Red Bull's slogan. Given Red Bull's dominance in the energy drink category, when people are "tired, sleepy," they first think of Red Bull. However, Dongpeng Te Yin uses PET bottles, larger capacity, and lower price (average nearly half of Red Bull), which overcomes the drawback of cans being single-serve and also makes its low price more subtle. It has some value from the perspective of "affordability" and "convenience," especially for second- and third-tier markets and lower-income groups (reportedly, Dongpeng Te Yin has achieved sales of 1 billion yuan through this differentiation and channel segmentation).

But packaging is ultimately packaging; it cannot threaten Red Bull at a strategic level. So Dongpeng Te Yin is at best another Heqizheng (the JDB and Wanglaoji war stimulated consumption and boosted the herbal tea category, but Heqizheng, in an awkward position, gained no advantage; its market share declined, and according to the "law of duality," Heqizheng almost never has a chance to rise). As Heqizheng No. 2, where is Dongpeng Te Yin's future path?

Why Is Red Bull So Bullish? Red Bull: Your energy exceeds your imagination. When energy drinks first differentiated from refreshing beverages, they seized the largest category value. The brand completed category representation; in consumer minds, Red Bull is synonymous with energy drinks.

Consumers often say, "Give me a Red Bull," rather than "Give me a Red Bull vitamin functional drink." Consumers are inherently lazy; in essence, they judge by category and communicate by brand.

Key Points of Red Bull's Marketing Competitive Strategy:

1. First Beats Better Red Bull entered China in 1995, gaining a first-mover advantage by seizing the right timing.

2. Unique Category Value After establishing the unique category value of "Red Bull = Energy," it built operational alignment strategies around this core value.

3. Name Energy Value The natural advantage of the brand name "Red Bull" - the individual characters and their combination align with consumer perception of "energy."

4. Brand Story and Background Red Bull is a Thai import; Muay Thai is the world's most ferocious martial art, representing unparalleled energy. The association between Thai beverages and Muay Thai highlights authenticity.

5. Product Form Product form elements like color, aroma, taste, shape, and packaging align with the brand's unique category value, especially the three-piece can packaging that conveys functional appeal and suits gift-giving.

6. Other Essential Factors Marketing team, distributor model, and leader's charisma are all necessary conditions for success.

Although Red Bull's slogan is "Sleepy, tired, drink Red Bull," the main appeal clearly is "refreshing and replenishing energy." But the selling point needs to be more concrete and focused.

Establish opinion leaders and expand consumer base from point to surface. "Cars need fuel, I need Red Bull" - Red Bull targeted drivers as heavy consumers and designated gas stations as high-potential channels. Typical demonstration groups strengthened the category value of "replenishing energy" and directly drove consumption among non-heavy users.

When cognition becomes common sense, it signals the brand has secured the top position, establishing a competitive barrier and setting an insurmountable hurdle for challengers. Subsequent promotions like "Red Bull Time" or various product placements serve to revitalize the brand and increase consumer stickiness.

From "sleepy, tired" to "your energy exceeds your imagination," and from Europe and America to China, Red Bull has consistently sponsored various sports events. Such brand characteristics and the cognitive imprint of being the number one functional drink deepen over time!

Summary The energy drink category is relatively mature, and Red Bull is the absolute representative. For followers like Qili, Lehu, and Dongpeng Te Yin to gain a foothold, they must either shift perspective to find a "gap" to fill, or "reposition" Red Bull. Only then can they enter the minds of potential customers. Clearly, the performance of Qili, Lehu, and Dongpeng Te Yin is unimpressive, but from a learning perspective, they serve as excellent negative examples, representing three typical strategic mistakes: Qili's suggestive attack, Lehu's frontal assault, and Dongpeng Te Yin's "fake" differentiation. These are lessons worth learning. Market competition is inherently cruel! But it is through continuous competition that we grow and bring consumers more diverse choices!

Source: Food Economy

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