---
title: "Why Most Sodas at the Spring Sugar Fair Won't Sell Well?"
description: "Most soda brands fail because they lack marketing capability despite having production capacity. The key to success is providing an irresistible reason to buy and designing an effective marketing plan around it, as exemplified by Da Yao's focus on the dining channel."
author: "赵波"
publisher: "New Distribution"
email: "zhaobo258@gmail.com"
telephone: "+8615854817671"
published: "2023-03-16"
language: "en"
canonical: "https://xinjignxiao.com/en/articles/why-most-sodas-at-the-spring-sugar-fair-won-t-sell-well-13650789/"
markdown: "https://xinjignxiao.com/en/articles/why-most-sodas-at-the-spring-sugar-fair-won-t-sell-well-13650789.md"
original_source: "https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/JbcjLlz8c7WEcYqmd4ZRIQ"
translation: "https://xinjignxiao.com/zh/articles/%E4%B8%BA%E4%BB%80%E4%B9%88%E6%98%A5%E7%B3%96%E5%8F%82%E5%B1%95%E7%9A%84%E6%B1%BD%E6%B0%B4%E5%A4%A7%E5%A4%9A%E6%95%B0%E9%83%BD%E4%B8%8D%E5%8F%AF%E8%83%BD%E5%8D%96%E5%A5%BD-13650789.md"
attribution: "New Distribution — https://xinjignxiao.com/en/articles/why-most-sodas-at-the-spring-sugar-fair-won-t-sell-well-13650789/"
usage_policy: "https://xinjignxiao.com/ai-policy.txt"
---

# Why Most Sodas at the Spring Sugar Fair Won't Sell Well?

> Most soda brands fail because they lack marketing capability despite having production capacity. The key to success is providing an irresistible reason to buy and designing an effective marketing plan around it, as exemplified by Da Yao's focus on the dining channel.

Why do most sodas fail to sell well? The Spring Sugar Fair is coming again. In the past two years, the hottest category in food and beverage is undoubtedly sparkling water. On one hand, the rise of Genki Forest has shown many companies the huge potential of the sugar-free category; on the other hand, the hot topic of China-chic old sodas has attracted much attention, making many people think it's a good opportunity. But frankly speaking, most soda companies have production capacity but no marketing capability. At the sugar fair, they attract distributors with lively events and booths, but in reality, most brands don't even know what they are selling. This is not nonsense. Look at how many sodas are launched each year, and how many actually succeed in the market? Not to mention nationwide, even in local markets, very few succeed. Some old soda brands rely on years of local cultivation and survive more or less in regional markets, but once they expand beyond, they find they can only rely on distributors' channel networks. If the distributor has some know-how, they might sell a bit, but many distributors follow the manufacturer's guidance and end up killing the product. Why? Most soda brands talk about China-chic retro, sugar-free, price, gross margin, and manufacturer support in their promotions, but never about how to actually operate in the market. The core issue is that in a highly homogeneous competitive market, breaking out is very difficult. There's an internal logic: in a regional market, the opportunities and gaps are very few. It's not just about brand, concept, quality, or packaging. More importantly, you need to see what consumer needs are not yet met by competitors. That's the opportunity for a new brand to seize, rather than launching a frontal attack on existing brands. Let's take a simple example: why do you think Beibingyang succeeded despite being surrounded by Coca-Cola? When Beibingyang first launched, it offered glass-bottle soda at 4 yuan, while Coca-Cola's glass bottle was only 1.5 yuan. How could Beibingyang charge 4 yuan? The answer is simple: from the consumer's perspective, they got a real orange soda with pulp and quality ingredients. OK, once that need is met, can the next soda with the same quality come along? It's possible, but the problem is your competitors are not just Beibingyang but also Coca-Cola. Your soda must provide an irresistible reason for consumers and channels to buy, and design an effective marketing plan around that reason. But looking at today's sodas, how many provide an irresistible reason? In my view, except for Da Yao Jiabin, almost none. This isn't an ad for Da Yao; it's a fact that most sodas are just also-rans. Only Da Yao truly understands consumer needs and executes the market. Let's deconstruct the logic behind Da Yao's success. **Why does Da Yao sell well?** First, why do you think Da Yao Jiabin sells well? Just because it's cheap? If you think so, you're right, but the problem is you'll never sell a soda well with that mindset. As I said, a product's success depends on two things: providing an irresistible reason to buy and designing an effective marketing plan. Let's talk about the irresistible reason first. A purchase reason involves three elements: **person, scenario, and need.** Simply put: who? when and where? with whom? what need? Let's see what scenario Da Yao identified: First, the best-selling brands in foodservice are Coca-Cola and Beibingyang, but what are their weaknesses? 1. Low gross margin, so restaurants don't want to sell them but have to. 2. Because foodservice volume is small, cola salespeople provide poor service, but consumer self-order rates are high. 3. Consumers have a need for other juices or fruit-flavored sodas. 4. Beibingyang is tasty but too small; one bottle isn't enough for a meal, two is too much, and it's not cheap. 5. Almost all other beverage brands ignore the foodservice channel. OK, based on these issues, let's see how to operate the market. 1. Since foodservice margins are low, Da Yao gives generous margins. 2. Since self-order rates are high, we change tactics: do in-store atmosphere: end-cap displays and table displays: terminal interception. 3. Since consumers want real ingredients, we add white sugar and honey. 4. Since Beibingyang is also real, we offer larger volume at the same price; one bottle of Da Yao is enough. 5. Since everyone ignores foodservice, we focus on it. Let's connect these five points from the perspective of person, scenario, and need: Consumers in a restaurant want a tasty, healthy juice soda with real ingredients, or an alternative to Coke, Sprite, Fanta. Beibingyang is good but small and expensive. They happen to see Da Yao Jiabin on the table, so they try it, and it tastes good, so they drink it. Two friends meet, neither has tried Da Yao, and they're not interested. They ask the owner if there are other sodas. The owner says, "Da Yao is selling like hotcakes, try it." So they do. See the pattern? Da Yao is a product designed around the weaknesses of competitors in the foodservice scenario. **1. Affordable price, focusing on mass consumption. **2. Focus on small foodservice outlets. **3. Focus on heavy in-store case stacking and table displays to create a perception of popularity. **4. Real ingredients to convey product value.** Why small foodservice outlets? Because cola's sales reps don't invest enough in foodservice. Why table displays? Because Da Yao's brand is weak; table displays intercept consumers who would otherwise order cola, triggering impulse purchases. Da Yao doesn't even assign sales reps, leaving all profit to the channel, so restaurants are motivated. They also exploit Beibingyang's high price: at the same price, Da Yao offers the same taste but double the volume. See how product, scenario, pain point, and selling point align? You think that's enough? Not yet! **Da Yao Jiabin gives small shop owners enough margin, making them eager to recommend.** The logic is simple: small restaurants are tired of cola: selling cola doesn't make money, but they have to. Da Yao saw this reality and formulated a complete foodservice channel penetration strategy. In summary, Da Yao's approach: in areas where competitors are relatively weak and channels they haven't penetrated, concentrate resources and expenses, give distributors and retailers enough profit, achieve a breakthrough in the foodservice channel, expand from point to area, gradually expand and penetrate, and finally establish their own base. Is this tactic difficult? Not at all, but if Da Yao is already in the market, it's hard to replicate. We see Coca-Cola China is strategically promoting Fanta this year, but frankly, with their existing system, it's hard to beat Da Yao, let alone other sodas. A couple of days ago in Xi'an, I chatted with Mr. Zhang from Mabang Logistics. He told me that although Xi'an Ice Peak is strong, Da Yao came and beat them badly. I asked why. He said, simply, distributors and stores don't make money, and with Da Yao as a second choice, who wants to push Ice Peak? Consumers are the smartest. I immediately understood: **In any market, against any competitor, find the weak point of the strong local competitor and make a breakthrough; as long as the tactic is effective, breaking through is easy.** **How can new sodas win in a narrow encounter?** Let's summarize. For a company making soda, the market is highly homogeneous, competition is fierce, and the environment is oversupplied. In FMCG, over 90% of products are highly homogeneous with no technical barriers; if you can make it, competitors can too. So to win, product is just one competitive tool, not the most important, sometimes not important at all. In such an environment, consider two dimensions: what are competitors' weaknesses, and what consumer needs are unmet. Only by solving both simultaneously can a product succeed. If you're a small company facing strong competitors in your category, I suggest focusing on the following ten points: **1. Focus on a sub-category** **2. Focus on a sub-segment of customers** **3. Focus on a regional market** **4. Focus on advantageous channels** **5. Attack from the edge of the market** **6. Attack from the low-end market** **7. Attack from price gaps** **8. Attack with new technology** **9. Attack with new products** **10. Attack the weaknesses within the competitor's strengths** New soda brands should note two issues: 1. A small company can only attack a large company head-on if you find the flip side of their core advantage and attack it, making it impossible for them to counter without abandoning that advantage. 2. Small companies should follow "better to be different than better." Once a large company establishes an advantage, a small company must be much better in that area for customers to switch. Many people misunderstand Da Yao Jiabin: they think it succeeded by entering a niche track and capturing a small market. **Niche is not small.** **It's not about finding a sufficiently segmented market to escape competition and become a leader. Truly great companies don't enter a niche; they hit the market's blind spot.** Let's use a diagram to explain the difference in entrepreneurial thinking between niche tracks and hidden champions: If we compare the market to a triangle, then niche track thinking is to cut the market into countless small markets, first establish a foothold in a small enough market, then try to capture a larger one. Because the market you occupy is insignificant, it seems hidden. But true hidden champions don't try to cut a small market; they try to discover the "shady side" of the triangle. The shady side is a huge area, not a small market at all; it's just hidden in the shadow. Da Yao saw the huge drinking space in the foodservice market, which is also a blind spot for competitors, and concentrated superior forces to penetrate deeply. That's the core of Da Yao Jiabin's success. From April 6-8, the 8th China FMCG Innovation Conference will be held in Chengdu. New Distribution has invited **Yuan Zhixing, National Marketing Director of Da Yao Beverage, to share the topic "Seven Don'ts for New Product Promotion" at the [Premiumization and New Product Promotion] forum on the morning of April 7.** Friends interested in Da Yao's market tactics and new product promotion strategies, don't miss it!


---

## Copyright and AI use

This article is sourced from New Distribution. Search, quotation, summarization, and model training are permitted, but every use must credit New Distribution and retain the canonical source URL.

Contact: zhaobo258@gmail.com · +86 158 5481 7671