Messi's trip to China has turned from a grand event to a farce, and the reputation of the "football king" Messi in China has collapsed into a fait accompli.
Heartbroken fans can still shout "return the money", and who should return the money to Chishui River Wine, which spent a lot of money to sign the endorsement?
On February 4, it was supposed to be a carnival for Hong Kong fans to realize their dreams. Messi returned to Hong Kong after 10 years and played in an exhibition match between Inter Miami and Hong Kong, the Major League Soccer team he played.
However, it is a pity that Messi sat on the bench for 90 minutes throughout the game, and did not even take off his coat.
After the game, the head coach explained that the reason for not being able to play was Messi's physical injury, but he could not appease the disappointment and grievances of the fans.
When the time came to February 7, Messi, who did not play in Hong Kong, played more than 30 minutes in the exhibition match between Japan and Kobe Victory Boat.
This move brought the anger of Chinese fans to a climax. Fok Qigang, vice president of the Hong Kong Sports Federation & Olympic Committee, angrily denounced on Weibo for "pouring salt on the wounds of Hong Kong fans".
"Debut door" so far, Messi has publicly explained 3 times, without a formal apology, it is difficult for Chinese fans to buy it, and this time the reputation has collapsed, I am afraid it will be difficult to reverse.
For fans, although disappointed and angry, they can also apply for a refund and obtain financial compensation. However, for Chishui River Wine, which has just signed an endorsement, there is bitterness that cannot be said.
In August 2023, Chishuihe Liquor officially announced the signing of Messi's endorsement and authorized the use of portrait rights, at a cost of more than 20 million yuan per year.
In the past six months, Chishui River Liquor has continuously placed a large number of outdoor advertisements such as high-speed rail stations, airports, and highways, and spent huge sums of money to advertise in Times Square in the United States.
The high investment and crazy momentum have indeed brought "pouring flow" to Chishui River wine.
In January this year, the advertisement of Chishui River Wine appeared on CCTV in a set of ** periods, and Messi's signature blessing Chishui River Wine (Successful Version) was officially released, with a global limited edition of 10,000 pieces, and a marketing campaign of buying wine and giving away signed jerseys was launched.
Messi's signature blessing Chishui River Wine (official version) is priced at 1499 yuan bottles, which is the same as Feitian Moutai**, and the whole box (6 bottles) is priced at 6600 yuan boxes.
According to Zhongxin Finance, the price of the non-signed version of the same wine is 1099 yuan, and the product premium brought by Messi is as high as 400 yuan. And this high premium, there are still many fans who pay for it.
Until the unexpected Messi's "debut" turmoil intensified, a large number of boycott voices poured into the comment areas of official accounts such as Weibo and Douyin of Chishui River Wine. Subsequently, the official accounts of Douyin and Weibo of Chishui River Wine, there was no more content to search for the keyword "Messi", and they deliberately cut off the association.
On February 20, all the products of Chishui River Liquor, Douyin window, and Jingdong *** have been removed from the shelves. Up to now, the official store of "Chishui River Wine" can no longer be searched on Jingdong and Douyin platforms.
The timeline of the cooperation between Messi and Chishui River Wine, from fanfare to cessation, but it has only been more than half a year, but it has been like a "roller coaster" with ups and downs, and the ending is really embarrassing!
Is it all Messi's fault that the gamble ended dismally?
Looking back on the development of Chishuihe Liquor, there are two things that are most eye-catching about this new liquor brand operated by Gao Jinhua, chairman of Stanley, and which belongs to Zhongchi Liquor.
The first is to buy the "Chishui River" word and graphic trademark. The Chishuihe liquor trademark will expire in July 2024, and the validity period is less than half a year; The second is the well-known label of "Messi sells wine", but now it is in an embarrassing turmoil.
On the product detail page of Chishui River Liquor, it is written: a good trademark once in a century, a sports star once in a century.
And what about the wine? Whole network marketing, avoid talking about it!
In August last year, Chishuihe had an "empty wine bottle", which has not yet been mass-produced. The production cycle of sauce-flavored liquor is very long, just brewing requires a production cycle of 1 year, plus the storage of new liquor, high-quality soy sauce liquor needs at least 5 years.
From this point of view alone, it is not too much to question the quality of Chishuihe wine. After all, what consumers have to pay, but it is the benchmark of Moutai!
Entered the liquor industry in a big way, signed a large contract with Messi for deep binding, the marketing was done loudly, and the product quality was doubtful. The failure of tens of millions of gambles, this pot, I'm afraid I can't let Messi carry it all!
The liquor industry needs to be deeply cultivated, and quality is the core competitiveness. Counting the high-end soy sauce wines such as Moutai and Guizhou Zhenjiu on the market, they can be recognized by the people and have a long-term precipitation on product quality.
Moutai, adhering to the principle that "quality is the soul of life", has put forward quality management theories such as the "Five Craftsmen" quality concept and the "365" quality management system, and has always put quality in the first place, and its national recognition is among the best.
Looking at Guizhou Zhenjiu, in recent years, it has continuously increased scientific research funds, introduced and cultivated innovative talents, and also relied on the provincial enterprise technology center, external experts, and the provincial science and technology department to form an expert team to improve the technical evaluation system, and comprehensively improve in process technology, microbial research, flavor substances, and tasting and blending.
In November 2023, Guizhou Zhenjiu Liquor Liquor also won the nomination award of the 4th Guizhou Provincial Governor Quality Award, and was the only liquor enterprise to win the award in this year's Guizhou Governor's Quality Award.
These first-class soy sauce liquor companies have been working quality for decades, in order to brew good soy sauce liquor with the ultimate taste, and give the highest quality soy sauce liquor to consumers.
If Chishui River Liquor still wants to fight a "turnaround" in the future, I am afraid that it will have to think carefully and spend more time on improving products and accumulating word of mouth.
The development of the liquor industry, the big waves are sweeping the sand, removing the false and retaining the true, no matter how big-name stars and no matter how splashing the traffic, they can only "add to the excitement" and "make money". In the final analysis, what consumers care about and recognize is quality.