Campus + bibimbap, what is the idea of Haidilao?
Editor: Lv Xinyi
Comprehensively sorted out from the Lieyun network, hot pot meal and other materials
Humans have been unable to stop Haidilao from expanding its side business.
Recently, Haidilao's sub-brand Miao Senior Brother Xiangguo has extended its store to the campus, the first one opened in Zhengzhou Sias College, and the second one was selected in Henan University of Economics and Business.
Senior Brother Miao not only started the idea of a campus store like Haidilao, but also changed his positioning and "copied" the homework of rice village bibimbap. At first, Senior Brother Miao took the route of kung fu fried chicken, and then gradually shifted his focus to the fragrant pot, and established a product matrix of chicken, fish, shrimp and frog pot.
However, after entering the campus, Senior Brother Miao made adjustments based on the consumption habits and purchasing power of the campus consumer group, and positioned it as a fragrant pot bibimbap. The unit price has also dropped from 50 yuan to about 15-20 yuan.
Source: Hot pot meal view
Although the positioning and price have been adjusted for the campus market, the Miao Senior Brother Campus Store still retains the style of Haidilao Group and engraves value-added services in its genes. In the store, in addition to the main products, there are also self-selected counters: free kimchi, kelp soup and free Wuchang rice for 1 yuan during the opening promotion, and self-service drinks at the stall for 2 yuan per person.
From Haidilao's main brand to Brother Miao, Haidilao Group's "thirst" for the university market has overflowed the screen.
After all, universities are fertile ground for the catering industry. In 2021, relevant data show that the total number of students enrolled in various forms of higher education reached 46.55 million, an increase of 2.25 million over the previous year, of which 3.6536 million were graduate students, an increase of 9.64% over the previous year. During the same period, 67.5% of Chinese college students had a monthly disposable living income of more than 2,000 yuan, of which 500~600 yuan per month was spent on catering.
On the one hand, the campus market demand is stable, and on the other hand, the campus is also an important channel for Haidilao to reach young people and establish brand mentality among young people.
It can be seen that in the Nugget campus market, Haidilao Group not only needs short-term revenue increment, but also the possibility of future revenue.
01 Senior Brother Miao: Haidilao's "strongest sub-brand"
Since 2020, Haidilao seems to have fallen into sub-brand anxiety.
In Beijing, 18 noodle restaurants were launched, with an average of 24 yuan per person, rice rice bowls were 21 yuan per person, and Qin Xiaoxian rice noodles were 24 yuan per person. In Zhengzhou, Bai Bran's private noodles are 12 yuan per capita, Meng Xiaojiang's rice noodles are 12 yuan per capita, Luo's sister-in-law's dumplings are 10 yuan per capita, Qiao Qiao's noodles are 13 yuan per capita, and Miao Senior Brother Freshly fried chicken is 38 yuan per capita. In Chengdu, the Lao Pai Noodle Noodle Restaurant was launched, with an average of 12 yuan per person.
Although Haidilao has full experience in brand operation and mature supply chain supporting facilities. But in less than a year, many of Haidilao's decks have been "out" in the internal knockout round.
In contrast, Senior Brother Miao is one of the most outstanding performers in Haidilao's incubation sub-brand "Family Bucket". According to the observation of the retail catering circle, more than 10 stores have been opened in Zhengzhou, Hefei and other places.
Not long ago, Haidilao said that Hi Lao Hot Pot, Senior Brother Miao Fragrant Pot, etc., currently have small-scale expansion plans. "We will explore diversification strategies as one of our long-term priorities, and will strategically seek to acquire high-quality resources to further enrich the Group's catering business and customer base. ”
The reason why Senior Brother Miao can achieve exceptionally bright results among Haidilao's sub-brands is very simple, mainly because its category is "ingenious" enough and knows how to judge the situation.
At first, Senior Brother Miao was targeting Huya Fried Chicken, which had just been selected into the 2024 Meituan Top 100 Catering Franchise List, and it was developing rapidly. However, fried chicken is a new category, with low user loyalty and a narrow market size. When the market was still in its infancy, the plate was too small to support too many brands.
However, soon after, Senior Brother Miao transformed into the incense pot category and went to develop into a more mature category. The incense pot category has obvious advantages, both fixed consumer groups and no overly strong head players. Other sub-brands of Haidilao do not have this advantage, and there are too many head brands in categories such as dumplings and noodles, which are difficult to compete with.
But the flip side of the coin is that the incense pot category has recently been facing negative reviews from consumers.
Due to the way the incense pot is weighed and calculated, some merchants "cut corners", which makes the incense pot bear the label of "price assassin". A bowl of incense pot is unremarkable, and the unit price can reach dozens of yuan. The lack of price transparency restricts the development of brands and even categories to a certain extent.
For Senior Brother Miao, this is a category pain point that needs to be solved urgently, and it is also an opportunity to expand by taking advantage of the wind.
02 Haidilao drunkards do not mean to be on campus
Although Haidilao has been making waves in the campus market in recent years, the campus market cannot support Haidilao's "ambition". At its core, it wants young people.
Haidilao has always attached great importance to the college student market and grasped the minds of the main consumers in the future as early as possible. In addition to the ancient "college student discount", Haidilao has also launched a lot of gameplay for young groups such as college students.
First, it opened the first store of the affordable sub-brand "Hi Lao Hot Pot", and then "quietly" moved into the university campus and launched the world's first Haidilao campus store.
Source: Internet
Hi Lao hot pot focuses on parity, and the per capita consumption of Dianping is 78 yuan, and in terms of consumer experience and product system, Hi Lao hot pot also focuses on streamlining. Compared with Haidilao, the bottom of the pot and the dishes have reduced the categories, minus the mutton single product, and the small ingredients have also reduced the fruits, porridge and small cold dishes, and the special sauces have "disappeared", leaving only the most basic sesame sauce, garlic paste, etc.
In terms of service, Hi Lao hot pot is mainly "semi-self-service service", Haidilao's nanny-level service, nail art, small gift giving, small snacks after meals and other services are not used in the Hi Lao hot pot brand, and the ordering form Hi Lao also uses the most traditional paper menu ordering, instead of Haidilao's flat table ordering.
In order to have more direct contact with the young market, Haidilao quietly opened a campus store.
The campus store opened in Xi'an University of Arts and Sciences, and the store opened for trial operation on October 9, and some people put photos on the Internet, and everyone knew that Haidilao was testing the internal stores on the campus. In order to get close to the college students, the Haidilao campus store has also launched a special campus menu and an exclusive price for college students' canteen dining needs, and the price of crayfish fried rice is only 9.9 yuan.
The person in charge of the Haidilao campus store said frankly that the target group of the store is mainly on-campus students, and the main purpose is not to make a profit at present, but mainly to cultivate the consumption habits of college students.
In addition, Haidilao's innovative dishes have also changed more than in the past to meet the diversified needs of young people for food.
Especially in combination with different regions, Haidilao has put regional specialty products on the shelves, such as sugar gourd in Beijing, hot pot oysters in Guangdong, etc.
In this regard, Song Qing, executive director of Haidilao, said that the source of growth and survival of all products and services is essentially consumer demand, "Good brands should pay more attention to the insight of consumer needs, so as to provide corresponding products and services." ”
In addition to the brand matrix, Haidilao's whole activity can be said that where there are young people, there is Haidilao.
In 2023, Haidilao will achieve a hot concert site with marketing and "fishing for people" at the entrance of the concert venue; more and more young people will flock to the night market to set up stalls, and Haidilao will also enter the night market and set up stalls to sell hot pot......
In order to provide young people with more scene experience, Haidilao has innovated or crossed borders, without the "high-end hot pot baggage" of the past.
Haidilao is tearing off the label of "standardization" and gradually highlighting individuality and diversity, trying to capture more young people.
As the main consumer force, young people are an important group to ensure Haidilao's sales and an important source of Haidilao's sustainable development. Getting closer and closer to young people is conducive to Haidilao's "sense of existence" among young people and maintaining the brand's mentality. This is Haidilao's differentiating concept from other catering brands.
From the Haidilao brand to seize young people, to the sub-brand Senior Brother Miao entering the campus, the story of the rejuvenation of Haidilao Group may be just the beginning, and more actions will be seen in Haidilao in the future.