Regardless of the subdivision of the track, the younger generation of consumers have become the friends that brands want to make.
Editor’s note: This article is from the WeChat public account “Zinc Scale” (ID: znkedu), author: Li Gulin, editor: Star Night.
Generation Z makes old brands younger and new brands mature
An epidemic changed the appearance of the world, changed living habits, and changed the food ecology. The elements of immunity, health, familyization, and localization have become new trends.
From May 19th to 21st, the Foodaily FBIC2021 Global Food and Beverage Innovation Conference came to an end at the Shanghai Baohua Marriott Hotel. 14 round tables, 87 theme sharing sessions, 134 celebrities, 1653 guests, 2400sku, the world’s most innovative product… The “New Food Era” is bringing brand new development opportunities to the food industry.
According to data released by the National Bureau of Statistics, the total retail sales of consumer goods in the first four months of 2021 will be 13,837.3 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 29.6%. The huge market has triggered the exploration of industry trends by food people. More and more traditional food manufacturers are trying to “touch the net”, and there are more “small and beautiful” innovative brands coming out of the shell.
In the global food ecological pattern, the trend of globalization and the health of food that broke out after the epidemic have become a hot topic in the entire industry. The “post-90s” and “Generation Z”, as almost the largest consumer groups in the current food industry, have brought completely different pulses to this industry.
Through absorbing the main points of many forums and dialogues with the founders of emerging brands, Zinc Scale has gained a new understanding of the global growth ability of the new brand wave in the survival of the fittest and the Internet to create new and strong.
Grab the group of young punk healthy men
How to define the new food era? Globalization and localization, the maturity of the Internet and supply chain infrastructure, the openness and integration of industry and commerce, have jointly promoted the food industry to usher in a golden decade of vigorous growth of new products and new brands, and build a new video era.
In the past 2020, the “black swan” subverted countless industries, but brought nearly 10% growth to the food and beverage industry. In China and even the global market, the consumption scenarios of the food industry are diversified, and as manufacturers continue to develop innovative thinking, consumers are also willing to pay more for the sense of experience.
As the main force of consumption, the consumption orientation of young people has become the research object of manufacturers. Who can grasp this group of “Generation Z” is almost equivalent to holding the key to success.
“While making and supplementing is a portrayal of the life of the so-called health-preserving youth. Their unique personality has made the development of functional foods more obvious changes, that is, a high degree of personalization, daily life, and life. Change.”Li Yunfei, Chief Content Officer of Foodaily Daily Food, mentioned in his speech.
A full range of health pursuits from various body organs, appearance, figure, sleep, appetite, mental outlook, thinking and ability to do things, are driving the continuous expansion and extension of the development of functional foods.
Such a strong desire for health stems from young people’s poor self-evaluation of their physical health. When expectations and their own health status form a huge contrast, a lot of anxiety will be generated.
In this regard, Liu Haibin, deputy dean of the Research Institute of Donge Ejiao Co., Ltd., put forward his own observations: “Generation Z pursues individualization and refuses to follow suit, hoping that its nourishment can be more precise and professional, such as some ingredients. The party cares very much about the efficacy of the ingredients and whether they are compatible with certain aspects of its own needs. The other is to advocate for nourishment anytime and anywhere, and it is also a light health regimen, which reflects the daily and instant consumption of the consumption scene.”
According to the consumer demand of “Generation Z”, whether the health care products are Chinese or Western style is no longer as solidified as the past consumers. A comprehensive upgrade from products to marketing methods can capture their hearts.
Young people are keen on punk health care
For example, because the traditional donkey-hide gelatin block is not convenient to take, Dong-e-ejiao launched “Huajianling·Ejiao powder”, which made the traditional donkey-hide gelatin block into pure donkey-hide gelatin powder to meet the needs of young consumers. A variety of scene requirements. At the same time, through co-innovation with Xiaohongshu, it quickly gained popularity among young people.
It is worth mentioning that young people’s pursuit of spirituality is becoming stronger and stronger. Therefore, in the process of product development, manufacturers, the two-way parallelism of appearance and culture, combined with digital marketing and industrial upgrading, is to face the future. The magic weapon for the young consumer market.
Sweetness in young people’s lives: tea, coffee and wine
The scale of the catering market is 113.6 billion yuan, and some institutions predict that this number will soar to 340 billion yuan by 2025. Among them, the tea, coffee, and alcohol markets that have begun to exert strength in recent years are also changing the world of young people.
“Drinking tea is a process of Chinese people’s thousands of years of history. We should not define tea as clear tea. Our product is to find more possibilities for tea, using modern tastes, high-quality requirements and fashion The way,Let more people drink tea as a way of life. “Naixue’s tea founder Peng Xin said.
Peng Xin believes that the connection between a brand and its customers begins with the value of appearance and ends with quality. Therefore, Naxue’s tea has always firmly believed that products + experience scenarios + good service + good design + good brand experience are the key to attracting users.
Data shows that the pure tea products of Nayuki’s tea in the past accounted for 10% of the sales, and the tea drinking habits of young people have also been gradually cultivated. Among the “post-95s” and “post-00s” consumer groups, male customers are increasing, from 20% to 40%. “Post-95s” will often ask about new products, but the older ones usually read the menu for themselves.
The collision of art and tea culture has also brought greater appeal to young consumers. In the current new tea market, the test is the all-round innovation level.
In addition to tea, coffee is gradually becoming a “life-sustaining artifact” in the hands of young people. Also facing the “Generation Z” consumer group, Seesaw, the first-generation Internet celebrity coffee brand that has been developing for nearly a decade, has cultivated more than half of the owners and founders of independent cafes in Shanghai.
Since last year, in addition to precipitating its own brand and cultivating coffee talents, Seesaw has also begun to think about what coffee products are more in line with the needs of young people, or in other words, to meet the needs of young people in the future?
“Good food and drink are the lowest demand, and also the most straightforward demand of young consumers. But from foreign coffee to Chinese coffee, I don’t know if you have discovered that these are all imported concepts. Adapted crops to make coffee suitable for young people in China is our direction of transformation.” Seesaw brand director and chief creative officer Jian Xuanyi said.
For example, the combination of coffee and fruit, and alcohol, from the top, middle, and bottom layers of tea to think about the blending and combination of places. From seeing the drink at the sight to entering the nose to the entrance, whether it meets the expectations of taste, whether it meets the needs of emotion and body, whether there is a very good feeling in the brain, are full of trendy symbols that young people need, this is creativity The overall coffee experience link.
When creative coffee became a social currency, alcohol and drinking also began to become a symbol of ritual.
“The mood of being slightly drunk is a very common state for young people living alone. After get off work or on weekends, decorate the home beautifully, light a scented candle, put on music, pour yourself some wine, and heal The soul hurt by ‘996’.” Xiaohongshu’s brand marketing plan is negativeResponsible Hu Yiyang said.
She observed that part of the reason why young people buy wine is to make them happy. Including what can be seen today, young people no longer PK for drinking, but prefer to have a drink and enjoy the comfortable social relationship in a drinking atmosphere.
These changes in young consumers have led to the broadening of the drinking scene, the innovation of low-sweet tastes, and the binding of wine to pleasure emotions. If for today’s young people, wine is the sweetness of life, then there is still a lot of room for development of alcoholic beverages that contain emotions.
“Millennium parents” set off a new revolution in children’s catering
The emotions and taste buds of young people have begun to expand the scenes and content in the food industry, and on the other hand, young people have also begun to set off a revolutionary storm in the field of children’s food and beverages as “millennial parents”.
Kidsluv CEO Ashi Jelinek defines his customer base as mothers who give birth after the millennium. These customers hope to find truly healthy food for their children, and even supplement vegetarian vitamins. Therefore, Kidsluv has launched a zero-sugar vitamin fortified drink, which can help children take in more vitamins instead of sugar.
“Many young parents realize that gums may cause tooth decay in their children, so they have also begun to avoid allowing their children to consume too much sugar in snacks. Our products are in line with such consumer needs. At the same time, We will also provide nutritionist advice so that young parents can more comprehensively supplement their children with vitamins.” Ashi Jelinek said in the speech.
Also aimed at “Millennium parents”, there is also Xiaolulan, which was born just over a year ago. Relying on the advantages of the three squirrels in the supply chain and brand traffic, it quickly achieved a good record.
Xiaolulan employs a team of all “post-90s” personnel, and has a new methodology in the face of the new demands presented by “millennial parents”. From positioning, product innovation to brand IP creation, Xiaolulan has walked the road of three squirrels, but it is not all similar.
“In the field of baby snack food supplements, not many do IP, and even less do it well. Therefore, for Xiaolu Lanlan, the future creation of IP will have a strong relationship with brands and products, reflecting In terms of product packaging, visual display, and customer service skills.” Li Ziming, founder of Xiaolulanyan, said to Zinc Scale, “The characteristics of the ultimate user experience of the three squirrels in the early years have also been obtained in Xiaolulanlan’s development path. Reflected.”
Compared with the IP joint marketing methods commonly used in the field of children’s snacks in the past, Xiaolulan is more inclined to create its own brand of IP. “To a certain extent, creating IP is also creating a bridge to communicate with users. Many times brands want to communicate with users, but users may not be able to get it. Therefore, IP is a more lively medium.” Li Ziming said to Zinc. Scale said.
Although Xiaolulan is currently more focusedIn the field of children’s snacks, once the IP operation is successful, the “millennial parents” and their children will rely on and prefer IP to a higher degree. The all-round lifestyle covering basic necessities, food, housing, transportation and entertainment will also become the future development direction of Xiaolulan IP. “In the follow-up, we also plan to make a cartoon of Xiaolulan and an offline experience store. The differentiation in this part is also the change we hope to bring.”
“Millennium parents” has a new way of understanding parenting, which requires nutrition, health, science, and even fun. Innovative brands such as Kidsluv and Xiaolulan brought a wave of brand innovation revolution after the “Millennium Parents” stepped onto the stage.
Data shows that the growth rate of online food sales from 2019 to 2020 is as high as 31%, and the growth rate of some sub-categories is outstanding. Among them, the backbone consumption power is the strongest and the growth rate is fast, and the consumption power of the new powers is weak, but the growth rate is considerable. The online food consumption power of the blue ocean population is restricted by penetration, and there is room for improvement.
Regardless of the subdivision of the track, the younger generation of consumers have become the friends that brands want to make. Their ever-changing consumer demand has brought new growth points to the food industry, which not only makes time-honored brands younger, but also matures new brands.