---
title: "Swire Coca-Cola's Practical Case: Digital Transformation Is Not Magic, but Marketing Elevation"
description: "What is the future of business? There may be hundreds of answers, but digitalization will surely provide the most imaginative one. This article explores how Zhengzhou Swire Coca-Cola achieved a remarkable transformation through deep distribution digitalization and B2B2C integration, as shared by its Managing Director Xu Yonggang."
author: "销售与市场"
publisher: "New Distribution"
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published: "2022-01-06"
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# Swire Coca-Cola's Practical Case: Digital Transformation Is Not Magic, but Marketing Elevation

> What is the future of business? There may be hundreds of answers, but digitalization will surely provide the most imaginative one. This article explores how Zhengzhou Swire Coca-Cola achieved a remarkable transformation through deep distribution digitalization and B2B2C integration, as shared by its Managing Director Xu Yonggang.

Source: Sales and Marketing (ID: cnmarket)
****What is the future of business? There may be hundreds of answers, but digitalization will surely provide the most imaginative one.
When two people converse, the ceiling translates language in real time; clothing fabric changes patterns according to your mood; dynamic information windows are everywhere, and tissue boxes and matchboxes can play advertisements... This is the future world described in the novel "The Three-Body Problem."
Similar scenes have also appeared in the imagination of Xu Yonggang, Director and General Manager of Zhengzhou Swire Coca-Cola Beverages Co., Ltd.
"Perhaps one day, when you feel thirsty, your brain will sense it and a robot will deliver a cup of 'happiness water' without any time or space constraints." Or "in the convenience store you frequent most, the beverage will always be your favorite flavor."
With the gradual penetration of technology and the internet, digital transformation has become a mandatory question for enterprises. Answering incorrectly or slowly is equivalent to falling behind.
At Swire Coca-Cola, digitalization, acceleration, and high value are the three pillars of the group's strategy. Since 2016, the company has encouraged internal digital innovation practices, with each unit employing its own methods.
Among them, Zhengzhou Swire Coca-Cola achieved a stunning turnaround through deep distribution digitalization and B2B2C integration, making it a benchmark case.
Regarding the digital transformation of traditional enterprises, our reporter interviewed Xu Yonggang, Director and General Manager of Zhengzhou Swire Coca-Cola. His digital exploration, based on deep and forward-thinking practice, is highly enlightening. The following is the exclusive interview:
**Digital Innovation Is a Dynamic Process**
Digital transformation has been a hot keyword in recent years. But when discussing "what to transform," "why transform," and "how to transform," there is always a specific target: the top leader of the enterprise. Why?
Tao Jingwen, Director and Chief Information Officer of Huawei, answered: It is not because the top leader has authority and voice, but more importantly, the top leader can transcend a single dimension, not be constrained by specific issues like technology or business, but view problems comprehensively and have a clear picture of business evolution.
Just like sailing on an unknown sea, an experienced captain's role is irreplaceable for the entire ship. What the weather will be like next month, what resources to stock before departure, how to adjust the crew's state during the voyage, and what to do when encountering a storm—these are all the "captain's" tasks.
At Zhengzhou Swire Coca-Cola, Xu Yonggang is undoubtedly this "captain." He said: "I may not be able to determine what is right, but I clearly know what is wrong."
(Portrait of Xu Yonggang, Director and General Manager of Zhengzhou Swire Coca-Cola)
Regarding digital transformation, many traditional enterprises fall into a misconception that digitalization means moving offline things online—what was in supermarkets is now online, and handwritten orders become online orders. Some enterprises fall into another misconception that digital transformation can completely reinvent the enterprise in a short time, and installing a digital management or marketing tool can achieve organizational change.
Clearly, in the process of digital transformation, more issues need consideration, such as: efficiency first or experience first? How to balance security and efficiency? How to make digitalization truly guide action? How should data be managed?
Zhengzhou Swire Coca-Cola has encountered the same problems as other enterprises. But Xu Yonggang believes this precisely proves that any innovation is not achieved overnight; it **needs nourishing soil** and a process of continuous iteration and transformation **to break through the ground**, and even requires a keen eye for discovering tiny opportunities.
In 2016, Zhengzhou Swire Coca-Cola launched a CP (Customer Portal) internally, mainly to solve the pain points of customer reconciliation and payment collection. Over the following two to three years, as product orders increased, Xu Yonggang led the team to continuously upgrade the system, transforming its function from a single financial attribute to a data platform that combines front-end marketing and back-end management.
**Thus, digital transformation is not magic that turns a rabbit into a pigeon and then solves everything permanently; it is a process of continuously looking to the future, a dynamic process.**
**Three Keywords for Digital Transformation**
**—Fragmentation, Possibility, Necessity**
Specifically regarding the practice of digital transformation, most enterprises are currently feeling their way forward, and there is no universal methodology.
However, in Xu Yonggang's view, for most brand owners, digital transformation will go through at least three stages:
  * Stage 1.0: Full-chain digitalization, digital visualization;
  * Stage 2.0: B2B2C integration, end-to-end horizontal and vertical connectivity;
  * Stage 3.0: Algorithm upgrade, precise matching.
He stated that Zhengzhou Swire Coca-Cola's current digitalization is only at stage 1.5.
Among these, stage 1.0 is the foundation and the first step for enterprises. Combining Zhengzhou Swire Coca-Cola's practice, Xu Yonggang summarized three keywords of the methodology:
**1. Fragmentation.** Specifically, it means breaking down the long end-to-end chain from raw materials, production, warehousing, logistics and distribution, partners, to terminals, and finally to consumers, into small behavioral fragments.
**2. Possibility.** After the chain is fragmented, enterprises analyze one by one which behaviors have the potential for digital transformation.
**3. Necessity.** Having possibility does not necessarily mean necessity. For example, at the current stage, the action of a consumer taking a beverage out of a vending machine after ordering does not yet need digitalization. Enterprises should further filter out the most necessary behaviors, consider the return on investment, and use digitalization to solve pain points.
Through chain fragmentation and analysis of possibility and necessity, physical behaviors become digital behaviors of "0" and "1." Then, data is centralized on a unified data platform, and segmented digitalization of F2B, B2b, and b2C is fully connected, greatly improving the efficiency and effectiveness of marketing management.
Taking the logistics link as an example, distribution has always been a problem area in logistics management because for manufacturers and distributors, the driver's route is untraceable, and digital innovation is urgently needed.
Zhengzhou Swire Coca-Cola's solution is to make driver routes visible, with the status of each vehicle, each person, and each store real-time and clearly visible online.
Through technological transformation, the logistics management department can instantly observe the real-time dynamics of each delivery vehicle on a large screen.
For example, a red dot indicates the vehicle is in operation; the store owner can open their phone to see where the goods are and how long until delivery—reassuring and worry-free. A blue dot indicates the vehicle has completed delivery and is on the return trip; the warehouse can prepare the next shipment.
Another example is the marketing side. When a company launches a promotion requiring consumers to scan a code on the cap, but consumers lack enthusiasm and the cost is huge, what to do?
The lack of enthusiasm for scanning may fundamentally be because the reward itself is not attractive. The reward is fixed, but current consumer needs are diverse. A fixed reward may attract some people but does not motivate others.
Second is the cost issue. Can we change the operational approach and have the reward products "sponsored" by other brands? If so, the cost would be greatly reduced.
Combining the two issues, using "other products" to solve "personalized needs" is the optimal solution. Zhengzhou Swire Coca-Cola's solution is one code per item: mini-program (Every Day Has Joy+) + LBS + Tencent Youma.
After opening the cap, consumers scan the code through the "Every Day Has Joy+" mini-program. Once they win, they can go to the nearest terminal. The terminal owner verifies the winning information in the "Every Day Has Joy+" through the CP platform. After the terminal owner verifies a specified number of times, the system automatically places an order, and the manufacturer replenishes in time.
**Digitalization Is the Turning Point for Marketing Elevation**
Through Zhengzhou Swire Coca-Cola's digital practice, Xu Yonggang also has a profound insight: whether it is FMCG, 3C home appliances, or shopping malls, traditional enterprises should not underestimate themselves. The infrastructure they have built over the years is precisely the basic skill supporting digital transformation.
Digitalization is the turning point for marketing elevation. Through algorithms, we can answer questions that our brains cannot or do not have time to think about, continuously intercept user traffic and redistribute it, digitalize people, goods, and scenes, and reconstruct a new scene to give consumers a better experience, thereby better attracting and serving consumers.
The digitalization of retail must ultimately return to the essence of business—the most critical products and services.
For example, when a company has a new product to launch, it will be fully listed in hypermarkets and convenience stores in a certain region.
But currently, nationwide, the success rate of new beverage product launches each year is only less than 5%. Why is there such a high failure rate?
It is because companies invest a lot of effort and resources, but where are consumers? What do consumers want? How are products delivered to consumers? These basic questions remain unresolved, which is the biggest drawback.
Through digitalization, such extensive thinking can be upgraded. In the future, we may divide a region, such as Zhengzhou, into 100 or even 1,000 small fragments. In different fragments, we can conduct multi-dimensional data analysis of all variables, including customer channels and economic environment, to achieve more precise distribution.
Even product packaging and categories can be considered, bringing a significant breakthrough in the success rate of future new product launches.
In the future, the flavors consumers like most and the places they frequent most are where products should appear.
Xu Yonggang stated that through data, we can generate numerous analysis models and user profiles, find matching consumers, and then drive product development, precise distribution, and personalized experiences, forming a closed loop from front-end business to data, and from data back to front-end business operations.
For many enterprises, data itself is a productive resource, not just a technology. In today's world where the internet connects everyone, we should better utilize the upgrade of production technology.
**In fact, not only digitalization, but business has always been full of uncertainty. Fortunately, we can always find an entry point.**
**Are you "watching" me?**


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