Although there is a lot of "investment" spent on marketing, the contribution of marketing to the company's sales is becoming less and less ideal, and the conversion rate brought about by marketing is also getting lower and lower. A sales expense of 1 yuan in 2013 can still be converted into operating income of 10.93 yuan, while a sales expense of 1 yuan in 2019 can only be converted into operating income of 6.95 yuan.
The full text is 2108 words, reading time is 10 minutes
Report | Caijing Wuji, Caijing Tianxia Weekly
Editor | Emma
Yangyuan As the leader of walnut milk drinks, Hebei Yuanyuan Health Drinks Co., Ltd. was founded in 1997. Its predecessor was Hebei Yuanyuan Health Drinks Co., Ltd. jointly established by Hengshui Electric Power Industry Corporation and Hengshui Electric Power Bureau Labor Service Company. At this stage, Yangyuan Beverage was poorly managed and on the verge of bankruptcy.
In 1999, Yangyuan Drinks was merged by Hebei Hengshui Laobaigan Brewing (Group) Co., Ltd. Unfortunately, even Hengshui Laobaigan failed to reverse the decline of Yangyuan Drinks.
In 2005, Yao Kuizhang acquired the company from Laobaigan Group, and Yangyuan Beverage officially turned around.
The core product of Yangyuan Beverage is "Six Walnuts", a plant protein drink using walnuts as raw materials. Its well-known advertising slogan is "Use your brain often, drink six more walnuts". After being endorsed by the famous TV host Lu Yu, six walnuts have entered thousands of households. Public financial data shows that in 2010, Yangyuan Beverage’s revenue growth rate exceeded 100%.
After many twists and turns and three clearances, Yangyuan Beverage finally landed on the capital market in 2018. The issue price of 78.73 yuan was a high-priced stock for an A-share listed company. However, from a valuation perspective, the issue price-to-earnings ratio (PE) was only 17.7 times, which was far lower than the 50 times PE in the food and beverage industry at that time. This has led many investors to harbor dreams of wealth, and Yangyuan Drinks "replenish their brains" and "make money".
Before 2005, Yao Kuizhang served as a technical technician, deputy section chief of the production department, deputy director of the first branch factory, and director of the group production department of Hebei Hengshui Laobaigan Winery.
In 2005, 58 company employees, with Yao Kuizhang as the main member, acquired Yangyuan Beverage from Laobaigan Group, and the company became a private enterprise in which management and ordinary employees at the grassroots level jointly held shares. As of December 31, 2019, Yao Kuizhang directly held 21.15% of the shares, and indirectly held 18.35% of the shares through Yazhishun Investment Co., Ltd., a person acting in concert, for a total of 39.5% of the shares, and was the actual controller of the company.
After the separation, Yangyuan Beverage has adjusted its product strategy, focusing on the production of walnut milk, and taking a differentiated path.
Judging from past history, both Red Bull, which features "anti-fatigue", and Wong Lao Kat, which is "fear of getting angry", have captured the potential needs of consumers and created sales miracles.
With the development of the knowledge economy, excessive brain use has become a social norm, which has also created a huge demand for brain supplements. Walnuts have the effect of strengthening the brain and improving intelligence, and walnut milk solves the pain point of "difficult to smash and open" walnuts, bringing convenience to consumers while also satisfying their potential needs.
Yangyuan Beverage, which pioneered the walnut milk industry, has also begun to make rapid progress in its business performance. In 2008, the company's operating income was only 280 million yuan; by 2015, the company's revenue reached its peak, with total operating income as high as 9.1 billion yuan; although the operating income in 2019 fell back, reaching only 7.459 billion yuan, it was relatively Compared with the operating income of 280 million yuan in 2008, the company's operating income has increased several times.
This year’s COVID-19 epidemic has truly popularized the concept of healthy consumption in society, and the understanding of health has reached a new level. Products with health and nutrition as the underlying logic of production will surely win.
The short-term track is generally crowded. Yangyuan Beverage does not pay attention to this, because long-termists hold a trump card: brand power.
Yangyuan Beverage has always adhered to R&D innovation and quality upgrading, relying on independent R&D and innovation capabilities to continuously innovate production processes, and promote and lead the continuous quality upgrading of walnut dairy products.
In this era where "brand is a comprehensive reflection of the competitiveness of an enterprise and a country", Yangyuan Drinks, which created "Six Walnuts", has taken a new approach and is unique in the plant protein beverage industry, relying on the brand Belief in long-termism.
Needless to say, the current Chinese market environment is undergoing profound changes. The FMCG industry has entered a period of transformation. A large number of products that have been doing well in the past will gradually disappear, while a number of Internet celebrity products will Instead.
Take the ubiquitous ice cream as an example. The fastest-selling ice cream cold drink this summer is no longer the big foreign brands such as Haagen-Dazs and Heluoxue, but Akinon emerging from the slant. , Li Daju, Tiankaile’s coconut ash, Aoxue ice cream and many other unheard-of domestic internet celebrity items.
In the plant protein nutrition drink market, there are also a number of foreign brands eyeing the market, and there are also many potential internet celebrity products waiting for the opportunity. Faced with the complicated competitive landscape, a new product, Yangyuan Drink, is about to be launched. Can you live up to the expectations of the public?
Competition is everywhere, and customers’ attention is fleeting. In an era of rapid change, whoever can capture the changes in consumers' attention faster will be at the forefront of big consumption.
Long-termism is not about being complacent. On the contrary, long-termism is the ability to adapt to changes based on the stability of the underlying design.
This year, Yangyuan Beverage will successively launch the Ruchao brand "Six Walnuts" series, the anti-anxiety and sleep-aid "Camunin" series, the green and healthy "Plant Milk" and "Plant Yoghurt" series, and the Smart Share a variety of "innovative new products" such as the "1L Tetra Pak" series, in order to create a new "all-round super product matrix".
In response to the changing trends of consumption upgrading, communication diversification, fragmentation, and interactivity, Yangyuan Beverage has repositioned and upgraded its brand, fully launched a new marketing strategy in the all-media era, and accelerated the brand's growth. The creation of reputation, youthfulness and high-end.
Last year, Six Walnuts newly signed international piano master Lang Lang as the brand spokesperson, condensing a new brand connotation and slogan. At the same time, they launched a series of integrated communication campaigns such as the "College Entrance Examination Season" to continuously contribute to brand upgrades. able.
In a rapidly changing environment, the only thing that can transcend change is long-termism, not opportunism.
This year, Six Walnuts will, on the basis of maintaining its traditional marketing advantages, accelerate its layout in the Internet and mobile Internet fields, and continue to engage with the new generation through diversified content and communication methods such as topic marketing, interactive marketing, and IP co-branding. Communicate with consumer groups to achieve efficient recognition of brand value.
Looking at the history of a century-old enterprise, it is found that those brands that have been prosperous for a long time tend to iterate with time, but the core of long-termism remains unchanged, and the same will be true for Six Walnuts.