Chinanews client, Beijing, July 21st (Zuo Yukun) In the hot summer, a refreshing sip of sparkling beverage is undoubtedly more than addiction, but the label of "unhealthy" carbonated beverages also profoundly affects the current thermos cup The balance of "drinking or not" for young people who soaked wolfberries, quit cola and greasy.
As a result, health-related beverages are here, and Yuanji Forest, which focuses on "0 sugar, 0 fat and 0 calories", is one of the best. Maybe you don’t know that the “man behind” this internet celebrity drink is the founder of the popular game "Happy Farm".
You were busy stealing vegetables without sleep, do you like to drink Yuanji Forest now?
Yuanji Forest Sparkling Water sold in the store. Photo by Zuo Yukun
The dark horse that won Coke, the killer is "you can't drink fat"
If you still don't know the brand of Yuanji Forest, the following three data may give you a taste of the positive limelight of this online celebrity drink.
In the "Double Eleven" in 2019, Yuanji Forest is second only to Vitasoy, ranking second in beverage sales across the network, beating Coca-Cola and Pepsi;
In May 2020, Yuanji Forest's sales performance reached 260 million, exceeding the total sales of 2018;
Recently, industry insiders revealed that Yuanji Forest will receive a new round of financing, and the company's valuation will reach 2 billion US dollars (equivalent to about 14 billion yuan). In October 2019, its valuation was only 3.75 billion yuan.
The packaging is Japanese style, Li Jiaqi is looking for live broadcast of the goods, and the "grass planting base" Xiaohongshu is crazy about marketing. The bubble water brand Yuanji Forest has only been established for four years. It has become a new unicorn in the beverage industry. The favor of investors.
Image source: Yuanji Forest Official Website
In the eyes of many people, drinks are no longer a fresh blue ocean. Why is Yuanji Forest successful? Ye Suping, the former R&D director of Yuanji Forest, once said: To make explosive products in the beverage industry, we must first choose the track.
What do young people value most when drinking beverages? They are addicted to sweetness, but they also know the dangers of excessive sugar intake to the human body; their pursuit of health does not mean that they will compromise the taste. For those who put on the most expensive eye cream and spend the worst night, children only make the choice, and adults want it all.
As a result, the concept of "0 sugar, 0 fat, 0 calories" easily occupied the minds of "urban beauties", and Yuanji Forest, which has zero sugar but also sweetness and carbonated flavor, stood out from the crowd of sugar-free drinks.
"Yuanji Forest" and "Happy Farm" turned out to be a "father"
For many people, soda is the memory of youth. If our youth is diffused in Coke, Sprite and Fanta, then the youth of this generation of young people may leave the memory of Yuanji Forest.
But in fact, the founder behind Yuanji Forest has not only created youthful memories for this generation.
According to Tianyan Check data, Tang Binsen, Xie Xianlin and others hold 57.81% of Yuanji Forest. Tang Binsen is the largest shareholder behind Yuanji Forest and the founder of Yuanji Forest.
Tang Binsen. Image source: Zhixingtong official website
In 2008, Tang Binsen, who had just graduated from Beihang University and was evaluated by Kaifu Li as "possibly the next Ma Huateng", founded a company called Zhixingtongtong. Soon after, the company developed a nationwide game that once dominated the Internet ups and downs and was addicted by men, women and children-"Happy Farm".
Unexpectedly, the Yuanji Forest you drank into your mouth today, whether it's peaches, oranges, grapes, or burning tea, corn silk tea, maybe it was "planted" by yourself back then.
Some netizens suddenly realized: Looking at it this way, the confrontation between "Happy Farm" and "Yuanji Forest" is quite neat.
However, Zhixingxingtong recently announced that the company's board of directors received a resignation report from Tang Binsen, the vice chairman and CEO, on June 11, 2020, and the resignation will take effect on June 11, 2020.
The father of "Happy Farm" concentrates on making beverages. He has been on the Internet all the way. He did not have any capital, talents, or supply chain background in the field of packaging beverages. He has even been relying on OEM production for the first time. The production base was officially completed in July.
But a sad fact in the beverage industry is that Tang Binsen, who came across the border, violently attacked the industry.
Explosive passwords for Internet celebrity drinks
Tang Binsen, an out-and-out Internet person, naturally brought Internet play into the creation of Yuanji Forest. Online "trading" technology is not unfamiliar.
"Founded in 2016, Yuanji Forest is an Internet+ beverage company, specializing in the production of sugar-free and low-calorie products. We have launched a series of beverages that are popular with customers, including burning tea and sparkling water." On the official website homepage, Yuanji Forest introduced himself like this. It is not difficult to see that it has never denied its "net celebrity" gene.
To become an internet celebrity, the first principle is: you have to look good.
When people buy beverages, most of them are based on their first sense. The packaging design of Yuanji Forest is also the key to its success. The use of the word "気" increases the brand's highlight identity. The minimalist Japanese-style packaging not only attracts enough attention when consumers walk into the convenience store, but also drives them to take pictures and spread on social media.
On the outside, marketing is indispensable in the Internet era of "the smell of wine is also afraid of the alleys."
Yuanji Forest is a representative beneficiary of "new advertising methods" such as e-commerce platforms, live streaming products, and online celebrity planting. In the name of evaluation, a large number of KOLs produce relevant short videos and graphic content, Li Jiaqi, Wei Ya, Luo Yonghao Both have brought goods Yuanji Forest in the live broadcast room.
Zhang Yuqi became the ambassador of Yuanji Forest Sparkling Water. Image source: Weibo @元気森林
In addition, Yuanji Forest has caught up with Hema, 711, Lawson and other chain platforms and convenience stores, and the new channel dividend has accelerated the brand's fast-forwarding. Data shows that Yuanji Forest Products has covered 30 provinces in China, and the products are on the shelves in nearly 200,000 convenience stores and offline traditional stores.
On the premise of accurately judging consumption trends and opening a market with zero sugar, "product + marketing + channel" has become the popular formula of Yuanji Forest.
Will it be as short-lived as "stealing vegetables"?
"Internet celebrities" have always been a double-edged sword, and this is no surprise in Yuanji Forest.
Yuanji Forest’s name and packaging with the breath of “Made in Japan” not only attracted attention, it also became a shackle for a while, sparking accusations of “plagiarism” of Yuanji Forest’s “fake Japanese goods”.
"When the word Japan is mentioned, the neural network will remind us of quality, and also of MUJI, a Japanese brand known for its quality, and MINISO deliberately establishes a connection with MUJI. Let you subconsciously think that MINISO is related to MUJI, and it is also related to the keyword quality of MUJI." Tang Binsen once said.
This passage may also be used as an explanation for the roots of Yuanji Forest's outer packaging design. The mentality of fighting against Japanese brands has indeed misled some consumers. Whether the quality of Yuanji Forest can make up for consumers' psychology of being "deceived" is still unknown.
Second, regardless of whether the marketing flavor is too strong, it will lead to a decline in brand value. The threshold of bubble aquatic products itself is not high, and the marketing and channel dividends it relies on are still there, and they are still replicable.
Predators have already emerged.
A few days ago, Hey Tea announced the launch of a soda production line through its official public account. The main product is 0 sugar, 0 fat + dietary fiber. The price of 5.5 yuan is almost the same as the 5 yuan Yuanji Forest. It has also settled in traditional convenience stores, supermarkets and Yuanji Forest." The front is just".
Image source: Weibo @喜茶
On the first day of sales, Hey Tea soda won its first battle in the Weiya live broadcast room. 300,000 bottles and 25,000 boxes of soda were robbed in seconds. In addition, the "Yuanji Forest" of Wahaha, Nongfu Spring, and Master Kong are also on the way.
"In terms of the ingredients and formulas of Yuanji Forest, there are no obvious features, and the product has low barriers to entry, strong reproducibility, and only relying on the Internet celebrity model to highlight. This is the biggest drawback of enterprise development." An insider said.
Is it a flash in the pan after cutting the leeks, or the lasting vitality of rejoicing in the new and never getting tired of the old? What do you think of those who have "stolen vegetables"? (Finish)