Gu Xiaoyu Liu Xiaoyu: Adhering to the tradition, we must also pay attention to new consumption changes

Yan Na, a trainee reporter of this newspaper, reported from Cheng Peng and Cheng Peng

On the morning of November 15, the "2021 China New Consumption Summit Forum" hosted by China Business Daily and hosted by CEI Future was held in Beijing. Liu Xiaoyu, Vice President of Public Relations of Gu Xiaojiu, attended and participated in the roundtable dialogue on the theme of "Cultural Inheritance and Innovation", sharing the business development of Gu Xiaojiu as a cutting-edge liquor.

"In the liquor industry, there is no absolute good or bad for 'old' and 'new'. When we make sake, we think about whether we can make revival sake. Liu Xiaoyu said.

The road to "revival"

Liu Xiaoyu believes that for inheritance and innovation, Gu Xiaojiu's understanding is the word "rejuvenation". As an emerging brand, Gu Xiaojiu insists on innovating in traditional skills and culture, and is committed to allowing young people to change their stereotypes of liquor and bring a new experience, which is the corporate gene flowing in the "blood" of Gu Xiaojiu.

The "revival" pointed out by Liu Xiaoyu specifically refers to the use of traditional Chinese liquor brewing techniques in Gu Xiaojiu's products, such as the brewing process of "12987" Kunsha liquor, as well as borrowing traditional culture. The so-called "12987" Kunsha wine brewing process, that is, the sauce wine of the one-year production cycle, the secondary feeding, the nine distillations, the eight fermentations, the seven times the wine extraction, the base wine is stored in rounds for five years, and the overall storage is one year after proportional checking.

In addition, he revealed that the design inspiration of Gu Xiaojiu comes from the essence of traditional arts such as "Thousand Mile River Map" and "Ruihe Diagram". "The new brand superimposes traditional culture and skills, so that young people and people who do not understand baijiu can understand the advantages of Chinese liquor, change stereotypes and bring them a new experience." Liu Xiaoyu said.

The liquor industry is different from other industries, it is still a more traditional industry, and the threshold in terms of winemaking technology means that Gu Xiaojiu should move from the FOUNDG model to the self-built distillery, from online to offline. The reporter learned that Gu Xiaojiu has built a distillery with a maximum annual production capacity of more than 50,000 tons in Yibin, Sichuan, which covers an area of 300 acres, with a phase I project of 100 acres and an initial investment of 300 million yuan. For Gu Xiaojiu, the self-construction of a distillery is a step to better inherit traditional skills, and it is also a step to improve its supply chain and make up for its internal strength.

Focus on new consumer segments

With the passage of time, China has entered the era of "Generation Z" as the mainstream consumer group, and Generation Z consumers are rapidly growing into the dominant force of future consumption.

Similarly, this generation of consumers will gradually become the main force in the alcohol consumption market in the future. The "Generation Z Alcohol Consumption Report" released by Jingdong Supermarket also shows that young people with a certain economic foundation and social status have become the main group of people buying alcohol online, accounting for 42.2%.

"In Gu Xiaojiu's understanding of Generation Z, Generation Z consumers are particularly disgusted by labels, so products developed for young consumers cannot be developed and produced according to so-called labels." Liu Xiaoyu said, "We will develop a large number of products, send them to young friends around us, KOLs, etc., invite them to evaluate, and finally through continuous communication feedback, through the analysis of big data, leaving young consumers who may really like the products to be launched." He stressed, "The methods tested by the market are more convincing." ”

In terms of how to hit the "pain points" of young consumers, Gu Xiaojiu starts from products, cost performance, services and other aspects. It is reported that Gu Xiaojiu put forward the principle of "three screams", that is, adhering to product quality, allowing users to "scream" at the three nodes of seeing products, contacting products, and consuming products, and winning goodwill. In addition, Gu Xiaojiu also proposed that "the essence of service is to do efficient operation", and the questions raised by users should be answered and solved in a timely manner.

At present, the liquor market competition is fierce, and the Matthew effect is presented, the middle and high ends have strong brands occupied, and the small wine market represented by Gu Xiaojiu has also poured in many players, and it is imminent to seek differentiation. In Gu Xiaojiu's insight into new consumer groups, young people prefer "cost-effective" and "quality-price ratio", so Gu Xiaojiu enters the market through small wines with higher cost performance and launches high-quality high-end liquors.

Deeply cultivate online channels

Founded in 2017, Its founder Liu Fei is a former senior brand public relations director of Xiaomi, and the team members are mainly from JD.com, Alibaba and so on. It is precisely because of its Internet genes that Gu Xiaojiu attaches great importance to online channels. It is understood that the strategy adopted by Gu Xiaojiu is to take the e-commerce platform as the position, adhere to product innovation, deeply cultivate e-commerce operations, live e-commerce and user operations.

In Liu Xiaoyu's view, Gen Z consumers are different from other consumer groups, they were born in the era of developed Internet, so the source of their access to information has changed. "Gen Z may not have experienced knowing a brand offline in their lifetime, and their perception of the brand may have started online or learned from KOLs and their idols." He said.

Since its listing, Gu Xiaojiu has been focusing on the young consumer market. In terms of sales model, Gu Xiaojiu has shifted its attention to the e-commerce platform where young consumers often gather, coupled with the promotion of celebrities and celebrities, and has repeatedly refreshed the online transaction volume.

According to the official website of Gu Xiaojiu, in 2019, Gu Xiaojiu and Suning reached a strategic cooperation, and Suning will further open up big data resources, new retail channels and logistics networks to Gu Xiaojiu. In April 2020, Gu Xiaojiu used the live broadcast platform to sell, and in Luo Yonghao's live broadcast, the sales of the Gu Xiaojiu rice grain series exceeded 10 million yuan in 90 minutes. During the "6.18" period in 2020, the transaction volume of Gu Xiaojiu in the Tmall flagship store increased by 1400% year-on-year.

According to the China Internet Network Information Center, as of December 2020, the scale of China's Internet users reached 989 million, of which short video users accounted for 86%. "We think this is a very big change, so we will pay more attention to platforms such as short videos when promoting and disseminating products." Liu Xiaoyu said.

(Editor: Yu Haixia Proofreader: Zhai Jun)