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Articles by 方刚
Browse 114 New Distribution articles by 方刚.
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Give It Time, Let Jiangxiaobai Grow Up!
An online vote has been launched; click the original text to view. Having read Liu Chunxiong's first article 'How Many People Misread Jiangxiaobai' and various online criticisms, the author, a beer industry insider, has long followed Jiangxiaobai and participated in debates since its 2012 founding. Recent controversies center on whether Jiangxiaobai tastes good and sells well, but the author argues that such doubts are premature for a six-year-old brand, and that its terminal execution and niche positioning are its true strengths.
方刚Adapting to Every Move, Staying Orthodox While Surprising: The Inner Skills of Regional Managers in Market Operations
This article discusses the essential skills for regional managers in attacking and defending markets. It emphasizes the importance of strategic planning, understanding the competitive landscape, and executing both offensive and defensive tactics effectively.
方刚Fang Gang: Witnessing a New Turning Point for Chinese Beer
The following content is compiled from the recording of Mr. Fang Gang's report at the Shanghai Zhongtai Food Mid-term Investment Strategy Summit. First, we review the historical turning points of Chinese beer. Chinese beer's history dates back 6,000 years, not as the commonly believed industrial import; there was a gap in between; until 1900, Russians built the first brewery in Harbin, making 1900 the first year of Chinese beer industrialization; 1987 was the blowout era, with nearly 2,000 breweries; in 1994, Snow Beer was born, and the total volume was less than 18 million tons, with growth starting to be single-digit; in 2002, China became the world's largest beer market; in 2013, it peaked at over 50 million tons; from 2014, there were 3-4 consecutive years of decline, even 30 consecutive months; today, the scale is 45 million tons, with 2.1% growth in Q1 2018 and 6.4% in April.
方刚Product Innovation: Moving from B-end Products to C-end Products!
The article discusses the boundaries between B-end (channel) and C-end (consumer) products, arguing that B-end organizations are street-sweeping while C-end organizations are people-sweeping. It explores why B-end products fail in C-end markets, how C-end organizations can sell B-end products, and the key differences between the two, offering strategic advice for traditional FMCG companies.
方刚Fang Gang: New Beer, New Marketing, New Future
My topic today is six words: new beer, new marketing. Of course, the keyword for today's forum is "craft beer." I didn't use "craft beer" in my title because the definition of this term is interesting. Many media, consumers, and even employees of large companies have a similar question: What is craft beer? Why has the concept of craft beer surged in China in the past two years? More interestingly, during this year's Chengdu Spring Sugar Fair...
方刚Rediscovering Social and Leisure Attributes: Beer Should Learn from Crayfish!
As summer approaches, crayfish has become the undisputed king of late-night snacks, not only because of its delicious taste but also because it naturally encourages social interaction. Beer, on the other hand, has yet to fully tap into its social potential, and the rise of craft beer presents an opportunity to enhance its appeal.
方刚No Display, No Sales! 4 Steps + Display 43521 Formula: Have You Mastered These Essentials?
The quality of product display directly affects the success of brand cultivation. How can products be more vividly presented to consumers, making them easy to identify, attracting attention, and thus gaining more purchase opportunities? Research shows that consumer purchasing behavior is largely unplanned—seeing the product in person triggers a decision to buy. Vivid display can enhance product presentation and stimulate purchase intent. In other words, product display is the last chance to drive sales; only products that capture customer attention will sell.
方刚How Can Traditional Salespeople Use WeChat to Build Terminal Customer Relationships?
In the mobile internet era, the use of instant messaging tools in sales ensures faster task completion, and the casual nature of WeChat reduces people's resistance to work, fundamentally changing the way people interact. Salespeople conducting terminal visits emphasize the eight-step visit process and customer relationship building as basic skills. The eight steps include preparation, polite greeting, store inspection, display improvement, product promotion, purchase promotion, review and summary, and recording and reporting. The four stages of customer relationships are: no conversation, only formal talk, normal communication, and open conversation.
方刚New Marketing Organization Transformation: Evolving from B-end to C-end Organizations
At the 2017 Chongqing Autumn Sugar Fair, Liu Chunxiong proposed the term 'New Marketing' and the framework of '4P as Communication'. This article contrasts traditional B-end organizations with new C-end organizations, tracing the evolution from sit-selling to mobile-selling to connected-selling, and argues that organizations must shift focus from channels to consumers.
方刚Fang Gang: Is the Power of Brands Still Worth Believing?
China has two cities known for beer: Harbin and Qingdao, ranking first and third in per capita consumption, with Shenyang, birthplace of Snow Beer, second. While attacking these cities with new brands was once seen as suicidal, recent visits reveal that local century-old brands are no longer the top choice, prompting a deep reflection on whether brand power still holds.
方刚Performance-Driven Deep Distribution Is a Poison to Brands!
The formation of China's FMCG giants has always been built on the dividends of a channel empire where terminals reign supreme. Once, many domestic experts loudly proclaimed that channels were not king, but brands were; however, the JDB case of changing its brand name slapped these experts in the face. Looking back at thirty years of marketing in China's FMCG industry, before 2013, almost no one thought that performance growth was difficult; at worst, three moves would work every time: first, use big guns; second, tighten the spring; third, launch new products.
方刚How to Implement Deep Distribution in the Internet Era?
Deep distribution is a tactical system, not a strategic one. It serves as a sales accelerator and an offensive weapon for both traditional FMCG companies and internet firms (ground promotion). However, once it falls into a prolonged war or is used for defense, with excessive coverage and long battle lines, management difficulty increases and it will inevitably decline. The controversy over deep distribution has never ceased since its inception, with various voices of support and doubt. In recent years, with the advent of the internet era, there have been many voices predicting its decline, especially as many traditional companies skilled in deep distribution have seen performance decline, further fueling the debate.
方刚The Art of Leading Troops for Regional Managers: Strict Military Discipline, Three-Point Agreement, Appropriate Elimination, and Fair Rewards and Punishments
For an enterprise, the regional market manager is an important organizational unit in the marketing system, as specific marketing actions are basically executed through this link, making it the fundamental point of the enterprise's marketing system. Therefore, enhancing the capabilities of regional market managers is a crucial part of enterprise marketing. (1) The definition of a regional manager: a person who leads troops into battle. "War is a matter of vital importance to the state; the province of life or death, the road to survival or ruin, and must be examined with the greatest care." (2) Enterprises are like feudal states. The current market is in the Warring States period of marketing, where melee is the theme and industry concentration is the goal.
方刚Fang Gang on Marketing Department Transformation Series IV: Be a Bad Student, Abolish the Eight-Legged Essay!
Liu Chunxiong and Miao Qingxian emphasize that marketing is communication, but traditional enterprises are collectively speechless. The era of advertising slogans is over; the marketing department must abandon rigid 'eight-legged essay' practices, weaken brand traces, and engage with consumers through content and grassroots interaction.
方刚No Display, No Sales! 4 Steps + Display 43521 Formula: Have You Mastered These Essentials?
Product display quality directly impacts brand cultivation success. Research shows that most consumer purchases are unplanned, so vivid displays can attract attention and boost sales. This article outlines the '43521' display formula, four key steps for effective merchandising, and strategies for different retail channels.
方刚A Trading Company Boss Lost 2 Million Yuan for Not Understanding Sales Staff Management and Assessment! Do a Good Job of Business Performance Assessment to at Least Double Your Profits!
Distributors face difficulties in assessment and management: (1) Sales staff are all old employees, managed humanely without many rules, making penalties hard to enforce. (2) Staff shortages during peak seasons. (3) No process indicator assessment, service staff for distributors lack business functions (mainly delivery). Direct supply outlets are too few, below 10%, needing to increase direct supply rate and cultivate staff quality. (4) No assessment for those serving secondary wholesalers, staff lack market development ability, purely physical labor. There has been a desire to assess these people...
方刚Reconstructing the Underlying Logic of the Marketing Department!
The article discusses the functions and classifications of marketing departments in Chinese enterprises, distinguishing between management-oriented and service-oriented types. It analyzes the challenges and limitations of marketing departments, such as lack of resources and support, and proposes a reconstruction of the marketing department's logic to adapt to changing market conditions.
方刚Sales Troops, Take a Break; Marketing Brothers, Step Up!
This article argues that the marketing department must transform to drive growth in an era of oversupply, while the sales department alone cannot sustain success. It outlines a path for restructuring marketing with new brands, teams, tools, and models, emphasizing the need for innovation and adaptation to modern communication rules.
方刚Traditional Companies Want to Transform? The First Cut Should Be to Eliminate the Marketing Department!
Traditional FMCG companies are losing the ability to capture consumer demand. The traditional marketing model, which relies on high distribution and visibility, is becoming obsolete. To transform, companies must first restructure or eliminate the traditional marketing department, shifting focus to consumer-centric, flexible structures that integrate online and offline efforts.
方刚[Community Lecture] Fang Gang: How Traditional FMCG Companies Can Master Online and Offline (Transcript)
This lecture discusses how traditional FMCG companies can navigate the shift from offline to online sales. It contrasts traditional marketing logic (terminal-centric) with new online logic (consumer-centric), and suggests that companies need both a 'Red Army' for existing sales and a 'Blue Army' for future growth.
方刚The Transformation Direction of Deep Distribution in the Internet Era
Deep distribution is a tactical system, not a strategic one. It is a sales accelerator and a powerful offensive tool for both traditional FMCG companies and internet companies (ground promotion). However, once it falls into a prolonged war or is used for defense, with excessive coverage and long battle lines, management difficulty increases and it will inevitably decline. The controversy over deep distribution has never ceased since its inception, and with the advent of the internet era, voices predicting its decline have grown, especially as many traditional companies skilled in deep distribution have seen performance decline.
方刚No Display, No Sales! 4 Steps + Display 43521 Formula: Have You Mastered These Essentials?
The quality of product display directly affects the success of brand cultivation. How can products be more vividly presented to consumers, making them easy to identify, attracting attention, and increasing purchase opportunities? Research shows that consumer purchases are often unplanned—seeing the product in person triggers the decision. Vivid display enhances product presentation and stimulates purchase intent. In other words, display quality is the last chance to drive sales; only products that catch consumers' attention will sell.
方刚Online Marketing Paths and Methods for FMCG
Traditional offline marketing models are divided into four types: direct sales, wholesale distribution, deep distribution, and deep co-marketing. This orientation made ubiquitous distribution a key marketing capability, with the 4P framework and terminal-oriented theory maturing. However, with demand saturation, traditional models face challenges, and online marketing logic shifts to: sales = fans (KOL) × activity × product variety.
方刚How to Solve the Problem of "Tilling but Not Cultivating" in Route Visits?
The article discusses the common issue of "tilling but not cultivating" in route visits by sales representatives in FMCG companies, where visits are made but not effectively managed. It proposes solutions such as terminal classification, key person identification, effective visit standards, and customer complaint and delivery management, all centered on customer relationship management to improve execution and market competitiveness.
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