Recently, I've been asked frequently about how to select products, so I decided to write an article as a response.

My answer is simple: select products from scratch.

Why select from scratch? Because the original product system is completely outdated, and patching it up cannot solve the problem. The industry has an opportunity to 'turn around,' 'reshape,' and 'redo' everything, which is a rare chance. Selecting from scratch means abandoning the original product system, treating it as zero, and starting over. This also means that regardless of your current position, you get a chance to become the future 'leader.'

Selecting from scratch means choosing a product that can create a new era, a product that can make you the 'leader.'

Conversely, when distributors select from scratch, it also means manufacturers must develop products from scratch. What is the purpose of selecting products?

I'm often asked, 'What is a good product?'

My response is often a counter-question: 'What do you want to achieve?' This answer is clearly influenced by Drucker's thinking. Drucker would not answer such questions directly. Any product that achieves its purpose is a good product.

Similarly, when choosing a spouse, employees, or customers, anything that achieves the purpose is good.

For my counter-question, I haven't seen a questioner who can answer clearly. It shows that most people don't know why they are selecting products. Some see declining sales and need new products to compensate. Some don't lack products but habitually launch new ones. Some have unsuccessful old products and seek new ones.

More people answer: to increase sales and profits. That's equivalent to no answer, because that's a result, not a purpose.

From another angle, manufacturers' salespeople also have problems in promoting products. Only by explaining clearly from the distributor's perspective why to do this new product and what purpose it can achieve can they persuade the distributor. So, the issue of product selection is not only a distributor's problem but also a problem manufacturers face when developing new products. Why select from scratch?

Since the reform and opening up, there have been about three opportunities to select products 'from scratch.'

The first was in the early days of reform and opening up, when almost no industry had a product system established. At that time, any product was viable. 'Carrying back a sack of jeans, you accidentally became a ten-thousand-yuan household.' In the shortage economy, as long as there was a product, it was enough; there was no need to select.

The second was after the 1997 Asian financial crisis, when the market quickly transitioned from a shortage economy to a surplus economy, and product selection became necessary. The current mainstream product system actually took shape then.

There was a time when marketers were keen on creating new categories, but it was actually after the industry's strategic big products were formed that only creating new categories could create greater sales opportunities.

Now, an opportunity that comes once every decade or more is presented to manufacturers and distributors. Because the original mainstream product system is largely outdated, a new mainstream product system needs to be established. Whoever masters the new mainstream products will be the new 'leader' for a considerable period.

This doesn't mean the old product system will disappear immediately, but it will gradually shrink. At this time, adding a few new products to the old system won't help; it cannot fundamentally solve the way out for manufacturers and distributors.

I propose that 'all industries are worth redoing,' first because the product landscape can be reshaped. Reshaping the product landscape means new 'leaders' may emerge. How to select from scratch?

When a marketing era ends, marketing often returns to productism, meaning the product occupies a relatively important position in the 4P framework.

This is such an era. No matter how many products you find from the traditional product system, you cannot save the product system of this era. So, we must select from scratch.

Selecting from scratch roughly has three stages.

Stage 1: Select the industry's strategic big product. Companies with this big product generally become industry leaders. Distributors who select this big product generally grow rapidly. In short, select the big product that can make you the 'leader.' Current industry leaders and local distributors are all beneficiaries of having selected this product correctly.

Opportunities for industry strategic big products may not occur once in ten years. The current mainstream shift is such an opportunity.

When selecting a strategic big product, there is no concept of positioning; what you want is the greatest common denominator of society. If you insist on positioning, it's positioning to be the 'leader.' A few years ago, some said positioning theory was invalid in the internet age, and I partially agree. It's not that positioning theory is invalid, but the prerequisites for its validity temporarily no longer hold.

Stage 2: Select category big products. After the industry 'leader' is chosen, some will go for segmented products, and the largest segmentation is category segmentation. So, selecting the right category big product allows you to be the 'mountain king.' At this time, positioning theory is effective.

Stage 3: Select supplementary products. At this stage, there may be many goals, but without the first two types of big products, no matter how hard you try, it's difficult to grow big.

For a long time, because industry strategic big products and category big products have been established, distributors have only been able to select products within the third stage. Such products only enrich the original product system but cannot change the product architecture of manufacturers and distributors. Select the product that can make you the 'leader'

If someone asks me now how to select products, my answer is simple: select the product that can make you the 'leader.' This answer is only valid for a certain period. It is valid now.

What product can make you the 'leader'? I think it's the product that replaces the original strategic big product; some call it 'new upstart rising.'

Such a product meets the greatest common denominator of society, or is the 'popular lover' of consumers. At this time, if you still select from segmentation or positioning perspectives, you're completely wrong.

Saying 'popular lover' doesn't mean everyone likes it, but that the mainstream consumers of this era like it. For example, the old strategic big product was neither high-end nor luxury, nor mid-range (because China has a 'middle collapse'), but was under affordable mid-range. But now the mainstream consumers are becoming the middle class, so the strategic big product should satisfy this group. Correspondingly, Western countries have long entered a middle-class-dominated society, so the new strategic big product is likely the mainstream product in Western countries now.

Now Chinese tourists are buying crazily abroad, not luxury goods as before, but mass products in Western countries. This actually hints to manufacturers that what Chinese tourists 'buy wildly' in Western countries is the strategic big product for China's next stage. Or, the benchmark for Chinese companies' product R&D is the current mainstream products in the West. How to find the product that can make you the 'leader'?

Human behavior is determined by habits. If it's a group habit, it's very difficult to change. In product R&D, because industry strategic big products appear only once in a long time, the current R&D teams may not have experienced it. And the long-standing habit is to develop supplementary products, severely segmented products. So, don't expect corporate R&D teams to realize these issues.

For a long time, distributors have passively accepted products promoted by manufacturers' salespeople, so even if they selected strategic big products, there was a passive, accidental element. Given that everyone was in the innovation stage before, even if they didn't select correctly, the loss wasn't great. Now, if large distributors don't select the future mainstream products and the old mainstream is eliminated, the consequences are quite severe.

My view is that distributors should take the initiative. Originally, they might only contact the manufacturer's marketing system, but now they should try every means to contact the manufacturer's R&D team, obtain R&D information in advance, and once they grasp it, seize it immediately. -END- The best FMCG distributor learning platform in China Focusing on providing professional, practical, and applicable tutorials for enterprises and distributors Committed to helping Chinese FMCG distributors grow rapidly The most professional and practical knowledge base in the FMCG industry Reply with the red number below to get corresponding content Reply with number 1 to view the complete knowledge base | 001 Excellent article selection | 002 Distributor market operation | 003 Terminal visit management | 004 Sales supervisor skills | 005 Sales improvement techniques | 006 Channel expansion | 007 Managing distributors | 008 Distributor development | 009 Distributor internal operations management | 010 Team management | 011 Efficient distribution techniques | 012 Sales manager's eighteen skills | 013 KA operation methods and strategies | 014 First lesson for new salespeople | 015 Internet, brands | [Long press QR code to follow] To join QQ/WeChat groups, click: Read original text