"Dig deep holes, accumulate grain, and slowly become kings", if you don't get off the table, you win.
When the traffic dividend declines, in the new round of consumer economic cycle, business management has become a new competition point for consumer brands. Today, almost every brand wants to build a responsive team, system, or even supply chain that can build the company's tenacious "adaptability" to respond flexibly to potential industry risks and opportunities, and drive another round of growth in the consumer market.
Therefore, we find that "long-term operation" has become the main theme of the consumer industry in 2024, and those mature brands that have passed through the economic cycle have also become beacons for the current consumer brands, who have studied their operating systems and business thinking, in order to find the key solutions to deal with market shocks.
In the food and beverage sector, Mars, a global food giant founded in 1911, is definitely a milestone learner. In the more than 30 years since it entered the Chinese market, it has successfully deployed brands such as Dove, Snickers, M&M'S, Yida, Green Arrow, and Skittles, and the current growth rate of its business in China is also higher than its global average.
The more complex the market environment, the more the resilience and agility of enterprises will be tested. As a leader in the FMCG industry, Mars Wrigley, a subsidiary of Mars China, began to experiment with the live broadcast model in 2019, and narrowed the distance with consumers through forward-looking marketing strategy innovation.
In addition, in terms of cross-border co-branding, Mars Wrigley also has a keen sense of smell, such as the launch of Dove gummy sandwich chocolate with Nai Xue's tea, and the brain-opening launch of eyeshadow palette chocolate and other products, which have successfully captured the love of the new batch of consumer forces such as the post-90s generation and Generation Z.
Li Fei, General Manager of Mars Wrigley China E-commerce Division
Behind these flexible and efficient marketing strategies, how does Mars Wrigley capture the market trend in a timely manner? At the same time, as a multinational company with a history of 100 years, what is the key to the longevity of Mars Wrigley?
Not long ago, we chatted with Li Fei, general manager of Mars Wrigley's e-commerce division in China, and in his narrative, he likened the company's organizational ability to a "dancing elephant", giving the company accurate and efficient business efficiency.
On the other hand, he also further emphasized to us that in the face of the current complex market environment, the ultimate key for enterprises is to have a certain degree of "Var value" (Value at Risk) and lay a good foundation in order for enterprises to meet wave after wave of consumption.
With the support of the endogenous growth logic of the enterprise, this century-old enterprise has also seen the growth opportunities and potential of the Chinese market in the future.
Conversation | Li Fei
Edit | Ye Zhefeng
Inspur New Consumption: In terms of offline user reach and accurate online traffic push, many brands under Mars Wrigley have achieved outstanding performance. However, now that the competition for online traffic tends to be saturated, what kind of judgment and countermeasures do you have for this?
Li Fei: In fact, the challenges that everyone will encounter in the market in 2023 will be the same, and the traffic of each platform has indeed peaked to a certain extent, and we feel that the overall platform strategy is in a state of restart, so everyone's strategy changes will be more frequent and intense in 2023.
In the past, the Internet was full of flowers, and the vitality and innovation of various platforms were very strong, which also derived a lot of gameplay. However, these styles of play do not boil down to a one-size-fits-all formula. The key is to gain insight into the real needs of consumers, and then shorten the communication link between brands and consumers in different ways to improve interaction.
But from 2023 onwards, there will be a lot less of this state of blooming.
Under the changes in the general environment, the industry has begun to roll in, and manufacturers and brands have gradually focused on similar marketing content and strategies.
As a result, for the consumer market, on the one hand, the consumer experience has become boring, and on the other hand, the marketing strategy of brands has gradually failed to stimulate consumers to explore, innovate and think, thus hindering brands from establishing a real connection with consumers. That's what I'm worried about.
Inspur New Consumption: As one of the earliest brands to start online, Mars Wrigley has also precipitated an effective brand strategy in recent years. However, with the increase of entering the market, the fierce competition, and the aesthetic fatigue of consumers, will it have an impact on the development rhythm of your own brand?
Li Fei: First of all, we must respect the laws of the market and the rhythm of consumers. From our own perspective, the impact is definitely there, especially when the market is chaotic and the brand's platform strategy is constantly changing.
But in this process of change, we need to have a certain level of "Var value". To put it simply, don't mess around when you don't know how to do it, but go back to what you really do well.
For Mars Wrigley, whether online or offline, product quality must be excellent, which is one of the five principles that all Mars people adhere to.
Second, think more about how you can better meet the needs of consumers. Last year, due to the uncertainty of the general environment, we did not plan too much for the big promotion, "Double 11", "Double 12" and other activities, but paid more attention to scenarios that can reflect the real needs of consumers, that is, when will we need chocolate, chewing gum, skittles and other products.
In addition, we focus on several small nodes, such as exams, Tanabata, Halloween parties and other periods with a high correlation with "sugar content", so that our products can truly meet the needs of consumers at these time nodes.
In 2024, we will also strengthen some gift-giving scenes between friends and couples, because everyone needs encouragement during this time. At the same time, our gift designs are also economical and practical enough not to burden consumers too much.
For example, the colorful Dove gift box we launched during last year's "Double 11" is exquisite in workmanship and at the right price, adding color to consumers' lives while not causing too much economic burden to them.
Overall, I still have a lot of hope for the future, and theoretically, the changes in the marketing strategy of brands on various platforms also need to be adjusted accordingly.
There is a common saying in the sales industry - "do not break, do not stand". In an environment where market conditions and consumers are changing, we need to break the original stereotyped thinking and status in order to meet the new wave, and we must be prepared.
Inspur New Consumption: The new consumption format has also driven the upgrading of demand supply and product categories, and a new brand with a more flexible business model has been born. In the face of the emergence of these new entrants, do you think they will divide the original market share, or will they continue to make this market bigger together?
Li Fei: I think it's more of the latter case. Taking the chocolate market where Dove, Snickers and other products are located as an example, chocolate itself is a foreign product, not in the original recipe of the Chinese, but at the same time it is a very good product, with its own healthy side.
However, compared with the European and American markets or other Asian countries, the per capita chocolate consumption of Chinese consumers is still very low, and the per capita chocolate consumption of Japanese consumers may be 8 times that of ours.
2023 is Dove's 30th year in the Chinese market, in fact, most consumers only like to eat classic milk chocolate, but we also have 6 other different flavors, so that more consumers can experience and feel these flavors is what we need to do in the future.
Of course, there are many new products and new flavors on the market in this process, as long as the quality is excellent and the taste can make consumers feel happy, this is good for the whole category, and we are very welcome.
Dove Moutai chocolate
Like I said, there's still a lot of room for this plate. We hope to work together to make Chinese consumers receive more and better products, especially to get them into the habit of consuming pure cocoa butter, which contains trace elements that are beneficial to the human body.
Inspur New Consumption: As a century-old enterprise, Mars Wrigley has a very systematic and standardized process for creating new products and new flavors. But from another point of view, this link may be relatively long, will the fast-paced competitive era in this process cause us trouble?
Li Fei: Mars is a 100-year-old private family business, and the company's operating model is definitely consumer-first, but the overall process will be relatively long.
The main reason is not the internal decision-making chain and volume, but the selection of raw materials and the stability of product supply.
In fact, Mars Wrigley prides itself on having a flexible supply chain, and we call our production team "dancing elephants", which is huge but our response speed is constantly optimized every year.
For example, last year, we had a good cooperation with the platform, that is, we used TMIC data to gain insights from the perspective of consumer needs, and at the same time co-created with consumers, and made many different test directions. Based on these directions, we were able to produce 2 new products in just 8 months.
In fact, in this process, out of consideration for product stability and freshness of raw materials, we have eliminated many test schemes.
For example, many consumers like the sweet and bitter taste of dried fruit wrapped in chocolate, but Mars has high requirements for dried fruit, and dried fruit is a relatively less stable category, so we have to abandon this product that is good from the consumer's point of view.
Later, we launched a cheese stick, but the shelf life is only 6 months, which is relatively rare in the food industry. And the reason why we insist is because the cheese itself is perishable, but we don't want the product to have any risks, so we have to make some trade-offs in the process.
In the end, what is really put in front of consumers is a reassuring product that has been tested, verified, and sampled countless times before being released.
Inspur New Consumption: In the process of co-creation between Mars Wrigley and consumers, are there any products that we are very optimistic about, but the market feedback is not as expected?
Li Fei: We have high expectations for each product, but there are some products that are not satisfactory, take one product innovation that I participated in as an example.
In 2022, we saw a rapid increase in consumer demand for fresh mouth. Chewing gum used to be a very beneficial product, and chewing sugar-free gum not only freshens your breath but also cleans your teeth.
But now that consumers' behavior and habits have changed, there is a need for people to freshen their breath quickly, so in 2022, we launched the popping bead product, which is a mint-flavored ball that can quickly freshen the breath after chewing.
We put a lot of thought into how to make the outer film as thin as possible and at the same time store it in the box without the risk of breakage. In addition, we have made the outer box easy to carry around, which is smaller than many similar products on the market.
From the perspective of the product, we have very delicate thinking in each dimension, and unfortunately the performance of this product did not meet expectations, so it did not continue to grow. But this demand still exists, and we will dig deeper to find the pain points and provide consumers with better products.
Inspur new consumption: In the past, many good products may be "not afraid of deep alleys", and they will always be discovered and accepted by consumers. But now many new brands will put marketing very seriously, and the product will quickly grab the attention of consumers as soon as it comes up.
What is the attitude of a company like Mars Wrigley, which has been steadily established for a long time, to this kind of play, and how can we balance product and marketing?
Li Fei: First of all, we still have to look at it with a learning attitude, I believe that in the current market environment, marketing alone is untenable, and the product can be recognized by consumers and repurchased.
Now there are many channels, all kinds of new media and interest e-commerce can have a good interaction with consumers, and this ability is indeed what we need to learn.
On the other hand, we would also like to see such market activity. In order to improve the health of the economy, we need such a state of full bloom, and we also hope to achieve a more direct and efficient way of communicating with consumers on the basis of Mars Wrigley's original quality.
Inspur New Consumption: For food, healthy and low sugar may be the hot trend in recent years, from your point of view, what are the prospects for future food trends?
Li Fei: Mars Wrigley has always had a relatively stable strategy, and from the perspective of the entire food industry, we have indeed seen the trends you mentioned. For example, sugar-free and sugar-reduced products, the semi-sugar Snickers we launched in 2023 work very well, and I usually bring a half-sugar Snickers when I go out for exercise.
In other aspects, we pay more attention to the needs of consumers in different scenarios, and we will also pay attention to whether there are opportunities to co-create with consumers in the process of product development.
The reason why we pay attention to the scene is that many consumers don't really feel the value that the product can bring to TA.
For example, Dove launched a new vision of "The Power of Joy" last year, and launched the Dove "She Academy" in partnership with the China Rural Development Foundation to empower more women, help them grow, and allow them to make a positive impact on the ripples around them. In addition to deliciousness, we also hope to bring pleasant emotional value to consumers.
Another example is our Yida sugar-free chewing gum, Yida brand has been completely renewed this year, officially announced a new spokesperson Jay Chou, the product has upgraded the dopamine color from the inside out, and launched new flavors, so that consumers can chew in good condition and light up their daily happy moments.
In such an environment, consumers are gradually looking inward and paying more attention to their inner feelings, and we believe that Mars Wrigley products can provide you with these small blessings in the process.
Mars Wrigley's corporate vision has also been upgraded, called "Lighting Up the Moment of Happiness Every Day", and we hope that all of our products can brighten up the daily happiness of consumers.
This is also the direction of our future efforts, continue to find the real needs of consumers in different scenarios, and let everyone know that Mars will always be a good partner in their daily life.