The most important thing for resuming production and resuming production is the “resumption strategy”. Do not use operations to replace the strategy.
Look at business with perspective. Super perspective, cutting-edge observations from new business practitioners.
Text | Special Observer Yao Rongjun
Edit | Cui Mindong
Beginning on March 15, except for Hubei and Beijing, the country has resumed normal transportation and transportation order, and enterprises are working hard to resume work and resume production, and normalization is expected. Specific to the FMCG industry, more than 90% of the companies we serve have resumed production and production, which can be roughly divided into three cases:
1. The epidemic prevention production of rigid demand industries is “two-handed”, and the factory has been in production.
2. Labor-intensive manufacturing enterprises are in short supply and are still rushing for work and production.
3. Resumption of work and production resumed, but consumer demand was suppressed. Especially the offline-heavy companies are particularly serious, and the store’s traffic is bleak.
But when the market starts to normalize, does that mean your business will also normalize? There is a joke: “Everyone is difficult to make money due to the epidemic, but did you make money when the economy was going up?”
The so-called “normalization” refers to resolutely responding to external changes through strategic innovation, rather than returning to the past normal state, let alone wait until the market’s “normalization profile” has begun to manifest, and that is bound to Will miss the opportunity.
Success is in the enemy, and defeat is in yourself. To run an enterprise, you need to look at the big picture and big data, and you need to gain insight into what is going on. What is the undercurrent surging under the sea? What happened to consumers and competitors? This is the most urgent need for entrepreneurs to understand right now.
Drucker mentioned in “Management in Turbulent Times” that enterprises must have two major capabilities, one is the ability to withstand huge blows, and the other is the ability to quickly seize major opportunities. When the starting gun sounds again, have you adjusted your running posture and discovered the opportunity of overtaking in a curve to be the first?
New changes after the epidemic: from category demand consumption to brand consumption
The typical characteristics of consumer goods, especially fast-moving consumer goods, are rigid demand and high frequency.The basic market has not changed, and the current demand has only been temporarily suppressed.
Before the epidemic: The evolution of consumption is: scenario consumption (shopping mall)-convenience consumption (more channels, consumers are more likely to buy)-reminder sales ( E-commerce live broadcast, advertising).
After the epidemic: Category demand consumption is transformed into brand consumption. The industry reshuffle will wash away companies that have no brand awareness, unique value, and product quality. Consumers’ insecurities and the pursuit of quality and health will increase, and they will be more inclined to choose cognitive brands (know without tips).
Practical case: You Liumei trying to promote the value of categories
Consumer products have their own unique characteristics: the more channels are spread and the more they are continuously marketed, the more sales will rise proportionally, and once they stop, or the number of channels decreases, the growth rate will slow down. During the epidemic, the channels and marketing of many consumer goods companies fell into a “quarantine state.” How should we stimulate consumer demand? Youmei’s strategy adjustment may give you some inspiration.
Yuliumei is currently the only one billion-level brand in the domestic vertical plum category. Ome has a very unique advantage-rich in natural organic acids, it has a variety of functions such as bactericidal, antibacterial, antiseptic, and prevention of gastrointestinal diseases. China is the origin of the Ome and has a history of more than 7,000 years of cultivation. However, since modern times, the largest consumer of Ome has been Japan, which has become the daily freshly-needed food of the Japanese Prime Minister to the general public, and consumes 600,000 to 1 million tons of Ome each year.
Our strategy suggestion to Yoyomei is to “promote the value of the category”, to popularize the benefits of Omei to the human body, and tell everyone that Omei has helped treat dysentery and cholera many times in Japanese history. In this way, Yomei uses the “environmental change” of the “epidemic” to highlight the characteristics and functions of green plum raw materials, thus linking with the needs of consumers.
The offline channels that Youlimei originally relied on were heavily affected by the epidemic, and the strategy was so adjusted that they forced their online acceleration and strength to support the trend of online consumption. According to statistics, during the Spring Festival of 2020 (the first day of the first month to the fifteenth day of the first month), it was also the period when the epidemic was the worst. In only one city in Xi’an, the sales data of several major supermarket systems of China Resources, Yonghui and Renrenle were up from 2019. Increased by 30%, 92.7% and 131.6% respectively.
So, entrepreneurs should observe how consumers under the sea “surge”, and then take advantage of it. When the next big wave forms, their brand can stand on the tide.
Response Strategies for Growth of Consumer Goods Companies
After resumed production, how can consumer products companies seize the opportunity to achieve N-fold growth? We can start with three phases: short-term, medium-term and long-term.
Short term (now to the next two months)
Review the service model. The epidemic has accelerated the development of online consumption habits. In the past, it was “cement + steel”, now it is “fingertip + screen”. The deep integration of physical and information levels will further change the competitive landscape of enterprises.
1. During the epidemic, e-commerce live broadcast and home mode can be described as popular, but customer value is 1 and marketing is 0. The essence of return marketing is to continuously create unique customer value with high-quality products or services. After resuming production and resuming work, how to use this type of service mode in combination with unique customer values requires operators to seriously consider.
2. The demand for convenience consumption is still great. The most important and urgent thing in the near future is to optimize and upgrade the service model and improve the efficiency of customer acquisition. For example, Yadi, our service, sells on the online store, automatically locates the nearest store to the consumer, and delivers it to the home within 1 hour. The bamboo leaf green Emei alpine green tea is also rapidly changing from offline to online sales.
3. Enterprises can consider OMO (Online-Mobile-Offline) more to enhance service efficiency in new ways. In the future, consumers will definitely be used to buying with mobile phones. The consumption demand of mobile terminals will have an impact on content, marketing, etc. It is necessary to accelerate the construction of this system, because customers have begun to receive passively from the previous, and converted to “fingertips + clicks” “Come to take the initiative.
Medium (full year 2020)
In 2020, there will be a wave of air outlets in the market, including online office, online education, online entertainment, fresh food delivery, and so on. Entrepreneurs should be vigilant against these outlets, and don’t plunge into the air. Generally speaking, these outlets are more suitable for start-ups, or people who are preparing to start a business. So how should mature companies view and seize these opportunities?
From a longer-term perspective, growth does not come from chasing the tuyere, but from manufacturing the tuyere.
How to make a tuyere? The answer is “disruptive innovation” (also translated as “disruptive innovation”), which stimulates the hidden needs of customers.
One perspective: focus on consumers, tap potential needs
Chinese consumers have a lot of subconscious needs to be developed urgently. If you take the lead in understanding these needs, consumers will be willing to pay for differentiated value.
Practical case: Bruker who explores different needs
The Bruco we serve is a company that designs large particles for children aged 1-6. How should it compete with Lego? Operation alone is inseparable. Lego has tens of thousands of stores in China, and Bruker has all 3,000 stores, and Lego has a brand advantage. It is difficult for Bruker to exceed Lego in the number of stores, at this time