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Articles by 赵波
Browse 345 New Distribution articles by 赵波.
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345 articles · Page 5 of 15
Why Is It Hard for Big Brands to Innovate Successfully?
Innovation is often attributed to luck, but big brands launch numerous new products each year, yet many fail within a year. Despite having ample R&D capabilities, consumer insights, and distribution channels, big brands like Coca-Cola, Nongfu Spring, Uni-President, and Master Kong struggle to sustain successful innovations. The core issue lies in organizational rigidity, path dependency, and the mismatch between new products and existing marketing systems. To innovate successfully, companies need to create an organizational system that fosters innovation, such as establishing a 'Blue Army' unit with autonomy and modular organizational structures.
赵波How to Beat Coca-Cola?
In recent years, many new soda brands have emerged with various concepts like sugar-free, fruity, juice, national trend, aesthetics, and retro soda, but most are not selling well due to too many pseudo-concepts and insufficient understanding of market and channel pain points. Making soda in China is tough because of the formidable competitor Coca-Cola, which has millions of outlets, tens of thousands of distributors, and sales reps. Their business model, authorized bottling plus the 101 distribution system, is highly successful. However, even giants have weaknesses, and small brands can find opportunities in neglected demands and channels.
赵波Opinion on Accelerating the Construction of a Unified National Market: A Boon for Distributors and the B2B Industry
On April 10, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the State Council issued the "Opinions on Accelerating the Construction of a Unified National Market," proposing to build a unified national market from aspects such as basic institutional construction and market facility construction. The Opinions specify key tasks from six aspects, including the "five unifications" from the perspective of "establishment," such as unifying market basic institutional rules and promoting high-standard connectivity of market facilities.
赵波Why a Successful Product Must Be a Successful Marketing System?
In recent years, many new consumer brands have risen, but why do many products disappear within months of becoming hits? Is it due to competitor imitation, fickle consumers, or poor marketing? While these reasons have merit, the question remains: if these factors were absent, would the product necessarily succeed? Analyzing successful brands often focuses on what they did right, such as Yuanqi Forest's sugar-free positioning or Taishan Beer's short-shelf-life focus. However, earlier brands had already used similar approaches with similar products, yet they failed. The key insight is that a brand's success is not just about the product but about a successful marketing system.
赵波When We Talk About Product Innovation, What Are We Really Talking About?
In very small categories, on one hand, it's hard to scale up; on the other hand, the scalability of audience and channels is extremely poor. 2. There is demand but no scenario. The second typical problem is that there is demand, but there is no scenario at all. For example, low-alcohol sparkling wine has seen a surge of brands in recent years, claiming to target light drinking scenarios with high aesthetics and precise pain points, which can trigger impulse purchases but fail to drive repeat purchases. Why? Because there is simply no scenario. This is crucial, and I will explain in detail later why without a scenario, a product cannot succeed.
赵波It's Time for Distributors to Consider B2B
Distributors have been facing tough business conditions recently, with rising manufacturer targets and intense market competition. High costs and low human efficiency make the current model unsustainable. Most distributors in prefecture-level cities with annual sales between 20-50 million yuan are stuck in a dilemma: unable to scale up, reduce costs, or manage staff effectively. B2B has passed the trial stage and is now widely accepted, offering a potential path for growth.
赵波Why Don't New Consumer Brands Get Repeat Purchases?
The article argues that the pursuit of making the ultimate product is a false concept, as exemplified by craft beer's failure in China due to high costs. It emphasizes that FMCG success lies in creating classic products that meet unchanging consumer needs, and that marketing and channel building are more critical than R&D for new consumer brands.
赵波Without Physical Stores, Even the Best Marketing Can't Win Consumers Long-Term
Deep distribution emphasizes building integrated manufacturer-dealer relationships, extending operational reach through distribution to retail, and gaining competitive advantage via partnerships with distributors and retailers. It addresses China-specific issues like multi-tier markets, numerous channels, fragmented retail, and information asymmetry. While technology improves efficiency, the core remains ensuring stores sell consistently; BC integration upgrades deep distribution but cannot replace physical presence.
赵波The FMCG B2B Industry Finally Sees Hope
After two years of pandemic, JD.com and Alibaba shifted focus to same-city retail, reducing B2B investment. However, data shows that B2B orders via the POP model with wholesalers did not decline significantly, and some regional platforms even saw growth, with some like Caihua Commercial growing over 150%. The industry is now climbing out of the trough and moving toward maturity, as evidenced by improved operational data and the adoption of B2B habits by small store owners.
赵波Four Stories to Understand in the Face of Major Trends
This article uses four stories to illustrate the importance of understanding slow variables over fast ones in business. It argues that while many companies rush to embrace change, true success comes from recognizing the underlying patterns and maintaining a 'trend antibody' to thrive despite minor shifts.
赵波Why Is BC Integration an Upgrade of the Deep Distribution Model?
BC integration has become a hot topic in the industry since the pandemic began last year. In summary, it is a distribution model that leverages the LBS advantages of mom-and-pop retail stores and digital tools to solve B-end store marketing and digital management while also connecting and marketing to C-end consumers in the store's surrounding community. It uses digital tools and methods to solve distribution and sell-through issues. The tools used in BC integration can be roughly divided into three categories: SFA for managing business and terminals, mini-programs for online transactions and consumer marketing, and one-code-per-item for product and consumer marketing.
赵波40 Sentences I Most Want to Say to You at the Start of 2022
This article discusses the importance of a company's 'basic plate' (core market) and how to grow it through monopoly, sinking, activation, and efficiency. It also covers new consumption trends, B2B transformations, BC integration, and digitalization, emphasizing the need for companies to adapt to changes in communication, products, channels, and supply chains.
赵波New Distribution's Reflections on Mission, Vision, and Values
Looking at the world with a broad vision, the media industry has obvious ceilings. New Distribution has been wandering and hesitating over this in recent years, making many attempts. Recent reflections, especially from Tiger Bang Chili Sauce founder Lu Wenjin, revealed the energy a true entrepreneur should have: certainty about the present, not rushing to grow big, but focusing on doing things well, as he puts it: 'growing grain on bluestone slabs.' As long as you want to do it, you can definitely do it well. Yes, it's this 'doing well' that gave me tremendous inspiration. Beginning...
赵波40 Sentences I Most Want to Share with You at the Start of 2022
This article discusses the importance of a company's 'basic market' (基本盘) as its foundation for survival and growth, emphasizing the need to reinforce it through monopoly, sinking, activation, and efficiency. It also covers new consumption trends, the shift to omnichannel and digital marketing, the role of B2B for distributors, and the integration of BC (business-to-consumer) operations, concluding that digital transformation is essential but must be based on market changes and consumer needs.
赵波Wholesalers/Distributors Will See a Wave of Transformation to B2B
Wholesalers/distributors are the smallest operating units in the commercial circulation field in China, supplying goods to millions of mom-and-pop stores. They face increasing difficulties due to rising labor costs, thin margins, and intense competition, but they hold unique value in proximity and customer relationships. The article argues that a wave of B2B transformation is inevitable, driven by brand digitization and platform education, and provides guidance on how wholesalers can adapt.
赵波Reasons for the Rise of New Consumer Brands and Opportunities in the Offline Market
In recent years, a batch of new consumer brands in China have risen rapidly, attracting high attention. They are characterized by originating online, deeply cultivating e-commerce operations and social media, with rapid sales growth. However, as online traffic becomes increasingly expensive, many new consumer brands are re-evaluating offline channels. For these brands, achieving structural breakthroughs in offline channels amidst traditional channels dominated by giants is the core issue for their success. On December 23, New Distribution, in collaboration with Zhoupu Data, organized a salon for emerging brands...
赵波How to Break the Marketing Dilemma in a Fragmented Market?
For a company, nothing is more important than creating customers, but today companies face four major problems in this process: 1. Communication has shifted from mass to niche; 2. Products have shifted from single blockbusters to multiple products; 3. Channels have shifted from single to multi-channel; 4. Supply chains have shifted from low-cost to high-cost delivery. Behind this is the oversupply and insufficient demand caused by technological revolution, creating a two-way squeeze. Based on these changes, marketing must shift from memory-based to experience-based, and companies must rebuild their marketing systems around customer experience, encompassing cognition, transaction, delivery, and relationship.
赵波Where Is the Growth Space for Manufacturers and Distributors in Regional Markets?
A few days ago, I discussed Facebook's rebranding to Meta with Max, the owner of Zhoupu. As an early Facebook employee, Max's perspective was intriguing—he didn't dwell on grand theories. He told me that Zuckerberg's move, from a business perspective, was all about 'growth.' Since Facebook is nearly monopolistic globally except in China, further growth at such a scale is extremely difficult. As a leading global tech company, it must consider...
赵波Several Ways to Classify New Channels
Two years ago, New Distribution classified the market channels from two dimensions: technology and market, into four quadrants. Today, the importance of different scenarios has changed, and the trend of convergence is obvious. This article reclassifies and analyzes the current retail market from the perspectives of consumer behavior and network topology.
赵波FMCG Companies' Deep Distribution Model Urgently Needs Upgrading
The Chinese market is characterized by multiple tiers, diverse retail channels, and a lack of integrated logistics, with millions of mom-and-pop stores being a key distribution channel. The deep distribution model, while effective in the past, now faces challenges from declining foot traffic and the rise of omnichannel retail, necessitating upgrades in management, value chain, and consumer marketing.
赵波What Problems Should FMCG Enterprises Solve with Digitalization?
How to resolve price conflicts between new and old channels? How to meet consumers' omnichannel shopping needs? How to manage the operations of numerous emerging channels? How to reach and operate consumers at scale and low cost? How to ensure transparent allocation of non-quantified expenses? How to achieve one-stop omnichannel delivery? How to leverage technology to break through management communication, process systems, and marketing? These are the specific problems every enterprise manager faces daily, essentially stemming from the fact that the current organizational, management, and marketing models lag behind market changes and fail to adapt.
赵波Seven Questions About Internet-Famous New Consumer Brands
This article addresses seven key questions about the rise of new consumer brands in China, including why they emerge, whether the market is real, whether they create lasting brands, the effectiveness of digital marketing, how to evaluate them, how to build them, and whether to go offline. It emphasizes the importance of niche scenarios, brand equity, and strategic focus.
赵波When Will Chinese FMCG Brands Go Global?
Chinese FMCG brands have yet to achieve global recognition, despite China's manufacturing prowess. The article discusses the challenges and opportunities for Chinese brands to expand overseas, highlighting cultural differences and the need for strategic focus on global markets.
赵波Omnichannel Distribution: A Core Skill Every Enterprise and City Manager Must Master
This article discusses the evolution of distribution channels in the FMCG industry, emphasizing the shift from traditional single-channel models to fragmented, omnichannel environments. It argues that omnichannel distribution—covering all consumer touchpoints both online and offline—is now a core skill for enterprises and city managers, requiring strategic channel selection based on consumer behavior and category characteristics.
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