- Chief Business Intelligence
- Chief Business Intelligence
Introduction: Zhong Xuegao, the former "ice cream assassin", easily achieved a single series of monthly sales of 100,000+, and now the sales and prices are not only collectively diving, but also forced to 9.01 million yuan.
(Source: Tianyancha)
In 2018, the "Ecuador Pink Diamond Ice Cream" priced at 66 yuan was launched and sold out 20,000 pieces in one day.
Selling 66 yuan online is not the ceiling of Zhongxue's high price, the price is 88 yuan a box is frantically fried by scalpers to 160-200 yuan a box, or even higher, 120 yuan only has 5 flavors, 168 yuan a box of ice cream has no price.
Not only that, a 78g ice cream in a physical store actually costs 18 yuan! Netizens bluntly said: Fortunately, I looked at the price, otherwise I would have been "stabbed" again!
The excessively high price not only drove up the price of other ice creams, but also caused netizens to question: Is Zhong Xuegao worth selling so expensive?
No, the recent news that Lin Sheng, the founder of Zhongxuegao, was exposed to the "height limit" has aroused heated discussions among many netizens.
The founder was restricted from high consumption, jokingly selling sweet potatoes to pay off debts
The incident originated on April 21, Zhong Xuegao founder Lin Sheng took the green train to meet his friends, his friend Deng Qingxu sighed that he used to be beautiful, but today he can only take the green train to meet him, so he posted a content on Weibo, which instantly aroused the memory of many netizens: What!
Lin Sheng, the founder of Zhongxuegao, then also posted 2 articles in a row and sighed: "In the face of the height limit and the huge cost of enforcement, it is not bad or cowardly. This is the background color of our Chinese private enterprises!" I hope to express his attitude as a person subject to execution through the article.
However, netizens who have experienced the "Ice Cream Assassin Incident" are obviously no longer concerned about this kind of illusory promise, but are worried about whether their sweet potatoes will also become "sweet potato assassins"!
Some netizens left messages begging to let go of the "sweet potato", refusing the sweet potato to become the second "Zhong Xuegao", resulting in the farmer's uncle's sweet potatoes not being sold.
Some netizens even said: Taking the green train is acting, can you still drink Moutai if the height is limited?
As the incident continued to ferment, the well-known actor Wang Xiaofei also posted a message lamenting "not easy".
Netizens directly commented: It is not easy for people to be limited in height, and you are forcibly held for more than 7 million.
Zhong Xuegao's entrepreneurial history can be said to be a marketing textbook, which has been brilliant and has also experienced being mired in the quagmire of public opinion.
Now they have ended up being evaluated by netizens with a magnifying glass, reflecting their attitude towards the brand, focusing on the product itself, but turning into a "I don't care what you sell" mentality.
Taking advantage of this momentum, remarks such as "Zhong Xuegao's founder is restricted from high consumption" and "Selling sweet potatoes also has to repay debts" were suddenly on the top of the hot search on the whole network, ranking in the top ten of the Weibo hot list.
According to public information, on February 19, Zhongxuegao Company has become an executed enterprise, with a total of 818,100 yuan.
Source: Tianyancha
Despite being in debt, Lin Sheng actively saved himself. The article claiming that "it is difficult for private enterprises to start a business" is actually just changing the topic, re-marketing their identity as "private entrepreneurs", and playing the emotional card.
However, some attentive netizens can see at a glance that this is actually an "old lai" behavior. He has earned face, but the money is still owed!
The debut is the peak, and it will soon be slapped in the face!
Nowadays, the wind direction of netizens' comments is one-sided, and it is really difficult to associate with Zhong Xuegao's smooth sailing when he debuted, because Zhong Xuegao can be said to be the peak of his debut.
In 18 years, it officially entered Tmall, and in 10 days after it was launched, it successfully entered the market in 21 years with the iconic shape of ice cream, jumping to the first place in sales.
It only took 3 years for Zhong Xuegao's store fans on Taobao to exceed 2 million, achieving a monthly sales of 100,000+ for a single series.
In an interview with the media, Lin Sheng, the founder of Zhongxuegao, claimed that the brand had established product research and development cooperation with international food organizations, but it was soon picked up by netizens for financing as high as 200 million yuan, with a valuation of about 800 million yuan.
Lin Sheng also said to the outside world: "Zhong Xuegao is not short of money, financing is not for survival, but for the more efficient development of the enterprise." But soon, the tree was big and the gun shot the first bird, and Zhong Xuegao soon faced the first wave of public opinion pressure.
First of all, some netizens broke the news: An ice cream produced by Zhong Xuegao not only does not melt at room temperature, but even turns black directly when it is burned on fire!
As soon as the video came out, it immediately caused a wave of huge controversy, although the founder of Zhong Xuegao showed a product quality inspection report afterwards, saying that it met the national requirements, but some netizens still did not agree with the statement, and they openly boycotted Zhong Xuegao, making the original trend become ridicule.
Not only that, in a random inspection by the Market Supervision Bureau, Zhong Xuegao was also exposed to false publicity: the label said that the use of special red grapes was used, but in fact it was bulk/first-grade red grapes. Isn't this blatant deception of consumers?
And this is not the first time that Zhong Xuegao has been exposed to fraudulent materials, in the previous official sampling, Zhong Xuegao was exposed to false labeling of the selection of Japanese Yabei tea as raw materials, but in fact it is just ordinary ingredients such as Jiukeng, Longjing, and Serval trees.
Source: Shanghai Huangpu District Administration for Market Regulation
What's even more exaggerated is that Zhong Xuegao exaggerated in front of the media, saying that "without adding a drop of water, pure and pure bovine frankincense", but netizens found that the ingredient list clearly stated that it contained drinking water ingredients.
Source: Jimu News
There is even public information showing that Zhong Xuegao was not only administratively punished twice for improper publicity, but also publicly named by the China Consumers Association.
Affected by the "Ice Cream Assassin" and the national crackdown on price gouging, in 2022, the Guangzhou Municipal Market Supervision Department took the lead in carrying out a special law enforcement action of "Ice Cream Clearly Marked Price".
In the same year, a well-known anti-counterfeiter released a video saying that the laboratory carried out reverse production according to the ice cream ingredients announced by Zhong Xuegao, of which the velvet cocoa ice cream priced at 18 yuan cost only 1.32 yuan.
Throughout the 4 years since the establishment of Zhongxuegao, from 66 yuan a piece, flaunting China's "Häagen-Dazs", to today's 3.5 yuan a "Sa'Saa",
It can be said that success is also propaganda, and defeat is also propaganda.
Many people have also discovered the clue to this: why all of a sudden, Zhong Xuegao was pushed to the center of public opinion.
More and more netizens have discovered that Zhong Xuegao's materials, in the ice cream industry, aside from the price, can be said to be very careful to make ice cream. But why is the market so tolerant of Häagen-Dazs and so high in the negative evaluation of Zhongxuegao?
According to the analysis of business people, the problem arises in two aspects: one is that the brand premium is not worthwhile, and the other is that the value premium is not worth it. When the price of your product and the quality of your product are not at the same level, consumers will not be willing to pay.
In all fairness, it's not worth it to buy a Zhongxuegao for 20 yuan.
It is no accident that he has fallen into old age
From the "lady" ice cream to the "commoner" ice cream, selling from 60 yuan to 2.5 yuan is Zhong Xuegao's compromise with the market, and it is also the "best" route for financing failure.
You must know that after Zhong Xuegao brought the "Ice Cream Assassin" to the fire, many brands rushed to enter this field, and even Moutai, one of the giants in the wine industry, also took a fancy to this "fragrant dumpling". Moutai ice cream is sold at a maximum price of 68 yuan, which is also marked as "sky-high ice cream".
A Moutai with its own BGM, and a Zhong Xuegao who has risen from another star. There is no doubt that Zhong Xuegao, who was riddled with negative reviews, was immediately weakened by a part of the market.
However, Moutai ice cream is different from Zhong Xuegao, although it is also facing problems such as crazy robbery in the early stage, price gouging by scalpers, and inability to sell in the later stage.
But after all, it is good to enjoy the shade with the back of the big tree, and Moutai has successfully made Moutai ice cream one of his most successful cultural and creative products with its strong strength.
Moutai ice cream is purchased for a penny, allowing customers to taste Moutai ice cream "experientially". There are even buyers on second-hand platforms, and it is common to sell six cups of Moutai ice cream for fifty or sixty yuan, which has attracted waves of "popularity".
However, once Zhong Xuegao's funds are broken and he is unable to publicize, it will lead to the products starting to sell and even the salaries of employees will not be paid!
Many media have broken the news that Zhong Xuegao's last financing occurred in 2021, and large-scale layoffs will begin at the end of 2023, and it was also revealed that salaries were cut and employees were in arrears.
I have to admit that Lin Sheng is indeed a marketing genius, and he has helped Zhongjie 1946 and Modern successfully transform.
But success is also an Internet celebrity, and defeat is also an Internet celebrity. Zhong Xuegao still ended up in such a field now, it is really sad!
Some netizens pointed out that Zhong Xuegao's success was too fast, and the founder was young and vigorous, eager to succeed, resulting in the brand not going through precipitation, so that the 60 yuan ice cream was reduced to 2.5 yuan, so that now it relies on "taking the green train" and "selling sweet potatoes to pay off debts".
Some netizens ridiculed: Is he going to sell sweet potatoes live broadcast. If you really sell sweet potatoes, will it be "sky-high" again?
It is difficult to start a business, and it is even more difficult to keep a business
Netizens posted on social media: It is difficult for private entrepreneurs to start a business, and it is difficult to resonate with netizens.
In the era of commodity economy, success is also marketing, and failure is also marketing.
Many products can successfully rely on marketing to get out of the circle and gain a firm foothold in the market, but there are also brands like Zhong Xuegao's story, excessive packaging, and no attention to improving the value of the product itself, such as the "Huaxizi incident", it is precisely because its own product strength can not withstand the public opinion storm, so when the material problem is exposed, it leads to the whole network to step on.
The Zhongxuegao brand incident has undoubtedly sounded the alarm for countless brand people. In the future, Zhong Xuegao still has a long way to go! Marketing is only an auxiliary means, and the core must be product quality.
Summer is coming soon, do you know what ice cream is delicious and inexpensive? Welcome to leave a message in the comment area to discuss, express your opinions and opinions, thank you!
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