In 2023, whether it is from the discussion heat or excellent market performance, domestic products are a word that cannot be avoided. According to the "2023 Singles' Day Annual Survey Report", 66% of consumers said they plan to increase their consumption of Chinese brands, and nearly 60% of young people choose to buy domestic brands.
At the same time, the discussion on domestic products has also extended from "why domestic products are popular" to "how domestic products are always popular". Among them, the long red case of the white elephant is particularly noteworthy.
White Elephant, which has become a sample of long-term sustainable operation of domestic products, not only became the TOP1 of fast food on multiple platforms this year's Double 11, winning the championship of many ingredients, but also its offline activity "White Elephant Instant Noodle Factory" was very popular and won more than 100,000 consumers to check in.
It is worth mentioning that White Elephant China's soup noodle "soup is delicious" and authentic spicy noodle "Da La Jiao" have achieved remarkable results in the market. Up to now, "Haoyu" has won the national soup noodle sales championship with its authentic Chinese taste and steady development strategy. With its unique spiciness and widespread popularity, Da Lajiao sold 3.5 billion copies worldwide, surpassing other brands in the same category. These achievements have made White Elephant a leading brand in China's instant noodle market, ranking first in sales on the whole network.
What did the white elephant Chinese noodles do right?
For 26 years, we have focused on a bowl of good noodles, adhered to quality and continued to innovate.
A brand's ability to resist wind and waves lies in the invisible part hidden under the iceberg of feelings, that is, the basic elements of enterprise operation such as quality, innovation, and R&D. The fire of the white elephant is, first of all, because at the moment when certainty and phased growth can be easily obtained by using marketing methods, it is more willing to invest in the invisible future and drill the tip of the horns of research and development.
In terms of taste innovation, White Elephant created a new category of "bone broth noodles" in 2003, filling the gap in the bone broth category of the domestic instant noodle industry and becoming the pioneer of the "bone broth instant noodles" category in China. Since then, White Elephant has also continued to upgrade the big bone noodles, leading a new trend from "white water instant noodles" to "bone broth instant noodles".
In 2018, White Elephant Foods leveraged its previous experience in soup making technology to launch a new soup noodle product, "White Elephant Soup", which innovatively uses the 6-hour slow-boiled soup stock production method to replace the traditional powder packets and sauce packets. This move marks an important breakthrough in the industry's instant noodle making technology and promotes further innovation and development of White Elephant Food in the market.
R&D and technology are the key to continuous innovation and iteration of products. According to public information, Baixiang currently has more than 90 world-class instant noodle production lines and nearly 1.2 million sales terminals, and has independently developed and jointly tackled more than 70 production processes, and has 106 valid patents, and the production technology and technical level have reached the international advanced level.
Looking back at the experience of the white elephant, you will find that the reason why it can become a representative of "domestic products" at the moment and become popular all the way is because it has both the responsibility of a national brand and the quality of being able to do it.
Being loved by young consumers begins with restraint and becomes respect.
There is a consensus in the field of consumption: those who win young people win the future. The new generation of consumers is always the most active adopter of new products, influencing the future development of the brand. In the face of consumers who are both emotional and rational, the key to white elephant fans begins with restraint and respect.
In the "Tukeng Sauerkraut" incident that caused a lot of uproar on the Internet, White Elephant Food attracted the attention of the majority of netizens because of its statement that it did not cooperate with the flag vegetable industry of the company involved.
A large number of consumers poured into White Elephant's live broadcast room to express their support. However, White Elephant showed calmness and restraint in the face of consumer enthusiasm, calling on everyone to buy rationally through the announcement. This calm and restrained attitude has been reflected many times in the follow-up actions of the white elephant, such as the low-key distribution of 10,000 yuan of condolences to each Chinese athlete participating in the Asian Para Games, etc., which were only known to the public after being discovered by netizens.
This way of doing things of the white elephant has created an image of "low-key" and "humble" among young people. This image gives consumers more time to understand the brand deeply and communicate with the brand on a rational level, which also makes more and more young people have a sense of trust in the white elephant.
This restraint further evolved into respect in the White Elephant's brand campaign. Starting in 2022, in order to strengthen the interaction with consumers, the "White Elephant Instant Noodle Factory" immersive theme store will be launched under White Elephant**. As of 2023, the White Elephant Instant Noodle Factory has been held for two seasons, cruising through dozens of cities. There are 10 areas in the store, including a wind shower washing room, a staff changing room, a noodle making corridor, a soup making room, a white elephant history museum, and an instant noodle science station.
Visitors can directly experience the strict sanitizing and changing process when front-line employees enter the production line, and can also see how a grain of wheat is made into dough step by step through processes such as dough resting, calendering, shredding, dehydration, steaming, cooling, etc., and can also DIY their own exclusive Chinese noodles.
In the "White Elephant Instant Noodle Factory" activity, the brand did not unilaterally promote its products, but respected the needs of consumers who love to shop and play, and let consumers change from buyers and users to producers and designers. Through this highly interactive design, consumers are able to experience and understand White Elephant's emphasis on quality and innovation for themselves. This innovative approach helps consumers establish a new perception of instant noodles in new scenarios and meet the new needs of Gen Z who pursue more value in consumption.
Consolidate products and quality before the opportunity comes, and develop steadily without arrogance or impatience after the opportunity comes.
The sudden huge traffic is both an opportunity and a test for brands. However, only by keeping the original intention and always starting from the origin of consumer demand can we find the driving force and direction of lasting development and achieve long-term popularity after the "overnight popularity".