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I. Must Do Terminals There are three types of enterprises in the baijiu industry:
- Those that don't do terminals and wait to die;
- Those that do terminals and seek death;
- Those that do terminals and profit.
If you don't do terminals, selling goods to distributors without corresponding terminal support means your products won't enter mainstream terminals and won't become market protagonists.
If you don't do terminals, attempting direct sales through e-commerce, trunk projects, bribery promotions, or relying on personal networks for "circle marketing"—all these efforts will suffer from "diminishing marginal returns," with slower development, higher maintenance costs, and lower value.
To achieve performance, first abandon the illusion that "success is possible without terminals," firmly believe that "not doing terminals means death," and recognize that any attempt to bypass terminals is opportunistic, starting with self-cleverness and ending in loss.
II. The Key to Terminal Marketing is "Cost Planning Capability"
Tactics are not mysterious; the cost management behind tactics is the key. Terminal marketing tactics reached completeness by the "Hongtao K era" in 1998. Hongtao K built an "integrated marketing communications" system based on Coca-Cola's model, with terminals as the hub, including product displays, posters, counter stickers, the "terminal administrator" position, first-push rate management, general customer relationship management, and coordination with outdoor advertising like bus stickers and wall signs, community promotions, free clinics, TV media, and newspaper soft articles. In short, by the time of Hongtao K, terminal marketing tactics were largely complete. After Hongtao K's failure, some teams moved to Slek and Midea—marketing techniques continued to evolve, such as Slek's innovation in terminal display tools, but fundamental breakthroughs became rare. However, no matter how perfect the tactics, they cannot guarantee enterprise success. Because implementing any tactic incurs costs; different planning and management lead to vastly different costs and returns. Mastering tactics is not difficult; mastering the cost management behind tactic implementation is not so easy.
The core of baijiu terminal marketing is terminal personnel skills, personnel image, and personnel brand. Mid-to-low-end baijiu lacks loyalty, and product cost-performance is nearly homogeneous. The path of "packaging design + clever pricing + natural supermarket sales" is narrowing; broad terminal recommendations and the influence of terminal personnel are key to consumer choice. For high-end liquor, the weight of "service" and "network comprehensive benefits" in brand benefits is increasing. The significance of fame and government approvals is declining, which is why circle marketing thrives and "that jar of wine in life" emerges.
Terminal marketing-related personnel are extremely high cost investments. The main weapon of physical stores against e-commerce is personnel brand—the cohesion of personnel with consumers. Terminal management teams, terminal promotion teams, and terminal planning teams are all costs and expenses. Investment may not yield returns, and small investments may not lack large returns. With declining foot traffic in supermarkets, promoters being diverted by supermarkets, and distributors falsely reporting numbers, 90% of enterprises see their supermarket promoter investments become mere formality. Wine shops and other retail venues have low foot traffic, making it nearly impossible to bear promoter costs, or even the transportation costs of terminal managers. Consumers bringing their own alcohol, declining overall consumption in the catering system, sharply rising promotion consumption, and homogenized promotion investments make catering promotions likely a cost trap.
The core of terminal marketing planning is not tactical planning but cost planning. How to reduce costs, or how to improve the return on cost investment? In 1999, when Zeng Xiangwen served as marketing commander for Chengdu Hailang Dairy, he proposed "sticky promotion": competitors like Huaxi and Guangming promoted by selling products, but due to low dairy value, sales couldn't cover promotion costs; Shuangcha Milk sold "membership qualifications," where buying one bottle meant subscribing for a year! Shuangcha Milk created a miracle in Chengdu: return on investment was hundreds of times higher than competitors like Huaxi, Shahe, and Yangping, with total profits close to Huaxi. In 2001, serving Guangdong Shuijingfang, Zeng Xiangwen, with support and inspiration from General Manager Jiang Jie, formulated the "Core Terminal Strategy" and created tactics like "brand experience venues" and "doing terminals beyond terminals." This theory also served companies like Yantai Great Wall Wine. Beijing Shengchu Company, based on core terminal theories, proposed the "plate-in-plate" model: buying out core restaurants at high cost, willing to lose money to penetrate deeply, then diluting core terminal costs through market heat, effectively solving the problem of terminal marketing not covering costs. In 2006, Zeng Xiangwen proposed "dual-terminal marketing," implemented in Hefei, the birthplace of the plate-in-plate model. Some techniques were validated, such as weak brands like Anhui Shahewang doing "group buying in restaurants bought out by competitors," reducing entry costs and improving promotion efficiency. Within a month, the model signed contracts with about 100 mid-to-high-end restaurants in Hefei, putting enterprises using plate-in-plate at a disadvantage. Zeng Xiangwen summarized techniques like "Entry Fee Strategy" and "Flying Over Toll Stations." Part of the model (only the store entry part) was used by Shanghai Shenxian Distillery, with a success rate of 50% in Fengxian and Nanhui. In response, Shengchu added "consumer plate-in-plate" to the model, increasing resistance to "group buying in others' terminals." Zeng Xiangwen combined the "dual-terminal model" with "high-price competition" techniques, using higher prices to dilute costs. He raised prices for Hainan Zhengye Zhongnong pesticides, boosting sales by 100%; shaped high-end brands like Rufeng Taishan for Shandong China Tobacco; and raised prices by 300% for juice companies in Nanjing and Hefei, with sales rising sharply. In 2013, Zeng Xiangwen returned to Chengdu to serve "12 Sea Mineral Water," continuing the "high price, high promotion" strategy, with prices double that of French Evian. He focused on top-end communities like Lushan International, top kindergartens like Jinwanhui, and some high-end KTVs; partnered with Beijing Laoshe Teahouse to radiate to high-end tea houses.
In summary, not doing terminals means waiting to die; Without corresponding techniques to reduce costs or improve return on cost investment, blindly following others in doing terminals is seeking death.
III. Terminal Strategy Tactics are moves; strategy is the "internal strength" of using moves, including cultivation and application.
Brand Building Some enterprises dare not do terminals because it seems to involve consumption battles, like buy-one-get-one offers, displays, roadshows, and personnel promotions. Others are rich but foolish, bravely spending money, thus putting on the red dancing shoes of terminal consumption, racing toward losses without end. The only way to escape terminal consumption is to build a brand, using the brand as a tool to consolidate terminal resources, rather than competing on product quality or price. We often see that with the same buy-one-get-one offer, stronger brands attract more consumers; or to achieve certain sales, stronger brands rely less on promotion intensity. However, most enterprises do not know that the key to terminal input-output is not tactics but the "brand" beyond tactics.
Terminal Layout A clear, rigorous terminal layout can significantly reduce terminal operating costs and improve efficiency. Layout is divided into three levels: geographic layout, time layout (order and rhythm of entering terminals), and business format layout. Terminal selection, geographic layout, time rhythm layout, competitive layout, layout of sales terminals, consumption terminals, and brand promotion terminals, matching of five major terminal promotion resources, and linkage between terminals and various consumers—all must be identified from a strategic height and managed with strategic tools.
Channel Strategy Structural differentiation of terminal incentives, object differentiation, innovation in terminal cooperation models—any point can reduce costs, improve returns, or even achieve core competitiveness and disrupt industry structure. Examples include the US dollars in Anhui liquor boxes in early years, Jiangkou Chun Zhuge Liang's lighters in Guangdong, and Shuijingfang's exquisite small gifts.
IV. Terminal Management Many enterprises have terminal management, but management costs are high, or management becomes a formality. We believe the premise of terminal management is "terminal quality." First set rules, then avoid chaos: each terminal marketing plan should first establish a quality system, then all participants jointly evaluate and constrain. Marketing quality management was proposed by Mr. Xu Jun, senior consultant at Kotler Consulting Group, and first fully tested when we served Shandong China Tobacco. It succeeded. This system helps us evaluate the quality of business teams, distributors, and terminal staff beforehand, and scientifically assess the value of each link afterward, maximizing the efficiency of incentive resources. We believe performance is driven primarily by two factors: marketing strategic and tactical innovation, and marketing management, mainly incentive management innovation. Our pioneering quality management system can lower terminal marketing costs and improve efficiency. Based on quality management, supplemented by innovation in promotion team management models, we build first-class promotion teams with individual combat effectiveness, making competitive advantages more comprehensive. With the rise of e-commerce, WeChat, and Weibo, terminal marketing content has enriched, but terminal marketing has not become outdated. Not only has it not become outdated, but it has become even more important.