Source: First Marketing Network Introduction: Brain Gold's total sales have exceeded 15 billion yuan to date. Its success is a classic case of marketing planning—a series of meticulous, multi-faceted strategies that formed a systematic marketing advantage (far from the simple gift-giving ads seen later; it was a series of comprehensive, careful planning). All this contributed to Brain Gold's marketing legend, worthy of serious study by business professionals. Layout determines the outcome; it was precisely Shi Yuzhu's accurate layout that led to Brain Gold's remarkable performance later.

In 1998, Brain Gold emerged in China's East China health products market with a mysterious image. Within just one year, it swept the nation with lightning speed, becoming a wonder in the health products market. Controversies about Brain Gold have never ceased, spanning the business community, advertising and planning circles, media, and even some consumers. In the over 20 years of China's market economy, few products have sparked such intense and prolonged controversy. From this perspective, calling Brain Gold an "anomaly" is appropriate.

Standing Firm Amidst "Open and Covert Attacks"

I once participated in a consumer research meeting where a middle-aged consumer emotionally shouted, "I just won't buy Brain Gold, no matter how aggressive its ads are!" But a few days later, something else happened: an employee's relative from Northeast China came to visit, carrying two boxes of Brain Gold from afar, saying sincerely, "I was afraid you couldn't buy it in Shanghai, so I brought it for you. It works really well!"

In fact, from 1998 to 2003, for six consecutive years, Brain Gold's annual sales remained stable at around 1 billion yuan, without major fluctuations.

Amidst various doubts and "open and covert attacks," Brain Gold truly stood firm. This not only comforted and inspired its admirers but also baffled its critics and detractors. Why is this? What lies behind it? Unlocking the mystery of this "anomaly" and revealing its underlying patterns will surely provide profound inspiration for many enterprises and marketing planners.

As the only paid strategic partner of Brain Gold to date, Lingnuo (the author's company) had many long planning meetings with Mr. Shi Yuzhu, where both sides were frank, collided, and spoke bluntly, with both disagreements and many commonalities. Having witnessed this history firsthand, I have a more intimate understanding of Brain Gold's operations than outsiders. It should be noted that many in the planning industry claim to have planned for Brain Gold, but Mr. Shi Yuzhu told me personally: "Some people I have never met, whether in public or private; I am willing to confront them face to face!" Of course, some may have actually worked at Brain Gold but never delved into the core; others use Brain Gold's name without malice, mainly due to lack of confidence or to borrow its prestige.

In fact, whether one truly planned for Brain Gold is secondary; what matters is whether one has truly explored the essence of Brain Gold's success. Ultimately, people rely on their ability to get things done, not on their "titles." Unfortunately, many people don't put effort into this. As we often read in articles about the Brain Gold phenomenon, most are one-sided, seeing only the trees but not the forest, or mistaking a stick for a needle (truth). Praise often misses the point, and criticism and curses also fail to hit the mark!

It should be said that Brain Gold's entire operation was a process of pursuing effective sales. From the perspective of results, its operation embodied the ultimate pursuit of marketing and communication, and it deserves high praise. Praising it is because, in the past and present, so many ineffective "decorative" plans have ruined many good products and enterprises. Of course, praising it does not mean it did everything right, but rather that in terms of planning viewpoints, attitudes, and skills, it grasped the essence, was correct, sought truth from facts, analyzed specific problems specifically, and fully considered issues from the consumer's standpoint. Shi Yuzhu has said on many occasions, "I only read books on science, management, and Mao Zedong." Judging from his work style and actions, this is absolutely true. Today, Brain Gold has become an important choice for ordinary Chinese people to give as gifts, a major brand with annual sales of nearly 1 billion yuan.

Only with correct viewpoints can there be appropriate methods, leading to the 12 "not-so-simple" aspects in Brain Gold's operation. It is the combined force of these "12 not-so-simple" aspects that turned the ordinary into the magical!

Not-So-Simple One: Naming, Dosage Form, and Packaging

Product is the foundation of marketing. Whether a product can be distinctive and stand out is crucial. Brain Gold put great effort into this, effectively building its own characteristics!

Brain Gold's core ingredient, Melatonin, was relatively new in China at the time. This obscure term could easily be directly transliterated, and indeed many companies did so: Mei××ning, Mian××ning... readers are likely familiar. But Brain Gold did not do this; instead, it chose a name that seemed unrelated on the surface: Brain Gold. The name "Brain Gold" is very colloquial, easy to remember, and conveys a sense of value—related to the brain and as precious as gold. Ordinary people understand it at a glance; no hide-and-seek, no detours.

Avoiding Head-on Competition with Similar Categories

The name "Brain Gold" actually resembles a generic category name rather than a single product name. Such naming is grand and credible. Crucially, it provided a more natural and scientific narrative space for Brain Gold's rapid rise. For example, saying that there is a "Brain Gold Body" in the human brain (the size of a soybean) that secretes Brain Gold and controls aging sounds objective, natural, and credible. This objectivity and credibility largely stem from the category feel of the name.

The non-functional orientation of the name provided great convenience for future expansion. Imagine, how could you give a gift of something that "moistens the intestines and relieves constipation"? It's also not good to always give something that "improves sleep," right? First, you'd limit yourself to a narrow audience; second, it doesn't sound good, at least not pleasant. But giving "Brain Gold" sounds impressive and seems more valuable.

Avoiding the Pitfall of Promoting Raw Materials

Later, more than 60 products with "mian" (sleep) or "ning" (calm) in their names appeared on the market, but Brain Gold cleverly avoided potential competition with raw material products, avoiding it skillfully and fundamentally. It left no opportunity for followers to benefit. From the consumer's perspective, they naturally think Brain Gold is different from those products, making it hard to associate them. This fundamentally eliminated the risk of "building the market for raw materials and advertising for raw materials." This is particularly worth learning from.

Comment: The brand name and category name are integrated, effectively avoiding follow-up!

Through the naming introduction of Brain Gold, the brand name and category name were integrated, avoiding the situation where building a large category benefits the entire industry, such as iced black tea becoming a large category that anyone can do, leading to imitation and declining market returns.

Brain Gold, through trademark protection, effectively reduced imitation and follow-up by peers, thus ensuring market returns.

Pioneering the "Compound Dosage Form"

In terms of health product dosage forms, Brain Gold pioneered the "capsule + oral liquid" compound form. Being the first, consumers naturally felt it was novel. Never seen before, unique, and no other similar product had it. Novelty and uniqueness in human psychology often imply advancement and science. Brain Gold's innovative dosage form cleverly used this psychology to gain an initial advantage, with an implicit suggestion of product advancement.

Taking capsules and drinking oral liquid is somewhat cumbersome, but this is only superficial. Deep down, it is precisely because of this "trouble" that consumers feel something special—small troubles can help greatly. The complex consumption method becomes a ritual in consumers' eyes, and ritual often creates a sense of value (precious things can't just be swallowed in one gulp). This is another universal human psychology.

The main target group for health products is middle-aged and elderly people. Insomnia and constipation are two major ailments for this group. Brain Gold capsules target insomnia, and the oral liquid targets constipation. After taking it for a period, some relief in physical sensation, or psychological comfort, is usually felt. This "feeling" is most important; it is the foundation for sustained sales. The two major health functions cover the broadest demand population, and the compound form's "dual approach" undoubtedly adds a "double insurance" to the function.

Comment: Product innovation makes the product highly distinctive!

In terms of product, Brain Gold pioneered the "capsule + oral liquid" compound form, making the product stand out among many competitors and highlighting its technological content!

Clear Packaging at a Glance

Brain Gold's product packaging has very few elements. Large blue blocks and three highly prominent characters stand out on the colorful and dazzling health product shelves, visible even from three to five meters away. The simple blue tone closely matches its consistent modern technological feel. The seemingly simple packaging has achieved a not-so-simple effect.

Many companies do not pay much attention to naming, dosage form, and packaging, handling them carelessly. Some companies use wrong methods: first, they decide based on the leader's personal preferences rather than from the consumer's perspective; second, they fall into the trap of pure art. Ultimately, they fail to think from the consumer's standpoint. Truly starting from the consumer's perspective requires us to handle the contradictory relationship between popularity and uniqueness. Without popularity, it cannot be mass-market; the broadest consumers won't accept it. Without uniqueness, it easily blends with similar products, making it hard for consumers to distinguish.

Finding the balance between popularity and uniqueness is not only what Brain Gold pursued in naming, dosage form, and packaging, but also what we must pursue in many things, especially when operating in the Chinese market. "A good beginning is half the battle," let us revisit this wise saying.

Not-So-Simple Two: Principle Re-creation

After having the product, it is crucial to effectively package the product's selling points. Based on the product's physical characteristics, dig into and package the product's features to further strengthen and construct its distinctiveness!

Successful new product launches often share a common point: they give consumers an overall sense of discovery that makes their eyes light up. I have repeatedly emphasized this. For health products, this sense of discovery often comes from the product's scientific mechanism. Of course, to make these mechanisms eye-opening and give a "finally found it" feeling, it is necessary to re-create based on existing mechanisms. This re-creation is suitable for consumer minds and requires considerable marketing skill (it relates to science but not morality). Brain Gold's principle re-creation was quite successful, providing a useful theoretical foundation with a strong sense of discovery for its rapid rise.

A US Bestseller of 100,000 Copies Gave Birth to Brain Gold's Core Mechanism

The core mechanism presented to consumers was: The human body's command center is the brain, and the brain's commander-in-chief is the Brain Gold Body (about the size of a soybean) in the center of the brain. Its secretion is Brain Gold, which controls the body's aging process. The older one gets, the less Brain Gold is present, leading to various ailments. Taking Brain Gold supplements the diminishing Brain Gold, keeping people young and reducing or eliminating diseases. Therefore, Brain Gold is also called "young state, healthy product." (The oral liquid's targeted function: moistening intestines and relieving constipation, mainly from the probiotic supplement theory, was not emphasized as a key mechanism in the early launch.)

Brain Gold's core mechanism originated from an American book, "The Melatonin Miracle." The book says: "Aging is a downward spiral, related to age. But aging is not inevitable with age; melatonin can stop the downward spiral. Melatonin is secreted by the pineal gland in the human brain."

This book sold 100,000 copies in three months, triggering a nationwide rush to buy melatonin in the US in 1995, which soon caused great controversy. Here, I do not want to evaluate the controversies the book sparked in the US; that is beyond this article's scope. I want to analyze how Brain Gold used this not-so-rigorous American popular medical book to re-create its core mechanism. It is clear that Brain Gold's stated mechanism is more discovery-oriented, more vivid, and more attractive to Chinese consumers than the descriptions in "The Melatonin Miracle."

What You Sell—Not Necessarily What You Shout

Obviously, the term "melatonin" that once shocked the entire US was decisively removed, replaced by "Brain Gold." This name replacement turned the general theory of the pineal gland and melatonin into Brain Gold's exclusive theory, without arbitrarily distorting or altering the melatonin theory. It just used a clever transplant—what was sold to consumers was still melatonin, just renamed. Selling something without necessarily shouting its name is itself a major business skill.

What's Lacking, Supplement It—A Powerful System

"The Melatonin Miracle" clearly pointed out that "reduced melatonin can cause aging and various diseases." From this theory, the statement "supplementing Brain Gold can slow aging and improve various symptoms" appears very natural, direct, and credible. Driven by the habitual psychology of "supplement what's lacking" over thousands of years, Chinese consumers are easily led to seek Brain Gold to solve their various problems. This starting point gave Brain Gold a relatively broad space for evolution, jumping out of the constraints of the two approved functions: "improving sleep and moistening intestines." From a health product marketing perspective, this is a powerful mechanism with strong sales force.

An Eternal Human Topic—The Ignition Point for Brain Gold's Rapid Rise

In its mechanism re-creation, Brain Gold used terms like "command center" and "commander-in-chief," which are most easily accepted and understood by ordinary Chinese people. The language is vivid, simple, and straightforward. However, the not-so-simple re-creation we refer to is far from just polishing details; it is the strong shock this principle brings to consumers. This shock comes from "discovery," from an eternal human topic—why do humans age? Imagine if Brain Gold had used the usual health product approach, starting with "improving sleep and moistening intestines," no matter how good the mechanism, it would not have caused such a shock, and Brain Gold's miraculous rise would not have become a reality. The effort is outside the poem; this is true for many things.

Everyone agrees that in health product marketing and communication, the mechanism (or concept) is of utmost importance. It should be said that most health product mechanisms are based on scientific principles and have been re-created to some extent. But why do some convince people and give a significant sense of discovery, while more seem mediocre and suspicious? We say this is a difference in insight, in extraction ability, that is, a difference in overall planning level. Everyone wants a convincing, eye-opening re-created mechanism, but this is not something that can be rushed in a day or two, nor can it be explained clearly in a few sentences. However, there are several basic points that must be followed.

First: Find the Sparkle in Consumers' Eyes

The first basic point is to strive to find the sparkle in consumers' eyes. Undoubtedly, first, you must extensively collect materials—all materials related to the product, domestic and international, same category, raw materials, processes... Only after fully possessing and deeply studying the materials can you talk about finding the sparkle. It should be noted that the study here mainly refers to planning personnel, not scientific researchers. Simply put, they view problems from different angles, with significant differences. What researchers overlook as commonplace might be exactly what planners dream of, if they can truly think from the consumer's perspective.

Second: "So That's How It Is"

The second basic point is that whether the mechanism re-creation can be called successful, "sense of discovery" is the primary indicator. It must have a sense of discovery. The so-called sense of discovery means telling others something they didn't know or weren't clear about, giving a feeling of "Oh, so that's how it is!" Only when discovered can it attract further attention. In this era of information explosion, attention is value!

Third: Don't Try to Write a Scientific Research Report

The third basic point is that the mechanism must first conform to scientific principles in general; this is the minimum. Don't do things that can't stand, like building a house on sand. But in details, especially small easily overlooked points, you can use humanized descriptions, be concise, easy to understand, use more analogies, and use vivid language of ordinary people. The core mechanism is ultimately for consumers, for ordinary people. The key is that they can understand it without effort. Don't dive into scientific details; remember to remind yourself often that we are not writing a scientific research report or a professional paper.

Fourth: The Effort Is Outside the Poem

At the beginning, don't be overly constrained by specific details (unless these details have strong novelty, but honestly, this is rare). Be good at making the mechanism both grand and not empty. Great persuasion often comes from a grand mechanism. Here, "grand" means, first, the essence of the mechanism's concept is a major issue of human concern with sufficient extensibility; second, it has not been mentioned by similar products, or not mentioned well enough, creating a sense of "great discovery."

Not-So-Simple Three: The Not-So-Simple "Soft Articles"

After product strength and selling point packaging are completed, the next step is communication. How to effectively plan and communicate, especially with practical, sales-driving planning, is a task that shows great skill! Soft article communication, if used well, can be an extremely effective marketing communication weapon! In the early pilot market launch, Brain Gold used news-style soft article ads with strong impact, achieving profitability within the first month of investment!

In the early market launch and function education stages, Brain Gold heavily used print ads, with long copy as the absolute main body (commonly known as "soft articles" in the industry). In content writing and layout, it used many "disguise" techniques to transform long copy into news-style articles and science articles. I call this "soft article newsification" and "soft article mainstreaming."

Health products have always had a core problem to solve: "trust." Solving consumers' trust in the product and company cannot be achieved with just one or two brilliant slogans or short copy of a hundred characters. It requires patience to present facts and reason to the target audience, narrating gently and guiding step by step. Therefore, only longer copy can sufficiently explain things. Thus, "soft articles" often become the main weapon for health product communication. This method was not pioneered by Brain Gold; many health products used it before. Brain Gold's not-so-simple aspect is that it fully utilized the mechanism re-creation, greatly enhancing the soft articles' impact! This impact stems from its four major characteristics.

Characteristic One: Startling Titles with Strong News Value

Brain Gold's article titles have extremely strong news value, some even "startling" to grab readers' curiosity. For example, "Two Biological Atomic Bombs," "The Most Watched Person in the World in '98," "Humans Can Only Live Five Days Without Sleep," "Can Humans Achieve Immortality?" etc. Just looking at the titles, you can hardly smell the advertising, and they even grab consumers' attention more than newspaper content. Eye-catching titles and bold fonts make people want to read on. Attention-grabbing titles, combined with content closely tied to the theme, are the core impact of Brain Gold's soft articles. This method successfully avoided the fate of many print ads that are never read.

Characteristic Two: Details and Facts Make Content Substantial

Brain Gold's soft articles have many facts and details, making them not empty or boring but substantial. For example, "Not Defecating for a Day = Smoking Three Packs of Cigarettes," "Zhang Xueliang's Summer Sleepiness," "There's a 'Clock' in the Human Body!" "Humans Can Only Live Five Days Without Sleep," etc. Many of these facts and details actually existed but were overlooked; after clever extraction, they immediately show strong persuasion. Others closely combined social hotspots and scientific news of the time, naturally grafting with Brain Gold. For example, the article titled "Two Biological Atomic Bombs" compared the "Dolly the cloned sheep" event and "Brain Gold Shocks America" as "two biological atomic bombs," using the former's recognized and significant influence to strengthen the latter's importance and credibility in consumers' minds. The article "Zhang Xueliang's Summer Sleepiness" was a "attention grafting" soft article launched during the media's widespread attention to Mr. Zhang Xueliang.

Brain Gold was skilled at citing media materials and numerical details to state facts, rather than talking to itself. Brain Gold often used language like: "US 'Newsweek' asserts: 'Supplementing Brain Gold can give you baby-like sleep'..." Using numbers was its specialty: "The human brain weighs less than 3% of body weight but consumes 40% of the body's nutrients; its energy consumption can keep a 60-watt light bulb glowing continuously..." In Brain Gold's gift-themed articles, it repeatedly used research agency data and bar charts, and even included competitor names in the data and charts to show neutrality and objectivity, thereby proving Brain Gold had indeed become the first choice for gifts.

Characteristic Three: Simple, Direct, and Readable Style

Brain Gold's soft articles are not very long, but the style is simple and fluent, using everyday language, discussing topics that people care about most and are curious about. There are no long sentences, nor Europeanized inverted sentences. The concise and direct style greatly improves readability.

Characteristic Four: News-Style Illustrations

Brain Gold's soft article illustrations generally do not use exquisite images but rather news-feel photos or hand-drawn cartoons. This is also to attract attention and improve readability. For example, "The Little Mouse Does a Great Deed" used a photo of a white mouse, and "The Logistics Director's Troubles" used an interesting cartoon illustration. The former attracts attention and enhances credibility, while the latter adds fun.

Additionally, Brain Gold rarely created articles in isolation; often several articles formed a series around the same theme. The benefit of serialization is that persuasion is more complete and thorough, and since each article has variation (at least in title and entry point), reading pleasure is sustained.

Not-So-Simple Four: The Not-So-Simple "One Book"

Brain Gold's book marketing model was also an extremely effective communication tool, with strong persuasive power and good communication effects. Later, this book marketing model was adopted by many famous companies.

In the early launch of Brain Gold, a book of only 89 pages played an unusual role in deeply persuading consumers. The book was called "Sweeping the Globe." Its main basis was the aforementioned "The Melatonin Miracle," with multiple skillful modifications. Here, we do not intend to discuss the authenticity of the book's content; that is beyond this article's scope. We want to focus on the key role this book played during Brain Gold's launch and growth periods.

First: An Extremely Persuasive Long-Form Ad Copy

"Sweeping the Globe" is essentially an extremely persuasive long-form ad copy. Due to sufficient length, it could explain the reasoning deeply and thoroughly, and a high proportion of readers were persuaded. "The more you say, the more you sell" was fully confirmed here.

The book's writing is easy to understand, with many humorous cartoon illustrations, making it effortless to read. The reasoning also aligns with consumers' psychological logic. Therefore, as a free gift, the book was widely mailed out, placed on terminal counters, and packed into product gift boxes. In the early launch, it played a key role in driving sales and cultivating loyalty.

Second: Officially Published, Legitimate

The book, through official publication, cleverly provided a crucial "protective umbrella" for subsequent advertising hype. Brain Gold's numerous print ads were approved and published smoothly because they used the method of "excerpted from the officially published book 'Sweeping the Globe'."

Third: Making Ad Content Scientific

Through the ordinary yet extraordinary medium of a "book," Brain Gold transformed advertising content into scientific content, turning potentially suspicious viewpoints into unquestionable scientific conclusions. Chinese people have always revered books; "what the book says must be reasonable" is a common mindset. The credibility and weight of books remain extremely high. Through this highly credible medium, Brain Gold largely resolved consumers' potential doubts about the product psychologically. The results proved this approach very successful. I remember a retired consumer in Wuxi, Jiangsu, once said to a salesperson at a terminal: "Can I buy this book (referring to 'Sweeping the Globe')?" When the salesperson said it could be given free, he said thank you repeatedly, very sincerely.

In 1998, ten years ago, Brain Gold's use of a book as a marketing communication tool was indeed not simple and was ahead of its time. Later, some products followed suit, using books as communication tools, and most achieved relatively ideal results.

Today, using books as marketing communication tools has been widely adopted, from early works like "Why Lenovo" and "Wahaha: Extraordinary Marketing" to recent ones like "Focus's Blue Ocean" and "Beautiful World." These corporate biography-type books largely carry marketing communication tasks. Although "books are not ads" is a unique feature of Chinese consumers, with the proliferation of such books, increasingly mature consumers' doubts about book credibility are issues that companies must pay high attention to. How to better use the special form of books and fully integrate them into product marketing communication is a topic requiring in-depth research. Many books of this type fail because they lack readability and credibility—either too professional and obscure for consumers to understand, or too commercial for readers to want to read.

When using books to build corporate brand, be careful not to write cheap flattery or a running account of the leader and company. The focus should be on analyzing and excavating the company's successful practices and their implications for other companies. That is, refine and dig out methods that others can learn from, teaching them to fish. Only such books can be welcomed while establishing readers' deep goodwill toward the company and brand.

Not-So-Simple Five: "Soft Culture" in TV Ads

In addition to print soft articles, Brain Gold's TV advertising was equally precise and effective!

The so-called "soft culture in TV ads" refers to making TV ads more like special features or news segments, making them less like ads to gain better credibility. Through continuous exploration and deepening in recent years, TV ad specials (longer than one minute) have become a common form, especially in the pharmaceutical and health product fields. Brain Gold's TV specials are typically about 4 minutes long, relatively lengthy. However, length is not the main element of TV "soft culture." Brain Gold's TV "soft culture" ads had three innovations that few have surpassed to this day.

[Insight] "Soft culture TV ads" are like long-form print copy; if used well, they can achieve what TV brand ads cannot. Currently, many functional products use this form, but frankly, the "soft" effort is still insufficient, and consumers can easily see through the "hard" flaws. This is related to the creators' skill and the company's insufficient understanding of the true meaning of "soft." The true meaning of "soft" is to use objectivity and fairness as the standard, neither stiffly praising the product nor completely avoiding mentioning it, not going to extremes, and covering both sides, keenly grasping the credible model that consumers recognize.

First: Innovative Perspective

Brain Gold's TV ads mostly use a third-party perspective (to show objectivity and fairness) to state the product's (or ingredient's) magic and efficacy, surpassing the self-praising level of many similar ads, making the content more credible.

Second: Innovative Style

Boldly pursuing the structural effect of news films, not seeking exquisite visuals or narration but overall realism and credibility. Brain Gold used a large amount of domestic and international news and archival footage in its TV specials. Some of these materials may be relatively rough in picture quality, but they are realistic, shocking, and credible without doubt. This overall structure first greatly controlled production costs (typically around 100,000 yuan per ad), and more importantly, this realism and credibility are the core of its communication strategy, a very appropriate strategic expression. This result is beyond the reach of those who one-sidedly pursue exquisite visuals and ornate language.

Third: Innovative Structure

Because this series of ad specials formed a unified style and had a weak sales pitch, they were suitable for broadcast in a column format. When airing these specials, Brain Gold often used "pseudo-column names" like "Technology Trends" or "Life Styles," and inserted a host-style opening at the beginning, with self-created column corner flowers. These detailed settings gave these "soft culture ads" almost the same credibility as regular TV columns, an effect that conventional TV ads cannot achieve. Of course, all this was based on the TV advertising environment of that time. Today, the environment has fundamentally changed, and blindly copying is meaningless and unrealistic. However, these bold innovative ideas and highly subversive ways of thinking still have great reference value.

Not-So-Simple Six: The Not-So-Simple "Shift to Gift-Giving After Hot Sales"

Brain Gold's gift-giving ads were another powerful tool after the soft articles successfully opened and leveraged the market, pushing Brain Gold to new heights! This famous effective ad was not randomly imagined or accidentally encountered, but originated from Shi Yuzhu's deep insight into consumers, unique grasp of consumer psychology, and focus on precision and effectiveness!

Many who don't know the truth, or know only part of it, praise Brain Gold for "getting big through gift ads" and call the slogan "This year, parents don't accept gifts; if they do, it's only Brain Gold" brilliant! However, the truth is far from simple. It can be said with certainty that Brain Gold did not initially plan to take the gift route, as seen from its early advertising appeals. But why is Brain Gold known for "gift-giving" today?

In fact, it was during its full-scale hot sales that Brain Gold launched a gift ad that achieved miraculous results, making it realize the gift market's potential (the ad's slogan was exactly "Don't accept gifts during the holidays this year; if you do, it's only Brain Gold"). Brain Gold's not-so-simple aspect is that it discovered the inevitability from accidental gains and unhesitatingly amplified that inevitability. Brain Gold's shift to vigorously advocating gift-giving (even explicitly suggesting giving to parents) during hot sales had its inherent inevitability.

First, based on the standard daily dosage, the daily cost was six yuan at the time, reaching 180 yuan per month. Its consumer base was mainly middle-aged and elderly, whose incomes are generally low. It would be economically difficult for them to sustain spending 180 yuan per month on it (Brain Gold) long-term. In this situation, the rapidly boosted market heat would be hard to sustain. Advocating gift-giving essentially sought long-term payers (i.e., children and younger generations) to support the market heat.

Second, regulations on health product advertising gradually tightened, making it increasingly difficult to communicate Brain Gold's functional claims through mass media. Moreover, even if repeated, it would be hard to recreate the strong novelty it brought when it first appeared. Shifting to gift-giving at this time cleverly diverted the helplessness of functional appeals and consumers' "aesthetic" fatigue. Gifts always need to be given year after year!

Third, although China's gift market is huge, consumers still find it difficult to choose gifts. They hope for one (or several) universal gifts that can be given to anyone without being wrong. Brain Gold's gift appeal precisely met the urgent need of a considerable number of people for general gift-giving. Among these people, some may never have taken Brain Gold, and some may even dislike it, but when choosing gifts, after much deliberation, they finally decide on Brain Gold—"If you receive gifts, it's only Brain Gold!" Ultimately, Chinese people view general gift-giving (priced between 100-200 yuan) as just a token to show appreciation to the recipient; what the token specifically is sometimes doesn't matter much.

Health products targeting the gift market has become a common practice. China's gift market is huge, and other categories have not yet deeply realized this potential market, lacking targeted systematic marketing communication methods. It is necessary to remind companies that Chinese consumers are calling for various regular gifts for daily or holiday interpersonal communication. As long as you can enter their choice menu and become one of them, you can make a fortune. Why not? Of course, before positioning as a gift, it's best to have some foundation in the self-use market. Without self-use market support, or if the scale is very small, transitioning to the gift market will require considerable effort and may even fail. The gift market is a natural extension of the self-use market, not something forcibly created.

Not-So-Simple Seven: The Not-So-Simple "Channels and Terminals"

After product strength and planned communication, another important link is channels and terminals. They are equally important. After solving the problem of why consumers buy and want to buy, the next key issue is where to buy and whether they can buy. In channels and terminals, Brain Gold also did much better than many peers!

Channels and terminals are a headache for many companies, but they are necessary conditions for health products and almost all consumer goods. Brain Gold's rapid rise and sustained hot sales largely benefited from its good channel and terminal construction. The reason Brain Gold's channels and terminals are not simple is not just its specific practices, but that it did everything it wanted to do. In other words, its execution in channels and terminals was much more thorough than other companies.

Brain Gold used a distributor system for channels, but it was very strict in selecting distributors and strictly controlled the number of distributors in each city. Many cities had only one distributor. Distributors needed to have a fixed sales network locally, possess relative monopoly capability, and have good public relations with government departments (industry and commerce, technical supervision, epidemic prevention stations, etc.). Brain Gold also had high requirements for payment collection: payment before delivery, and it never compromised on this principle. In terminal work, it did not have excessive extraordinary requirements. Product display, advertising materials, terminal visits, salesperson training... these were basically the same as most companies. However, many companies often only kept these tasks on paper without diligent execution, or some gave up due to difficulties in the process. Brain Gold could say and do, thanks to several guarantees.

First: Communication Guarantee

Continuous communication pull ensured consumers' purchasing enthusiasm, which in turn ensured distributors could quickly turn inventory into cash after stocking. This virtuous cycle gave Brain Gold the "capital" to make certain demands on distributors.

Second: Profit Guarantee

When pricing the product, Brain Gold reserved sufficient profit margins for channel and terminal partners. Channel and terminal construction cannot be solved just by ideological work, especially in today's market context; it requires necessary material support, otherwise it's empty talk.

Third: Spiritual Guarantee

Brain Gold's company has always advocated the spirit of "only recognizing merit, not hard work." This sounds harsh and somewhat impersonal, but it is a key point in getting things done. This "results-oriented" spirit ensures high-level execution. Some may say that Brain Gold is wealthy; if they had such strength, they could do well too. But this statement is incorrect. In fact, Brain Gold's initial financial strength was very limited, yet it achieved things that many people couldn't do even with money. The key is correct thinking and methods, a spirit of hard work, and endurance. If you only seek shortcuts and hope to move a thousand pounds with four ounces, it's hard to succeed.

Not-So-Simple Eight: The Not-So-Simple "Cautious Pilot and Rapid Promotion"

In Brain Gold's operation, it had already absorbed the lessons from the previous Giant Group campaign, which launched large-scale bombing from the start, and adopted the approach used for the Jubuchui product: cautious, scientific methods, pilot testing in regional markets, experimenting, summarizing marketing tactics, and only after the tactics matured and were proven effective in the market, then launching large-scale promotion. This greatly saved costs and improved success rates!

Perhaps because Brain Gold had very little initial capital, it was "forced" to start from a county-level city—Jiangyin—and after success, expand to Wuxi, then Shanghai... This operation model under duress objectively gave birth to a market approach: pilot testing first. Thus, "pilot" became one of the most common terms in Brain Gold's marketing planning.

Many companies often talk about making model markets, but it often becomes a formality. Brain Gold's "pilot" was not simple because it was very solid and cautious, truly extracting the essential elements of success or failure from the pilot, and combining these elements concisely for rapid promotion. Although Chinese consumers have regional differences, due to shared culture, customs, and language, there are inevitably many commonalities, i.e., universality, which makes rapid promotion from pilots possible. When selecting pilots, Brain Gold fully considered regional differences, i.e., particularity. Before implementing a marketing communication activity, first select regions with different economic development levels and different geographical areas for pilot testing, which can increase the certainty of success.

Pilots Save Decision Time

Small-scale pilots avoid endless debates and indecision. This is extremely important in today's competitive market where time is everything. Any plan will have controversies, and before implementation, results can only be estimated; no one has 100% certainty. Rather than arguing and wasting time, it's better to do a small-scale pilot first. Which works and which doesn't will show results immediately.

[Insight] Pilots should be conducted with a practical attitude, with the ability to extract universal elements with promotional value from the pilot. Which elements contributed to success? Do these elements have promotional value? Don't generalize from one example, and don't be carried away by temporary victory. Similarly, if the pilot fails, summarize where it failed: is it the plan itself or human factors? Distinguish right from wrong, and don't let a good plan suffer unjustly.

Pilots Reduce Risk

After testing and seeing results, boldly and quickly promote. Compared to launching comprehensively from the start, the risk is certainly much smaller. Chinese consumers share at least 80% commonalities, which is a guarantee for risk reduction. Many companies fail because they start with all-round expansion, and one wrong move leads to total loss. By the time they understand what went wrong, they no longer have the strength or opportunity to turn around. Especially for companies with strong financial backing, even if they have the ability to launch comprehensively, they should temporarily suppress the impulse, pilot first, and after finding the true essence, then unleash their passion. Of course, if it's a field they are already deeply familiar with and skilled in, that's a different story.

Sharpening the Axe Doesn't Delay Cutting Wood

Pilots can largely ensure doing the right things, avoiding going in the wrong direction. Today, when most companies seek stability before development, many companies "cannot afford to lose," making pilots even more precious. Pilots may seem to waste some time in the early stage, but this time is exchanged for the guarantee of correct direction, so it's not a waste at all. After finding successful experience, promotion must be decisive and rapid. If action is slow at this point, first, it reduces the value of the successful model, and second, it may give competitors an opportunity. After the pilot stage, Brain Gold promoted extremely quickly. "Slow pilots, fast promotion" is a major feature of Brain Gold; it could promote nationwide in just one week, truly with lightning speed. This is worth learning from for many companies.

Not-So-Simple Nine: The Not-So-Simple "Media Buying and Combination Strategy"

In media investment, Shi Yuzhu was also extremely scientific, making precise purchases to achieve prices far lower than peers, while using multiple forms and multimedia integration for integrated communication effects.

A few years ago, some media roughly estimated Brain Gold's advertising investment, claiming that TV investment alone reached 1 billion yuan. However, Brain Gold's annual sales were only around 1 billion yuan, so how could it do a losing business? The 1 billion yuan referred to by media statistics was, of course, the listed price (official quote) of ad placements; the actual executed price was far lower. From the beginning until now, for nearly ten years, Brain Gold's price advantage in advertising investment has been widely known in the industry. No one wanted to easily give up this "fat meat" of Brain Gold; to win it, they had to offer extremely attractive low prices to avoid the "fat meat" falling into others' mouths. Brain Gold discovered and grasped the subtle psychology prevalent in the media, taking the lead in price, making one cent create the effect of one mao. This method put its communication into a smooth virtuous cycle: low placement price—can do more ads—can sell more products—can afford more ads—more ads lead to even lower prices...

This Matthew effect allowed Brain Gold to dominate almost alone for a long time, with few products able to compete. This phenomenon directly contributed to its communication voice being spread to the maximum. Regardless of whether its ads were "liked," its influence and attention were undeniable.

As for Brain Gold's media combination strategy, it was relatively monotonous, not rich. But the not-so-simple aspect is that it used TV and newspapers to the extreme. On TV, it covered brand ads, functional ads, gift ads, and special ads, ranging from 4-5 minutes to 5 seconds. Due to its large broadcast volume, rich types, and varied lengths, it laid a solid foundation for flexible combinations. Brain Gold also pioneered the unprecedented 10-second ad length, which has now become one of the standard ad lengths on TV. Its newspaper ads were also rich, from deeply persuasive soft articles to straightforward hard ads; from "news-style articles" for event hype to various popular science articles, with diverse combinations.

Not-So-Simple Ten: The Not-So-Simple "Top Leader Personally Handles Planning"

The ability and involvement of the top leader directly affect the company's business operations. The difference in leaders' abilities and involvement directly forms the gap in operational capabilities. In Brain Gold's meticulous planning, it was inseparable from Shi Yuzhu's superb planning ability and his deep involvement.

When Brain Gold (and later Golden Partner) was the main business, as the top leader, Mr. Shi Yuzhu always personally handled planning. This "handling" was not like some corporate leaders who just listen to reports and offer opinions, but real and practical. From setting macro strategies to a single line of dialogue or a piece of copy, Shi Yuzhu was deeply involved, co-creating and discussing. When I held planning meetings with him, I felt his role was not like a corporate leader but more like an experienced planner. Perhaps we should not demand that all corporate leaders personally participate in planning like Shi Yuzhu; they may have too many important affairs to handle, and not all leaders are good at planning. However, for industries that rely heavily on planning (and health products are such an industry), having the top leader handle planning is definitely very beneficial. The biggest benefit is fast decision-making, avoiding many unnecessary consumption. At the same time, due to the top leader's excellent comprehensive ability (especially discernment), the possibility of good plans being discarded or buried is very small.

Shi Yuzhu was extremely diligent and studious, never using petty tricks. He deeply studied various Chinese and foreign literature on Brain Gold (melatonin), knowing every detail. At least in the Brain Gold planning meetings I attended, Shi Yuzhu always arrived early and never left midway. He not only listened carefully to everyone's opinions but also actively expressed his own. The biggest feature of Brain Gold planning meetings was democracy. Every participant—vice presidents, regional managers, planning copywriters, Shi Yuzhu himself, and my planning team—had to express opinions, and they had to be clear opinions, with vague, roundabout talk prohibited. When disagreements persisted, the majority rule was often adopted. Fairly speaking, Shi Yuzhu's own opinion certainly carried weight, but many times he respected everyone's opinions and did not act arbitrarily. At least in the meetings I participated in, that's what I saw.

Not-So-Simple Eleven: The Not-So-Simple "Advertising Style"

The biggest difference between Brain Gold's advertising style and many peers is that it did not pursue flashy advertising effects but pursued effectiveness—practical persuasion, moving consumers, and leveraging the market. It pursued effective advertising that sells products and sells them better!

Brain Gold's advertising style, overall, stood from the perspective of the most ordinary consumers, using popular forms and straightforward language to persuade consumers to buy the product. Shi Yuzhu once asked his planning staff to first take Brain Gold and do a month of sales promotion to see what language could sell the product better and faster, and directly write those words into copy; that would be good advertising. I highly agree with this view. As I have repeatedly emphasized, the purpose of advertising is to sell goods, and so-called brand building is nothing more than selling goods for a longer time. In this sense, Brain Gold's ads are truly good ads; maintaining high sales for nearly ten years is the best evidence.

Brain Gold's ads caused controversy and were rated as vulgar. I think this is not Brain Gold's tragedy, but rather the incorrectness of the critics' views, and indeed the critics' own tragedy. In fact, just looking at Brain Gold's TV ads, their production quality is at least above average, with superior picture quality, novel creativity, and distinct memory points. The key to the controversy, I believe, is partly related to excessive broadcasting, but more importantly, its selection criteria clashed with so-called orthodox advertising concepts and those academic theories far from market reality.

Brain Gold's advertising style, I believe, suits the acceptance level of ordinary Chinese consumers. Its popularity is not unfounded but carefully studied. In China's current market situation, this popularity is far better than subtle or pretentious petty-bourgeois sentiment, and far better than empty, pale false heroism. Indeed, many Chinese companies, to win some shallow and superficial recognition and praise, easily change their ads, ending up with a mess. Brain Gold knows clearly what it wants, so Brain Gold is not simple.

Not-So-Simple Twelve: The Not-So-Simple "Seriousness"

The most fearful thing in the world is seriousness. The most essential reason for Brain Gold's rise is the word "seriousness." Seriously researching the product, seriously planning the product, seriously communicating the product. Almost every link surpassed the seriousness of ordinary companies, allowing it to stand out all the way.

China has no shortage of wealthy companies or smart companies, but it lacks serious companies. Shi Yuzhu is certainly a smart person, but Brain Gold's rise did not rely on his intelligence but on his seriousness, persistence, and the tenacity to do things to the extreme.

In fact, many of the methods Brain Gold used were not its innovations, but it used not-so-simple seriousness to maximize the power of these methods. Brain Gold's rare meticulousness made its various plans highly executable, with clear requirements for each link, rather than vague statements like "in principle, do it this way." One is one, two is two, with no room for slyness. Here I list Brain Gold's "Eighty-Character Formula" for soft article placement requirements, from which you can see the level of detail.

Brain Gold's Soft Article Placement "Eighty-Character Formula"

Soft and hard ads should not touch each other; choose pages with many readers; price with XX% discount; titles should be eye-catching; every article should have illustrations; party newspapers should be the main; avoid the word "ad"; font should be uniform; no surrounding ads; no black borders; irregular shapes; no hotline numbers; tips should be clever; add decorative endings; execution without deviation; results will be excellent.

See how specific and clear the requirements are! I want to say that to achieve "execution without deviation," the prerequisite is that the "standard" must be very clear. This clarity comes from serious thinking, and seriousness means less impatience and more mental and physical effort; less self-deception and more seeking truth from facts; less cleverness and more honesty.

Postscript: An Anomaly Itself Means "Creation"

The twelve not-so-simple aspects may not be comprehensive, but they are certainly the main reasons for Brain Gold's success today. In these "not-so-simple" aspects, Brain Gold's astonishing creativity and vigorous vitality are evident. Brain Gold has thus indisputably become a representative "Created in China."

Why could Brain Gold think of these tricks?

To this day, many companies and marketers are still studying and analyzing Brain Gold's "creative routines."

If Brain Gold is an "anomaly," then the greatest significance of this anomaly is to tell everyone—

The source of creation is to truly immerse yourself, truly understand the Chinese market, truly gain insight into Chinese consumers, and truly grasp the essence of the industry. Truly emancipate the mind, seek truth from facts, and break free from constraints. This is the source and soul of creation.

Of course, Brain Gold is not perfect. Fairly speaking, it is still a product with high sales and high awareness, with considerable room for improvement in brand reputation. Even if it firmly locks onto the gift-giving positioning and occupies a significant share of China's gift market, its brand spirit remains vague. Some sharp creative expressions played a remarkable role in the launch and growth stages, but after the product matured, they seemed somewhat extreme, and perhaps one day they will touch the Chinese people's preference for moderation. But in any case, Brain Gold has fully possessed a very good foundation that most people envy.

The health product industry, though controversial but still highly promising, is steadily moving toward an era where brands win. It is only a matter of time before Brain Gold moves toward branding. This also requires it to make necessary corrections in the concept of integrated brand marketing communication. In fact, in recent years, Brain Gold's advertising style has been undergoing subtle but gratifying changes. This precisely proves that Brain Gold is not rigid or clinging to old rules, but has sustained creativity.

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