Source | Teacher Liu's Scene Marketing ID | liuchunxiong1964 Author | Liu Chunxiong
****Deep Distribution: Debut and Farewell In 2000, teachers Bao Zheng and Shi Wei proposed deep distribution, which was vigorously promoted by Sales and Marketing. At the time, I was working at Sales and Marketing and only regarded deep distribution as a measure to localize marketing after the end of Western marketing enlightenment. I did not anticipate that deep distribution would prevail for over 20 years and become the most influential theoretical and practical system in Chinese marketing. Practice comes first, then methodology is summarized and popularized, and finally a theoretical system is formed. This sequence of [method, methodology, epistemology] is quite normal in reality. Teacher Shi Wei proposed the concept of deep distribution in 2000, but the book Deep Distribution: Controlling the Channel Value Chain was not published until 2018. Deep distribution has influenced Chinese marketing for over 20 years, and I believe there are several reasons for this. First, deep distribution solved the problem of dual-wheel drive in marketing. Brand drive and channel drive constitute the dual-wheel drive of Chinese marketing. Brand drive is led by the marketing department (brand department) and accomplished through advertising; channel drive is led by the sales department and accomplished through deep distribution. One is push, the other is pull, and the combination is a perfect match. Brand drive completes product awareness, while deep distribution completes product transactions. Even for companies with weaker brands, deep distribution, with its customer relationship model, can integrate relationship, awareness, and transaction, completing transactions even under weak awareness. Some Chinese companies first achieved a certain scale through deep distribution before having the capital to drive the brand. Second, under the leadership of manufacturers, deep distribution achieved full-channel coverage in the context of channel fragmentation. China is vast, and achieving full channel coverage requires six levels of management both internally and externally. Deep distribution is led by manufacturers, and only companies with strong management penetration can achieve deep distribution nationwide. Therefore, deep distribution to some extent nurtured local enterprises, while also causing some multinational companies lacking deep distribution to stop at the Chinese market. Third, during the era of rapid growth in the Chinese market, deep distribution completed scale accumulation and cultivated a number of world-class enterprises. Over the past 40 years of reform and opening up, the Chinese market has been growing rapidly. However, the scale of China's first-tier brands lagged far behind that of multinational companies. It was precisely deep distribution that enabled domestic first-tier brands, with their strong management penetration, to cultivate world-class enterprises within one country. Any theory or method has its applicability and limitations in a given era; in academic terms, this is the boundary of theoretical applicability. Deep distribution is no exception. In the current environment, China is in a shrinking market. First-tier brands have long completed full-channel coverage, and deep distribution has degenerated into policy-driven inventory loading and shelf buying, even becoming a source of channel price chaos. Therefore, at the meeting organized by Sales and Marketing during the 2025 Autumn Sugar Fair, I issued a declaration: Deep distribution has come to an end! Some are reluctant to let go, especially those whose career enlightenment began with deep distribution and who firmly believe it is eternal. Distribution will always exist, but deep distribution is merely a passerby of the era. There is no need to cling to it. It can even be said that only with the farewell of deep distribution can marketing progress. The key is to find a marketing method to take over from deep distribution. ****Scene Marketing ****Rebuilding Marketing Momentum Whether in China or in Europe, America, and Japan, marketing is currently facing a dilemma, mainly the loss of marketing momentum. China's marketing dilemma: the disappearance of brand drive and channel drive. In the past, brand drive mainly relied on CCTV advertising. Since 2010, few advertising-driven brands have emerged. The channel drive of the deep distribution model has also failed because deep distribution has become ineffective. The dilemma in Europe, America, and Japan: They have long entered the 1P marketing system. Since channels have become third-party platforms, there is no deep distribution in Europe, America, and Japan. Distributors and salespeople are concepts unique to China. At its peak, China had 80 million B2B salespeople; the United States has no B2B salespeople but has 10 million B2C salespeople. The 1P marketing in Europe, America, and Japan focuses on the product (brand) P, with manufacturing and channels entirely handled by third parties. However, after entering the Internet era, brand drive has also failed, and 1P marketing in Europe, America, and Japan is also facing a dilemma. When marketing momentum is lost, how can the marketing chariot move forward? The emergence of scene marketing, from a methodological perspective, is about rebuilding marketing momentum. In terms of marketing momentum, the biggest feature of scene marketing is single-wheel dual-drive. This statement is a bit confusing. I need to start with the three concepts I have promoted in recent years. Since 2017, I have promoted three concepts: new marketing, bC integration, and scene marketing. In fact, all three concepts lead to scene marketing. The framework of new marketing is: scene, IP, community, and communication. Scene is the primary concept of new marketing. bC integration: b is the terminal, C is the user. How can b and C be integrated? In the consumption scene! The tactical value of scene marketing lies in its ability to achieve: single-wheel, dual-drive. This is wonderful! Brand drive is C-end drive, solving the problem of C-end awareness. Channel drive is B-end and b-end drive, solving the problem of convenient transactions (purchases) for users. In the past, brand drive and channel drive were separate. C-end drive relied on the brand department (CCTV), and channel drive relied on the sales department (deep distribution). The two overlapped little. In the scene marketing system, C-end drive and b-end drive are integrated. Because bC integration goes deep into the scene, where both C-end and b-end exist, there is both C-end drive and b-end drive. Hence the term single-wheel dual-drive. This is determined by the characteristics of bC integration. With bC integration, because of the strong relationship transfer between b and C, solving C-end awareness is relatively easy. At the same time, C-end awareness and transactions are completed in front of the b-end, which can activate the b-end. Therefore, summarizing the efficiency and effectiveness of scene marketing: one set of actions, two major driving forces. If scene marketing only talks about incremental growth, that is a tactical result. If scene marketing talks about dual drive, it enters the realm of methodology. Currently, both Chinese marketing and European, American, and Japanese marketing have entered a dilemma of lost momentum. At present, only scene marketing can rebuild marketing momentum. But rebuilding marketing momentum is a very difficult task. In the past, brand drive required substantial and sustained capital investment, and channel drive required substantial and sustained personnel investment, commonly known as money-sea tactics and human-sea tactics. The dual drive of scene marketing also requires investment, but it can leverage two major characteristics of scenes: first, high-potential scenes create spillover effects, driving more kinetic scenes, achieving a 1990 effect—1% of high-potential scenes drive 9% of potential scenes, and finally drive 90% of the channels; second, scenes are the origin of UGC communication, leveraging the unique value of scenes in Internet communication to replace the role of traditional advertising awareness. These two points are discussed in other articles. ****Scene Marketing Takes the Stage ****Taking Over from Deep Distribution The relay baton of Chinese marketing is: in the wholesale era, manufacturers worked with large wholesalers (provincial agents); then, as the market focus moved down, it entered the era of deep distribution, where manufacturers directly reached the b-end. This relay sequence can be expressed as manufacturers going from F2B to F2B2b. So, what is the next step for the relay baton? First, e-commerce F2C (B2C); second, new supply chain F2b2C; third, instant retail F2b2C; fourth, traditional channels F2B2b2C. In the Internet era, some have elevated DTC to a very high position. This accepts the platform's traffic logic and does not speak from the standpoint of brand owners and channel players. Traffic logic has never elevated a brand. Because traffic relies on investment; when investment stops, traffic stops. Even with large investment, platforms will not provide monopolistic traffic support like CCTV did. Marketing continues to evolve in channels. From B-end to b-end has been achieved through deep distribution, but reaching the C-end is impossible because there are too many C-ends. bC integration, taking a step forward and then half a step back, is the best solution. Deep distribution goes deep into the b-end; scene marketing integrates b and C. They are exactly the relay baton, seamlessly connected. When deep distribution is nearing its end, but b-end customer relationships still exist, using bC integration to enter consumption scenes ensures a smooth transition. Everything is for the best. ****Deep Distribution Prevailed for Over 20 Years ****Will Scene Marketing Do the Same? Deep distribution was a phased model of a special historical period. Europe, America, and Japan have gone through it, and deep distribution is still effective in less developed countries. The 20-plus years of deep distribution coincided with China's fastest development years and also the good days of Chinese marketing. Will scene marketing have as great an impact on China as deep distribution did? I think we need to look at it in two stages. The farewell of deep distribution also marks the end of mass product popularization. Deep distribution and mass products bid farewell simultaneously. When mass growth ends, the era of segmented product growth begins. At the same time, scene marketing takes the stage. This is the interpretation of scene marketing as a tactical means. The debut of scene marketing truly opens the next marketing, taking over from modern marketing with its century-long history. Modern marketing over the past century, from a media perspective, began with the commercialization of radio in 1920. From an orientation perspective, it began with the proposal of user orientation in 1957. Therefore, modern marketing is thinking centered on user orientation, with methodology amplified through mass media. Scene marketing, from a media perspective, began with mobile Internet applications. From an orientation perspective, it began with scene interaction creating value and communicating value, opening the next century of marketing.