Click to read the original article for details. Weak new product launches, shrinking market value, and an aging brand image... Want Want, a brand from our childhood, has reached a crossroads in its transformation. When you think of Want Want, what comes to mind? Besides the ever-rolling-eyes Want Want Boy logo and the Want Want Milk that has been sold for over 20 years, perhaps it's the catchy advertising slogan: "Student Li Ziming from Class 6, Grade 3, your mother has brought you two cans of Want Want Milk." Want Want, which created popular products like Want Want Milk, Want Want Little馒头 (Small Steamed Buns), and Want Want Rice Cracker, will celebrate its 30th anniversary in 2019. However, in recent years, facing issues such as weak new product launches, shrinking market value, and an aging brand image, the no-longer-young Want Want has reached a crossroads in its transformation. Continuously launching new products, but with lackluster performance In this year's beverage market, coffee has definitely taken the "C position" (center stage). Starbucks, which had always refused to offer delivery services, has started doing so. Luckin Coffee announced a partnership with Tencent to build a "smart retail" coffee experience. What's even more unexpected is that Want Want, a "internet celebrity" from the 90s, has also joined the fray by reintroducing a ready-to-drink coffee that was launched 15 years ago. In terms of marketing, the playful Want Want has not deviated from its usual style. It opened a Weibo account for its virtual character "Mr. Bond" and posted a self-introduction on August 14: "Hello everyone, I am Mr. Bond, living under the disguise of a beard, arming myself with a pipe..." In 2003, Bond Coffee was first introduced as a non-core product and received a lukewarm market response. In April this year, Bond Coffee was relaunched with the slogan "I'm young, I drink coffee," with advertisements airing on Hunan Satellite TV and other major channels. The 240ml cans are suggested to retail at 6 yuan, available in latte, Americano, and black iced coffee flavors. The target consumer group is young people aged 18-35, including students, white-collar workers, drivers who need high concentration, and sports enthusiasts. Compared to 2003, the new Bond Coffee still has the same brand slogan, similar advertising tactics, and the familiar "awkward dance" moves. It's hard not to believe that this is a "reheated leftovers" move by Want Want, changing the packaging but not the substance. Besides Bond Coffee, Want Want has also been rolling out other "veterans." Since July this year, news has been circulating about Want Want relaunching its functional drinks "Sha" and "Chao Sha." Previously, "Sha" was launched in 2015 but gradually faded from the market. "Sha" comes in 350ml and 240ml sizes, priced at 5 yuan and 5.5 yuan respectively. Another product, "Chao Sha," is a concentrated enhanced energy drink, with a 100ml bottle priced at 10 yuan. It's not hard to guess that with the industry leader Red Bull embroiled in trademark disputes, Want Want also wants to grab a share of the functional beverage market, which is seeing more new entrants. Want Want has been seeking change. In June this year, Want Want announced its new product plan, launching several beverages including Bond Coffee, "Sawow" fruit wine, and the herbal drink "Da Kou Shuang." In 2017, Want Want launched a total of 48 new products and showcased many of them in a "Want Want You've Never Tried" section on its Tmall flagship store. Want Want, which has always lived in the childhood memories of those born in the 80s and 90s, is eager to break free from its established image. However, its attempts have not yielded the desired results, and it's hard to see any blockbuster among the nearly 50 new products. Zhu Danpeng, a food industry analyst, told a reporter from 21CBR: "The weak promotion of Want Want's new products is mainly due to two reasons. From the industry perspective, the new products Want Want promotes are not differentiated and lack innovation. From the consumer perspective, the mainstream consumers in first- and second-tier markets don't fully recognize the Want Want brand, and consumers in third- and fourth-tier markets need time to accept new products. This awkward situation of being caught between old and new products is also a significant reason for Want Want's continuous performance decline." In fact, Want Want's successive new product launches are a self-rescue attempt in response to its declining performance. Starting from 2014, Want Want's "peak season" ended, with performance declining for three consecutive years. In 2016, the group's total revenue was 19.71 billion yuan, a 7.9% decrease from 2015. At its peak in 2014, the group's market value exceeded 150 billion Hong Kong dollars, but within less than two years, its market value evaporated by over 100 billion Hong Kong dollars. On June 5 this year, China Want Want updated its fiscal year calculation method and released its annual report for the new fiscal year from April 1, 2017, to March 31, 2018, as well as its performance for the 15 months ending March 2018. The report showed that Want Want's revenue for the new fiscal year 2017 (April 1, 2017, to March 31, 2018) reached 20.274 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 6.6%, but its gross margin declined to 43.1% compared to the same period last year. Net profit attributable to equity holders of the company decreased by 6.6% year-on-year to 3.115 billion yuan. Mind-washing marketing, difficult transformation "Student Li Ziming from Class 6, Grade 3, your mother has brought you 8 liters of Want Want Milk!" Over a decade ago, the quirky and exaggerated advertisement for Want Want Milk left a deep impression and became a classic. It was this advertisement that significantly boosted the sales of Want Want Milk. More than ten years later, before the 2017 Double 11 shopping festival, Want Want invited the male lead from the advertisement to film a sequel titled "Li Ziming Has Grown Up," recreating the classic scenes from the old advertisement with the original cast. "Li Ziming Has Grown Up" Years later, student Li Ziming has become teacher Li Ziming, and the loyal Want Want consumers born in the 80s and 90s have also grown up. After the sequel to the Want Want Milk advertisement aired, topics related to "Teacher Li Ziming" garnered hundreds of thousands of searches and millions of reposts and clicks on Weibo, becoming a typical case of "viral marketing" that year. In its latest financial report, Want Want mentioned the widespread dissemination of the advertisement and stated that "e-commerce channels and digital marketing have played an important role in the recovery growth of Want Want Milk revenue." However, the mind-washing advertising approach can sometimes be "over the top." In June this year, the National Radio and Television Administration reported that TV advertisements for "O-Pao Guo Nai" (O-Pao Fruit Milk) and "Sawow Cocktail" had serious violations such as misleading guidance, exaggerated publicity, and misleading audiences, and required all radio and television broadcasting organizations to stop airing them. "China's new generation of consumers is fickle and has not yet formed brand loyalty to Want Want. Want Want, which focuses on nostalgia marketing, needs to first figure out who the subject of nostalgia is and who the brand's main consumers are," said Zhu Danpeng. Want Want, a "joke teller" that plays the "sentiment card," needs to find more new ways to spark the interest of the post-00s generation. The bigger challenge facing Want Want is how to respond to the trend of increasing consumer attention to food nutrition and health in the context of consumption upgrading. In early September, a person in charge of the Want Want Group stated that they are currently continuously upgrading existing product formulas, reducing the use of salt, fat, and sugar, developing low-sugar and zero-energy beverages, and promoting the transformation of various products towards nutrition. Whether Want Want, which relies on rice crackers and flavored dairy products, can keep up with consumer trends in terms of product development speed and brand upgrading speed remains questionable. Source: 21st Century Business Review (ID: weixin21cbr) On October 23-24, during the Autumn Sugar and Wine Fair, the "2018 FMCG City Distribution Logistics Conference" hosted by New Distribution will be held. We will invite industry experts, FMCG warehousing and distribution specialists, and distributors who have transformed to unified warehousing and distribution platforms to discuss and answer questions about the future development trends of FMCG city distribution logistics and practical cases of distributor transformation to unified warehousing and distribution, with the theme "New Distribution, New City Distribution." We hope this will bring you different inspiration and thoughts! The specific meeting topics are as follows: List of Participating Companies In no particular order Hunan Zonglan Diandan Network Technology Co., Ltd. Jingbang (Wuhan) International Freight Forwarding Co., Ltd. Mengniu Dairy Qinghai Hanxiang E-commerce Co., Ltd. Unilever Service (Hefei) Co., Ltd. Shanghai Branch Huicong Hunan Xuan'ang Food Co., Ltd. Guangzhou Tongdaoren Information Technology Co., Ltd. Qingdao 888 Trading Co., Ltd. Uni-President Enterprises (China) Investment Co., Ltd. Hunan Province Zhongxiang Gongpei Logistics Co., Ltd. Shenglong Ingredients COSCO Shipping Logistics Warehousing and Distribution Co., Ltd. Guangxi Yongpai Liquor Industry Co., Ltd. Shangqiu Kangrong Trading Co., Ltd. Jinan Dingzhong Economic and Trade Co., Ltd. Liaoning Bimai Agricultural Technology Co., Ltd. Kunming Xiongjia Trading Co., Ltd. Shaanxi Houheng Trading Co., Ltd. Guangzhou Dingwo Enterprise Information Consulting Co., Ltd. Shaodong Jiajiale Trading Firm Boda Trading Industrial Bank Changsha Branch Wuhan Muchen Convenience Store Chain Co., Ltd. Fujian Fuxing Yuncang Logistics Co., Ltd. Guizhou Yilimi E-commerce Co., Ltd. Jiangxi Xiao Lao'er E-commerce Co., Ltd. Jinshan Koufu Shanxi Taihang Yuanjing Supply Chain Management Co., Ltd. Shanxi Dezhun Supply Chain Management Co., Ltd. Shaoyang Tongdeli Trading (Xiangbang Logistics) Huanfu Tongda Express City Distribution Beijing Xinjingxiang Food Co., Ltd. Wuhan Huizhong Tianhong Liquor Industry Co., Ltd. Changsha Paide Biotechnology Co., Ltd. Chao'an Tuqiang Guizhou Yihe Bopin Supply Chain Management Co., Ltd. Jiangxi Kang'en Industrial Development Co., Ltd. Xiangtan County Yisuhe Town Yuhua Paper Store Luoyang Yuanlang Trading Co., Ltd. Tongchuan Yaozhou District Huayuan Supermarket Co., Ltd. Hunan Yongfu Jiujiu Trading Co., Ltd. Zhejiang Chengchengtong Logistics Co., Ltd. Chongqing Kaiguo Materials Trading Co., Ltd. Beijing Xianmaixianmai Data Technology Co., Ltd. Hanchuan Qixing Trading Co., Ltd. Tongxin Jiuzhiru Trading Co., Ltd. Guizhou Meiguo Guoguo Network Technology Co., Ltd. ...... Representatives of Distributor Transformation (Proposed) In no particular order Rong Jun, Chairman of Jiangsu Huashang City Distribution Network Co., Ltd. Wang Bo, Chairman of Hubei Yijiaren Logistics Co., Ltd. Jiang Shuming, General Manager of Sichuan Chengdu Xingrenxing Trading Co., Ltd. Liu Jichen, Chairman of Shandong Yunbang Warehousing and Logistics Co., Ltd. Tu Mingyu, Chairman of Chongqing Lingyu Consumer Goods Supply Chain Management Co., Ltd. Yang Su, Chairman of Guangzhou Zhongshan Wanrong Marketing Co., Ltd. Yuan Xia, Chairman of Sichuan Bajie Supply Chain Management Co., Ltd. Li Qiangyun, Co-founder of Hubei Pengdun Meiyitian Supply Chain Management Co., Ltd. Zhang Jianyong, Chairman of Henan Xuchang Jiulegou E-commerce Co., Ltd. Ma Haichao, Founder of Hebei Changyi Logistics Co., Ltd. Meng Yucun, General Manager of Hebei (Chengde) Wulian Yuncang Co., Ltd. Zhang Xun, Chairman of Xinjiang Urumqi Su'an Jinchi Logistics Co., Ltd. Zhang Hailing, Chairman of Jilin Sansheng Lian'gou Qiang Huitao, Founder of Hebei Dunjie Supply Chain Management Co., Ltd. Liao Lei, General Manager of Hunan Damei Supply Chain Management Co., Ltd. ...... -END-