Recently, the news that the valuation of the Kowloon Jai brand has exceeded 10 billion has triggered heated discussions in the industry. Some consumers questioned: "Sales have not exceeded 100 million, the brand has exceeded 10 billion?" ”
"10 billion brands" are not worthy of the name?
Yes, the above-mentioned Kowloon Zhai refers to the Kowloon Zhai sour plum soup under Beijing Yanjing Beverage Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as Yenching Beverage).
A few days ago, in the "China's 500 Most Valuable Brands" rated by the World Brand Lab, Yanjing Beverage's Jiulong Zhai Sour Plum Soup ranked 375th with a brand value of more than 10 billion, closely following Tomson By-Health and Three Squirrels.
It is worth mentioning that Xinyuanzhai, which has similar sales to Jiulongzhai and is also a traditional sour plum soup brand in Beijing, did not participate in the list of "China's 500 Most Valuable Brands". In terms of branding, Xinyuanzhai can be on a par with Kowloon Zhai; even, in the minds of some Beijing consumers, Xinyuanzhai is more "traditional and credible" than Kowloon Zhai. "In the restaurant, I prefer to drink 'Big LandMine' (Shin Won Sai), and if there is only Kowloon Sai in the shop, I may choose to drink Wang Lao Ji." The above-mentioned consumer told FMCG reporters.
In terms of sales, Kowloon Jai also has a gap with Tomson By-Health and Three Squirrels.
Although the specific sales of Kowloon Zhai have not been announced, public information shows that "Beijing Yanjing Beverage Co., Ltd. is a holding subsidiary of the Company and is included in the scope of the Company's consolidated statements". In other words, through the annual report of Yanjing Beer Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as Yanjing Beer), it is not difficult to see that its sales are only "flat".
According to the 2017 financial report of Yanjing Beer, the sales amount of tea beverages (including sour plum soup) during the reporting period was 0.92 billion yuan, accounting for only 0.83% of the operating income. According to the data, in 2017, the operating income of Tomson By-Health reached 3.111 billion yuan. Even the three squirrels that sell nuts reached revenue of 2.89 billion yuan in the first half of 2017 (data from its latest prospectus).
More importantly, the operating income of Kowloon Zhai in 2017 is not even comparable to the sales of Master Kong's sour plum soup ten years ago. According to previous media reports, the sales of Master Kong's sour plum soup in 2009 were about 120 million yuan. At that time, sour plum soup was only a channel supplement product for Master Kong.
Whether it is from the brand value or operating income, the "10 billion brand" of Kowloon Zhai is a bit exaggerated.
According to the brand value evaluation model published by the World Brand Lab, the brand value of an enterprise depends on the annual business revenue, the brand additional index and the brand strength coefficient. The key factors that determine the strength coefficient of the brand include external support, brand management and expansion capabilities.
Some insiders believe that the harvest of "10 billion brands" by Jiulongzhai is not unrelated to the endorsement of Yanjing Beverage and Trout (China) Strategic Positioning Consulting Company (hereinafter referred to as Trout).
However, does this "external support" really deserve such a high brand valuation?
The next "herbal tea"?
Whether from the historical origin or functional characteristics, sour plum soup and herbal tea have some "similarities". Both have a century of consumption history; both have gone from boiling in small street shops to industrial production, from drinking from large bowls on the street to bottles (cans); from regional consumption to national expansion.
However, compared with the momentum of herbal tea under the leadership of Wang Laoji, the situation of sour plum soup is much more embarrassing. As a traditional beverage that is popular in the northern region, it once occupied half of the northern drinks, but for a long time, sour plum soup still adopted a small workshop-style production mode, which also made its commercialization process lag far behind.
In many places, Kowloon Zhai is very similar to the original Wang Laoji. For example, they are all "bulk goods" in herbal tea shops, they are the first "canned products", they are all traditional local specialties, they were not easy to sell, they all used the positioning method to build brands, and even the institutions led by "positioning expert" Deng Delong planned behind the support. At that time, standing behind Wang Laoji was Chengmei Marketing Consulting Company; at this moment, standing behind Kowloon Zhai was Trout.
In 2007, Yanjing Beverage launched the Kowloon Jai Sour Plum Soup. In the same year, it transferred 22% of its stake for 33 million yuan to Shanghai NovaQi Venture Capital Co., Ltd., which is Trout's investment platform in China. At that time, Yanjing Beverage introduced Trout, which valued its previous successful operation experience of the "Wang Laoji" brand, and hoped to replicate the success of Wang Laoji to Kowloon Zhai.
However, Chen Mou, the former general manager of the sales department of JDB Group, also joined Yanjing Beverage in 2011 as the executive general manager of Kowloon Zhai and was fully responsible for the marketing management of Kowloon Jay.
But this time, the "JDB team" failed to "play well". The data shows that from 2012 to 2016, the sales of Yanjing beer and tea beverages continued to decline, respectively, 117 million yuan, 0.69 billion yuan, 0.71 billion yuan, 0.55 billion yuan, and 0.58 billion yuan.
An industry insider familiar with the above-mentioned Chen even lamented to the FMCG reporter, "After (joining Kowloon Zhai), Chen's career began to decline." ”
The confusion of the "mind"
In the view of marketing expert Liu Songtao, the "death" of Kowloon Zhai is fundamentally due to the deviation of positioning.
Since its launch in 2007, Kowloon Jai has continuously changed its brand slogan ( slogan ) , from "sour is better to drink" to "degreasing"; experiencing "authentic sour plum soup" to returning to "degreasing" again, the brand positioning is more and more distant. When the product cannot penetrate the "mind" of consumers, even relying on the channel of Yanjing Beer, it is difficult for Kowloon Zhai to go out of the base camp market.
As a forerunner of herbal tea, there was no direct use of mental resources and concepts (places outside Guangdong), so Wang Laoji engaged in a "borrowing corpse to return the soul", with the help of the concept of "fire" in people's minds, Wang Laoji was sent to the top of the "fire-proof" product ladder in the minds of consumers, and made herbal tea products in the north and south of the river.
The slogan "degreasing, drinking Kowloon Sai" put forward by Trout for Kowloon Jai is a bit self-defeating.
"Is there a substantial difference between 'degreasing and drinking The Nine Dragons' and 'afraid of fire, drinking Wang Laoji'? The same slogan will affect the credibility of the product", "the brand positioning of 'sour point' is relatively reliable, in line with the demands of product differentiation." In the competition with Master Kang and Xin Yuanzhai, we can emphasize the authentic product image, after all, sour plum soup is still a drink that quenches thirst," an industry insider told FMCG reporters.
Liu Songtao pointed out, "Nowadays, people are getting fatter and fatter the more they eat, so Jiulongzhai told people that sour plum soup is not used to relieve the heat, and sour plum soup is used to relieve grease, which is wrong." The biggest problem is that it violates consumer cognition and common sense, and contradicts the mental concept of "sour plum soup to relieve the heat".
A person in charge of operating a number of Chinese restaurants in various parts of Hubei told FMCG reporters, "Customers are very unfamiliar with this concept, and there are many ways to degreas, and it is not necessary to drink sour plum soup." Maybe the north will be easier to sell, but I have no intention of buying at the moment. ”
At the beginning of this year, Deng Delong, chairman of Trout China, publicly stood for Kowloon Jai, saying that "consumption upgrades", "new catering" and consumers' "mental strength" will be new opportunities for Kowloon Jai. In fact, Kowloon Jai chose a path that runs counter to the "mind" of consumers ten years ago, and to this day, there is no sign of the "prodigal son turning back".
The reality is that in a Dealer WeChat group of Kowloon Jai, the slogan of "Creating a New National Drink of 10 Billion" was repeatedly and continuously swiped on the same day; in the circle of friends of most dealers, it is still full of advertising slogans of "Degreasing, Drink Kowloon Jai".
However, this time and time. Today's Kowloon Zhai is obviously not as good luck as Wang Laoji in the past, and today's market will not leave too much time and opportunity for a product to slowly enter people's minds, and even slowly change a concept, so as to gain a firm foothold in the minds of consumers.
In any case, Kowloon Zhai has already called itself a "10 billion brand". However, whether it can achieve the dream of "new national drink" of Kowloon Sai and become the next miracle, it is time to give the answer.