What are the differences in the competitive strategies of the new brands "Jiang Xiaobai" and "Lianglu"?

If you were to ask: In the current liquor market, which new brands are more popular among marketers ?

I think many people would say: Jiang Xiaobai and Lianglu.

Needless to say, Jiang Xiaobai is probably more well-known in the marketing industry than in the liquor industry... and Lianglu, a new brand that was only launched in 2017, also instantly attracted the attention of many marketers through overwhelming TV advertisements and offline channels . (Of course, the identity of its founder also brings its own attention, he is the one who previously worked on Jicao 5X)

What everyone is most interested in is its slogan - Lianglu, a wine to drink when eating spicy food.

Yes, this is undoubtedly a new trend in the liquor industry and another classic case in the marketing world. This is the typical product of "positioning thinking" - achieving differentiation by "finding empty spaces".

In addition, it is quite interesting to put Jiang Xiaobai and Lianglu together: on the one hand, they are both new brands that are relatively innovative; on the other hand, their prices are not much different, and both brands seem to be very strong... It really makes people feel uncomfortable if they don't compare them.

So in this article, we will use these two brands to look at: What are the basic competitive strategies of companies? What are their respective advantages and disadvantages?

Later, I will focus on analyzing the Lianglu brand to see what advantages and disadvantages it has in terms of marketing, and propose improvement ideas for these shortcomings. I hope it can provide some reference for brands with similar problems.

1. Competitive Strategy

Jiang Xiaobai and Lianglu actually adopt completely different competitive strategies.

According to Michael Porter's theory, companies have three basic strategies to make themselves more outstanding: cost leadership strategy, differentiation strategy, and focus strategy.

Cost leadership strategy: This is easy to understand. Companies can control costs below their competitors through larger scale or stronger bargaining power with upstream parties, thereby achieving above-average performance. The most typical examples are Walmart and many Japanese companies at the end of the last century. (At that time, these Japanese companies could receive a lot of government subsidies)

Differentiation strategy: Companies can achieve very good results by focusing on strengthening their attributes in certain aspects, making these attributes far superior to their peers. Typical examples include Haidilao - focusing on improving its service; Hanting Hotel - focusing on improving its sanitation environment, etc.

Concentration strategy: Companies can achieve higher profit levels by focusing on smaller market segments, enabling them to meet the needs of specific markets more efficiently than their competitors. For example, Southwest Airlines focuses on short-distance travel; Logitech Mouse focuses on gaming mice, etc.

(PS, in actual application, most companies adopt multiple strategies or their combination strategies, and very few companies adopt only a single strategy. Therefore, when we say that a company adopts XX strategy, we are actually saying that it "approximately" adopts XX strategy)

Jiang Xiaobai adopts a typical differentiation strategy - it stands out in the liquor market by focusing on strengthening the "emotional attributes" and "youthful characteristics" of the product, rather than focusing on "fragrance and classic heritage" like other liquors.

Lianglu adopts a concentrated strategy - there are many scenarios related to liquor, including gift giving, gatherings, weddings, birthday celebrations, eating spicy food, eating braised food, and drinking alone (yes, you can define it from many dimensions)... and Lianglu selects a scenario that has never been effectively occupied by other competitors, and positions itself according to this scenario.

So, which of these two strategies is better?

As for the strategy itself, it is difficult to make a conclusion. All we can say for now is this: if the entire liquor market is facing marginalization and is gradually being abandoned by a new generation of consumers, then Jiang Xiaobai's strategy will be more advantageous because it can make people re-examine liquor and allow people who don't like liquor to try it; but if the liquor market is in its mature stage, then Lianglu's concentration strategy is very wise, and it is best to capture its own territory as soon as possible and occupy the minds of consumers.

Yes , the biggest advantage of the differentiation strategy is that it allows people to examine their products with completely different standards, thereby allowing them to "break free from the category value chain." For example, Haidilao. Maybe many people don’t like hotpot, but after hearing that Haidilao’s service is so good, they would like to try it in order to enjoy this kind of treatment.

The concentration strategy can more effectively capture part of the market share in the "current category market".

However, if we apply these two strategies specifically to the products, packaging and concepts of Jiang Xiaobai and Lianglu, in my personal opinion, Jiang Xiaobai is still better. At least, it has no obvious problems or vulnerabilities.

2. The problem of cool dew

I won’t go into details about Jiang Xiaobai’s marketing analysis here, as everyone else has written about it… let’s focus on Lianglu.

Let’s talk about the advantages first: clear positioning; reasonable routines; precise channels.

The positioning of Lianglu is very clear.

First of all, the name is good - Lianglu, which means coolness can relieve spiciness, which is consistent with our perception; and its slogan "wine to drink when eating spicy food" can instantly target the specific scene and reflect the differentiated value of Lianglu compared with other liquors. (PS, differentiated value does not mean differentiated strategy, don’t confuse them)

In addition, to strengthen this positioning, the persuasion tactics used by Lianglu in its advertisements are also worth learning:

Eat steak and drink red wine;

Eat sushi and sashimi and drink sake;

Eat hairy crabs and drink rice wine;

When eating spicy food or drinking alcohol, choose Lianglu!

This is a very typical brainwashing technique - taking advantage of the experience effect, what is said first are "truths known to everyone", and then instilling the ideas that you really want others to accept.

Finally, to match this positioning, its channels are also well selected - mainly restaurants, rather than supermarkets and e-commerce . After all, the behavior of "eating spicy food" is relatively concentrated in hot pot restaurants, barbecue restaurants, crayfish restaurants and Sichuan restaurants, etc. You don't need to go to those selling seafood porridge... This is a very efficient and accurate choice.

However, all of the above is a story for later.

The real problem with Lianglu actually arises at a higher level – is its positioning reasonable? Does it conform to people’s cognition?

Lianglu, from a product perspective, is actually a liquor with a relatively low alcohol content. (Although the official website and advertisements do not say this, almost everyone thinks so)

Is it really more suitable to drink white wine when eating spicy food?

I think no matter who you ask this question, he won’t agree...

Because compared to red wine, rice wine, beer, etc., the biggest feature of white wine can actually be described in one word, that is "spicy"... Let me ask: Why should a wine that is "spicy" in itself call itself "wine for spicy food"? ( Unless you want it spicier, which is probably fine.)

This has nothing to do with the alcohol concentration. Once consumers think that you are a liquor, they will not think that you can relieve spiciness, which contradicts their previous perception.

At present, the positioning of Lianglu is not convincing enough for people who like or don’t like drinking liquor. For people who like drinking liquor, they may buy a bottle out of curiosity, and then find that its taste is not authentic. For people who don’t like drinking liquor, even if they buy a bottle out of curiosity, they will definitely buy beer that they like more, or drinks such as Jiaduobao that have a better effect in relieving spiciness...

3. What should I do?

In fact, if we look at the positioning apart from the product, "wine to drink when eating spicy food" is indeed a very good idea - first of all, the demand for relieving spiciness is real; secondly, "eating spicy food" is a very frequent "incentive" and the market is also huge. If a wine can really successfully occupy this positioning, then its commercial value will be absolutely immeasurable.

It’s just that the current Lianglu cannot effectively support this positioning…

So, how can Lianglu support this positioning?

In fact, the problem and the solution are hidden in the picture that just appeared, a screenshot from Lianglu’s official website:

Obviously, the people who formulated the strategy for Lianglu must have read "Positioning" and studied persuasion theory, but I wonder if they have noticed a problem: the first three of the four photos shown above are about categories (red wine, sake, and rice wine), while the last one is obviously a liquor brand...

Yes, the current Lianglu possesses almost all the typical characteristics of white wine - transparent wine, transparent glass bottle, transparent glass cup... Even if the official has never directly said that it is a kind of white wine, consumers will definitely regard it as white wine, and will not regard it as "wine for drinking with spicy food."

This is the problem, but also the solution - there is nothing wrong with launching a "wine for spicy food", but it must not be regarded as liquor, but a "new category" different from ordinary liquor.

As it says in "Positioning": People are not easy to accept when you say that their previous views are wrong, but they are more likely to accept something new that they don't know yet.

So, how to create a new category?

Regarding this point, we can think about it from two aspects: " copywriting " and "product" .

1) Copywriting

If you want to create a new category, first of all, of course you need a loud and distinctive name for the new category, so that people can intuitively see what it is and what it is not.

Just like Nobel porcelain polished tiles - in order to distinguish them from ordinary tiles, the registered symbol "R" is deliberately added to the two words "porcelain polished" to emphasize them.

Similarly, Lianglu also needs a new category name to differentiate itself from ordinary liquor.

As for category naming, there are two ideas for reference:

One is to name them after the "unique ingredients" contained in the wine, like sorghum wine, wine and snake gall wine. Then people will no longer regard them as ordinary liquor, fruit wine and medicinal wine, but a distinctive category of wine.

In the advertisement of Lianglu, there is a sentence: "Cool and moist floral and fruity aroma, sweet as dew in the mouth." Its official website also points out that the cooling dew contains some special "cooling substances". (Exact cost unknown)

Here, the composition of this "cool substance" should actually be made public (or semi-public) - no matter what flower or fruit it comes from, it should be directly used in the name of the category, so that people can see the difference between Lianglu and ordinary liquor at a glance. Instead of being vague like now...

The second naming idea is to create a new concept based on the name of an existing wine category.

Since the official has stated that Lianglu contains some kind of "cool substance", we can borrow the concept of "Lu wine" to create a new category, such as "Lu Baijiu" - as the name suggests, a wine that combines the common characteristics of Lu wine and Baijiu. (PS, Lujiu is made by adding other ingredients to ordinary distilled liquor. For example, Sanbian Liquor, Shenrong Liquor, and Cordyceps Liquor are all Lujiu)

Therefore, the final copywriting effect is probably like this: (Take "Lu Baijiu" as an example)

In short, whether it is "Lianglulu Liquor" or "Lianglu XX Liquor", the ultimate goal is the same - to make Lianglu the representative of a new category, rather than being regarded as an ordinary liquor with a lower alcohol content.

2) Products

Of course, to create a new category, you can’t just talk about it at the copywriting level, but you have to re-plan the packaging and even the product itself, "highlighting the characteristics of the category" - it’s best if people don’t even look at the advertisement or the text, just glance at the product and feel that it is not a liquor, at least not a liquor in the traditional sense.

So, what are category characteristics? Just look at the other wines:

Red wine - dark green bottle with cork, dark red wine color, and stemware;

Sake – porcelain bottles and glasses;

Ginseng wine - this is the most intuitive, it contains ginseng...

Of course, olfactory characteristics are also acceptable. For example, Jinjiu smells a bit like medicinal wine, which makes it easier for people to believe the advertising promise of "Jinjiu is good".

Yes, whether it is the shape of the wine bottle, the material of the wine bottle, the color of the wine, the taste of the wine, the additives in the wine, or the shape and material of the wine glass, they are all things that can be modified.

As for Lianglu, we should at least start with its "flavor" and "additives" - appropriately enhance its floral and fruity aroma, rather than just having a lighter wine taste; and like the ginseng wine in the picture above, put "something" in it so that people can see it visually at a glance. ( Of course, the placement method can be very particular, and it does not have to be as rough as ginseng wine... You can refer to exquisite tea bags, or even directly set a filter layer at the bottom or mouth of the bottle, etc.)

In short, whether it is smell or vision, there must be a perceptible and distinctive symbol - to make people think that the fragrance and additives here are the so-called "cool substances". Just like the "mint flavor" of toothpaste, the "blue particles" of laundry detergent, and Nanfu's "energy-gathering ring" - although these things have no practical use on a technical level, they do make people believe more: this product really contains some mysterious technology...

By the way: One of the major reasons why Jicao 5X failed is that it did not have a significant symbol at the product level that could make people believe that "this thing is really made of Cordyceps."

To summarize:

Many people say that positioning theory is easy to learn, but will be wrong when applied.

In fact, Lianglu is a typical example of a “wrong approach” – the concept of positioning itself is very good, but the execution of the concept has not kept up…

Although slogans and brand names are the most discussed in "Positioning", it is by no means enough to rely on them alone to form a truly effective positioning... Including the category names and product symbols mentioned in this article, they are just two of the more obvious aspects that I can think of that should be followed up.

Everything is one thing, and one thing is everything - whether a concept can be successful does not depend entirely on the concept itself. The key lies in whether the concept is implemented in all aspects of the entire project.

Just like Jiang Xiaobai, in order to highlight the emotional attributes, even the design of the bottle is very particular, different from other brands - it is flat, the bottleneck is very short, and the wrapping paper wraps around a whole circle... This can provide a larger display space and a better display angle for its topical and thoughtful copywriting and other content.

This is what they mean when they say details determine success or failure.

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