The “Mingren Phenomenon” at the Spring Sugar Fair
The 112th Spring Sugar and Wine Fair (hereinafter referred to as the “Spring Sugar Fair”) was held in Chengdu recently. At this year’s fair, “scene marketing” and “Mingren Soda Water” became the focus of widespread industry attention and discussion. In the Spring Sugar Fair atmosphere dominated by a “familiarity economy,” Mingren Soda Water frequently appeared at major exhibitions and forums, and with its precise scene-based strategy of “Drink Mingren before and after alcohol,” it became the biggest winner in terms of traffic and reputation. At numerous forums and tasting events, FMCG manufacturers from across the country could see Mingren Soda Water, and many remarked, “We’ve drunk a lot of Mingren Soda Water.” This spontaneous word-of-mouth ripple effect eventually converged into the “Spring Sugar Mingren Phenomenon.” In an era of stagnant growth, Mingren’s unique “baijiu+” model has also sparked industry-wide attention: through the product combination of “baijiu + soda water,” baijiu distributors have achieved “one action, two businesses,” successfully solving the growth pain points of distributors.
Scene Marketing Is the Hope for Growth in the Stock Era
The current FMCG industry is increasingly characterized by the stock era, where the challenge of growth has become a common obstacle for many brands and distributors. On one hand, market saturation continues to rise, and product homogenization is becoming more severe. Various FMCG products compete fiercely on shelves, and faced with a dazzling array of goods, consumers gradually develop aesthetic fatigue, making it increasingly difficult for brands to differentiate. On the other hand, consumer demands are becoming more complex and unpredictable. With the improvement of living standards, they are no longer satisfied merely with basic product functions; their requirements for health, personalization, and consumption experience are growing day by day. Moreover, the channels through which consumers obtain information are increasingly fragmented, rendering traditional marketing methods such as large-scale advertising less effective, while marketing costs continue to rise. At the same time, China’s population entered a negative growth trajectory starting in 2023, and for FMCG, which is typical of a “population-scale economy,” overall market growth has begun to show obvious weakness. These factors combine to make the growth path for the FMCG industry in the stock era fraught with difficulties. In market practice and exploration, “scene marketing” has gradually become a key path for the FMCG industry to break through growth challenges. Scene marketing focuses on uncovering consumer needs in specific scenarios, deeply integrating products with scenes, providing precise solutions to consumers, and thereby stimulating their purchase desire. This marketing approach can effectively break the deadlock of product homogenization, endowing and fully demonstrating the unique value of products. Through scene marketing, companies can precisely reach target consumers, improve marketing efficiency, and reduce marketing costs. It can be said that scene marketing brings new growth hope to the FMCG industry in the stock era. And Mingren Soda Water is a benchmark case of sustained growth driven by scene marketing.
Scene Marketing Creates the Mingren Growth Model
While many FMCG brands are still struggling with growth difficulties, Mingren Soda Water has broken through with its unique marketing model, achieving sustained growth in recent years and becoming a leading brand in the soda water industry. The key to Mingren Soda Water’s success lies in discovering and precisely grasping the weapon of “scene marketing,” especially locking onto the high-potential “alcohol consumption” scene and proposing the core concept of “Drink Mingren before and after alcohol.”
1. Penetrating the High-Potential “Baijiu Scene”
Centered on the core concept of “Drink Mingren before and after alcohol,” Mingren Soda Water has carried out a series of solid and effective scene marketing actions through continuous scene marketing, achieving remarkable growth results. Taking baijiu tasting events as an example, a standard baijiu tasting event typically brings together high-potential individuals from behind tobacco and liquor stores, including KOLs (key opinion leaders), client leaders, and big C (important customers) and KOCs (key opinion consumers). At this Spring Sugar Fair, Mingren Soda Water’s “Hundred Exhibitions, Hundred Events” performance quickly opened up the “baijiu+” consumer market, achieving “one action, two businesses”—promoting the baijiu brand while strengthening its own scene-based placement. Moreover, Mingren has established strategic cooperation with more than 200 liquor companies nationwide, deeply integrating the “baijiu + soda water” combination at the channel level. Mingren leveraged the tasting events organized by baijiu and tobacco store owners, placing its products on site, and gained the owners’ recognition. Mingren also found that consumers need to drink at least three times in the tasting scene to have an experience, and then may identify with and purchase the product. To this end, Mingren deeply integrated into the core scene of “before and after alcohol,” successfully conducting consumer category education and embedding category awareness deep in consumers’ minds. For outstanding distributors, Mingren invites them to visit the factory to understand the product’s features and advantages. The recognition from these tobacco and liquor store owners is manifested as “both selling and giving.” For example, in the Shangcai market in Henan, Mingren’s team focused on local core tobacco and liquor stores, cooperating with 100 core stores. Through shelf displays, promotional activities, and linkage with baijiu sales in these stores, Mingren Soda Water successfully opened the market. After cooperating with just these 100 core tobacco and liquor stores, Mingren Soda Water’s direct sales exceeded 100,000 cases, achieving rapid growth in the local market. This fully demonstrates the powerful effect of scene marketing and also makes Mingren Soda Water stand out in the soda water industry.
2. Where There Are Scenes, There Is Sales
In addition to the core baijiu scene, Mingren actively expands other scenes, clearly proposing the business philosophy of “Where there are scenes, there is sales,” and begins to expand into a broader range of scenes, such as banquet scenes and gift scenes. In a wedding banquet cooperation, Mingren partnered with wedding companies and hotels to launch a package activity where buying baijiu comes with Mingren Soda Water. At the banquet site, Mingren Soda Water was not only served as a beverage for guests but also had a product display area introducing its health benefits. The banquet activity not only increased Mingren Soda Water’s exposure but also boosted product sales, with a single banquet achieving sales of dozens of cases. Mingren also proposed the gift scene. In Henan, specialty gifts typically come in two packs. Although the sales volume in the gift scene may not be very large, it promotes the sale of whole cases, allowing products to enter consumers’ trunks and thousands of households, truly integrating into mainstream consumption scenes. If store owners recognize the gift scene, the sales it brings are no less than traditional milk and beverages. During the Spring Sugar Fair, the “baijiu+” scene marketing model sparked industry-wide discussion. Through the product combination of “baijiu + soda water,” Mingren successfully opened up a “second growth curve” for distributors’ rapid growth. A distributor from Shandong signed a cooperation agreement with Mingren at the fair, precisely because he saw the complementarity of the “baijiu + soda water” scene—baijiu elevates the banquet grade, while soda water addresses health pain points, forming a strong binding relationship between the two.
Mingren’s Confidence and Strength in Leading the Soda Water Category
Why Mingren? The reason Mingren Soda Water has achieved remarkable results in scene marketing is inseparable from its own core advantages. The endorsement of a pharmaceutical company is a prominent highlight of Mingren Soda Water. Mingren Pharmaceutical initially engaged in drug production and pharmacy chain operations, with a deep pharmaceutical background, which gives its soda water products an image of professionalism, safety, and health. Because pharmaceutical companies often adhere to stricter quality standards and regulations in production, consumers generally have more trust in food and beverages produced by pharmaceutical companies. Mingren integrates the philosophy of “pharmaceutical and health products as food, and food and beverages as health products” into the production and marketing of soda water, making its products more convincing in terms of health attributes. Corporate strength also provides solid support for the implementation of scene marketing. Mingren Pharmaceutical was established in 2004, and Mingren Soda Water products were launched in 2007. Currently, the entire industry chain scale is approximately 4 billion yuan. The company has 27 professional soda water production lines, four production bases, and seven factories, covering an area of about 800 mu. Strong production capacity and a well-established industrial layout ensure stable product supply, meeting market demand for products in different scenarios. Whether in traditional scenes such as tobacco and liquor stores and banquets, or in new scenes entered as the market expands, Mingren can guarantee sufficient product supply, which is crucial for maintaining brand image and consumer trust.
The Significance of Scene Marketing for FMCG Growth
Mingren Soda Water’s success provides valuable growth experience for FMCG brands and distributors. In the stock era, scene marketing is an important path to achieve growth. Brands and distributors need to deeply understand consumer needs, explore high-potential scenes, and deeply integrate their products with consumers’ core scenes. At the same time, manufacturers should fully leverage their own advantages, whether in product quality, corporate strength, or market promotion capabilities, and continuously strengthen them. In the process of market expansion, they should actively innovate and constantly seek new scenes and opportunities. During the Spring Sugar Fair, the label of “the first brand in scene marketing” for Mingren Soda Water has become a consensus among many FMCG manufacturers. Mingren not only appeared as an exhibitor but also exported its “scene marketing” methodology through various themed forums. Mingren’s scene marketing plans such as “before and after alcohol,” “banquet accompaniment,” and “gift giving” were repeatedly mentioned and discussed. It is believed that in the future, with the continuous development and improvement of scene marketing, more FMCG brands will benefit from it and achieve new growth breakthroughs. Mingren may continue to lead China’s consumer goods “baijiu+” market and reap the abundant fruits from the “seeds sown” at this Spring Sugar Fair.