Chapter 13 2. "Paranoid" advertising bombing

Max, the president of the American tobacco king Philip Morris, which produces the world's largest-selling cigarette brand "Marlboro," said: "Brand is the most abundant asset for the development of a company. The brand of a company is like a savings account. When you continue to Accumulate its value with advertising, and enjoy its benefits.” Similarly, Zong Qinghou clearly knows that popularity is not equal to brand, but what is certain is that a brand must be a famous brand, which must have the basic premise of popularity.Especially in the Chinese market where the transmission of information is not very smooth in general, it is extremely important to widely disseminate one's own products - the most direct means of modern commodity society is advertising.

In fact, advertising is not a product of modern commodity society, its history can be traced back at least thousands of years.The earliest well-documented text advertisement in the world was unearthed in the ancient city of Egypt. The content was looking for a maid who had run away, and it was about 3000 BC. Although until 2001, the total advertising market in mainland China was less than 1% of the country's GDP, and the per capita advertising expenses were far from the world level, but no one will deny that the reform and opening up have been more than 20 years, and the Chinese advertising industry has grown from Starting from zero, it has rapidly grown into the hottest sunrise industry.Accompanied by this, none of the companies and brands that have or have been famous dare to say that they have nothing to do with advertising.

The rise of Wahaha is a typical case where brand reputation and advertising go hand in hand. Zong Qinghou's advertising operation is so large and imposing that it is amazing. In November 1988, Wahaha children's nutrient solution was launched. Zong Qinghou invited two local TV stations to discuss advertising.After several discussions, the other party stretched out two fingers: at least 200,000.However, Wahaha Company's total working capital at that time was only 100,000 yuan, which was not enough even if it was sold out.Zong Qinghou did not change his face, and signed his name on the contract.As a result, before the advertisement of "drinking Wahaha, eating is delicious" has not finished broadcasting, orders have been flying in like snowflakes, and the large and small vehicles waiting in line to pick up the goods have caused the originally uncrowded passage on the north side of Hangzhou Qingtai Overpass where Wahaha Company is located. It was blocked for a while.

A more classic play is the "Rush for Thousands of Miles" that took place in the southern country of Guangzhou a few years later. In the second half of the 1980s, Cantonese, who were pioneers in opening up to the outside world, gradually moved north along the railway and highway lines, and the momentum was like breaking through. The "Guanghuo Northern Expedition" was full of exclamations.Guangzhou was the lair of the South China tiger, and it was also the headquarters of the Helios Group, the overlord of domestic health nutrition solutions at that time. How could foreign companies be allowed to get involved?But Zong Qinghou wanted to touch the tiger's butt. At the turn of spring and summer in 1991, a train loaded with Wahaha products quietly entered the busy Guangzhou Railway Station platform.On the other hand, Wahaha has already signed contracts with local radio stations and TV stations to broadcast high-intensity advertisements on a daily basis.At that time, Nanfang Daily, the big brother of Guangzhou paper media, had five full-page advertisements every week, and Zong Qinghou took all of them without missing a single one. One morning in June, the citizens of Guangzhou woke up to find that the public opinion media were so unanimous, and the overwhelming voice was one voice—Wahaha!The South China Tiger was caught off guard, and Wahaha's monthly sales in Guangzhou skyrocketed to 1 million boxes.

Newspapers, radio, television, and magazines have always been called the four kings of China's advertising media, and the emergence of TV media advertising is not too late. At 17:50 on January 28, 1979, Shanghai TV station broadcast the first TV advertisement in mainland China - Tong Hanchun Ginseng Gui Tonic Wine.The first foreign-funded enterprise to appear in a Chinese TV advertisement was Coca-Cola. When the Queen of England visited China in 1984, the famous British TV media BBC also sent a documentary about the British Isles.As a diplomatic courtesy, CCTV had to broadcast it, but because it had no money to give to the BBC, it found Coca-Cola to sponsor it.The other party put forward the only sponsorship condition: add a Coca-Cola commercial before the documentary is broadcast.Almost as a political treat, the ad was approved with special approval.Since then, many foreign-funded enterprises have written reports asking, "Coca-Cola can do TV commercials, can we do it?"

Since the last few years of the 1980s, TV commercials have caught up in a hurry - half of the reason may be related to the crazy "color TV craze". The 1990s reached its peak.According to statistics, in 1996, the national TV advertising turnover reached 9.08 billion yuan, ranking first among the four major media, and its growth rate was more than twice that of the second-ranked newspaper advertising. It is very natural that the emerging TV advertisements are favored by Wahaha.Yang Xiuling, director of the company's advertising department who has been in contact with the media for many years, analyzed that the "beard" of radio is much longer than that of TV, but it has gradually declined in general.Although there are thousands of types of newspapers and magazines, under China’s specific national conditions, their mainstream readers still belong to specific groups such as “official people”—this situation has only been changed by the prosperity of urban newspapers and periodicals in recent years.The target buyers of most enterprise products are obviously thousands of households.As China becomes a world-class "manufacturing factory", the penetration rate of TV is increasing by leaps and bounds. The characteristics of this kind of media are that it has a wide range of radiation, intuitive images, vivid and colorful, and does not require high cultural level of the audience. "The legal net is restored, sparse but not missing."Philip Kotler's media decision theory believes that the trial rate of a producer's product is determined by the audience's attention, and the audience's attention is closely related to the delivery rate, frequency and influence of product information.Undoubtedly, in the comparison of the four major media, TV advertising is undoubtedly the leader in communication influence.

Compared with other companies, there are two unique reasons why Wahaha has a special liking for TV advertisements: First, the prices of Wahaha’s various products are almost all below a few yuan. Second, after long-term exploration, Wahaha has gradually formed a huge marketing network advantage that no one can match in the towns and rural markets below the prefecture-level city.In this vast market space, the number of potential buyers who usually "do not read books or newspapers" is very large.For them, television is one of the most effective information delivery "airborne troops".

The China Rural Market Joint Investigation and Research Research Group composed of experts and scholars from the Development Research Center of the State Council, the Ministry of Information Industry and other departments once conducted a special investigation on 20,000 rural households in 14 provinces and cities across the country.Statistics show that at present, the main source of consumption information for Chinese rural consumers is advertising, and 61% of rural consumers say that TV is their most important channel.The survey also found that 33.8% of the interviewees think that CCTV One is the channel they watch most often; their favorite TV programs are "Movies/TV Series" and "CCTV News", with 71.9% and 65.5% respectively of respondents often watch.The time period with the highest viewing rate is concentrated between 19:00-22:00.

According to the data analysis we obtained from the China Advertising Society, TV advertising has always occupied a large proportion of Wahaha's extremely considerable advertising expenses over the years.Based on the advertising expenditure of 500 million yuan in 2001, outdoor billboard advertisements and various promotional items accounted for 10% respectively, paper media and radio stations accounted for about 5%, TV advertisements accounted for 75%, and CCTV advertisements also accounted for 10%. accounted for half of it. Not only Wahaha, but also in the eyes of many companies that intend to dominate the national market, CCTV is indeed a "golden cave" with endless temptations.The reason is very simple.CCTV is the only national TV station in China. This special status of "the only one with no other outlets", coupled with the political authority it enjoys as "the eyes, ears and mouthpiece of the party and the people", makes it popular among ordinary audiences. The advertisements broadcast have a strong degree of trust.

A survey once showed that 90% of viewers believed that CCTV's advertisements were credible.According to Ms. Tan Xisong, former director of the advertising department of CCTV, China had 290 million TV sets in the mid-1990s, and the TV population was nearly 1.2 billion based on "2.9×4".If the daily start-up rate is 70%, the effective TV population exceeds 800 million.The ratings of CCTV's "News Network" program are often tested at 46%-48% every year, which means that the audience reaches 300 to 400 million people every night, and it can definitely be called the "No. 1 program" in China and even in the world.Even according to the more neutral and objective survey conducted by Beijing Great Wall International Advertising Co., Ltd., China has a TV population of 852 million. The average audience rating of "News Network" in 1996 was around 28% (excluding the ratings of local broadcasts).Based on this calculation, the number of viewers per night has exceeded 200 million, which is equivalent to the entire population of the United States.

As a result, a large number of leading companies in various industries in China have joined the battle for the golden advertising time of CCTV every night from 17:00 to 20:00.An inch of land is an inch of gold, and there are too many monks and too little porridge. CCTV simply took advantage of the momentum and started the Bidding Heroes Club in November 1994.Thus, there was the most explosive series of "Biaowang incidents" in the history of Chinese advertising, and the most intriguing "Biaowang phenomenon" in the history of Chinese corporate brands. On November 8, 1996, the most thrilling scene of the entire "Biaowang incident" was staged in the multifunctional hall on the second floor of Beijing Media Center. On this day, more than 190 well-known Chinese companies participated in the bidding for the 4 minutes and 40 seconds of advertising time between "News Network", "Weather Forecast" and "Focus Interview". The total base price of 32 standard plates was 541.6 million yuan.Because it adopts the form of hidden bidding (only the bidding base price is stipulated, each company fills in the bidding price code back to back at the same time, and the one with the highest price after opening the box is the winning bid), the business executives who are eager to bid successfully can only rely on the "imaginary enemy" It is speculated to make a gamble that will determine everything in one fell swoop. Extreme tension, anxiety, excitement and even madness, the floating atmosphere inside and outside the venue is like a powder keg that is about to explode.The so-called scientific and rigorous cost calculation has become a joke, and the bidding pricing of many enterprises has almost become romantic freehand brushwork: Guangdong BBK chose 80123456.78 yuan, the last 8 digits are from 1 to 8, which means "step by step"; Jiangsu Chunlan The 168,888,888 yuan, homophonic "all the way to send"; Guangdong Robust's 199,788,684 yuan figure is more interesting, that is, "1997 issued Robust". At 3:10 p.m., wine began to be sung as the finale. The 100 million yuan mark was easily crossed, and the 200 million yuan mark was quickly lost. When the last bid of Shandong Linqu Qinchi Distillery was sung, there was a sudden silence in the venue of thousands of people - 321211800 yuan!The sky-high price bid was overwhelming, and Ji Changkong, the director of Qinchi Winery, was immediately surrounded by cheers and applause.An eyewitness at the scene described that at that moment, people seemed to rehearse "Song of Qin" surrounded by thousands of people and ruled the world. It is necessary to add the fact that, on the eve of this competition for the bid king, CCTV had made it clear that it hoped that a non-alcoholic company would win the championship, and had high hopes for Wahaha to win the bid.But Wahaha declined, and finally won the top card of the 12 yuan and 15 seconds "A special" standard version of "Weather Forecast" with a low-key price of 58.01 million yuan. CCTV began to openly bid for prime-time advertising slots in 1995. It was a hidden bid for the first 5 years, and changed to an open bid after 1999. Up to now, a total of 8 "bidding kings" have been produced. Since then, CCTV has divided the whole year into 6 advertising units every two months, considering that there are off-peak seasons for product promotion and taking into account the interests of the enterprise. In 2001 and 2002, Wahaha became the de facto advertising "standard king" in these two years with the highest price of 22.11 million yuan and 20.15 million yuan for the "A special" label unit. The key question is, what did the laurels of "Biao Wang" bring to each of the "Biao Wang"?From the information disclosed by the media, it is not difficult for us to find such data: in the year when Confucian Banquet Wine was crowned the "Biaowang", sales soared, and profits and taxes more than quadrupled.What is even better is Qin Chi. In his first year as the "Biaowang", his sales soared from 230 million yuan in the previous year to 980 million yuan.At the bidding meeting in the second year, what Ji Changkong said has been widely circulated today: In 1996, we drove in a Santana for CCTV every day, and drove out a luxury Audi.Next year, we will drive a BMW every day, and strive to drive an extended Lincoln! It's a pity that most of the "stars" who are passionate about it have become a passing thing. In June 2002, the media broke the news that "the first bid king was transferred at zero price".Although Liu Rongyu, director and deputy general manager of Confucius Banquet Company, immediately refuted the rumor a few days later, saying that the report was untrue, but the fact is that Shandong Lianda Group purchased 90% of the company's shares for 80 million yuan.But the lonely ending of the hero always makes people feel helpless.As for the "King of Kings" Qin Chi, he has long since lost his glory and has been devastated. In July 2000, a supplier of metal bottle caps accused Qinchi Distillery of defaulting on payment of 3.91 million yuan, and the court ruled that Qinchi lost the lawsuit.Because there is no money to return, it was ruled to auction the "Qin Chi" trademark.The third-generation "Biao Wang" Guangdong Aiduo was forced to enter bankruptcy proceedings just over a year after winning the crown. On April 18, 2000, Hu Zhibiao, the original head of Aiduo, was suddenly arrested by the Shantou police on suspicion of commercial fraud. Including Guangdong Backgammon, Wahaha has become the only survivor of the previous "Biaowang", and it is the most vigorous and vigorous company that has been singing all the way, with a growing brand so far. Looking at Wahaha's performance in the "Biao Wang" battle for many years, it is not difficult for us to draw some impressions.First, Wahaha is one of the few companies that have been participating in the bidding of CCTV’s prime-time advertisements, and it is undoubtedly the longest-lived brand "evergreen tree"; second, Wahaha is the most low-key and least sensational "bidding king" Thirdly, Wahaha has never participated in the life-and-death battle of the most popular "News Network" in the last 5 seconds of the standard edition, but has been closely watching the top card of the "A Special" standard 15 seconds after "Weather Forecast", and is determined to win. 8 years winning the bid.According to the company, the 15-second "A special" standard version is more suitable for the interpretation of the Wahaha brand, and the communication effect is better, so there is no need to bleed to steal the limelight. This precisely reflects Zong Qinghou's unswerving advertising philosophy: advertising is an indispensable nourishment for the development of enterprises, and a high-density situation must be maintained, but how and how much advertising is placed must be conducive to the sustainable growth of the enterprise and be profitable. Conducive to building a lasting brand.In a word, truthfulness and effectiveness are the highest standards. A well-informed person found that due to the increasing influence of provincial TV stations, especially satellite TV stations, in 2002 Wahaha quietly began to implement a new advertising strategy of "satellite TV broadcasting", that is, to seize the headlines of TV dramas with the highest evening ratings on provincial satellite TV. Interstitial advertising segment, unified production, unified dissemination, forming a strong momentum of Wahaha brand ubiquitous.I am afraid that the only explanation for the adjustment of the two-line strategy of "central army and local army" is "real and effective". After the "Biaowang" trend, the "Harbin Medicine" model, which has more or less inherited the "Biaowang" gene, is keen on unrestrained advertising bombing, and the phenomenon of "Melatonin" once again set off waves in the Chinese advertising market.Zong Qinghou still buried himself in his "practical and effective" way.