In 2021, Dayao soda sales exceeded 3 billion yuan, nearly matching the sales of Nongfu Spring's NFC juice; from a regional brand originating in Inner Mongolia to penetrating 31 provinces across the country, its coverage of terminal outlets has exceeded 300,000, breaking the competitive pattern of soda brands "carving out territories" in their respective regional markets. From obscurity to "King of Northern Beverages," how did Dayao rise abruptly? What development opportunities remain for soda brands like Bingfeng, Beibingyang, and Tianfu Cola that are peers with Dayao? 01

Large Bottles: The Movement of Reversal

Learning from successful leading brands can generate sales and reduce trial-and-error costs, but it is difficult to surpass the leading brand. When Coca-Cola became the king of carbonated beverages in China, almost all soda drinks learned from it, with similar bottle shapes, similar packaging, similar taste and color, except for price. Looking back at China's marketing history, there are many brands that achieved rapid growth through large packaging categories:

  • In the energy drink category: 250ML Red Bull retails at 6 yuan, while 500ML Dongpeng Special Drink retails at 5 yuan; coupled with differentiated bottled packaging and a counter-encirclement strategy in lower-tier markets, according to Nielsen data, by 2021 Dongpeng Special Drink had surpassed Red Bull in tonnage sales in the energy drink field to become the market leader.
  • In the instant noodle category: Facing industry giants Master Kong and Uni-President, Jinmailang adopted a strategy of large packaging (one and a half buckets, one and a half bags), leading to 13 consecutive quarters of growth in noodle sales, and with sales of 5 billion buckets, it formed a tripartite balance with Master Kong and Uni-President. Its iced tea product also launched large bottle packaging, achieving follow-up development.
  • In the herbal tea category: Heqizheng, with its differentiation of "large bottles for more enjoyment," achieved nearly 3 billion yuan in sales around 2010, securing the second share in the herbal tea market and standing out from many Guangdong herbal tea brands. When peers generally launched 240ML small bottles, the 520ML and 550ML Dayao sodas were a huge differentiation. In the summer heat, the "generous" and "hearty" nature of large bottle sodas allows many consumers to fully satisfy their craving for coolness and thirst relief, and in dining scenarios, there is no worry about not having enough to drink. According to data from the National Bureau of Statistics, from January to October 2021, China's cumulative output of carbonated beverages (soda) reached 19.964 million tons, a year-on-year increase of 20.8%. Looking at the explosive categories, large-packaged sodas above 500ml made a significant contribution. 02

Cost Performance: Price is Strategy

In the soda category, 3 yuan is a strategic price point, and it is also Coca-Cola's price blockade. In today's era of continuous price increases for ice cream and pickled vegetables, Coca-Cola, the dominant player in carbonated beverages, still adheres to the 3 yuan price band without wavering. Above the 3 yuan price band, consumers find it hard to pay; below the 3 yuan price band, follow-up brands have thin profits and find it difficult to continue investing in market promotion. When Bingfeng raised its price from 2 yuan to 3 yuan after more than a decade to prepare for its IPO, how many Xi'an netizens criticized it harshly; when Beibingyang's 330ML was priced above 5 yuan, how much public support did it lose? At this time, Dayao's 550ML is priced at only 5 yuan, cleverly avoiding the price dilemma set by Coca-Cola through the cost performance of large bottles. In the "2022 Young People's Anti-Fatty Soda Report" released by 36Kr, similar consumer psychology can be found: for young people, the cost performance of soda is even more important than health and brand; no one wants to be a sucker for high prices. 03

Channel Deep Cultivation: Occupying Dining Consumption Scenes

Deeply cultivating one channel and thoroughly penetrating one consumption scene is an important path to building a brand and increasing sales. In the early years, if Wanglaoji had not thoroughly penetrated the consumption scenes of Sichuan and Hunan restaurants and hotpot restaurants, the public's awareness of "fear of getting heaty" would have been optional; if Yangge Walnut had not thoroughly penetrated the scenes of rural New Year gift-giving and the college entrance examination, it would have been reduced to a regional specialty product; the decline in sales of Wugu Mofang's Bazhen Powder, besides the decline in offline KA traffic, is most importantly due to the lack of a unique consumption scene, causing it to rank outside the top ten in the locked breakfast consumption scene. Dayao, as early as its development in the Inner Mongolia region, deeply cultivated the dining channel, becoming a memory symbol for the local generation and for tourists. The reasons for laying out the dining channel are as follows: first, the dining channel relies more on "customer relationship" than KA and BC stores, and the delivery attitude and timeliness of salespeople and distributors are very important; second, the entry cost for the dining channel is low, without a series of entry fees, barcode fees, display fees, shopping guide fees, and promotion fees found in supermarkets and convenience stores; third, Dayao's packaging design is very compatible with dining attributes. In dining scenarios where driving prevents drinking alcohol, the beer bottle packaging makes it a natural best substitute for beer; even many young people use the "bottoms up" way of drinking Dayao to show male charm. Carrying the momentum of "Northern Dining Leading Brand," this greatly helps Dayao increase its visibility and expand to the national market. Perhaps you had never heard of Dayao before, but after seeing it by chance in a restaurant, a memory anchor was planted. 04

Blurring Cognitive Focus:

Dayao May Not Be Entirely Right

After achieving phased victories, Dayao's strategic actions were not to continue deepening channels and expanding nationally, but to prematurely embark on a path of unrelated diversification. Dayao first prematurely launched the 275ML Xiaoyao Fruit Soda product, which precisely reflects an incomplete understanding of the success brought by large bottle packaging differentiation, and the naming of Xiaoyao Fruit Soda further blurs consumers' unique perception of "big." This product extension behavior is like Red Star Erguotou launching soft liquor and Goldlion launching women's products years ago, losing the genes of success. The second controversial strategic move of Dayao was the premature launch of unrelated products; besides carbonated drinks, it also laid out fruit and vegetable juice drinks, plant protein drinks, and mineral water. Before consumers nationwide had established the brand as the "expert in large bottle soda," this weakened that perception. What's more regrettable is that on the track of attacking on all fronts, it will face sniping from expert brands. With supply chain, cognitive communication, and management costs all on the rise, once new product sales fail to open up, it will cause tremendous damage to the brand momentum painstakingly built. Like Golden Partner years ago, after initially establishing its representative position in the multivitamin category, it did not continue to focus on growing big like Brain Platinum, but instead took the opportunity to launch fish oil, calcium tablets, and other series products, resulting in the surrender of its glorious representative brand position in multivitamins. When is it suitable to launch a second new product? When the perception of "expert in large bottle soda" is firmly established, when the national market expansion is complete, and when the competitive landscape of the soda category is stable. How to launch a second new product more safely? Learn from Yuanqi Forest's practice of using new brands for new products, using Yuanqi Mamman, Waixingren, Xiancha, and Youkuang brands to connect with milk tea, electrolyte water, plant-based tea drinks, and high-end mineral water categories, and design new VI for each new product to differentiate. 05

Where Are the Opportunities for Other Soda Brands?

1. Product Innovation: The Health Trend of 0 Sugar and 0 Calories Looking at Dayao's ingredient list, it is not difficult to find that the main components of Dayao soda are water, white sugar, honey, food flavorings, and a small amount of concentrated fruit juice, which almost all hit the demonized sugar and calories in the eyes of young people. Although Dayao has begun to lay out 0 sugar products, in the perception of original consumers, it is still an unhealthy product, making it difficult to sell new products while selling old ones. Whoever takes the lead in the strategic upgrade of 0 sugar fruit-flavored soda, and whoever takes the lead in labeling Dayao soda, will have the opportunity to rise by leveraging this trend. This strategic opportunity is like Yuanqi Forest's upgrade of traditional beverages, breaking the original perception of "delicious but unhealthy, healthy but not delicious" through sugar substitutes, and becoming the new beverage king after beverage giants like Nongfu Spring, Master Kong, Wahaha, and Coca-Cola. 2. Brand Innovation: Shaping New Brand Tone Brands can make the same products, but each brand's tone can be very different. After achieving phased success, Dayao should also shape a unique brand tone, using this tone to expand new customer groups. For example, it can use the strategic differentiation of large bottles as the origin of the tone, launching the declaration "Young people should be bold and confident" to represent a brand tone of enterprise and self-assertion, thereby penetrating various young consumer groups. Just like Nike in the 1970s, which did not compete with Onitsuka Tiger and Adidas on product technology, but instead created a brand tone of personal struggle and willpower against the backdrop of the economic crisis, calling on the American people to regain diligent, tenacious, and resilient individualism, thereby leading the most willpower-challenging jogging movement and surpassing many competitors to create the "JUST DO IT" marketing myth. Similarly, in the 1960s, Harley-Davidson, when being beaten back by Japanese low-priced light motorcycles, also found a brand tone of freedom, rebellion, and boldness, resonating with the American middle class's pursuit of freedom, adventure, and midlife passion, and thereby repositioning Japanese motorcycles as plain transportation tools to achieve a comeback. Jiangxiaobai challenging traditional baijiu culture to shape a young and lively image, Aigle and Xijia trendy watches breaking the traditional watch's emphasis on status symbols to shape a trendy tone, and Heytea using inspiration to interpret various cultural fantasy tones are all successful cases in recent years of achieving value breakthroughs through brand tone shaping. Other soda brands can also shape different brand tones, achieving regional breakthroughs through cultural recognition and emotional resonance. 3. Scene Innovation: Finding Niche Consumption Scenes Cognition locks the category, scenes expand consumption. Currently, Dayao soda occupies the dining channel to a certain extent, but it has not occupied the dining consumption scene, and to a certain extent, it will still face substitution threats from many beverage categories such as soy milk, cola, herbal tea, and coconut juice. At this time, locking a niche consumption scene and extracting a reason for consumers to buy in that scene will become the marketing code to open up sales. In the early days, Hubang Chili Sauce went through various iterations from raw pepper sauce, fresh pepper sauce to spicier chili sauce, but due to not finding a suitable consumption scene, annual sales were only tens of thousands of jars. Later, by locking the takeout consumption scene, it quickly became the hot "number one internet-famous chili sauce brand," with sales on Double Eleven day alone exceeding 5 million jars in 2018, and its price of 10 yuan per 100 grams far exceeded Laoganma. Originally, Snickers was nothing more than a leisure snack and outdoor ration in consumers' minds, but with the popularization of online education models, Snickers also cooperated with Zuoyebang to launch a college entrance examination season activity, successfully entering the consumption scene of students preparing for the exam as a "study aid." "Tired and sleepy, drink Red Bull," "After a meal, have a bottle of Yakult," "Use your brain often, drink more Yangge Walnut," "Appetizing and refreshing, drink Shixiao" - these advertising slogans are all opening up consumer markets through scene marketing. Finding a unique consumption scene is also a growth path for fruit-flavored soda brands to become famous in one battle. 06

Conclusion

Marketing is a value game of differentiation; opposition is better than following, and difference is better than being better. Finding the cognitive weaknesses of leading brands, leveraging consumption trends and channel characteristics to engage in off-position competition with them, is often the opportunity for latecomer brands to increase sales and achieve strategic overtaking. When a strategic opportunity is discovered, continuously accumulating brand momentum through channel deep cultivation and scene focus can generate a steady stream of natural sales and break through regional limitations. After achieving phased results, strategic upgrading and brand tone building will also have more competitive momentum than the "big brand" extension approach of attacking on all fronts.