With the retreat of the Jianzi brand in the pharmaceutical and health care products market, products that have changed from Jianzhunzi to Yaozhunzi are facing competition from diversified markets and brands. Identifying the core value of the product, clarifying the brand's personality and positioning, and implementing the brand marketing strategy are important ways for such products to step out of themselves and successfully innovate.
Sanbao Double Happiness was a once-all-powerful kidney-tonifying brand. It created miracles of hundreds of millions of yuan in sales during the New Year and moved batches of devout kidney-tonifying consumers. However, starting in 2000, this old brand, which had experienced more than ten years of market turmoil, began to experience crisis. Especially after the state strengthened the regulatory management of kidney-tonifying advertisements, its marketing has fallen into an unprecedented passive situation. Facing the new market environment, how to innovate old brands and step out of themselves has become a realistic and urgent issue for Sanbao Shuangxi Group.
Reflection: The product transformation strategy needs to be adjusted
Sambo Double Happiness has been using the northern marketing model since its launch, and the independence and initiative of the marketing managers in each regional market have been fully utilized; However, in the long run, the headquarters has weak control over the market, which is not conducive to market development.
Since the late 1990s, the health care product market has fallen into a trough. There has been a crisis of trust in health care products, advertising of kidney-tonifying products has been restricted, and similar products have entered the market on a large scale. In addition, the state has rectified the health care product market and strengthened the health care industry. The font size was cancelled (all three products of Sanbao Double Happiness were Jian font sizes), the weaknesses of Sanbao Double Happiness were gradually revealed, and all three products were facing transformation. At the end of 2002, all three products of Sanbao Double Happiness obtained drug approval batch numbers. However, due to insufficient market support from the headquarters in terms of advertising and other aspects, many merchants were in a wait-and-see mode, resulting in a sharp decline in sales of Sanbao Double Happiness across the country. Analyzing from the objective market environment, there are mainly three reasons:
Product transformation and marketing strategy adjustment are not synchronized. Sanbao Double Happiness has long pursued a marketing strategy of advertising to stimulate the market. For a long time, marketers have ignored terminal construction. When the amount of advertising is insufficient, product information cannot be effectively disseminated, allowing competing products to gain the upper hand at the terminal. In addition, three products will need to be transformed, the original batch numbers will be cancelled, the company will stop production, and the old products will be completely withdrawn from the market by the end of 2003. In order to prevent the loss of advertising resources, advertising investment will be significantly reduced. These factors have greatly weakened the company's efforts in marketing. Without the support of major advertising, dealers are not optimistic about product sales prospects and dare not make bold purchases. This is probably the helplessness of the market during the product transformation period.
Competition in the kidney-tonifying and anti-hair loss market has begun to diversify. Since the late 1990s, competition in the kidney-tonifying market has become very fierce. National brands represented by Huiren Shenbao have suddenly emerged and quickly spread across the national market. Red, occupying most of the market share of Sanbao Double Happiness. Huiren Shenbao followed the marketing strategy of the three strains, worked hard on high-altitude media and ground promotion, and became the trump card of kidney tonifying in one fell swoop; Bushen Yishou Capsule relied on corporate brands to drive products, strengthened terminal animation and high-altitude media follow-up, and positioned itself as a mid-to-high-end product It has become a national brand; other anti-fatigue and kidney-tonifying products such as Liuwei Dihuang Pills, quick-acting aphrodisiacs, Yedao Lugui Wine, Kebang, etc. are also segmenting the market.
Among the anti-hair loss and hair growth products, Merck’s Hair Loss Treatment has entered the market with a high price and a high profile due to its fast-acting characteristics. Focusing on hospital channels, it has strengthened pharmacy terminal packaging promotion, soft terminal marketing and follow-up. Advance, through the media combination of outdoor, subway, light box advertising and professional media promotion, it quickly occupied a place. Some traditional Chinese medicine products are mainly sold through specialty stores, starting from professional guidance and nursing, adopting a one-to-one marketing model, promoting service marketing, and grasping the psychology of some consumers. According to incomplete statistics, due to the large market group, there are currently more than 100 domestic companies producing anti-hair loss and hair growth products. It is foreseeable that similar new products will emerge one after another. At present, some products have begun to be distributed across the country, striving to become national brands.
Brand-led companies are on the rise. Through market research, we learned that Triple Happiness is very well-known in some areas, but its reputation has declined, and some loyal customers are losing. It can be proved from the market situation of kidney replenishment and hair growth in recent years that when Rongfa Nourishing Beauty stopped promoting in Guangdong, a large number of newcomers to stop hair loss and hair growth stood out and quickly seized market share. Market research information from Beijing and Guangzhou Rongfa Yangyanbao shows that although many consumers psychologically identify with Three Treasures and Double Happiness and trust the old brand, they tend to follow the advertisements when purchasing products.
It can be seen that if an enterprise wants to build a strong brand, especially when it has a large product series, it must consider integrating marketing resources, giving full play to its advantages and strengthening guidance.
Countermeasures: Brand marketing and market planning
Finding the core value of the product, clarifying the brand personality and positioning, and implementing the brand marketing strategy are the first choices for triple treasures and double happiness innovation. The first thing that brand marketing must solve is the issue of brand personality, including brand naming, packaging design, product price, brand concept, brand spokesperson, image style, brand applicable objects, etc. In the minds of most people, the Three Treasures and Double Happiness are always associated with kidney-tonifying and are a specific kidney-tonifying symbol, so the company can be positioned as a professional kidney-tonifying and healthy enterprise. According to the brand impression test, it was found that most consumers highly recognized the logo of a group of cows, the pattern of a group of cows, the columnar mushroom cloud, and the orange-yellow color band. These clearly corporate symbols should be continued.
In terms of product concept, it is necessary to make full use of traditional Chinese medicine theory to design different product concepts according to different product needs, and at the same time unify product attributes and image style. For example, for the therapeutic Rongfa Capsules, we want to give people the feeling of medicine, but use columnar mushroom clouds and orange-yellow color bands, and in terms of picture presentation, we need to lock consumers' eyes in the center of the package. Because the Seventeen Flavors for Kidney Replenishing Cream is mainly aimed at middle-aged and elderly people, the color ribbon should reflect festive colors. Red is used as the base color, plus the symbol of a herd of cows, to embody all the elements of the Three Treasures and Double Happiness, giving people a sense of joy. Strong desire to take supplements. Shenyang Capsule completely follows the new brand route, using a classical Chinese medicine expert as the background image, showing personality from the simple image, emphasizing being a wonderful man, including the design must be decent, refined and classy.
Brand communication includes advertising style, communication objects, media strategy, advertising activities, public relations activities, word-of-mouth image, terminal display, etc. According to the characteristics of consumer groups, market characteristics, and seasonal characteristics, different marketing activities should be planned, the most appropriate media should be selected, and the communication should be carried out in the most appropriate way of expression, including follow-up of high-altitude and ground terminals, strengthening the advantages of integrated communication, and making the brand More consistent in performance style.
Brand sales and brand management should target all aspects of the past marketing system. At the same time, more attention should be paid to the construction of the marketing team and strive for breakthroughs in channel promotion and terminal construction. We must not only focus on high-altitude media to build momentum, but also strengthen interception by ground troops to ensure that marketing is implemented effectively.
In the development of series products, in addition to consolidating existing products, we should also follow up in the fields of health food and medicine in an orderly manner, complementing the advantages and channels of existing products to avoid disruption due to product transformation. There are many possible disadvantages.
In addition, we should also adjust our thinking on the operation of the national market, with the marketing management center as the core, establish a branch or office system in various regions, and the headquarters can truly realize the management and monitoring of each region; strengthen the distribution business management to avoid possible business risks.
Outlook: Tactical update to regain glory
Sambo Shuangxi, a kidney-tonifying health brand, is one of the earliest kidney-tonifying companies. When mentioning Three Treasures and Double Happiness, quite a few consumers will immediately think of kidney-tonifying and virile-strengthening products, which to a certain extent defines the nature of the company. Although the company has some common medicine varieties, according to modern marketing rules, breaking through specialization is the wisest strategic choice. Sanbao Shuangxi should make a difference in the field of kidney tonifying, establish its own status as a kidney tonifying health expert, and develop a series of kidney tonifying products around kidney tonifying. , discover your own brand characteristics.
Big positioning and accurate selection of big markets. According to the strategic thinking of brand marketing, reasonable product lines should be designed and different products should be positioned according to different market needs. We can also work on different batch numbers and launch products with similar functions but different batch numbers to facilitate terminal complementation.
When it comes to a single product, price is a very sensitive topic. Differentiated and market-oriented pricing strategies are a heavy weight for new products to enter the market. In addition, although the products are all based on the principle of nourishing the kidneys in traditional Chinese medicine, they should have different conceptual focuses, and they should be different from the main competing products and differentiated from the appeal points of old products.
Service marketing focuses on brands. As a mature brand, Sanbao Double Happiness is very well-known in Xi'an. However, due to the large number of similar competing products and the emergence of new brands, customers feel at a loss and can only follow the advertisements, which leads to consumer dissatisfaction. Loyalty is getting lower and lower, and the market is getting more difficult.
Therefore, when promoting Shenyang Capsules and Kidney-tonifying Seventeen Flavors, we must start with the principles of traditional Chinese medicine, guide consumption, establish a correct and healthy concept of kidney-tonifying, provide relevant consultation based on symptoms, conduct one-on-one service marketing, and gradually improve the marketing process. Establish customer health files and strengthen communication with consumers. Especially for anti-hair loss and hair growth products, some hair loss patients are often eager for quick success and want to grow their hair immediately after taking the medicine. This requires in-place service marketing and requires professionals to patiently explain and scientifically guide treatment.
In order to adapt to new market demands, pre-sales, sales, and after-sales services should be strengthened to maintain and enhance brand image. For example, Rongfa Capsule is a therapeutic drug. It is not only necessary to provide a dedicated service center or place to improve the visual image display of the store, but also to truly answer difficult questions for consumers and pay attention to the quality of service; specifically the application of hair detectors and the service of trichologists. Professional guidance and the strengthening of one-on-one tracking services must be accurate and meticulous; it is also necessary to tailor the right medicine to different consumers to provide strong support for overall sales.
Three years ago, Sanbao Double Happiness gave the industry a satisfactory answer; three years later, under the guidance of brand marketing ideas, can Sanbao Double Happiness regain its glory? We sincerely look forward to it.