Yuanqi Forest*** has such a introduction: from a seed, to a forest.
Indeed, the Yuanqi, which was born in 2016, is making great strides from a seed to a forest, and the evaluation of the Yuanqi Forest is becoming more and more pertinentYuanqi Forest is one of the few new consumer brands that has moved from online to offline, and has done a solid job of channels and kept the best brand.
Yes, Genki does two things right:
Put forward the slogan of "reducing costs and increasing efficiency, all in sales", pay unprecedented attention to dealers, and build the market with dealers;
Continue to make product breakthroughs and innovations in the field of category dividends.
Yuanqi Forest, which has been established for seven years, is ushering in the "seven-year itch", judging the situation and still controlling the rhythm in its own hands.
Attack, rely on Internet thinking to make products; Guard, rely on offline channels. Because a FMCG company, if you want to become a fast-moving consumer goods giant, offline will always be the main battlefield.
It is undeniable that the "seven-year itch" of the Yuanqi Forest is still full of vitality and vitality; Its new story in the market is still being talked about.
Channels are deeply cultivated and categories are growing
It's said that 2023 will be difficult, but I don't feel it. This year, the Alien Electrolyte Water has sold out, it is the best sales, and we have increased instead of decreasing." A Genki Forest dealer said.
In September this year, the market share growth monitoring data released by the offline retail monitoring network "Win Now" in the first half of this year showed that the sports drink category represented by electrolyte water continued the growth momentum of last year, and the market share growth rate still reached 3576%, ranking second among all categories.
Genki Forest's Alien Electrolyte Water once reached 50% of the sports drink share, successfully grabbing the attention of young consumers, becoming an emerging force in the beverage market and the preferred sports drink for sports people.
Whether it's feedback from distributors, or sales in the beverage marketIn 2023, when consumption is sluggish, Alien Electrolyte Water will continue to lead.
Why? Mr. Yu Jian, General Manager of Kantar Worldpanel Greater China, once mentioned that Chinese consumers are becoming more and more sophisticated, they are paying more and more attention to the ingredients, origin, and the core of the product itself, and they are paying more and more attention to healthy products, and Chinese consumers will continue to invest in health.
Yes,Big health, big track.
According to a report by the Prospective Industry Research Institute, the proportion of people who regularly participate in physical exercise in China reached 37 in 20202%, which will increase to 38 in 20255%；43% of them believe that electrolytes should be replenished after exercise, and 0 sugar and 0 calories are important factors to promote purchases.
It is worth mentioning that aliens are the creators of the electrolyte water category, and they also make electrolyte drinks break the circle from niche to mass.
The new distribution observed that this year, Yuanqi Forest took advantage of the victory and pursued it strongly, and penetrated strongly in the sports channel. A sports carnival was held with the theme of "Playing Sports, Laughing Out of Abdominal Muscles", presenting the experience of "1,000-person group class + jumping wild" for sports enthusiasts, and also gathered major domestic trendy sports clubs to bring interesting activities such as giant sports meeting, fun pickleball, water gun battle, corgi games, and alien skateboarding to the scene.
In addition, Alien and the NBA Chinese team reached an official cooperation to sponsor the first street basketball league in China - "Street Ball Bulking". The league gathers 8 top domestic street basketball brands such as Porcelain Factory and Weiqiu, 200+ professional players, 6 major national tours, covering 500,000+ offline basketball enthusiasts, 1 billion precision sports**, and the volume lasts throughout the peak season from June to September.
In addition, Alien Electrolyte Water x A-Soul launched the Electrolyte Girl co-branded limited product, launched a flash mob activity for the whole family in Shanghai, and the co-branded product created a best-selling record of 2,000 bottles in a single hour, and the store inventory was almost empty on the same day, and the limited products were hotly snapped up, triggering a ** trend, selling more than 100,000 boxes.
*At the end of March, Alien Electrolyte Water launched the **Song Demon Reform Activity with the topic Will You Sing Alien Aliens, and after the event was launched, it detonated on various social platforms where young people gathered.
Station B occupies the top 10 on the hot list, and "What is a terrestrial alien" logs in to the hot search of Station B's general list; Douyin all people participate in the dancing magic reform, 500+ college dance clubs participate, and college students use "aliens" to create stalks and solitaire in the dormitory. also teamed up with "Yang Mi's e-sports mentor" Nanjing Hero Fearless, and rushed to the hot search on Weibo's general list twice, and fearless fans posted orders one after another.
Obviously, the online volume is continuous, the offline sports channel is stable, and the potential for electrolyte water consumption to rise is still huge.
While deeply cultivating the channel, Yuanqi began to do longitudinal extension on the track of electrolyte water.
"Alien Vitamin C Water" is the first new product launched by Alien after Alien Electrolyte Water, Alien Vitamin C Water contains two flavors: Sicilian lemon and cherry cranberry, priced at 5 yuan bottle. A bottle of vitamin C water provides 100% daily vitamin C, and is lower in sugar and calories than existing similar products, which can meet the needs of users for daily nutritional supplements. At present, in addition to the first e-commerce sales, vitamin C water is also being sold in Beijing, Jiangsu, Fujian and other offline channels.
In this regard, the distributor of Yuanqi Forest said: There is a lot of room for growth in the vitamin drink track, and the ability of Yuanqi Forest to develop products can withstand market scrutiny, and it may be the next bonus product.
From basic thirst quenching, to taste bud experience, to health attributes and emotional value, almost every sub-category follows the universal laws of the beverage market and continues to upgrade. Today, when vitamin C drinks are increasingly favored by the market, it may be the second battlefield of Yuanqi Forest next year.
Self-built factories promote innovation in reverse
The product line is full of flowers
The taste of sparkling water is very good, and it has one of the best places, such as screwing the lid on after opening the lid and drinking it, and then opening it after half an hour, which is still very angry." This is the description of a Genki Forest dealer for Coke-flavored sparkling water.
1.Sparkling water is constantly innovating
This distributor will personally test every product of Yuanqi Forest, and he is very optimistic about Cola-flavored sparkling water, and its biggest breakthrough isIt not only satisfies consumers' desire for sparkling water, but also overcomes difficulties and upgrades in product technology, satisfying consumers' pursuit of health, that is, 0 sugar, 0 fat, 0 calories, 0 potassium sorbate, 0 sodium benzoate and 0 aspartame.
It can be said that this was a major technological innovation in the beverage industry at that time, and after this cola flavored sparkling water was launched, it once attracted major ** reports. On the basis of this innovation, this year's Yuanqi once again cut into another big taste track, namelyLemon-flavored sparkling water
So far, the two new flavor families of cola flavor and lemon flavor will cover a wider range of consumer groups, and sparkling water has also formed a rich flavor matrix, with multiple flavors such as white peach, summer black grape, carman orange, and lychee.
During this year's May Day holiday, Yuanqi invested heavily to hold the first Yuanqi Forest Festival, where well-known domestic people and bands gathered. As the first trendy festival hosted by a beverage brand, the Yuanqi Forest Festival won more than 100 million, and more than 40,000 young people exploded in Chengdu in 2 days!
At the same time, Yuanqi Forest Sparkling Water launched the Yuanqi Forest 000 theme song challenge, and a single WeChat ** account quickly broke through the circle and penetrated strongly among young consumer groups in less than 2 days!
You must know that it may take a few years for traditional beverage brands to launch a new flavor, while Yuanqi Forest's product iteration is very fast, and different flavors also require different manufacturing processes, which requires strong interaction between the production line and the R&D department to promote product innovation.
It is reported that Yuanqi has selected a site to build a sixth factory in Jiangsu, which will form a cluster of five major cities in North China, East China, South China, Central China and Southwest China, and further strengthen the country's leading capacity.
The starting point of these six factories is not "production", but "innovation". In this regard, Yuanqi Forest dealers said that Yuanqi has many new products and a strong ability to innovate.
2.Rapid iteration of tea categories
For example, burning tea, milk tea, and iced tea in the tea category.
As we all know, the trend of "sugar-free" tea beverages has accelerated in an all-round way. According to Mojing market intelligence data, almost all of the top 10 tea beverage products sold in 2021 will be occupied by "low sugar" and "no sugar". According to Euromonitor data, the market size of sugar-free tea drinks will officially exceed 10 billion yuan in 2025, reaching 102100 million yuan, and it is expected to reach 12.4 billion yuan in 2027.
Burning tea,As a sugar-free tea drink that debuted 5 years ago, it sold well when it was launched. This year, it has been comprehensively upgraded, returning to the original intention of sugar-free tea, and launching three major flavors: jasmine tea, green mandarin pu'er, and mellow oolong. It is worth mentioningEach flavor of burning tea is carefully selected as the tea base of famous Chinese tea, and the raw materials are carefully selected, so that "burning tea is not astringent, and the aftertaste is a little sweet" has a guarantee at the source.
In addition to these three flavors, Burning Tea also innovatively launched "Gardenia White Tea" this year, boldly using moonlight white tea from Jinggu, Yunnan, the "birthplace of tea in the world", compared with the traditional "old white tea", moonlight white tea is naturally fermented, soft and not astringent, and then integrated into the gardenia flavor, the aftertaste is more distinct. It is more in line with the taste pursuit of young people today.
In April this year, there was a consumption trend** showing that the consumption of white tea users has increased significantly, and the growth rate of white tea consumers in first-tier cities has surpassed that of Longjing.
In terms of design, Burning Tea adopts a new Chinese simple style, exquisite and elegant, the upper half uses the design shape of classical books, and the text uses a classical font to highlight the sense of history and culture. Revealing the true color of the tea soup of the product, it is visually more reassuring and delicious.
**, burning tea directly cuts into the mainstream of 5 yuan for beverages, covering a wider range of consumer groups.
On October 19th, Yuanqi Forest Burning Tea officially announced that the powerful actor Sun Yang was the experience officer of Burning Tea, and won three Weibo hot searches during the official announcement, breaking 100 million in the first week, and the data continued to ferment, triggering widespread participation and discussion among consumers.
This is followed by milk tea. In August this year, Genki Forest Milk Tea was launched360ml** product, the retail price of the channel is 6 yuan, which is more suitable for a single drink, while maintaining a low sugar selling point, the taste of the product is "infinitely close to handmade", taking into account health and good taste, giving consumers the most cost-effective choice. After three months on the market, the sales force has doubled and improved, and it has become a dark horse of Yuanqi Forest's autumn and winter performance.
At the same time, Yuanqi Forest Milk Tea has insight into the "emotional" value of milk tea for young people, and put forward the brand slogan of "low-sugar milk tea, simple and happy", making milk tea an exclusive "emotional drink" for young people.
Milk Tea invited Tian Xiwei as a brand ambassador to interpret the magic of milk tea, triggering a craze of "drink milk tea hahaha" on the whole network, and the discussion on Xiaohongshu about "low-sugar and reduced-fat milk tea", "milk tea happy sweet girl", and "milk tea hahahaha conspicuous bag" continues to go out of the circle.
Finally, it is worth mentioning iced teaDrinking less than three pieces of sugar per bottle is the focus of the product label.
In the peak season of 2023, with the help of Ren Xianqi, the classic spokesperson of old iced tea, he recommended iced tea "against water", creating a popular advertising film and a hot topic. "Ren Xianqi's Anti-Water Raiders" has become the highest number of online and interactive activities in the history of Yuanqi Forest!
In June, iced tea was launched in 900ml large bottles, which is in line with the psychology of today's consumers in pursuit of cost-effectiveness. Fast turnaround! Sales have increased steadily.
In 2024, the iced tea product matrix will be expanded again, and the first to use -196 liquid nitrogen to lock freshness and cold-pressed black technology, interpreting "iced tea" to make iced tea sugar reduction and icy and more delicious, and at the same time, the activity will be upgraded, open the lid to win cash, the prize pool will be doubled, and the whole line of 900ml+450ml products will participate in the event, igniting the sales of iced tea.
Looking at these three major tea drink products, sugar-free and low sugar are its biggest selling points, and technological innovation on the basis of existing categories, constantly excavating new products with more potential, and the product matrix of Yuanqi has begun to bloom.
Referring to Yuanqi's product matrix, a distributor in Beijing and the author mentioned that Yuanqi's product iteration speed is not only fast, but also the quality is guaranteed.
Build a market with dealers
Market capillary penetration
Indeed, in the process of interviewing Yuanqi dealers, I can clearly feel his confidence in the Yuanqi brand: I have been Yuanqi for three years, and I lost money in the second year, but I did not give up at that time, Yuanqi's products are very close to the market and consumers, and I started to make money in the third year, and it has been very stable until now.
Referring to Yuanqi's attitude towards dealers, the dealer said: Yuanqi is becoming more and more mature, and he is not just talking about dealers, but can really be implemented, which many manufacturers can't do.
How to put it into practice?
1. Launched the "Ark Co-construction" project to build a market with dealers
In 2023, Fan Jun, the sales leader of Yuanqi Forest, will lead the launch of the project codenamed "Ark Co-construction".Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shenzhen and the core provincial capitals are still deeply cultivated by Yuanqi as a channel; third- and fourth-tier cities subsidize dealers to recruit co-construction personnel; In fifth-tier cities and below, the package will be handed over to dealers for operation.
andCompared with previous years, Yuanqi has invested more funds to subsidize dealers for dealers to develop markets, train salesmen and market promotion.
This continuous high-investment action has also promoted the stickiness of cooperation between each otherA monthly "business review" mechanismIt also makes the connection between Yuanqi and dealers closer, the cooperation is smoother, and the problems can be solved in time.
It is understoodIn June this year, the absolute value of the national inventory decreased by more than 40% year-on-year, and the shipment speed of dealers accelerated significantly, and the inventory days at the end of June were 21 days, which was at a benign level. With the combing of distribution channels and the recovery of product sales, the operation of dealers' purchase, sale and inventory is more benign, and the inventory is always kept in a controllable state.
From the severe inventory pressure faced by the channel side last year to the state of a virtuous circle this year, Tang Binsen used "willows and flowers" to describe this year's vitality.
Judging from the implementation of the regular communication mechanism between Yuanqi and dealers and the actual dynamic sales feedback of market products, Yuanqi has truly put the slogan of attaching importance to dealers into practice!
2. Broaden channel penetration and lay out the sinking market
In terms of sinking markets and core channel penetration, Yuanqi has also begun to make drastic progress.
Yuanqi dealers mentioned that iced tea sells very well in the second- and third-tier markets, and once went on a business trip to Inner Mongolia and found that iced tea is very popular in the local area, and many places are rushing to ask for goods, as well as free water, which is also shipped quickly in third- and fourth-tier cities.
As the first sweet tea of Yuanqi, with the potential energy of the parent brand, iced tea anchors the sinking 4 yuan ** belt, broadens the channel coverage, and the number of outlets in the market has exceeded 45w+ in only 3 months, which is the most new product in Yuanqi Forest over the years.
Consumers' recognition of the product is intuitively reflected in the repurchase of the product, from the analysis of the user's purchase behavior by opening the cover and scanning the codeIced tea repurchase users accounted for 24% in the peak season, of which repurchase users purchased 4 in a single month7 bottles.
Mr. Yu Jian, General Manager of Kantar Worldpanel Greater China, mentioned that in 2023, Kantar Worldpanel has extended its market monitoring to Chinese towns for the first time. China's towns are very large markets, accounting for 26% of China's total population and 23% of the total market for consumer goods.
Moreover, according to Kantar Worldpanel, the average cost of these county-level cities in China is much less than that of first- and second-tier cities, but in some categories, such as liquor, traditional Asian beverages, laundry products, and ambient milk, the per capita spending is basically the same as that of first- and second-tier cities.
It is understoodIn 2023, Yuanqi will continue to improve the sinking market, with more than 50% coverage of the county-level market, and will continue to improve the coverage of the sinking market in 2024 to grasp the growth opportunities of county and township consumption. At the same time, in 2024, we will also focus on some potential prefecture-level city markets, concentrate resources to do in-depth and thorough, and build a vitality base!
In terms of channel construction, in 2023, Yuanqi will focus on core high-yield channels such as campuses, sports, and scenic spots, and the cooperative outlets will be rapidly improved, while the overall performance will increase by nearly 50%, which will become an important part of Yuanqi's performance growth this year.
Write at the end
Throughout the entire business map of Yuanqi Forest, the six major factories have made a strong backing of the first chain, the product line is blooming, and the market has begun to penetrate into the sinking market like a capillary, and began to seek breakthroughs in the tourism channel in July this year, and has initially completed the coverage of 30 core scenic spots, and will continue to invest in high-yield channels such as schools, sports, and scenic spots in 2024, and continue to enhance the distribution of goods.
At the same time as the Genki Forest "besieged the city", the "road to defend the city" also began to attack in an all-round way.
Genki dealers ask a question: What are dealers' biggest concerns? The first is afraid that the manufacturer will have problems; second, I am afraid that the manufacturer is irresponsible; Third, I am afraid that the product will not sell.
Obviously, Yuanqi continues to iterate and upgrade in terms of product innovation, network expansion, market and channel penetration, and unswervingly solves the concerns of dealers.
The current vitality needs more time to verify and precipitate.