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The baijiu market has been impacted by policies restricting official consumption, leading to weak consumer demand and a sluggish market. Many believe that these restrictions only affect high-end spirits, with minimal impact on mid-range products, or even a boost for low-end ones. However, in reality, the policy's effect on high-end spirits has deeply affected the entire industry, pushing the decade-long rapid growth of the baijiu sector into a turning point. Currently, the entire baijiu industry, regardless of high, mid, or low end, is in a downturn.

For traditional famous brands, mid-range products can still see some growth due to their high recognition and consumer base. However, for regional low-end baijiu, especially low-end products, the market is increasingly squeezed by the downward adjustment of mid-to-high-end product lines. These regional brands need to find ways to break through and secure their survival space.

Brand Reshaping and Positioning

Low-end brands often have a fixed low-end image due to historical reasons and initial brand positioning. As their original consumer base shrinks and ages, their purchasing power declines, leading to a vicious cycle of falling sales and profits, making brand aging and reduced premium pricing inevitable.

Is there no way to change this? In fact, brand aging occurs because brands fail to keep up with changing times and consumer needs. Brands should evolve with the times and adapt to consumer changes.

How to reshape a brand? It's not about starting from scratch but inheriting and developing.

Brand attributes and assets that are good should be promoted, while those that are unsuitable should be reshaped: repositioning and discovering new consumer needs. Low-end products typically emphasize taste and cost-effectiveness, but at the brand level, they need to draw from local culture and history, create new connotations, and appeal to consumers' spiritual needs. With consumption upgrades, a purely product-centric approach is insufficient.

Additionally, many low-end products have multiple brands to meet channel development needs, each lower than the last. They believe that having several brands with some sales each is better than one brand. Also, channel development may require multiple brands to overcome bottlenecks with distributors.

However, multi-brand operations don't necessarily ensure success in all areas. It's better to focus on one core brand, develop a single low-end brand with minimal span, reduce the product line of the core brand, and aim for "extreme products"—a few classic, high-volume items. Since the existing image is hard to change, don't attempt upward brand extensions.

Isn't it better and more realistic to make the low-end brand the strongest, most competitive, highest-volume, and most-consumed option?

Product Structure and Portfolio

For low-end baijiu, product strength is crucial, even core. This is closely related to the consumer base. What is product strength? First, attractive packaging that catches the eye; second, good taste; third, a sense of presence—evaluated in the consumer's shopping environment, not just as a design draft; fourth, the ability to drive purchase action. That's the essence of product strength.

Of course, a good name, selling point, and advertising slogan are also essential.

Product structure defines the strategic roles and tasks of products, such as image products, profit products, volume products, and blocking products. Do low-end baijiu need image products? Yes, they do; otherwise, consumers may doubt the company's capability. Image products should account for about 5-10% and can be under a different brand. The main focus should be on profit and volume products, with prices concentrated at 6, 8, 10, and 15 yuan: 6-8 yuan for basic products, 10-12 yuan for volume products, 15 yuan and above for profit products, and 20 yuan or even over 100 yuan for image products, forming a complete portfolio.

Market Focus and Expansion

Why build one brand, one flagship product, and base/sample markets? Similarly, why not develop multiple brands, many products, and expand nationwide simultaneously? The logic is simple: if you're capable enough, you can do all that. But can you? Do you have the resources and a mature team? If not, it's better to focus on "concentration."

What does expansion mean? First, deep development of base and sample markets. Many brands had excellent base markets years ago but neglected maintenance and deep development, leading to declining brand influence and aging. Price transparency leaves little profit for distributors and wholesalers, weakening channel push and shrinking the market.

Second, consumer expansion. As the brand develops, consumer age and habits change. Continuously attract new consumers to maintain overall consumer numbers and sales.

Third, competitive factors. Competition is inevitable. Find differentiated competitive strategies to turn red oceans into blue oceans.

Finally, establish multiple new sample markets. Building base and sample markets isn't about defending but about thoroughly developing one, solidifying it, creating standards, and replicating them for a virtuous cycle. Multiple sample markets form base markets, which, along with strategic key markets, support continuous market expansion and sales growth. Regional low-end baijiu should have the patience to build samples and the ambition to expand from regional to national.

Precise and Grounded Communication

Products are media; the product itself is the best promotional platform. Excellent packaging is the best advertisement and advertising medium. Low-end baijiu can be low-priced, but packaging cannot be low-end; otherwise, no one will drink it.

In the mobile internet era, the essence of communication is not broadcasting but transmission. The best communication is word-of-mouth. Awareness is certainly the most basic and important, but experience and word-of-mouth must come first; otherwise, awareness has no value.

Do low-end baijiu only need awareness? Obviously not; they also need experience. The essence of low-end baijiu marketing is to market "drinking this wine is trendy," avoiding a sense of being outdated. Communication should focus on creating this trend.

Management Optimization and Upgrade

A product's sales decline can be due to many factors: brand aging, products not meeting consumer needs, channels lacking profit, etc. But for low-end spirits, another issue cannot be ignored: market management.

Low-end baijiu sales channels are basically traditional. Traditional channels rely on two forces: channel push and team maintenance and promotion. Team maintenance includes managing channels and terminals.

At this stage, low-end baijiu should use FMCG thinking for sales and sales management.

What is FMCG thinking? Summarized as follows:

First, classify markets. Define market types: generally base markets, strategic markets, opportunity markets, and penetration markets.

Second, under the overall strategy, develop marketing strategies (4P is sufficient; don't disdain this old tool; perfection is key) for each market.

Third, upgrade the regional market organizational structure, implementing tiered market operations based on market type, such as intensive cultivation for base markets and assistance strategies for strategic markets.

Fourth, ensure proper distribution for product launches and new product introductions. For existing products, maintain distribution rates of 85-90% in base markets as a hard requirement. Without distribution and display, there's no sales—this is a FMCG rule, especially for traditional channels. Distribution must be a hard performance indicator.

Fifth, implement promotions and consumer activities. For distributors and secondary wholesalers, mainly purchase incentives and distribution rewards. Consumer activities should focus on direct physical gifts, training taste adaptability, and considering novel gift forms.

Finally, manage channel and terminal incentives. Focus on motivation; high rewards bring brave men. For distributors, profit is fundamental. Establish a mechanism combining short-term profit and long-term business, binding their interests with the manufacturer for mutual prosperity.

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