Click to read the original text for details 1 The FMCG business has been tough in recent years. Almost all brands are declining. But even if we work hard, it's difficult to fundamentally change the downward trend. Master Kong's instant noodles decline is never because Uni-President became stronger, but because of high-speed rail and food delivery. Coca-Cola's competitors are not just Pepsi, but also Heytea, Sang Tea, and countless trendy street beverage shops. P&G is not not trying hard; young people really, really don't care about the big brands their mothers use. The joint distribution system is still invincible in China's fourth- and sixth-tier markets to this day. Wahaha did nothing wrong; it's just that the brand, along with Master Zong, has grown old together. In this era, the opponents we can see only make us stronger. What destroys us are always the invisible opponents. 2 When we look for product agents, you think as long as the product's spokesperson is famous enough and there are enough ads, you can pay with your eyes closed. But now, besides the elderly, young people no longer watch TV. You think it doesn't matter if there's no brand, and it doesn't matter if consumers don't watch TV, as long as you secure all the city's retail stores and hypermarkets, the business can rest easy. But consumers haven't been to a supermarket for half a year or a year, and instead order on Tmall, Pinduoduo, and WeChat Moments, stocking up for half a year at a time. You may not understand Jiangxiaobai and think it tastes bad. But it is still one of the most popular baijiu brands among young people. Even a bunch of literary uncles rely on drinking Jiangxiaobai to show their literary taste. 3 The logic of business has really changed! The problem is that we are still using the logic system from 10 years ago to satisfy today's consumers. You might say, I'm just moving goods, taking orders, and delivering; what does this have to do with me? Then I tell you that now there are people using B2B, WMS, TMS, one-stop online transactions, same-city logistics, supply chain finance, and other means to do your business! You might say, I have low prices and low costs; if I don't make money, I won't do it! Sorry, you will find that in the future, no matter what business you do, you won't make money. As I said, the logic of doing business has really changed. Competition has shifted from a single dimension to higher and more dimensions.
What does dimension change mean?
Let me give you an example.
We are three-dimensional beings living in a four-dimensional space.
In our world, if you pat a basketball, it will bounce. You would say, oh, the ball is moving.
But a two-dimensional being living in three-dimensional space can only see a circle moving up, down, left, right, or changing size in three-dimensional space.
A one-dimensional being in two-dimensional space can only see a line that is long or short, or moves left and right in two-dimensional space.
What do you understand from this example?
Beings in lower-dimensional spaces can never understand things in higher-dimensional spaces. The competition we now face is that people from different dimensional spaces are competing with us in the same dimension.
You may not see it or understand it, but you cannot deny its existence. 4 On the internet, there are no longer physical spatial boundaries. E-commerce can reach our consumers arbitrarily online. But we are still waiting for consumers in stores and on supermarket shelves. The internet is doing business in our industry from a higher dimension. Facing competition from higher-dimensional opponents, we must undergo a dimensional upgrade transformation, or in the internet era, all channels and marketing in FMCG need a digital innovation. The past single-dimensional product, price, channel, and promotion must become higher dimensions such as scenario, traffic, communication, and IP. It's okay if you don't understand. But you cannot deny that it has nothing to do with you. What you need to do now is to strive to see clearly, after the dimension changes, where our future business leverage lies. And we, in this digital era, must find the leverage for our own transformation in this era. Thus, to adapt to and catch up with this era. The FDIC2018 China FMCG Digital Innovation Conference revolves around the digital innovation of marketing and channels in the internet era for the FMCG industry. We invited more than 50 internet companies and brand owners that have done relatively well in marketing and supply chain in the internet era to discuss the digital transformation of the FMCG industry. We hope that through such on-site exchanges, we can help brand owners and distributors find ideas, tools, methods, and paths. In this era, what defeats you is never ignorance, but arrogance. What replaces distributors is never some internet company, but higher efficiency and lower costs. Let us welcome the arrival of this era together. -END-