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How can brands grow beyond price competition?
Evidence and cases on product strategy, category innovation, marketing, and channel coordination in China’s consumer market.
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4701 articles · Page 163 of 196
Deep Dive: Some Speculations on the Future of FMCG Channels
The consumer goods market has been in a downturn for two years, and the macro environment suggests more bad news ahead. In China's past 30 years, sales growth has relied on four forces: market base, category penetration, category upgrade, and market share expansion. Now, with growth stagnating, companies face challenges from e-commerce, which is disrupting traditional channels, and the rise of 'small but beautiful' brands. The article speculates on the evolution of distribution channels, predicting a trend toward flattening and scaling, the rise of B2B platforms, and changes in retail formats, with implications for brand manufacturers and distributors.
老王How Beverage Companies Can Win the Peak Season Sales Battle
Despite the saying that good wine needs no bush, it doesn't seem to hold true in today's beverage market. With overwhelming advertising, aggressive competition, and low brand loyalty, beverage distributors must not only rely on product strength but also employ every sales and promotion tactic to win the peak season battle. This article explores how beverage companies can effectively market during the summer season.
胡伟A Deep Dive into the Origins of Daliyuan
A few years ago, several Fortune 500 food giants sought to form joint ventures with the Dali Group, offering attractive terms, but Xu Shihui, committed to national economic development, remained steadfast in his belief in creating a first-class national brand with a century-long legacy. When a president of one of these companies provocatively asked if he had considered the competition, Xu cleverly replied that he focused on making his own company excellent, and then no one could compete with him.
New DistributionWhy Are B2B Platforms Eyeing New Products?
Many B2B platforms, both centralized and distributed, are now focusing on new products. Centralized B2B platforms like JD New Channel and Alibaba 1688 cannot obtain best-selling products, so they have no choice but to promote new ones. Distributed B2B platforms need new products to generate incremental growth and initial profits. This confirms our 2015 discussion about B2B e-commerce. However, new products are unlikely to save B2B platforms; they may serve as a supplement but not a savior.
刘春雄Why Companies Fail to Grow: The Reasons
This article summarizes four reasons why startup companies fail to grow: short-sightedness, small-mindedness, lack of external resources, and lack of internal talent. It emphasizes the importance of strategic thinking, long-term vision, leveraging social resources, and building a strong team.
New DistributionCan Marketers Overcome the Hurdle of 'Workplace Politics'?
Workplace politics refers to an invisible network of relationships that, while not codified in corporate policies, significantly influences career advancement. To navigate this hurdle, professionals must balance relationships and showcase their abilities within their roles. Drawing on personal experience, the author advises marketers on how to manage workplace politics to achieve both career success and personal growth.
王震Brand Owners' Internet Era Transformation: Either Specialize or Platformize
The internet has reset the business coordinates, and we are still holding maps from the previous era; using maps from the industrial civilization era cannot locate us in the internet era. When determining strategic positioning, companies must choose either low cost or differentiation; the worst strategy is the 'sandwich cookie' strategy, which is neither low cost nor differentiated. Over the past 30 years, Chinese companies have followed the low-cost logic to conquer global markets, but now they face a new choice: specialize or platformize.
郝聚民How Should Distributors Solve Four Core Problems: Difficult Terminals, New Product Rejection, Joint Boycotts by Major Terminals, and Product Price Increases?
In the baijiu industry, terminal channel management is one of the key tasks for trading companies. Every step in the sales process—from developing new terminals, maintenance, new product promotion, price increases, expense allocation and approval, to problem feedback and resolution—affects the entire sales process and results. Today, the reporter from Jiushihui selects four common problems in the baijiu market for analysis and discussion. How to deal with regional 'old, big, difficult' terminal customers? What are 'old, big, difficult' terminal customers? 'Old' means they have been in the tobacco and alcohol business in the region for a long time...
张强The Truth About Industrial Beer: Do You Know What You're Drinking?
An article questioning whether industrial beer is actually 'beer water' sparked widespread discussion, highlighting public concern over food safety. This piece explains why industrial beer tastes watery, exposes the low quality of draft beer at night markets, and notes the growing demand for craft beer in China, which grew 20% last year compared to 0.5% globally.
New Distribution"FMCG Brand Energy Ranking" Released: Yili, Mengniu, and Wanglaoji Top Three
The FMCG Industry Research Institute released the "FMCG Brand Energy Weekly Observation," which collects, surveys, and analyzes brand communication data to rank FMCG brands by an energy index. The report aims to provide periodic brand communication references for FMCG brand owners and a reference coordinate for supermarket users in brand selection. For the period July 25-August 1, 2016, among 10 brands including Yili, Master Kong, Mengniu, Liby, Nongfu Spring, and Haitian, Yili, Mengniu, and Wanglaoji ranked in the top three in the comprehensive brand energy index, with Yili taking the top spot.
快消品行业研究院Market Forces Push Beverage Industry into the 5-Yuan Mainstream Price Zone
Since 2015, China's beverage industry has bid farewell to the strong double-digit growth of the past and entered an adjustment period alongside economic transformation. According to the National Bureau of Statistics, soft drink sales volume grew only 4% year-on-year in 2015. In 2016, heavy rainstorms in both the north and south during the peak sales months of June and July further exacerbated the industry's woes. Despite challenges faced by leading companies like Wahaha, Master Kong, Coca-Cola, and Uni-President, Uni-President achieved a remarkable 192% profit growth in 2015, driven by premiumization and new product strategies. The success of products like Xiao Ming Tong Xue and Hai Zhi Yan has helped shift the mainstream price point from 3 yuan to 5 yuan, reflecting changing consumer preferences and market dynamics.
邹文武Yili's Helmsman Pan Gang: Steering into the Global Dairy Top Eight in a Decade
Under Pan Gang's leadership, Yili has surpassed Mengniu to become the leading dairy company in China over the past decade, and this year it entered the global dairy top eight for the first time. What is Pan Gang's secret? Let's listen.
潘亦纯Middlemen: Dig Their Own Graves or Survive on Their Knees?
My family was once one of the largest distributors of a beer brand in the Yangtze River Delta, a true 'middleman'. On paper, we made 1.5 yuan per box sold, but to win customers, we often sold at cost or even at a loss, subsidizing 0.5 yuan per box. We relied on year-end rebates from the brand, which later turned into beer instead of cash... and then there was nothing. This article reflects the plight of many Chinese agents, wholesalers, and distributors in the internet era, and offers two strategies: shift from selling goods to selling services, or shift from selling goods to R&D.
马金同Mosalilan, Where Is the Way Ahead?
Mosalilan, as Bright Dairy's innovative super single product, pioneered the domestic ambient yogurt market. Before 2015, it grew at a near-doubling rate annually, with revenue approaching 6 billion yuan. However, in 2015, its revenue unexpectedly declined by 1.44%, raising questions about its future.
伯乐斋From 400,000 to 8.5 Billion: You've Tasted Its Flavor, but Never Heard Its Legendary Story
Author: Li Dongyang Source: Chief Marketing Officer (ID: cmo1967) Original Internet Marketing First Media! Introduction: From beginning to end, a kingdom is not built in a day. From obscurity to household name, from bad timing to standing alone, from 400,000 to 8.5 billion. Strong Group owns multiple sub-brands including Crystal Love, cici, Good Times, and Youlemei. It is not only the largest producer and seller of instant seaweed and milk tea in China, but also the world's largest professional producer and seller of jelly pudding. Since its founding in 1993, Strong has written a legend in China's food industry over 23 years.
李东阳Digging Up the Untold Story of Uni-President!
Uni-President is a household name in the food industry, with 2015 sales reaching 22.1 billion yuan, and its every move sets industry trends. However, what don't you know about this seemingly familiar company? Founded 49 years ago, its brand influence spans Asia.
New DistributionTactical Proficiency: A Special Marketing Skill
Strategic thinking has different levels: winning without fighting is superior, while forceful attacks are inferior. However, success in war cannot rely solely on strategy without the support of strength; effective strategy requires matching tactical means. The consistency between strategy and tactics is crucial, but the key link is tactical proficiency—a specialized skill developed and trained to ensure strategic goals are achieved.
史贤龙Sun Jun of Zero Degree Fruit Workshop: The Unique Secret to Growing a Niche Market
As consumption upgrades and the era of personalized products arrives, the market still holds great enthusiasm for quality products. Through refined sales channel management, Zero Degree Fruit Workshop has tapped into the mass demand for niche products, carving out a unique market space.
中国经营网Why the Hottest New Products at the Sugar and Wine Fair Are More Likely to Make Companies and Distributors Lose Money?
Why are the hottest new products at the Sugar and Wine Fair more likely to make companies and distributors lose money? What are the tricks to ride the market trend without losing your wife and catching the rogue? Planning a product line is like deploying troops; what is the correct posture? Every year starting in March, industry exhibitions are in full swing. What do you look at in industry exhibitions? Look at 'new products', 'trends', and dynamics; it is said that major exhibitions are industry bellwethers. But in general, industry exhibitions are like 'going to a big market' or 'joining the crowd', with products rushing in like a swarm. In the first few years of making beverages, when I saw that Six Walnuts was hot, the exhibition was full of walnut drinks, then coconut juice drinks, and recently lactic acid bacteria drinks; in cosmetics, it was various hydrating products in the early years, and in recent years, various masks. If companies launch new products based on this, and distributors select products based on this, they often lose a lot.
苗庆显An Excellent Marketing Team Must Have 'Prescribed Moves' That Everyone Knows
This article is based on Liu Chunxiong's sharing at the first online micro-sharing session of Fenjiu Business School. He uses three cases to illustrate that marketing knowledge comes from the frontline, needs to be refined by senior management, and then disseminated top-down to form the company's marketing knowledge system. He emphasizes the importance of 'prescribed moves' for excellent companies and discusses how to extract and spread them.
刘春雄Survey of Top 100 Ambient Lactic Acid Bacteria Beverage Brands: Shares, Channels, and Prices Reveal Trends
Since 2013, China's lactic acid bacteria beverage market has seen explosive growth, with the ambient segment becoming a key driver. By 2016, over 100 brands competed in the ambient market, with county-level cities accounting for 52.4% of sales. The market is characterized by regional brands, intense price competition, and channel diversification, with supermarkets holding 40% of sales.
司玉佩、史献芒What Have Been the Manifestations of Consumption Upgrading in the Past Decade?
The process of consumption upgrading is just beginning. As a user, what direct experiences have you had with consumption upgrading? Consumption upgrading has become a new trend in venture capital and entrepreneurship. On one hand, new products replace old ones, and some products are gradually dying out; on the other hand, new lifestyles are constantly emerging and spreading to the masses. From the improvement of material quality to the satisfaction of spiritual needs...
何明科No Middlemen Is the Biggest Marketing Lie (Part 3): Scientific Top-Level Channel Design
Why are Coca-Cola's direct-operated terminals and Master Kong's channel intensive cultivation traps for most companies? How does 'Lao Gan Ma', which has almost no sales staff, manage to do solid and meticulous market groundwork? This article reveals the ultimate answer to improving channel efficiency and ending the mutual friction between manufacturers and distributors.
苗庆显P&G, Johnson & Johnson, Unilever, and L'Oréal: Revenue and Profits Decline for All Four FMCG Giants
P&G, Johnson & Johnson, Unilever, and L'Oréal, as leading global FMCG companies, unsurprisingly made the Fortune 500 list, with P&G ranking first in the FMCG industry and 86th overall; Johnson & Johnson, Unilever, and L'Oréal ranked 103rd, 147th, and 378th respectively. Notably, despite negative revenue and profit growth for all four giants, their rankings all improved, possibly due to relatively resilient rigid demand factors.
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