Northeast Big Board: Ice cream of the retro train How to sell tens of thousands of daily, become a cold drink market winners?

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I dark Horse: A summer nostalgia and memories, simple, stupid "Northeast Big Board" broke through the "army" encirclement, daily sales of up to tens of thousands of, Super Yili, Mengniu, Nestle and other large ice cream manufacturers, become the largest cold drink market winner. What did they do?

Daqing Ruby Ice Cream Co., Ltd. Chairman Liu Jierong in the cold drink industry for 22 years, has long been accustomed to the industry's rise and fall, but this year's business is still so hot that he could not help but excited. Ruby developed products "Northeast Big Board" this summer swept North and south, in Hangzhou, Jinan and other more than 30 cities daily sales of tens of thousands of, the highest sales of Hefei has reached 80,000 per day. Such results will make Yili, Mengniu, Nestle and other large ice cream manufacturers are shocked.

As with any segment of the consumer goods sector, the industry layout of cold drinks products also has a clear "group" characteristics, that is, the national market by a small number of giants, local brands often can only Pianan corner, or simply by large groups into its own. "Since 2000, ice cream has entered the competitive phase of the army. Mengniu, Yili, bright, plus and road snow, the background is the group. "Shanghai Guangming Yimin food Factory sales manager Sun Jingrong said that ice cream in the food industry is high gross margin products, but ice cream operation needs the whole cold chain, expensive, not backed by the group, it is difficult to survive." Sun Jingrong has been engaged in the cold drink industry for more than 30 years.

The north-east panel rewrote this pattern this summer. Fiery red "Northeast Guest" is not only the Northeast Big board, from Shenyang "The Big Fruit" and from Harbin "Harbin Popsicle" and so on the cold drink brand in the first-line city's daily sales also surpasses many backs large group's ice cream brand.

This is the most obvious change in the ice cream industry this year. Once, the market and channel sinking direction is from big cities to small cities, such as the production of ice cream in Tianjin will affect the market in Shenyang, through the Shenyang market again affect Daqing. "Now the reverse, our products to Shenyang Dozen, Tianjin Dozen, the national dozen." We're out of here. "Liu Jierong to" financial world "Weekly said.

Where the capital, brand and experience are not available, the local ice cream makers, through a summer to conquer the national consumers, what they do right?

Beijing and Shanghai are the early target cities of the northeast Big Board, "These two places the crowd high grade, has the higher education, the consumption level is also high, to our product understanding degree and the speed are different with the local city." ”

Retro Train

In the Chinese market, the variety of ice cream and ice cream, and consumer loyalty to the brand is not high, the Northeast board can stand out, to a large extent, thanks to the external packaging of nostalgic wind. It is the packaging of some products used wax paper, rather than the common plastic packaging, and there is no seal at both ends, with a hand torn open, very consistent with the 70, generation of consumers of childhood memories, thus gaining the support of this part of the backbone of the population.

This impression is easy to think that the Northeast Board is a revival of old products, but it is actually the summer of 2013 new products, through the ruby in some areas of a year trial, 2014 summer in the national distribution points. This seemingly traditional product, in fact, after careful market positioning. In the context of frequent food safety issues, cold drinks are easily suspected of excessive additives, this simple, even with a bit of rustic packaging than excessive packaging more affinity.

Northeast Big Plate is not the only one to find the mood of the cold drink manufacturers, cold drinks market has long been "nostalgic works", such as many manufacturers have launched a brine popsicle, old Popsicle, Briquette and other products.

A century-old Shanghai brand Bright cold drink from the beginning of last year launched a nostalgic theme of the series of products, such as "Latte ice cream", "Black and white ice cream", "Moss seaweed ice cream," and so on, these new products have once sold off goods. This year, the bright still hits this trump card, and combines the healthy tendency, the sugar content in the product reduces, the milk enhances, adapts the modern person's taste.

The theme of nostalgia is not the trend that the leadership of the light group has been bullish on at the outset, Sun Jingrong that it is entirely "popular." Bright Old Products "in Briquette" has more than sixty or seventy years of history, the light felt that this product is too easy to melt, inconvenient, has been trying to eliminate. But the market response is completely the opposite, this has aroused the attention of the light, but also with the promotion of nostalgic theme products and promotion.

In multinational companies, Nestle is also involved in Chinese collective memory. Nestle has two major ice cream brands, one is Nestle, the other is the Guangdong cold drink brand five sheep.

Wuyang is the largest cold drink brand in Guangdong region, has a history of more than fifty or sixty years, in the local market has a high brand influence. In 1999, Nestlé bought five sheep, accounting for 97% of the shares. After the acquisition, Nestle did not change the five sheep packaging and taste. Although Nestlé will work with artists in Guangdong to organise activities on Weibo and micro-letters, the old brand is young but does not want to cut its traditional charm. Will Oliver Jakubowicz, the Nestle's Ice cream business and brand development manager in Greater China, said the five-goat brand was becoming more and more important to Nestle's China beverage business, although the brand has not yet been extended to the country, but with feedback from locals in Guangdong, Nestlé sees an emotional connection between Chinese consumers and local and old brands.

Labeled "Health"

The Northeast Big Plate becomes this summer cold drink "Dark horse", the outside world usually will praise Ruby this company packing product's ability is very high, but in Liu Jierong view, the Northeast Big Plate series's hot, the most important factor is not the marketing or the channel, but the product itself, is the healthy, the solid raw material and Northeast Plate Series A total of four flavors-plain, prairie milk, chocolate and strawberry, ingredients are mainly fresh pulp, plant extracts and New Zealand imported milk powder, simple formula and taste instead bring a higher market acceptance.

For a long time, in the concept of consumers, popsicles, ice cream and ice cream are poor nutrition, eat more fat-prone junk food. Zhu Nianlin, chairman of the National Council of frozen drinks, said that this understanding is not accurate, "popsicles, ice cream and ice cream 90% is water, its own heat is not high, the right amount of food will not be fat." Of these 3 products, ice cream has a slightly higher protein and milk fat content. "She thinks that junk food is that those people eat only the bad is not good food, and fat, sugar, protein and so on are the main nutrients necessary for the human body, generally also from food intake, but if these nutrients are enough, and then too much to ingest them, into the human body will become" garbage. "

The cold drink industry needs to justify itself, so ice cream makers are racing to label their products "healthy". Guangming Yi people A factory this year's goal is to make ice cream into functional products, the introduction of purple potato flavors of ice cream. In Sun Jingrong's view, the transformation of ice cream into a healthy functional product is the future development trend of ice cream industry. According to nutritionists, sweet potatoes are the first healthy food, nutritional value is very high, but the children do not want to eat coarse grains, feel no taste, made of ice cream after both healthy and delicious. ”

Nestlé has also found another trend in the ice-cream market in recent years, with households becoming the mainstay of ice cream consumption. When the child wants to eat ice cream, the mother is the most important decision person, then "health" becomes a more important card. Will said that, unlike other countries, almost all mothers think that ice cream should not be eaten more, so there is strict control over the amount of ice cream for children. "The mother will allow the child to eat a not big ice cream, this is China's unique phenomenon." For this feature, Nestle's Ice cream products are smaller than others. In addition, Nestle Classic product "stupid Nana" although colourful, but did not add artificial coloring.

The emphasis on raw materials will inevitably lead to the rise in costs, ultimately reflected in the end of the market. In recent years, the market 3 to 5 yuan Ice-cream category more and more, ternary one of the northeast plate just pressed on the middle end of the product range line. But under the "health" label, consumers, instead of resisting the rise in cold drink prices, showed a tendency to pay for high-quality products.

Will that the major manufacturers have launched a high unit price products, the main reason is not the cost of pressure, but from the consumer's willingness to buy. "The biggest change in the ice cream market this year is that consumers are more willing to pay for high-quality products," and as consumers ' incomes rise, they begin to prioritize good brands, special flavors, and reassuring qualities.

Of course, the higher consumption capacity of cold drinks products is currently limited to the one or two-line city. "People who have no money still choose cheap things that are very important to our company and our products." "Will said.

Although produced from the local city, but the Northeast Plate series is currently only sold to the one or two-line city. In the Liu Jierong market Strategy, Beijing and Shanghai are the early target city of the northeast Big Board, "These two places the high level of the crowd, the higher education, the consumption levels are also high, the understanding of our products and speed are not the same as the local city." ”

Nostalgic packaging and "rustic" names can easily make people think that the Northeast Board is a revival of old products, but it is in fact the summer of 2013 new products, but after careful market positioning.

Channel

With the "backed group" brand competition, in fact, the northeast Big board such local manufacturers still have to face the cost and profit this hurdle. The Northeast Big Board in the terminal channel and the marketing this "the Hard war" once again the inventive way, has obtained "Four two dials the heavy" the effect.

The north-east board abandoned most of the most important brands of supermarkets and convenience store channels, instead of the main distribution of large, floating population of kiosks and grocery stores, and in the form of independent freezer display. This not only eliminates the ultra channel high admission fee, the brand exposes also more obvious. This newspaper visited a number of north-east Big Board consumers, think that in the convenience store of the cold drinks counter, all the brands are mixed together, to find a specific brand of cold drink to spend some time, but the northeast Big Board is a separate freezer, hand can get.

Sun Jingrong and Liu Jierong, who have been active in the industry for many years, believe that ice cream consumption is arbitrary, regardless of how the business will sink the channel, and finally decided to put the ice cream on the side of the street grocery store owner. "Fast consumer goods and household appliances are different, everyone's products are similar, brand concept and household appliances, the randomness is larger, in fact, the display of products more important." So in the freezer display, everyone's competition is very fierce. There are a variety of means, electricity subsidies, incentives and so on. "Sun Jingrong said.

In order to increase the enthusiasm of retail dealers, the northeast plate for the newspaper kiosks and grocery stores free of charge to provide refrigerators, these red and green ice freezers have two models, the price is 1850 yuan and 1670 yuan respectively. Each ice cream price of 3 yuan, kiosks and grocery stores to get the price is 1.8 yuan, that is, each sell one can be profitable 1.2 yuan. It's much more cost-effective to compare the small profit margins of newspaper sales. And the big family is different, the Northeast big plate to sales outlets Sales no demand, sold out at any time replenishment, selling is not good at any time to terminate cooperation, the rest goods refund. In addition, every month, the north-east board will subsidize 60 yuan of electricity tariffs for the channel, so it is more popular with the newspaper kiosks and grocery stores. At present, the Northeast Board has provided tens of thousands of sets of refrigerators free of charge to terminal operators, and only one year of monthly subsidy of electricity is tens of millions of. Of these, there are about 6,000 outlets in Beijing.

In order to further reduce the cost of the channel, Ruby in the Northeast Big plate This series does not use the more carefree wholesaler model, but chooses the direct and the terminal channel docking, thus saves the layer wholesaler's profit exploitation. In many years of experience, Liu Jierong that wholesalers to manufacturers and terminal operators are not responsible for the product market promotion is not dedicated to the direct face of terminal business, give them benefits. Price ternary of the Northeast Big Board, the cost of outsourcing only a penny, manufacturers and terminals directly docking to save the middleman costs, plus almost no advertising costs, its profit margins in the hair of the extremely low profit ice cream market is particularly impressive.

However, not advertising does not mean that there is no marketing. In traditional media, do not see the "Northeast Big Board" advertising, but it placed at the point of sale of the independent freezer has played a role in brand display. In addition, hunger and thirst marketing, new media marketing is also "Northeast Big Board" cleverly applied. For example, many newspaper kiosks, grocery store operators said, "Northeast Big board" often broken goods, in addition to selling, the purchase quantity is also one of the reasons. Traditional channels do not sell, their own channels to break the goods, but let more people curious, want to taste a taste of the Northeast Big Board. In micro-credit, micro-Bo and other social networking platform also appeared a large number of "north-east Big Board" discussion, no less attention than the cold drink industry classic marketing case stupid nana.

Will the Northeast Big Board be short-lived?

For new flavors of cold drink varieties, consumers will never too much. Ice-cream and ice cream varieties on the Chinese market are almost the largest in the world, Will said. Northeast Big Board in this year Deus, become the biggest winner, but can it continue next year glorious? Local vendors are good at capturing small market opportunities, but the systemic support for new product development will undoubtedly become a short board.

Ruby Ice Cream Company launched a total of more than 50 kinds of products, the Northeast Big Plate series is the only product to the national market. Before that, the north-east Big Board experienced 3 years of research and development time. Compared with foreign ice cream manufacturers, the domestic new product research and development capabilities in a disadvantaged position, similar products are different manufacturers of brand packaging, new product development of the patent currently ice cream industry has no clear legal protection. Once a successful product was born, a large number of Shanzhai products soon appeared.

"There are a lot of domestic production of ice cream workshops, not research and development only imitation, what popular copy." This time, after the Northeast big fire, just to crack down on fake fakes is enough to me busy. Liu Jierong to this quite helpless. Bad environment also hit the original enthusiasm of manufacturers, local small manufacturers can not build a mature research and development system.

At this point, large groups dominate. Will said that while Nestlé already has the market-ready milk sticks and stupid Nana series, developing new products is still the most important part of the business. "Consumers like to try new products and new flavors, and we're going to bring them something new." "Nestle has launched six or seven new products this summer, including the first to the north of the snow Nuomici, beans, fruit Leba, the heart of the newly-flavored tube."

Will that consumers are increasingly diverse and that there are plenty of opportunities. Nestlé develops a new product with a set of processes, the first step is to choose the market segments, such as specifically for children to develop products, or to make casual food. "We usually have a lot of new ideas, like we have more than 20 new product concepts, but there are only five successful listings," he said. "After confirming your choice, you combine creativity, imagination and understanding of consumers." From finding concepts, to user testing, to new listings, this process generally works, and unsuitable products are not listed. Most local manufacturers are very difficult to have this rigorous research and development process, so the success of the product is more contingency, the pattern is often unable to replicate.