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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 175 of 196
101 Interview Tips
Interviewing is a complex and time-consuming task that requires careful thought and detailed planning. Whether conducting interviews is an essential part of your job or a temporary assignment, this article provides valuable strategies to help you solve the challenges of selecting talent.
New DistributionOpinion | The Vending Machine Industry Is Only Beautiful on the Surface
Yesterday's article about the vending machine trend was well received, but this piece aims to offer a cautious perspective, helping distributors considering a pivot to make prudent investment decisions. The author, Feiyu, draws on his long-term observation of the automated retail sector to outline four key risks: social civility, scarce locations, labor costs, and consumer habits.
肥鱼Shocking! Carlsberg, the Beer Giant, Faces a Cold Winter with a Massive Loss of 4.1 Billion and 1,300 Layoffs!
Carlsberg, the world's fourth-largest beer company, is having a tough time. In the third quarter, it reported a net loss of approximately 4.1 billion RMB. To cut costs, Carlsberg is preparing for large-scale layoffs in China and planning to close some breweries. The former beer giant's international chic is diminishing as it wraps up in a 'winter coat' to survive the cold!
New DistributionThe Wind is Coming: FMCG Giants Move Early as Vending Machines Are Poised for a Full-Scale Boom in China
Vending machines, with their high technical content, novel sales methods, vast market potential, and genuine products, are set for broad development. As per capita GDP in China approaches the $10,000 threshold, the industry is expected to explode, with major FMCG companies like Nongfu Spring and Coca-Cola already expanding their vending machine networks.
赵波Must-Read for Marketers: Shi Yuzhu's Personally Written Brain Platinum (Nao Bai Jin) Marketing Plan: Detailed, Thorough, and Practical
This marketing plan is simple, clear, and straightforward, offering valuable insights for anyone in marketing. It outlines the basic strategy of using 'ambush' tactics to build consumer trust in product efficacy, and details the marketing methods, market launch steps, and foundational work including public relations, training, market research, channel strategy, and terminal management.
史玉柱Seven Bulk Food Display Techniques with Real Photos to Double Sales!
In recent years, as consumer habits become more diverse and casual, bulk snack foods have become a new favorite in daily consumption. More companies are focusing on the comprehensive benefits of bulk snacks and are increasing their efforts, even elevating them to a strategic level. 1 Bulk Snacks – A Force to Be Reckoned With Relevant data shows that the market demand for bulk snack foods in China is growing steadily, with the category expanding at a geometric rate, making it a force to be reckoned with in the food industry. In recent years, seizing the development opportunities of bulk snacks, the concept has expanded to include eight categories: jelly, candy, chocolate, bakery, nuts and fried goods, meat products, fruits and vegetables, and soy products.
New DistributionStop Envying Others' Good Jobs and Focus on Your Own
Some people constantly change jobs but their salaries remain the same, always feeling unsatisfied. They blame unreliable bosses, uncooperative colleagues, and low pay, complaining about their bad luck and others' faults, gradually losing themselves in this life frustration. Men fear entering the wrong industry, and women fear marrying the wrong man. Without a marketable skill, how can a man stand firm in the world? What kind of job is suitable? Why do others have good jobs? Once you enter the workplace, do you objectively evaluate yourself, and do you always start by examining your own shortcomings? This article summarizes five types of employees who are 'insulated' from good jobs and offers advice for each.
New Distribution16-Year Marketing Plan: What Key Points Should a Regional Manager's Report Include?
At the start of a new sales year, the most important task for a regional sales manager is to formulate the marketing plan for the coming year. Sales without a plan are blind, leaving sales staff unaware of the company's marketing priorities and growth points, leading to mechanical selling, unstable sales teams, market chaos, and difficulty in evaluating performance. Only with a scientific plan can departments work systematically, clarify sales targets and priorities, improve efficiency, and fully leverage favorable factors to ensure the achievement of marketing tasks.
崔自三Learn to Shift from 'Waiting for Orders' to 'Chasing Orders'
The author recently heard complaints from a famous ham company during a national training tour: some distributors rely on brand pull and remain passive, simply waiting for downstream orders. This article analyzes why this 'waiting for orders' phenomenon exists, its drawbacks, and how distributors can transform into proactive 'order chasers' to gain market initiative and competitive advantage.
崔自三【原创】2015暖柜饮料全面分析 （附日本、香港案例参考）
Kenneth retail platform review. Last week (October 24) was Frost's Descent, basically autumn has come to an end, winter has arrived. After a 'cool summer' in 2015, beverage companies can only place their hopes on the remaining two months. Earlier, Ken conducted a simple survey on this platform among FMCG friends, and 50% of them were optimistic about this winter's performance. So what are the highlights this year? Let Ken show you! (Note: domestic observations use Shanghai as a reference; Ken knows that warm cabinet beverages also have many regional differences, and contributions are welcome.)
Kenneth8.5 Billion, Li Yongjun and the Legendary 'Xizhilang'
A giant in the industry that started with 400,000 yuan, a low-key and silent entrepreneur, who built the world's largest jelly kingdom in 22 years of entrepreneurship. Currently, it has established over 40 branches and offices nationwide, with more than 1,000 distributors and tens of thousands of sub-distributors, and its sales scale reached 8.5 billion yuan in 2014. The legendary Xizhilang, upon entering the market, cleverly targeted the children's market. It first built the brand, then marketed, shifting from selling products to selling the brand. However, Xizhilang is somewhat mysterious, with almost no reports about it in newspapers, media, or websites.
神厨老九Suning vs. JD.com: Is Internet Marketing Really Going to Be Shameless to the End?
In recent days, you've likely been bombarded with the marketing copy from Suning and JD.com, with many praising their creative wit. However, this article argues that such marketing tactics, especially the 'cat-and-dog war' between Alibaba and JD.com, have crossed ethical lines, resorting to shameless and vulgar behavior. The piece criticizes both companies for engaging in mudslinging and sensationalism, questioning whether internet marketing has truly descended into a realm of shamelessness.
老纳How Do New Small-Bottle Liquor Brands Operate in the Market?
This article outlines strategies for new small-bottle liquor brands to enter and succeed in regional markets, focusing on market selection, distributor choice, market breakthrough, extension, channel development, core store creation, and terminal maintenance, using Hunan as a key example.
杨叶护Looking Forward to the Spring of Chinese Marketing
There is no doubt that most small and medium-sized enterprises in the real economy are currently in a difficult situation with bleak prospects. It is not that I had any foresight; it was purely out of a sense of inadequacy that I left my consulting work with SMEs, which I had been engaged in for nearly 20 years, five years ago. The reason I gave was quite "harsh": they had fulfilled their historical mission, and the vast majority should have "passed away naturally." Faced with China's explosive consumption growth, the "manufacturing" of SMEs, with its "double low" (low quality, low price), matched the market demand in China for over 20 years. Although after 2010, their manufacturing level made considerable progress, the normalized market demand no longer needed them. That is to say, when they reached their highest level in history, they instead became excess capacity.
金焕民How Should Brand Operating Models Adapt in the Internet Era?
This article discusses how brand operating models should adapt in the internet era, arguing that traditional marketing's three-dimensional structure (product, advertising, distribution) has collapsed into a one-dimensional focus on consumer experience. It suggests that brands should prioritize creating exceptional experiences and leveraging word-of-mouth, while also exploring new models like micro-commerce and supporting individual entrepreneurs.
杨江涛Five Strategies for Distributors to Build a Marketing Iron Army
The first strategy is to improve systems: small companies rely on the boss, medium companies on management, and large companies on culture. As distributors grow, they must gradually improve their management systems. The second is strict assessment: assessment is key to ensuring the effectiveness of systems, covering goals, content, and results. The third is systematic training: training should become a habit and an investment, with strict evaluation. The fourth is effective incentives: material and spiritual incentives should be based on ability, responsibility, contribution, and work attitude, with sufficient differentiation. The fifth is building a strong corporate culture: culture manages comprehensively, guiding employees from a culture of compliance to a culture of mission, fostering team spirit and entrepreneurship.
New DistributionThe Past and Present of China's Craft Beer!
This article provides an overview of the development of craft beer in China, from its beginnings in 2008 to the present, highlighting key breweries, events, and the cultural movement behind it. It also discusses the challenges and future prospects of the industry, emphasizing the importance of independence and diversity.
高岩12-Month Annual Marketing Key Points of a Once-Successful Brewery
This is a distillation of the annual marketing process of a brewery that once had four branch plants and an annual output of over 500,000 tons. For many years, it followed this pattern, with only slight variations in details and emphasis each year, and the overall framework lasted for seven or eight years. It is called 'once successful' for two reasons: first, although these practices were not elegant, were criticized, and were rough and arbitrary, they supported the brewery in becoming a strong regional brand with cross-province plants and operations, meaning they were effective at the time; second, the brewery has long since exited the market, having been acquired at a premium by a first-tier brewery.
刘平Beverages as Gifts: It's Not About Store Penetration, It's About Winning Hearts!
In the future, gift-giving consumption will become a significant strategic opportunity for beverage products, and the era of leveraging gift-giving consumption to drive the market and establish market position is quietly arriving. Under the new competitive landscape, beverage brands will encounter new development opportunities. Facing these opportunities, whether enterprises can seize the chance to build their brands and establish brand discourse power becomes the primary consideration.
刘传飞Focus on Second Child: The "14 Billion" Pie-Eating Contest in the Infant Formula Industry
Although expected, the full implementation of the two-child policy has excited infant formula companies struggling with overcapacity. The policy is expected to bring at least 14 billion yuan in market growth, but the benefits will not be evenly distributed, favoring well-prepared and capital-backed companies while accelerating industry consolidation.
乳业第一新媒体Weak Regional Markets Need 'Crazy' Marketing Teams
With the support of aircraft and artillery resources, one is air-dropped alone onto a war-torn base, surrounded by ruins and desolation, self-appointed as a 'scout', seeing only the 'old, weak, sick, and disabled' left behind. Marketing personnel responsible for weak markets will surely have such feelings and memories: internal and external troubles, with external clients lacking enthusiasm, low cooperation, poor profitability, slow product movement, no click-through rates, chaotic pricing, and internally a stagnant sales team with scattered morale...
朱朝阳Next Stop: Consumer Marketing Reigns Supreme
Views like "terminal is king" and "channel is king" have been popular in the business world for over a decade. The author, Li Zhengquan, also published related views in publications like Sales and Marketing in the early 2000s, and was even credited with proposing the idea of "channel is king, win at the terminal" by scholars. However, in recent years, the author has begun to argue that channel push is increasingly giving way to the penetration of consumer marketing, signaling a new era where consumer marketing dominates.
李政权22 Refusal Response Scripts for New Product Distribution at Retail Outlets
This article provides 22 scripts for sales representatives to handle retailer objections when introducing new products, covering concerns about demand, shelf space, profit, pricing, and more, with the goal of overcoming resistance and securing orders.
New DistributionTo Enter or Not? Lactic Acid Bacteria Beverages Are No Longer Profitable...
According to Nielsen retail measurement data, over the past eight years, the yogurt and lactic acid bacteria beverage markets in China have grown rapidly, with annual sales growth rates of 19% and 37%, respectively. In particular, the lactic acid bacteria market saw sales exceed 5.7 billion yuan in 2013, a nine-fold increase from 2006, indicating that China's lactic acid bacteria market is in a growth phase with vigorous development trends.
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