Market practice has proven: about 80% of products are in a slow-moving state! If the reasons for product sluggishness are not accurately analyzed (especially for new products), senior marketing management will first approach the market department: wasn't market research conducted before the launch of new products? Wasn't there budget support for promoting new products? Then, the market department would blame the sales department: why didn't you implement the company's new product promotion policy? Why didn't you timely feedback information after the new product was launched to the market department? The sales department would then scold frontline employees: why aren't you working hard? Why didn't you push the new product to the market with all your might? Why didn't you place the new product in the best position and give it the largest display area? As a result, the company's flaws suddenly appear without reservation: everyone scrambles for credit when things go well, but blames each other when mistakes happen! So, who is to blame for the slow-moving products? The author analyzes the causes of product sluggishness from the following aspects:
1. Brand influence: generally speaking, the larger the brand influence, the smaller the proportion of slow-moving products; conversely, the larger!
Brand companies, from a functional perspective, all have marketing departments and sales departments. The marketing department is responsible for new product launch plans, research, feasibility analysis, product promotion policy formulation, and other product leadership-related work and objectives. The sales department's main function is to implement the marketing department's plan, execute product promotion policies, and provide market information feedback to the marketing department! Meanwhile, in today's competitive market environment, brand companies increasingly emphasize the construction of the marketing department because the marketing department essentially determines the life or death of a product and directly decides whether the company can sustain long-term success!
P&G, known as the "marketing guru" in the industry, conducts extensive research on target consumer groups before launching new products: preferences, functionality, price, packaging, color coordination, etc. After the prototype is born, they conduct on-site testing and analysis. Then, they produce a small batch of new products and test them in representative markets. Finally, based on the success rate of the trial sales, they decide whether to comprehensively promote the new product! Despite a series of arguments, P&G is extremely cautious about launching new products to ensure a high success rate for new product launches! According to industry feedback: in the domestic market, starting from 2008, any single product within the P&G series that does not achieve an annual sales volume of 1 billion yuan will be eliminated. One of the goals is to minimize the occurrence of slow-moving products and protect the brand!
At the same time, many domestic small and medium-sized enterprises believe that building a brand is simply about hiring image spokespeople, doing advertisements, increasing popularity, and creating hype! They also hire management consulting companies to do brand integration management and bring in marketing experts from the industry to lead their teams, believing that this achieves the goal of branding! In reality, such brands lack cultural depth and are fundamentally hollow! They lack clear goals, clear brand concepts, and value innovation culture! Unknown to many, brands require time to accumulate! In 2005, a Shantou-based oil company (specializing in OEM production, with annual sales exceeding 1 billion yuan) invested nearly 1 billion yuan to create its product name "Good Oil" as a brand and hired a Shenzhen-based planning company for comprehensive planning and promotion. Thus, at trade fairs, TV advertisements, newspaper advertisements, and billboard advertisements, a series of actions were carried out for "air-land-sea" full-scale bombardment! Aside from these, let's look at their advertising slogan: "Good Oil, no smoke at 360 degrees!" This implies educating consumers that cooking oil fumes are very harmful to health, but it did not resonate with or win over consumers, so a few months later, the product quietly disappeared! On the contrary, the famous domestic brand Li Ning, with its slogan "Anything is possible," captured the consumer mindset and achieved the goal of brand expansion!
Finally, for the leading brands in the writing stationery industry, the author believes: for the student group, whether the advertising slogan moves the students' minds and occupies their thoughts is very important. It might be better to use "Ideals are written down!" as the appeal, which could play a more striking role!
2. Product Innovation: the more innovative the product, the more prominent the selling points, and the smaller the proportion of slow-moving products! Conversely, the more imitative products, the higher the proportion of slow-moving products!
In today's developed information society, once a product becomes popular, many companies jump on the bandwagon. I dare to bet that within a month, there will definitely be imitations on the market. In fact, imitation is not bad, the key lies in whether you are the first to occupy the consumer's mind!
San Hui Mai Feng, the pioneer of French bread, was followed and surpassed by Fujian Panpan Foods. From a product perspective, Panpan indeed followed suit, but the difference lies in the fact that Panpan not only has a perfect distribution channel, but also in central television advertisements, you will see the star Jiang Wenli holding a loaf of bread and shouting "French bread, still Panpan is the best!" This occupies the consumer's mind, establishes a consumer fortress, and tells consumers to think of Panpan Foods when buying bread, making consumers feel that San Hui Bread is just following trends! Later, food enterprises led by Dali Garden joined in, and the entire bread market presented a vast ocean, with sales profits dropping by at least 30%! Indeed, the number of companies boldly entering the bread market is almost countless!
In fact, product innovation isn't difficult, what's difficult is that we don't pay attention to the details of life, and lack investigation and understanding of consumers. Because innovation itself comes from mastering details! Only products originating from the details of life, sourced from the details of life, can resonate with consumers! Zhejiang Good Baby Toy Group's "infant stroller" was creatively inspired by listening to the voices of baby mothers, winning a blue ocean! Jin Wannian Stationery Group Company launched its 1157 neutral pen in March 2009, targeting children, creatively inspired by the childhood game of "Rock-Paper-Scissors," catering to the voices of children, occupying the minds of little friends, winning a world, and pioneering a new era in the stationery industry! These two companies are classic cases of winning the market through product development creativity!
3. Channel Coverage: the stronger the channel coverage of a company, the smaller the proportion of slow-moving products; the weaker the channel coverage, the higher the proportion of slow-moving products!
It is well-known that product distribution channels are like human blood vessels, and products are like blood. If the blood vessel is damaged or blocked, the blood flow will be obstructed, causing discomfort or even death. Similarly, products will become slow-moving or even fade from the market!
In today's era where supply exceeds demand, having channels means having product distribution networks, and having networks means having the market. Channel construction remains a top priority for most companies. How to combine the product reality and do well in channel construction while strengthening the distribution network has become the key to examining the survival of a company!
The famous domestic stationery enterprise Jin Wannian Stationery Company has been vigorously expanding its "three-store construction" in recent years, tightly binding together the interests of "retail terminals, core customers, and the company." This has created a strong distribution network, breaking through with great results! Starting from 2009, large numbers of new products were launched, basically visible in stationery retail terminals in various cities within one month! This is a classic case of owning distribution channels and owning the market!
4. Product Push and Pull Power: setting appropriate "push and pull" forces for products reduces the proportion of slow-moving products; naively conducting product sales increases the proportion of slow-moving products!
When talking about product push and pull power, let's briefly examine the slope principle: how can a ball on a slope reach the highest point fastest? One force comes from the top "pull", and another comes from the bottom "push". Only by combining "push and pull" can the ball climb fastest!
To achieve the best sales performance for a product, besides the product's inherent characteristics, it should also have corresponding "push and pull" methods. "Push" mainly refers to factors such as shelf placement and display areas, while "pull" mainly refers to poster postings, advertising momentum, experiential marketing on-site promotions, etc.
When Coca-Cola launched its new product "Yuan Ye Cha" globally, in KA malls, you not only saw the better-placed shelves in the beverage section displaying the "Yuan Ye Cha" series, but also saw big-name celebrities like Jackie Chan promoting the product in TV ads, along with free tasting events and roadshows! This is a classic example of combining "push and pull" during a new product launch, with obvious results!
Meanwhile, event marketing that fits the occasion can have twice the effect with half the effort. After the outbreak of the Gulf War in Iraq, Tongyi Lubricants seized the opportunity and shouted "More lubrication, less friction!" becoming famous worldwide! Similarly, when Mengniu Dairy first entered the market, taking advantage of the successful spaceflight of Shenzhou V, it gained significant fame! Making a big splash!
5. Marketing Organizational Power: Marketing organizational power refers to the organizational ability from the highest level of marketing management down to frontline employees. Generally speaking, the stronger the marketing organizational power of a company, the fewer opportunities for products to become slow-moving; conversely, the more!
In this case, when the Shantou-based oil company initially launched the "Good Oil" brand, it adopted a strategy of "air-land-sea" advertising bombardment for the first three months, and only started product sales after three months. Gradually fading from the market was predictable! This is a typical case of failure in marketing organizational power!
Marketing organizational power does not simply refer to personnel management or execution capabilities, but more importantly, it refers to the understanding and execution of tactics such as new product launch plans, product promotion strategies, and distribution channel construction!
When I was responsible for the national market in a food company, before the comprehensive launch of new products, I chose the market with the best potential and market foundation. In KA malls, I used a "free gift" method and a "buy ten get one free (buy ten slow-moving products get one new product)" promotional policy, targeting mainly end consumers. However, when the policy reached the distributors, it was intercepted and split into two parts and sent to the mall! Clearly, the main purpose of this plan was to test the new product and avoid additional fees for new product displays. Decisions on further displays would be made based on trial sales results, avoiding cost losses and achieving dual benefits! But due to the distributor's misunderstanding, they failed to understand the essence of this promotional plan! This is also a case of failure in marketing organizational power!
In conclusion, good ideas will certainly lead to good product development, and good products need good ideas to understand and promote them! There are not many truly slow-moving products in the market, and about 80% of products are in a slow-moving state. The key lies in how we analyze the reasons for sluggishness and find ways to solve the problem of slow-moving products, rather than blindly blaming and shirking responsibility! How to optimize organizational structure, integrate resources, enhance operational capabilities and promotion models is what we as marketing managers must consider daily!
Ma Shuwen has held multiple positions including regional director, market manager, and marketing director in well-known domestic and international health supplement and food companies! He is very familiar with sales and market process management and has provided marketing on-site consultation and management services for many companies in the Chao-Shan region! He has published numerous articles on marketing practical knowledge on websites and magazines such as China Marketing Communication Network, Sales and Market, China Food Recruitment Network, Big Food Network, and Boshui Management Online! Currently, websites such as Sales and Market, China Food Recruitment Network, Big Food Network, and Boshui Management Online have expert columns! Finally, he warmly welcomes inquiries from friends!
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