Since Zong Fuli appeared in the public eye, she has been wrapped in various labels: "second-generation rich," "entrepreneur," "Wahaha princess," "Zong Qinghou's daughter"... From entering Wahaha in 2004 as deputy director of the management committee of the Xiaoshan No. 2 Base, to founding Hongsheng and serving as its president, to now serving as the head of Wahaha's Brand and Public Relations Department to drive its youth-oriented industrial layout, Zong Fuli is advancing her life with strength. For Zong Fuli at present, she must face a rapidly changing market environment and various unexpected external variables, making the Wahaha brand younger and more fashionable. How to break free from the inherent image, enrich personality, convert awareness into favorability, and make the brand glow with sustained vitality while solving basic upgrade issues is the key test and advancement for Zong Fuli at this stage. Starting from a grassroots cadre at Wahaha In 2004, Zong Fuli returned from studying in the United States and officially joined the Wahaha Group, serving as deputy director of the management committee of the Xiaoshan No. 2 Base, starting from the most boring production management work. According to people around her, at the Xiaoshan No. 2 Base, Zong Fuli was always the first to arrive and the last to leave. Zong Fuli once mentioned in an interview, "My father arranged for me to enter the base with the most complex production lines in the entire group, with several different product lines covering six different sectors including instant noodles, purified water, cap making, and hot filling. It was there that I learned and understood this industry." After some basic training, in 2005, Zong Fuli served as assistant to the director of the management committee of Wahaha Group's Xiaoshan No. 2 Base, then successively as deputy director of the management committee, concurrently as general manager of Hangzhou Wahaha Children's Clothing Co., Ltd., and general manager of Kaqianna Daily Chemical Co., Ltd., accumulating her management experience from the grassroots level. Zong Fuli's simple, direct, and efficiency-focused style was once considered incompatible with the old-school Wahaha. In the company, she asked employees to call her "Kelly," did not print titles on business cards, and directly pointed out employees' problems. For Zong Fuli, showing strength is the real key. For ideas she disagreed with, she would conduct her own research and inspections, and finally present plans and data to convince others. For example, when she disagreed with her father's choice of location for a new factory, she personally searched for suitable plots within a 200-kilometer radius of the target city on a large computer screen, eventually forming a successful factory model. With successful cases, she no longer needed to handle every step personally, and could replicate many factories in different locations. Zong Fuli once said in an interview that building factories is her strength. Ten Years of Sharpening a Sword: KellyOne Amazes the Market At the end of 2007, Zong Fuli began to take charge of Hongsheng Group. Public data shows that Hongsheng Group was established in 2003 and was originally a subsidiary for Wahaha's OEM business. After Zong Fuli joined, she carried out drastic resource integration, successively establishing four new enterprises including Songyuan Machinery Manufacturing, Songyu Printing and Packaging, and Hengfeng Food Technology, transforming Hongsheng Group into a full-industry-chain beverage production enterprise. Under Zong Fuli's leadership, Hongsheng achieved rapid development, now having 16 production bases and 36 branch companies nationwide, with annual revenue exceeding 10 billion yuan and creating more than 5,000 jobs. "Many people think that Hongsheng was arranged by my father, and I just went there to be president. That is not the fact. The current Hongsheng was developed by me with my own fists and feet, from negotiating with the government to buy land, to all production line procurement, to all installation and commissioning, and all product development, all done by me personally." In a recent speech at Zhejiang University, Zong Fuli said this. In fact, Zong Fuli has mentioned in multiple interviews that she is unwilling to live under her father's halo, has never doubted her love for the food industry, and hopes to have more opportunities to realize her own value. Hongsheng undoubtedly provides a platform to showcase her abilities. After ten years of leading Hongsheng, Zong Fuli led her team, cultivated over a decade, to launch the original customized beverage brand KellyOne. From many perspectives, KellyOne seems like a breakthrough display of her strength. Consumers can freely choose fruit and vegetable varieties on the official account based on personal preferences, arrange combinations to form their own unique taste, and customize messages on the bottle. As the creator, developer, and operator, Zong Fuli hopes this customized beverage method can become a carrier for people to express their personality and adhere to unique choices in a pluralistic society. Although sales data has not been publicly disclosed, as an innovative product in the food and beverage industry, KellyOne created a new consumption concept: empowering consumers to directly become the makers of products. In terms of product packaging design, this so-called "non-mainstream product" successively won two of the three major design awards known as the "Oscar of International Industrial Design": the "IF German Industrial Design Award" and the "Red Dot Award." Zong Fuli once said, "What attracts me most is experiencing the entire process from zero, creating a model that has never existed before." Brand Renewal: A Significant Contribution In the past two years, traditional beverage brands have tried to gain an advantage in the fierce market competition through a series of youth-oriented strategies, creating new gameplay and business opportunities based on insights into consumer psychology. As a traditional beverage giant, Wahaha has often been criticized for "aging product lines and outdated packaging." In April 2018, after Zong Fuli officially became the head of the Brand and Public Relations Department, she began a battle to win back young consumers, frequently making efforts in brand rejuvenation. Zong Fuli has realized that in the face of consumption upgrades, product iterations, and changes in consumer groups, the "beverage empire" must respond quickly to the rapidly changing market. From AD calcium milk mooncakes, colorful version of Nutri-Express, cross-border makeup palettes, to opening offline color-repair stations for Nutri-Express in Hangzhou, Guangzhou, and Wuhan, and chartering subway trains with heartfelt copy about "outstanding views on love," Wahaha's "changes" this year are "getting better at playing." In addition to product upgrades and marketing changes, at the 2019 new product launch, Wahaha appeared with a fresh look. Whether it's the cute "Haha Yogurt" or the ancient-style "One Tea, Suitable for Tea Time," both packaging style and taste texture are impressive. This also confirms Wahaha's transformation strategy this year of "full-category strong coverage and focused layout in first- and second-tier cities." According to a relevant person in charge of Wahaha's Brand and Public Relations Department's design division, Zong Fuli has repeatedly emphasized the importance of creativity in Wahaha's internal meetings. "Kelly often tells us to dare to think, even wildly, to break original standards and prejudices, and adopt a diversified perspective." This young designer, who just graduated from an art academy last year, has now become the leader of an independent project at Wahaha. An insider at Wahaha revealed to reporters, "Kelly is very bold in employing people, regardless of seniority. As long as you have ideas and talent, you may be given important positions." Currently, most employees in Wahaha's Brand and Public Relations Department are young, and some have already taken on important roles. Zong Fuli first handed over the two major products, AD calcium milk and Nutri-Express, to the creative team, letting them "play" with new things. For the newly formed creative team, this is both a challenge and an opportunity. Zong Fuli and her team began to start from consumer needs, exploring the pace of brand renewal—creating star product IPs, Chinese cultural fashion design, cross-border marketing, creating social media topics... According to Wahaha's official data, after a series of packaging renewals and marketing activities, the online feedback and market response for the two major products have been positive. It is precisely because of Zong Fuli's achievements at Wahaha over the years that she has also gained recognition and support from Zong Qinghou. Zong Qinghou once told the media that Zong Fuli now manages one-third of Wahaha's enterprises. "But she still likes to try new things. She has her own company, and I support her to try and explore, and I won't interfere." In fact, from a grassroots cadre at Wahaha, to independently founding Hongsheng, to now serving as the head of Wahaha's Brand and Public Relations Department, Zong Fuli has been steadily advancing her life. Along with Zong Fuli's advancement, Wahaha has also become fashionable and playful. Zong Fuli once referred to Wahaha as her "little sister" on Weibo. What kind of different future will she promise this "little sister"? Source: New Food Review If the tip is adopted, a reward of 400-2000 yuan will be paid. China FMCG + Internet Professional New Media Committed to FMCG manufacturers' transformation and upgrading and channel digital solutions