---
title: "Taishan Original Beer Marketing Director Ma Xiaolong: New Media and New Channels Drive Taishan Original Beer's Counter-trend Transformation"
description: "This article is an edited transcript of Ma Xiaolong's presentation on \"New Media and New Channels Drive Taishan Original Beer's Counter-trend Transformation\" at the FDIC 2018 China FMCG Digital Innovation Conference, as compiled by New Distribution. Ma Xiaolong discusses how Taishan Original Beer achieved 120% growth in 2017 through product differentiation, new media marketing, and a direct-sales channel model."
author: "马晓龙"
publisher: "New Distribution"
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published: "2018-09-03"
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# Taishan Original Beer Marketing Director Ma Xiaolong: New Media and New Channels Drive Taishan Original Beer's Counter-trend Transformation

> This article is an edited transcript of Ma Xiaolong's presentation on "New Media and New Channels Drive Taishan Original Beer's Counter-trend Transformation" at the FDIC 2018 China FMCG Digital Innovation Conference, as compiled by New Distribution. Ma Xiaolong discusses how Taishan Original Beer achieved 120% growth in 2017 through product differentiation, new media marketing, and a direct-sales channel model.

This article is an edited transcript of Ma Xiaolong's presentation on "New Media and New Channels Drive Taishan Original Beer's Counter-trend Transformation" at the FDIC 2018 China FMCG Digital Innovation Conference, as compiled by New Distribution.

The host just gave Taishan Original Beer very high praise, and I'm very grateful. Many of you may still be unfamiliar with the Taishan Original brand. What kind of product is Taishan Original, and what kind of brand is it?

First, let me show you a symbol: 7. The number 7 is significant for Taishan Original. It represents 7-day fresh original beer, the first top-fermented beer in China with a shelf life of only 7 days. It is because of this beer that Taishan Original has been able to stand out in the fiercely competitive beer market and maintain rapid growth despite declining beer sales both domestically and internationally for several consecutive years. It is also because of this product that Taishan Beer has become the only beer company in Shandong Province that has not been acquired by a major beer enterprise.

First, let me introduce the development history of Taishan Beer. Founded in 1979, over nearly 40 years of corporate history, we have firmly believed in one thing: differentiated products. In 1996, we launched the first 8-degree dry beer. In 2010, the 7-day fresh Taishan Original beer was launched, and in 2018, the 28-day fresh original beer that can be opened by hand was introduced. This entire process bears witness to Taishan Original Beer's persistence in differentiated beer operations. We insist on making original beer, fresh original beer with a short shelf life.

2010 was a milestone year for the company, with the launch of 7-day fresh original beer. From then on, we officially began our journey of "going against the trend"! This counter-trend approach is mainly reflected in three aspects:

First, going against time. For 20 years, we have insisted on making original beer, the freshest original beer.

Second, going against day and night. With fresh products, how do we get them to consumers as quickly as possible through the supply chain? We insist that every bottle of original beer is produced at midnight, transported at 3 a.m., and ultimately delivered to consumers at the earliest opportunity.

Third, going against the market. Traditional beer reaches consumers through restaurants, hypermarkets, and convenience stores. Taishan Original shortens the intermediate links, delivering directly from distributors to consumers.

It is these three aspects that have made Taishan Original what it is today. Despite the overall decline in national beer volume, Taishan Original achieved counter-trend growth of 120% in 2017, proving that our persistence in product, operations, and market differentiation over the years has paid off. It is precisely this differentiation that has brought about today's achievements.

What drove Taishan Original's counter-trend growth of 120%? We summarize three core points: good products, new media, and new channels.

Superior product quality earns lasting consumer acceptance, and continuous innovation sustains long-term consumer demand. New media helps with brand communication, deep fan engagement, and building consumer loyalty. New channels involve building a direct-sales channel to shorten the supply chain.

Good products. The popularity of 7-day fresh beer stems from the consumption upgrade brought about by the middle class and the pursuit of quality life. The internet has created many viral products, but most come and go quickly. How many have already left our sight? So, with mere internet thinking and without solid quality, viral products are just a flash in the pan. Product is king. Committing to creating high-quality fresh original beer is the foundation of Taishan Original and the top priority. We firmly believe that only a product with excellent quality and innovation can enable a company to stand long-term and gain lasting user recognition.

How do we ensure high product quality? With the heart of a brewer, we brew high-quality beer. Taishan Original is the only brewery in China that has maintained long-term cooperation with foreign technical experts for 30 years. From Mr. Kleister to Mr. Gerhard Rutherard, who at 83 years old still serves as a senior brewer for Taishan Original products. Under his leadership, we have formed a professional German expert advisory team, and we also cooperate with universities to ensure quality stability and efficient innovation.

Second, Taishan Original is the first manufacturer in China to adopt top-fermentation technology for brewing beer. Most beers on the market are light, bottom-fermented beers that are refreshing on the palate. Taishan Original uses top-fermentation, German yeast, and is unfiltered, resulting in a mellow taste with an elegant clove aroma.

Third, our brewing equipment is world-class, from the German company Krones. We focus on short-shelf-life fresh Taishan Original, with the shortest shelf life being seven days.

The company has two core products: 7-day fresh, positioned as a high-end original beer for the middle class, with 7-day freshness. It uses flash pasteurization, is unfiltered, rich in yeast, and is the first brand in China to bottle cloudy beer. It is 100% malt and has a seven-day shelf life.

The twist-to-open 28-day fresh beer meets the personalized needs of young people, defining a new way for young people to drink. It features an innovative twist-off cap design, opens with a twist, comes in four-color packaging, and the 450ml small capacity is more suitable for drinking.

**How does Taishan Original deliver freshness to consumers?**

Production of the first bottle starts at 0:00, and transportation begins at 3 a.m. We race against time. This is a transport vehicle under the moonlight.

After seven years of refinement and trial and error, we have formed a unique seven-day operation system: product order - planned production - logistics distribution - information system. This ensures that every fresh product is delivered to the consumer's table within 500 kilometers by 11 a.m. the same day.

With fresh products and a fast logistics system, who solves the last mile? It is the rapidly responsive marketing system—the direct-sales operation model. By eliminating restaurant terminals and consumer terminals, a single phone call delivers fresh original beer to consumers within half an hour.

Good products empower Taishan Original's market competitiveness; the unique operation model gives us wings.

Even good wine fears a deep alley. How do we let consumers know about it? This requires communication. In fact, Taishan Original's communication transformation began in 2014. New media rose and began serving enterprises. In 2014, we established an independent new media operations team. After four years of cultivation, the new media team has nearly 20 people. The core work of the new media team is to create content, integrate media, and serve communication.

In 2015, Taishan Original took the lead in the industry to launch the "one cap, one code" project. The basic function of one cap, one code is promotion, but we use it mainly for communication. One cap, one code plus self-media operations has accumulated three million high-quality original beer fans. Fans have become media. The company no longer needs extra expenses for communication because this consumer group is more precise than the audience covered by other media. Three million people are enough to achieve brand communication at this stage. With fans, how do we activate them? Doing fan operations well is key to new media. Taishan Original operates fans through experience, communication, interaction, and cross-border activities.

New media experience: Let consumers experience quality products. Every month, in key markets, we use new media to give away beer online, allowing consumers to obtain products through various forms, to experience and taste them.

New media communication: Using the internet to achieve content marketing. Taishan Original has basically formed a full-network communication matrix with WeChat and Weibo as the core, supplemented by Douyin, Zhihu, and Toutiao. The new media matrix communication is basically formed.

New media interaction: To continuously strengthen the stickiness between the brand and consumers. In key markets, we hold one or two offline consumer experience activities each month, attracting participants online and guiding them to offline interaction. Various interactive forms such as camping and hiking bring users closer to the brand.

New media cross-border: In 2017, we joined the Blue V family. So far, we have cooperated with more than 100 brand Blue Vs, finding new models for cross-border cooperation.

Establish new channels and innovate channels. Jack Ma said that the pure e-commerce era will soon end, and pure retail forms will also be broken. New retail will lead the future business model.

What are the pain points of traditional channels? Manufacturers invest a lot of channel fees to gain terminals, leading to increased marketing costs. There are too many channel intermediaries, and distributor profits are getting lower. Third, consumers buy products at a price that includes manufacturer costs plus channel costs, so they cannot get value for money.

In the internet environment, the beer consumption market has also undergone many changes. Diversified consumers, especially the rise of the middle class, have increasingly high demands for product quality. In recent years, imported beer has gradually entered people's lives. The rapid development of e-commerce means consumers no longer only drink in restaurants; e-commerce delivers products to their homes. Based on the pain points of traditional channels, coupled with the strong new demands of emerging markets and consumers, a new model has emerged—the direct-sales new channel. In simple terms, direct sales means products reach consumers directly through distributors, with no middlemen, shortening the transmission chain from factory to consumer, ensuring the freshest taste of original beer and maximizing distributor profits.

Taishan Original's direct-sales model is a win-win-win model for all three parties. For manufacturers, it breaks channel blockades; for distributors, there are no middlemen taking a cut, so they enjoy dual profits from channels and consumers; for consumers, they get the freshest beer in the shortest time.

Channel innovation has brought significant benefits to the company. It helped form three million fans, and sales outlets cover nearly 1,100 locations across 19 provinces. In 2017, sales achieved a counter-trend growth of 120%.

Taishan Original's vision for 2018 is to reach 1,500 direct-sales stores, exceed 5 million fans, and expand the sales territory to cover the whole country.

Taishan Original is continuously recruiting distributors nationwide. Call 400-0407-999 or follow the "Shandong Taishan Beer Co., Ltd." WeChat official account to learn more about franchise details.

Today, Taishan Original has officially entered the 2.0 era of going against the trend. Over eight years of going against the trend, Taishan Original has accumulated much experience and made many mistakes. Today, Taishan Original is forging ahead and entering an era of rapid progress.

Click **Read Original** to see more highlights of the 2018 FDIC China FMCG Digital Innovation Conference...

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