Chuanguan News reporter Zhang Minghai
In the midst of controversy, the "Sauce Xiang King Room" quickly "burst into flames" and was quickly removed from the shelves. On September 18, "Fliggy Travel" issued a statement on the "Sauce Xiang King Room", clarifying that "Fliggy and Moutai cooperated to launch a hotel package", stating that "the product is supplied to Fliggy Travel by the supplier in cooperation with Sanya Haitang Bay Moutai Resort, and the platform further subsidizes on this basis, and provides preferential prices after combining design products, which is not launched by Kweichow Moutai Group or jointly launched with Kweichow Moutai Group." ”
Behind this incident is the rise of cross-border co-branding of brands such as "sauce latte" and "wine heart chocolate" recently.
So, how to view the phenomenon of cross-border co-branding? What are the risks in cross-border co-branding? For consumers, what are the "pits" of cross-border co-branded products that are worth being vigilant about?
Cross-border co-branding is a common business operation
Moutai has successively launched coffee and chocolate across borders, which have gained super high topicality. In September, Moutai and Luckin first jointly launched the "Sauce Latte", and the sales exceeded 100 million yuan on the first day. Later, Moutai and Dove jointly launched wine heart chocolate, which caused heated discussions. Some netizens commented: "Moutai This is a family of three, dad drinks liquor, mom drinks coffee, and children eat chocolate." ”
After the launch of "Sauce Latte", it was sought after by the market. Photo by Zhang Minghai
Cross-border cooperation has become a common business operation between merchants.
On May 17 this year, tea brand Heytea and Italian luxury brand FENDI jointly launched the "FENDI Joy Yellow" tea drink, a single cup is priced at 19 yuan, 38 yuan to buy two cups can also choose a coaster or badge peripheral.
Also this year, Haitian Taste launched Haitian 0 added soy sauce ice cream - this soy sauce ice cream packaging is mainly shaped by soy sauce jars, and the taste is mainly fresh and mellow time-honored soy sauce combined with cold and sweet ice cream, and sprinkled with Haitian soybean powder.
On September 16, Wuliangye and Sichuan Airlines' official Weibo simultaneously released: "Cloud and beauty thousands of miles together" - the first flight ceremony of the 2023 Wuliangye Cloud Mid-Autumn Festival theme flight is about to begin. It is understood that Wuliangye and Sichuan Airlines jointly launched a theme flight this time, a total of five aircraft, the fuselage paint contains classic Wuliangye, eight generations of Wuliangye, "big country fragrance and beauty five grains" and other elements, will cover many domestic routes.
Furui Gong Wine has also jointly launched ice cream products with Baxi, using raw milk and cream as the core ingredients, and adding more than 1.12 grams of Furui Gong Wine per cup to create a unique and fragrant flavor. It is said that the liquor added to it is Gujing Gongjiu · Vintage puree "ancient 20".
For the cross-border joint operation of wine companies, liquor analyst Xiao Zhuqing said that wine companies have carried out cross-border layout of dessert track, coffee track and chocolate track, all kinds of measures are driven by the goal of liquor brands to pursue brand rejuvenation, but also driven by the benefit goal of wine companies using their huge brand potential and huge sales network resources to tap incremental value. "For example, Moutai's cross-border co-branding has achieved the bonus of Moutai brand value and brand popularity, allowing more consumers to feel that 'Moutai is so close to me, and the Moutai brand is by my side'."
"As a communication phenomenon of brand superposition, to a certain extent, cross-border co-branding is worthy of recognition." Cai Shangwei, director of the Cultural Industry Research Center of Sichuan University and member of the Decision Advisory Committee of the Sichuan Provincial Party Committee and Provincial Government, believes that from the perspective of communication, cross-border co-branding realizes the superposition effect of brand communication, which has positive significance for stimulating the vitality of social innovation and promoting consumer demand.
If the combination is not good, cross-border co-branding is also easy to "overturn"
The listing and removal of the "Sauce Xiang Big Bed Room" quickly reversed within two days and evolved into an "oolong incident": on the evening of September 17, the "Sauce Xiang Big Bed Room" launched on Ali's Fliggy platform went on sale, as low as 999 yuan a night, and you can also drink a bottle of Feitian Maotai priced at 1499 yuan in the market. But soon, the "Sauce Xiang King Room" was quickly removed on the same day. On September 18, "Fliggy Travel" issued a statement on the "Sauce Fragrant King Room".
"We noticed that throughout the incident, although the relationship with Moutai was cleared in the statement released by 'Fliggy Travel', because of the launch of 'Sauce Latte' and 'Wine Heart Chocolate' since September, it is difficult for consumers not to associate it with the joint products launched by Moutai." Some analysts said so.
The analyst also pointed out that cross-border co-branding has the effect of "eyeballs" and "gathering traffic", which can bring communication volume to enterprises to a certain extent, "but the volume of communication is not equal to reputation, as a brand enterprise should choose cross-border co-branding at the same time, the direction of public opinion has a clearer value judgment." It should not be done for the sake of volume, but should be carried out under the premise of ensuring positive word of mouth. ”
In this regard, Associate Professor Ye Xu, deputy director of the Consumer Economy Research Center of the Western China Economic Research Institute of Southwest University of Finance and deputy secretary-general of the Sichuan Provincial Resident Consumption Research Association, agreed. "Cross-border joint marketing should be consumer-centric, and product customization and design should be carried out according to the common target consumer groups of both parties." He pointed out that the market is becoming more and more proliferate of co-branded products and the exposure speed is getting faster and faster, which is easy for consumers to fall into "aesthetic fatigue" and lose sensitivity to co-branded brands. At the same time, he also suggested, "We must grasp the rhythm of co-brand promotion, and not overshadow our own products and reduce consumer confidence due to intensive co-branded bombardment." ”
Ye Xu stressed that cross-border brands should pay more attention to the "product" itself, otherwise it is easy to produce "overturning". "After all, cross-border co-branding can only briefly gain volume and sales. If you ignore the quality of your products, you can't effectively add to your brand. The traffic and exposure brought by cross-border will amplify the negative word-of-mouth that may be generated. ”
Cross-border joint branding, what "pits" need to be paid attention to?
The advantages of cross-border co-branding are obvious. Ye Xu said, "Cross-border co-branding can achieve the effect of 'one product has two characteristics', which not only makes the product more premium space, but also forms complementary mutual assistance in the user group because of the coverage of different target groups." ”
But under the noise, there are also some issues to be vigilant about.
Cai Shangwei said that cross-border co-branding, focusing on strong combination, brands need to have "equal weight" in quality and tonality, so that the effect is better, rash "pulling lang match" will lead to inconsistency in tonality, prone to "flooding" and "collapse" consequences.
Ye Xu specifically mentioned that for the cross-border between the alcohol and food industry, it is necessary to carry out hierarchical management, especially to restrict the purchase of minors, and at the same time, it is necessary to be cautious in the health care industry. "With the enhancement of people's awareness of health care, the demand for related products has gradually increased, especially the awareness of the elderly is likely to be affected by marketing publicity, which may make the elderly have a wrong perception of alcohol, thereby drinking too much alcohol and affecting their health."
Wang Shouxin, a lawyer at Sichuan Yingling Heshi Law Firm, reminded that consumers should remain rational when purchasing "cross-border co-branded" products. First of all, before purchasing, it is necessary to identify the authenticity of its so-called "co-branded" product, whether it is another brand launched by real co-branding, or a new product launched independently based on seasons, fashion trends, social hot spots, etc. Secondly, it is necessary to understand the specific nature of the joint product, whether it is in the form of name, appearance, shape and color, or in substance such as ingredients, ingredients, containers (food contact).
How to protect consumers' rights when their rights and interests in purchasing co-branded products are infringed? Wang Shouxin said that consumers can directly recover from the seller for infringement of rights and interests related to co-branded products. "Whether the other party co-branding with the seller is liable needs to be further analyzed according to factors such as whether it is a producer or a supplier of raw materials in a specific commodity, but it does not affect the consumer's direct recovery from the seller."
Ye Xu also suggested that the guidance and supervision of "cross-border joint names" should be strengthened to avoid possible market chaos. "Market supervision departments should not only encourage enterprises to innovate products and promote the active consumer market through cross-border cooperation, but also strengthen the guidance and supervision of cross-border joint names, such as strengthening supervision of the above-mentioned industries that are not suitable for entry and cautious entry." At the same time, we must also pay attention to the spread of positive energy in the process of co-branding. ”