Ding Xiongjun was busy.
At the beginning of the new year, he kept going, first inspecting Gujing Gongjiu and then Yanghe shares, hoping to work with these two leading liquor companies to "share the beauty of each other" and work together to promote the high-quality development of China's liquor industry. Flipping further, he has also been to Wuliangye, Luzhou Laojiao, Fenjiu and Suntory. Footprints have traveled to all the top competitions in the field of liquor.
The first brother in the industry is far inferior to his brother companies in terms of volume and scale, at least unheard of in the dairy or beverage industry. Combing the work footprints of any of Moutai's previous leaders, Ding Xiongjun is also the first person. In a more fashionable way, he is more like an "e-person" in the workplace, energetic, outgoing and open-minded. To put it officially, he is more pioneering and innovative, and wants to make a difference.
That's just a small part of his work schedule.
Public information shows that in the past year, the chairman of Moutai has gone to the production workshop from time to time to investigate and stand for Moutai's activities; Externally, he has continued to communicate across borders, and has held discussions and dialogues with external companies such as Fosun Group, Haier Group, and Chimelong Group. The school-enterprise cooperation has not been left behind, and a strategic cooperation agreement has been signed with Wuhan University; In September last year, Ding Xiongjun personally led a team to hold an 11-day cultural tour in Japan, France, and the United Kingdom, and opened a Tokyo Moutai Cultural Center on Ginza** Street in Tokyo.
365 days a year, most of them are on business trips or on the road, busy with research and discussions, busy with foreign exchanges, busy with going to sea. Ding Xiongjun can be described as a real workplace roller.
As the absolute leader of China's liquor industry and the "stock king" of the A** field, Chairman Moutai is undoubtedly the intersection of the interests of all parties. The head of Moutai is also a high-risk occupation. From Yuan Renguo to Gao Weidong's imprisonment, it is enough to peek into the undercurrent behind this trillion-dollar wine company. Ding Xiongjun's appointment can be regarded as a critical order, and at the end of August 2021, he replaced the outgoing Gao Weidong. Gao Weidong has been in this position for only 18 months and has just been sentenced to life imprisonment. At that time, 47-year-old Ding Xiongjun, as the youngest chairman in the history of Moutai, attracted the attention of the outside world in every move.
However, in the two and a half years since he took office, Ding Xiongjun's various measures have proved that he does not want to be a "peace officer" without reputation and blame. The fall of his predecessors did not tie his hands and feet. Since taking office, he has first moved the knife on the Moutai sales channel in the center of the interest vortex.
The channel reform is very easy to understand, that is, to increase the proportion of direct sales channels and control the crazy soaring ** of Moutai. And this is also a chess game that Ding Xiongjun, the head of the airborne, must take after experiencing the "alarm bell ringing" of his two predecessors - to sweep away the chaos of personal gain and corruption through franchises under the rule of Yuan Renguo and Gao Weidong.
After taking office, Ding Xiongjun ushered in the Mid-Autumn Festival and the National Day exam, at that time he took a number of measures such as temporarily increasing the market volume of Moutai and canceling the unpacking order. At the end of March of the following year, the i Moutai app started trial operation and was officially launched in May of the same year. On New Year's Day 2023, Moutai and NetEase will launch Xunfeng Digital World, mainly launching products such as solar term wine.
According to the financial report data, this reform is not a slogan, but touches on fundamental interests. For the whole year of 2022, Kweichow Moutai's direct sales channel revenue will double compared with the previous year, accounting for 3989%。In the first three quarters of 2023, direct sales revenue accounted for 4492%。According to the data of the Moutai Market Work Conference, in 2023, there will be more than 53 million registered users of i Moutai, and the cumulative transaction volume will exceed 28 billion; Xunfeng Digital World has 5.3 million registered users and a transaction volume of more than 4 billion.
In addition to channels, Ding Xiongjun's reform also involves product structure and marketing. In the past two years, Moutai's co-branded models have emerged one after another - Moutai ice cream in 2022, Moutai and Dove co-branded wine heart chocolate in 2023, and Moutai and Luckin's sauce-flavored latte, which have made a wave of presence among young people. In January this year, Moutai and Luckin also launched the Sauce Latte 2Version 0 "Year of the Dragon Sauce Chocolate". Almost at the same time, the i Moutai app has launched Taiyuan liquor priced at 156 yuan and the "Guizhou Taste" series of cocktails.
The purpose of this is very clear, that is, to expand Moutai's consumer base and win over young people.
Taking the initiative to market is also what distinguishes Ding Xiongjun from several predecessors. Many co-branded cross-border marketing activities show that he is more proficient in managing traffic and young people than his predecessors. It is worth mentioning that Ding Xiongjun also proposed a "five-in-one marketing method", that is, resource integration, digital integration, cultural integration, brand aggregation, and management and service integration. In addition, he likes to emphasize "beauty", emphasizing that Moutai has expanded from making fine wine to a creator of beauty value and a provider of beauty life. After this set of rhetoric, the marketing skills can be seen.
Finally, back to performance. After two and a half years in office, Ding Xiongjun handed over a good answer sheet. In 2022, Kweichow Moutai's operating income increased by 16 percent compared to the previous year87%, and the net profit attributable to the parent increased by 19 over the previous year55%。In 2023, Moutai Group is expected to achieve revenue of 163.9 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 20%, and total profit will exceed 100 billion yuan for the first time, a year-on-year increase of more than 19%.
This performance list is better than the two predecessors of Li Baofang and Gao Weidong. The performance has grown steadily, the channel structure adjustment has been quite effective, and the attempt to rejuvenate the brand is also being implemented.
However, Ding Xiongjun's move, the market is not completely buying it. For example, Moutai's share price has fallen from more than 2,000 yuan at the end of March 2021. In addition, last year's price increase of 53 degrees Feitian Moutai and five-star liquor also caused some market controversy. It can be seen that the downturn of the industry and the cold of the market, even Kweichow Moutai has felt it. What makes some consumers complain is that although Moutai's product line is becoming more and more abundant, it is also dazzling at the same time, and it is difficult to distinguish whether it belongs to Moutai shares or the "Moutai family".
As for the ambitious product overseas plan, it is also facing the problem of breaking the circle. In terms of the internationalization of liquor, Ding Xiongjun has given enough policies and come up with four major policies: incentives, proportions, and business. Recently, there has been news that Moutai has opened its overseas distribution rights to some domestic contracted dealers with overseas resources. However, the unit price of overseas liquor is relatively high, and the international mainstream population lacks awareness of Chinese liquor, etc., all of which still have to face problems.
As we all know, the position of the head of Moutai is very difficult to sit. There are too many variables to what extent the reform of the "King of Volumes" Ding Xiongjun can go. The first brother of iron liquor, the chairman of flowing water, how much time will the market leave for him?