Chapter 45 2. From national banner to follow-up strategy

From the very beginning when it broke into the barrier of foreign cola and shouted loudly "Chinese people's own cola", very cola has been deeply branded with the distinctive mark of nationalism. In this regard, blame, criticism or different views seem to have the upper hand.According to rough statistics, in one year after the birth of Very Coke, there were more than 2,000 related reports in various media, not including reprinted and reprinted ones. 70%, and some words are even quite harsh. We can easily observe that in the past 10 years, the national flag has been repeatedly held by many Chinese companies, especially leading companies in various industries.Haier: "Haier, made in China"; Changhong: "Support national industry with high technology"; Skyworth: "Skyworth love, Chinese heart"; Zhenglin: "Where there are Chinese, there are Zhenglin melon seeds"; Oni shampoo : "The Great Wall will never fall, and domestic products should be self-reliant"; Shijiazhuang Pharmaceutical Group: "Make good medicines for China"; Star Freezer: "Chinese stars, Chinese people's confidence".

In fact, holding the national flag is not a specialty of Chinese companies. After the "9.11" terrorist incident in the United States in 2001, Americans quickly saw such an advertisement of General Motors on major TV media: (a thick baritone voice) Everyone will experience darkness.Don't hesitate, unite for the United States of America.Finally, a line of bold words flashed on the screen: General Motors, keep the wheels of America running. After a detailed inventory, it can be found that the marketing strategy of holding high the national banner has very different results in different companies, some are successful, and some are not applauded. Who can play the "domestic product" brand, who can't play it, and when to play it is a matter of knowledge.Summarizing the successes and failures of each company, we generally find the following two rules:

(1) The interest point of "domestic products" can only be established on the solid basic interest point of the product. Psychologist Maslow stated in his famous "Five-Level Theory of Human Needs" that people must first satisfy their physiological needs and safety needs before they can rise to the needs of self-worth and even social value.Obviously, the theme of "domestic products" belongs to the category of social value.Before consumers recognize the basic benefits that the brand can bring, even if you shout "domestic products" loudly, it is like love without bread, which is unsustainable.Only when your brand's popularity, reputation, and recognition are almost the same as those of foreign brands, can the concept of "domestic products" be widely recognized.It must be clear that the concept of "domestic products" will only add to the icing on the cake for enterprises and products, and will not help them in need.

(2) Only when the industry is severely impacted by foreign brands or the domestic economy is under strong external pressure, the concept of "domestic products" will take effect.And the greater the pressure, the greater the effect. The reality faced by Very Coke is that after 10 years of building, the Wahaha brand has been deeply rooted in the hearts of the people, which has relieved the worries for the penetration of the concept of "domestic products".More importantly, Coca-Cola and Pepsi swept the world, and the original carbonated beverage companies in China either died in battle or had no choice but to recruit. The sadness and depression of the Chinese people has been deposited for a long time.At the same time, what Coca-Cola represents has never been just a simple soft drink product, but contains strong American culture and strong American spirit.The "New York Times" of the United States once reported such news with great excitement: The three most popular words in the world today are-God, sex, and Coca-Cola.It is conceivable that when Coca-Cola sets up the national flag, it will inevitably have a violent collision with Coca-Cola on the spiritual level, and the flames will splatter, arousing great attention and resonance.

In fact, whether it is applause, questioning, or discussion, thousands of reports with different opinions have already cleared the way for the launch of Very Coke, attracting countless "eyeballs". The delivery can be compared. The famous "Positioning Theory" of Al Ries and Jack Trout believes that: Today, material products are highly abundant, and at the same time, the transmission of information about commodities is also in an era of excessive communication.Taking the United States as an example, newspapers published throughout the year consume more than 10 million tons of newsprint, that is to say, the average person consumes 94 pounds of newsprint per year, which is roughly the same as their annual beef consumption.Under such circumstances, how can you make consumers pay enough attention to your products and then make purchases?

The answer is: you must accurately position the products you produce.In other words, the first question you must answer is: Who are you? Reese and Trout use the following metaphors to help us better understand what positioning means: Who was the first person to fly across the Atlantic Ocean alone?Everyone knows it as Charles Lindbergh.Who was the second person to fly across the Atlantic alone?Nobody can name Bert Hinkler.But Amelia Earhart, the third person to cross the Atlantic alone, is as famous as Charles Lindbergh, because she was the first woman to accomplish this feat, and her position is very clear.

Looking back at the Chinese cola market ecosystem, the difference from what Reese and Trout described is that there are not too many cola brands, but that the existing foreign brands are too strong.Consumers who are familiar with carbonated beverages tend to think that Coke is Coca-Cola, at most adding Pepsi, and any other brands are likely to be like little stars, dimmed under the dazzling light of foreign cola.Zong Qinghou understood this point. He chose the vernacular phrase "Chinese people's own cola", and gave very clear positioning for Coca-Cola.What's interesting is that ethnicity has positioned Coca-Cola, and by the way, positioned two powerful competitors: you are not "Chinese".

There are more facts that can tell us the benefits of clear positioning. Fenhuang Coke in the south sang "Everyone is happy" all the way, almost followed by Coke's debut.The positioning information we received about Fenhuang Coke is: Jackie Chan, who is shirtless and shows off his enviable chest muscles, is paddling the water and moving forward bravely.This is not much different from the American cowboy with a strong body and a whipping horse. It can almost be regarded as the "Chinese version" of the American spirit.Since they are all making coke, the quality is not necessarily better than others, and they cannot provide consumers with fresh things that are different from others, it may be difficult to stimulate purchase behavior.Of course, there are many reasons for Fenhuang Cola’s quiet defeat, such as strength, management, etc., but the lack of individuality and ambiguous positioning first determine that it must be submerged in the huge shadow cast by foreign cola and difficult to stand out.

The final outcome can only be that everyone may be happy, but I can't be happy. Zong Qinghou is very aware of the extreme importance of the national identity card in this Chinese and foreign Coca-Cola war.On the other side of the ocean, Duduff, CEO of Coca-Cola headquarters in Atlanta, and his predecessor Ives, the more they understand China, the more they have the same views as Zong Qinghou. For a long time in the past, Coca-Cola’s advertisements broadcast or published in the Chinese market were all produced overseas, with a full American flavor.After the release of Coca-Cola, Zhang Huimei and Nicholas Tse, who are familiar and close to mainland consumers, successively became the product spokespersons of Coca-Cola. During the Spring Festival of 2000, the Coca-Cola Company even launched a large plastic bottle packaging of "Clay Doll Afuku New Year" with strong Chinese elements.The Xinhua News Agency issued a message saying: "The reporter saw in the supermarket that the pair of golden boys and girls on the Coca-Cola bottle were the familiar clay doll Afu. They embraced the Coca-Cola bottle and smiled happily. It is friendly and eye-catching in the market. It can be seen that Chinese traditional culture has also become the market inspiration of multinational companies in the new century.

Lu Bingsong, vice president and director of external affairs of Coca-Cola China Co., Ltd., often talks to media reporters: In fact, we are more "Chinese" than Coca-Cola.The relevant data often quoted by him is: 99% of Coca-Cola’s 15,000 employees in China are Chinese. Except for a spice in the original puree, which is a secret recipe unique to the US headquarters, 98% of the other raw materials are Sourcing in China. Obviously, the localization strategy has become an important marketing guideline for Coca-Cola in the Chinese market in recent years.The decision-makers of this world's largest company, which most clearly represents American culture and American spirit, are eager to break free from the siege of "non-Chinese" positioning that Zong Qinghou gave them.

It is not difficult to find that in the debate over whether Coca-Cola should carry the national flag, some people who hold accusations and question opinions have slipped into the simplistic, either-or quagmire they set for themselves.In their understanding, nationality equals exclusion.In fact, Zong Qinghou has never been a narrow nationalist, he is a very pure and excellent businessman, "nationality" is just a promotional concept he set for Coca-Cola, nothing more.He is well aware that the current wave of global integration is turbulent, and only by conforming to the common laws of the world's economic operation can "domestic products" have a place to survive and develop vitality. Nationality as a marketing strategy is not closed and rigid. After Coca Cola quickly highlighted its unique brand personality and gained wide recognition as "Chinese Coke", in 2000, as the new spokesperson of Coca Cola, Taiwan's healthy singer Yu Chengqing was active on TV screens across the country. Very Coke's concept is - "Youth does not fail", "Just show yourself".This echoes Coca-Cola's product core concept of "joy and vitality". On many occasions, Zong Qinghou did not deny Coca-Cola's "follow-up strategy": on the packaging, it has the same bright red background; the taste is similar to Coca-Cola, but it is slightly sweeter and stronger to adapt to the habits of Chinese consumers; There are also similarities in the stage of advertising appeals.On this point, Zong Qinghou explained that Coke is a very special and stereotyped product. One of the reasons why the first generation of Chinese Coke failed was precisely that the taste was too unconventional and not quite like Coke. The Very Coke of "Young Not Failed" In response to Pepsi's aggressive attack, Coca-Cola decided to innovate in taste. In 1985, they abolished the mysterious century-old formula and launched a new flavor formula with the cooperation of huge advertising costs.But to everyone's surprise, thousands of Coca-Cola's most loyal customers firmly refused.Just three months later, Coca-Cola had to bow to angry consumers and return to the old formula.The New York Times of the United States once listed Coca-Cola's modified formula as one of the most significant mistakes in the American business community in the past 100 years. Zong Qinghou once had a figurative metaphor: suits are undoubtedly a symbol of Western civilization, and in the Chinese market, Chinese suit companies still dominate the world.But we don’t need to change its collar into a tunic-style stand-up collar: “Since it is a rule, we have no reason not to follow it; since it is a good thing, we should learn it.”