---
title: "Vita Tea Surpasses Iced Black Tea, Pulpy Orange \"Kills\" Fresh Orange! What Are Master Kong and Uni-President Busy With?"
description: "Do you think Master Kong's market monitoring system would overlook Vita Tea? If not, why did Vita Tea easily surpass it? Uni-President's Fresh Orange being \"killed\" by Coca-Cola's Pulpy Orange is nothing new. Why do these market giants' flagship products so easily slide from protagonists to supporting roles? Consumers are the origin of all brand actions, and market research is the best way to gain consumer insights. Developing and improving strategies based on market research is a standard operating model for consulting firms and many mature companies, with many successful applications..."
author: "张德昭"
publisher: "New Distribution"
email: "zhaobo258@gmail.com"
telephone: "+8615854817671"
published: "2019-12-22"
categories: "Brand Marketing"
language: "en"
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citation: "张德昭. “Vita Tea Surpasses Iced Black Tea, Pulpy Orange \"Kills\" Fresh Orange! What Are Master Kong and Uni-President Busy With?.” New Distribution, 2019-12-22. https://xinjignxiao.com/en/articles/vita-tea-surpasses-iced-black-tea-pulpy-orange-kills-fresh-orange-what-a-09d54b01/"
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# Vita Tea Surpasses Iced Black Tea, Pulpy Orange "Kills" Fresh Orange! What Are Master Kong and Uni-President Busy With?

> Do you think Master Kong's market monitoring system would overlook Vita Tea? If not, why did Vita Tea easily surpass it? Uni-President's Fresh Orange being "killed" by Coca-Cola's Pulpy Orange is nothing new. Why do these market giants' flagship products so easily slide from protagonists to supporting roles? Consumers are the origin of all brand actions, and market research is the best way to gain consumer insights. Developing and improving strategies based on market research is a standard operating model for consulting firms and many mature companies, with many successful applications...

**Do you think Master Kong's market monitoring system would overlook Vita Tea? If not, why did Vita Tea easily surpass it? Uni-President's Fresh Orange being "killed" by Coca-Cola's Pulpy Orange is nothing new. Why do these market giants' flagship products so easily slide from protagonists to supporting roles?**
**Consumers are the origin of all brand actions, and market research is the best way to gain consumer insights.** Developing and improving strategies based on market research is a standard operating model for consulting firms and many mature companies, with many successful applications, although market research results are not necessarily the only indicator for decision-making.
So, does "market research" have its own limitations? Or, does it also encounter "unsolvable" problems?
**-01-** **What Can Market Research Tell Us?**
Systematic research on consumers allows us to examine the brand's environment and problems from a data-driven perspective under the dual dimensions of "ensuring reliability" and "balancing cost"—this statement has at least two meanings:
**1\. Uncovering Benefits and Problems**
There is a saying: "By interviewing 8 people, there is an 80% probability of finding problems with a real-world occurrence probability greater than 18%." We don't need to dwell on the specific numbers and statistical principles behind them. In short, **we can explore category needs and brand problems through a relatively small sample of consumers—no matter how many needs and problems exist in consumers' minds, we always have ways to uncover the most mainstream ones.**
**2\. Distribution of Indicators Across the Population**
If the target consumer is identified, then a quantitative study of a certain sample can, at a given confidence level, understand the distribution of certain indicators of the category or brand across the population. That is: no matter how many people are in the target population (whether in the tens of millions or hundreds of millions), we always have ways to simulate and present the market with numbers under certain constraints.
Market research methods supported by statistical principles, combined with powerful analysis software, allow us to understand consumers without being entangled in purely speculative categories like "brand aging," "lack of innovation," "internet-famous products," or "what others have, I have better." Especially with the accumulation of so-called "big data" resources by internet companies, consumer research has seen unprecedented improvements in sample size, data dimensions, and data processing efficiency.
In principle, as long as we can ask questions correctly and ask the right questions, we can see the most authentic consumer feedback and decide whether to take corresponding measures.
**-02-** **Some Problems Encountered in Reality**
Limited by practical experience and level (especially weak statistical foundation), the author can only express some views and questions on the proposition of "limitations of market research" through actual examples observed in brand operations.
**1\. Homogenization and Customer Defection**
Almost everyone understands the need for "differentiation," but in reality, at least in the FMCG field, we may often face "homogenized competition"—after all, the physical attribute differences of products are not that significant, and the technical barriers to entry are not high.
Under homogenized competition, we can see two completely opposite situations:
"One is the rapid rise of new brands, such as C'estbon in the packaged water market, Bimbo and Toly in the bread market, Junlebao and Feihe in the dairy market, and Vita Tea in the ready-to-drink tea market...
The other is leading brands firmly maintaining their market positions despite various challengers, such as Red Bull in the energy drink market, Uni-President's Ahassam in the ready-to-drink milk tea market, and Pulpy Orange in the low-concentration juice market..."
The author believes that these two different outcomes are not (or at least not entirely) caused by personnel execution factors, because "execution" is easy to standardize and replicate. So, from a consumer perspective, can market research models provide a comprehensive explanation for the above phenomena and effective recommendations for entering similar markets?
For example, an intuitive idea is: **Generally, through market research feedback, we can understand the complete image of industry-leading brands in consumers' minds and the decisive factors driving purchases.**
Then, if our own brand deliberately makes continuous investments in brand assets based on these factors, does it mean we have the opportunity to "steal" some specific types of consumers from the leading brands? Because the barriers to brand switching for FMCG are really low.
But even such an intuitive idea can be countered with examples. Let's take packaged water as an example (without involving those well-known industry disputes):
Nongfu Spring has always emphasized the so-called "water source," and various beautiful creative videos have led people to jokingly call Nongfu Spring "an advertising company delayed by FMCG." This brand should have created associations and imprints like "nature" and "vitality" in consumers' minds—so if another brand also starts from this angle, can it also get a share of the pie?
Master Kong's Hanyangquan has been on the market for quite some time, also following the so-called "water source" route; it should be said that although there are no exact operating figures, this product has a low market presence—after all, Master Kong's overall packaged water market share (by volume) has declined from nearly 25% at its peak around 2010 to less than 7%.
So, facing the challenge of "homogenization," what valuable information can companies in this situation obtain from market research?
The above example also raises another common issue: "customer defection," where a brand's market share declines (significantly) due to competitors. What should be done then?
In other fields, we can also see corresponding companies making strategic changes and adjustments "following the trend," such as: China Mobile, facing the impact of smartphone penetration and the rise of mobile internet on its original SMS business, transformed its business packages from the classic "call duration + SMS quantity" to "call duration + data traffic," and also integrated and optimized its classic commercial brands like "M-Zone," "GoTone," and "Easyown"—I believe this was a judgment made after consumer research and insights.
In the FMCG field, however, the effectiveness of measures taken by some large enterprises after market share decline is somewhat disappointing. Take Master Kong's situation in the packaged water market as mentioned above (note: its ready-to-drink tea also has similar issues, but not as "cliff-like" as the packaged water business).
In recent years, it has invested a lot of resources in this segment, including the creation of sub-brands like "Master Kong," "Youyue," and "Hanyangquan," and even after cooperating with the NBA, the packaged water received more attention than its own Iced Black Tea. But the result still seems to fail to win consumers' favor.
Another example is Uni-President's Fresh Orange in the diluted juice market. During the process of Coca-Cola's Pulpy Orange launching and rising to the top of the market, Fresh Orange seemed willing to gradually slide from the original protagonist to a supporting role. It wasn't that it didn't take action during this period, but those actions seemed to have no substantial effect.
What's more critical is: I believe the above brands' reviews of their own businesses and the corresponding countermeasures were all based on market research data—and the unsatisfactory results, to some extent, indicate that the corresponding research conclusions still have certain limitations in solving problems. When market share is being eroded, can we only let things develop like this...
**2\. New Product Introduction and New Market Entry**
This part may be relatively better, because in the stages of new product introduction and new market entry, market research plays a significant role in developing product concepts, estimating market capacity, etc., but there are indeed some opposite situations.
**(1) New Product Failure**
New product failure is a normal situation. The media often cites the figure that "the success rate of new product launches is only 5%." I guess this is a statistic that includes all new products appearing on the market. If we only count those from large enterprises, the success rate would be higher, but definitely not 100%.
The general situation is that almost all "big companies" go through market research and various so-called tests when developing a new product—this is not a secret or exclusive skill; it is already an assembly-line-like process—only after all research and test results meet certain standards can the new product be launched (and it must also go through a trial sales stage).
For example, in the taste testing of food and beverages, the blind test scores of a company's own new products are always better than those of existing brands on the market.
But here's the problem: new products launched under conditions where all processes have undergone strict market research and met the thresholds set by the company's internal regulations can still fail, and such examples are common.
There must be some factors that were not considered, or there are certain risks that cannot be controlled through preliminary market research. In other words: in the new product introduction stage, market research may only provide necessary conditions for success, not sufficient conditions.
In this case, how should companies use market research tools to more comprehensively assess the chain reactions that a new product launch may bring, thereby minimizing the risk of new product failure?
**(2) Lagging Response**
**Always sticking to the so-called "defensive strategy" of market leaders, or even staying stuck in the old concept of "we only enter markets that reach a certain scale," and responding slowly to the rise of new market segments, leading to continuous erosion of market share—the responsibility for all this should mainly be borne by the companies themselves, and it seems unfair to blame market research.**
Actually, there are examples of using market research to proactively cover categories. For instance, Crest once launched "day-use" and "night-use" toothpaste for different oral care needs during the day and night. Although this seems to be a niche market so far, who can guarantee that a dark horse won't emerge...
In comparison, Master Kong's expansion in its main product, ready-to-drink tea, is somewhat awkward. Its initial main strategy should have been horizontal expansion in categories: based on the earliest Iced Black Tea and Green Tea, it launched the Jasmine series, and later Barley Tea, the Gancui series, Oolong Tea, Tieguanyin, sugar-free tea series, the "Nongnong" series, etc.
Of course, what still exists on the market are the red and green teas and the Jasmine series (and the "Tea Restaurant" that will be mentioned shortly). The others have either been withdrawn or sold in limited areas. But in the segment of its flagship product, Iced Black Tea, Vita Tea has managed to tear open a gap and overtake it. Whether it was the "Nongnong" series from a few years ago (which was launched after Vita Tea's rise) or the recently launched "Tea Restaurant," it all feels somewhat reactive.
I don't believe that Master Kong's market monitoring system would overlook Vita Tea. So, what reasons, or what market research data, have made Master Kong persist in horizontal expansion in the "tea category" while neglecting vertical extension in "flavors," failing to continue to take the lead?
**(3) Cross-Industry Operations**
Crossing into other industries carries considerable risk and pressure. In such examples, the performance of the companies gives a feeling of being "too self-centered," lacking the previous cautious style. It's even hard to believe that the corresponding decisions were based on scientific market research.
For example, Master Kong once cooperated with many Japanese food companies, using its network platform advantages to act as a "domestic general distributor," introducing many products to the Chinese market.
But in reality, once entering other category markets, the endorsement advantages of the original brand almost disappear, and they must face direct competition with strong brands in that segment, often with dismal results... Another example is Yili, which has successively entered the functional beverage market (it seems "Huanxingyuan" has flopped) and the packaged water market, aiming to contribute to its "big health" strategic positioning. But were these actions really based on preliminary market research?
As mentioned at the beginning of the article, market research results are not the only basis for decision-making. In fact, in many cases, there are quite a few subjective factors involved. Or, to put it bluntly, the results of market research are not yet convincing enough.
If the results of market research cannot be valued—or even market research itself is not valued—and the output of the research cannot substantially help solve the problems faced by the company, then what value do those data, models, and methods have?
In summary, the author has raised some questions about the value and potential limitations of market research through observation of some practical examples. I actually quite recognize the leading role of market research in brand building and operations.
But it may also be due to too many variables in the market environment, or indeed some types of problems are difficult to find satisfactory answers, leading to a polarization of market research results for companies: in some aspects, it can achieve obvious effects smoothly; in others, it may be unable to help.
But I am willing to believe that market research can always provide "timely help" to companies and brands.
At the same time, we must also try to avoid such a situation: after making some statistical descriptions and reviews of the market status, the report is shelved, and then everyone is busy completing their KPI assessments, with no one truly caring about brand development...
Source: Sales and Market (ID: cnmarket)
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## Citation metadata

- Publisher: New Distribution
- Author: 张德昭
- Published: 2019-12-22
- Canonical: https://xinjignxiao.com/en/articles/vita-tea-surpasses-iced-black-tea-pulpy-orange-kills-fresh-orange-what-a-09d54b01/
- Original source: https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/sz-XwItKbIZR1qeRP2wXqA

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