Wuliangye can't beat Maotai in the dispute over how strong liquor is, and is swinging a knife at the "hometown"?

　　Chinanews client, Beijing, December 7 (Zuo Yukun) Recently, a news about Wuliangye asking distributors to "choose one of two" between Wuliangye and Luzhou Laojiao was circulating on the Internet.

Has this routine that has been tired of Internet companies spread to the liquor industry?

Wuliangye takes Luzhou Laojiao "surgery

　　In recent years, there have been constant battles among major e-commerce platforms, and it is not uncommon for businesses to "choose one of the other".

Unexpectedly, this kind of operation, which hurts both merchants and consumers, appeared in the liquor industry.

　　The matter originated from the meeting minutes of the "Zhejiang Marketing War Zone of Yibin Wuliangye Co., Ltd." circulating on the Internet.

The theme of this November 26th meeting was "Competitive Product Operation".

The picture comes from the network.

　　One of the participants said: "The 2021 plan will be implemented after November 26, and the 2021 contract will be signed today. The major competing product distributor companies have decided to suspend the contract signing, and will only consider signing the contract until the merchant makes a clear statement." .

　　Another person said: "1. Clearly choose Wuliangye and abandon Guojiao. 2. Processing method: platform company equity transfer, find relevant interested merchants to take over, involving financial accounting, auditing, equity transfer procedures, etc., which require 2-3 Time of month".

　　It is not difficult to see that the so-called "competitive product marketing situation" is actually to say to the dealers who "step on two boats": there is me without him, and he without me.

Wuliangye needs distributors to make a clear statement and make a choice between Wuliangye and Guojiao 1573 before they consider signing a new year contract.

Image source: Weibo @泸州老島中国Glory

　　Guojiao 1573 is the image product of Luzhou Laojiao series.

Chinanews.com learned from the relevant staff of Luzhou Laojiao that the company learned about the situation through multiple channels.

"I don't know whether it is a corporate behavior, a regional behavior, or a personal behavior, but no matter which type it is, it is inconsistent with the relevant departments of Sichuan's call for the development and revitalization of Sichuan wine. The situation has been reported to relevant departments.

　　As for Wuliangye, a staff member of Wuliangye Group contacted by Chinanews.com said that the company did not respond.

However, the staff in the sales area said, "This is a common business practice, and everyone still has to talk about'cooperation'."

　　According to media reports, the relevant person in charge of the Wuliangye Zhejiang marketing war zone responded through the circle of friends, saying that in the process of brand optimization management, the war zone evaluated and optimized the company's own products, brands, and categories in the market area, and adjusted and improved the performance. It’s a common practice in marketing to eliminate those customers with extremely poor performance.

From "Baotuan

　　A few days ago, when Sichuan and Tibet staged a "grabbing battle" for the Tibetan guy Ding Zhen, who was all over the Internet, some netizens said that there are too many knowledge points in Sichuan that need to be corrected. For example, when it comes to wine, how many People think Wuliangye is from Guizhou?

Actually it is from Sichuan!

　　Not only that, Luzhou Laojiao, Jiannanchun, Langjiu, Shede, Shuijingfang, Fenggu, Tuopai, Quanxing, Mianzhu Daqu, Jintan Yuye...this series of well-known liquor brands are all from Sichuan.

　　The reason why Wuliangye and other Sichuan wine parties leave the impression of Guizhou originating from Guizhou is because Guizhou Moutai is so famous.

　　In the field of liquor, Moutai can be said to be the best.

Nowadays, its value is not limited to drinking. There are many people who buy Moutai and store it in their homes waiting for the appreciation, and they are called "luxury in the wine industry" by consumers.

Data map: Moutai.

Photo by Qu Honglun

　　On the other hand, Chuanjiu, also known as the "Famous Sichuan and Guizhou Liquor," has always been in a suppressed position.

Therefore, in 2019, the Sichuan Famous Liquor Alliance, including Wuliangye and Luzhou Laojiao, was led by the Sichuan Famous Liquor Alliance, with the intention of integrating resources and cluster development to develop the Dachuan liquor market and realize the revitalization of Sichuan liquor.

　　The industry generally believes that Chuanjiu’s “warm up” is to use the “wolf effect” to counter the “outstanding” of Qianjiu.

　　"Wuliangye and Luzhou Laojiao are neighbors separated by a strip of water and the two major brands of Chinese high-end aromatic liquor. Both parties should further strengthen collaboration and cooperation to jointly promote the construction of the province's food and beverage trillion-level industry and polish the six golden flowers. 'Brand.' Li Shuguang, chairman of Wuliangye Group, said in 2019.

Why does "choose one out of two

"

　　Under the epidemic situation in 2020, the liquor industry will naturally be affected.

Data from the National Bureau of Statistics show that in the first 10 months of 2020, the cumulative domestic liquor output was 5.463 million kiloliters, a year-on-year decrease of 10.4%.

At the same time, this is also the third consecutive year that liquor output has declined over the same period. In recent years, the situation of the liquor market has also undergone major changes.

　　Among them, the most uncomfortable is Wuliangye, "the second child of the boss".

In 1998, Wuliangye old wine in 60-degree drum bottle.

Image source: Weibo @五粮液

　　Wuliangye once lived above Maotai in Guizhou Province, and was known as the "Big Liquor" of the industry.

Until 2013, Kweichow Moutai surpassed Wuliangye and became the new wine king.

　　"The highlight of Wuliangye is around 2008." Financial industry analyst Wang Chikun said that during that time, Wuliangye held the pricing power of liquor.

Wuliangye is priced at 1,000 yuan, and Moutai is about 60 yuan lower than him, and other liquors are priced sequentially.

　　"Today, Wuliangye, which has passed its peak, is squeezing down the relatively resourceful and weak Luzhou Laojiao when it is unable to compete directly with Moutai." Some people in the wine industry commented this way.

　　"The main reason for the emergence of'two-choice one' is that the liquor market capacity is difficult to break through, and the ceiling appears. Now it is competition for stocks, one declining." According to Xiao Zhuqing, a liquor industry expert, Luzhou Laojiao's current marketing strategy is more affected. High-end liquor consumers love it, but Wuliangye's approach is more traditional.

Guojiao 1573 Liquor Panda Edition.

Image source: Luzhou Laojiao WeChat public account

　　"Wuliangye's core market is East China, but Luzhou Laojiao is currently growing rapidly in the East China market, which also makes Wuliangye feel the pressure." Xiao Zhuqing told Chinanews.com.

It’s not easy to be a boss

    Li Shuguang once ridiculed: "It's not easy to be the boss in the arena, nor is it good to be the second child, especially the second child who has been the boss."

    When everyone felt that the "choose one of the two" style of play reflected Wuliangye's embarrassment, there was another voice who believed that it just showed Wuliangye's ambition.

　　"Wuliangye looks at Moutai before, and hinders its pursuit of soldiers. It may be based on many reasons." Some insiders believe.

　　The three-quarter report shows that in the first three quarters of 2020, Moutai's revenue was 67.215 billion yuan, and its operating income and net profit attributable to shareholders of listed companies increased by 10.31% and 11.07% respectively.

In the same period of 2019, the year-on-year growth of Moutai was 16.64% and 23.13% respectively.

The slowdown in Maotai's growth rate is obvious.

Data map: Packaging workshop of Moutai Distillery.

Photo by Qu Honglun

　　On the other hand, Wuliangye's financial report is better than Moutai.

In the first three quarters of 2020, Wuliangye achieved revenue of 42.493 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 14.53%; net profit attributable to shareholders of listed companies was 14.545 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 15.96%.

　　Let’s look at Chuanjiu Lao Er Luzhou Laojiao. In the first three quarters of 2020, its operating income was 11.599 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 1.06%; the net profit attributable to listed shareholders was 4.815 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 26.88%.

Although the growth momentum is good, the gap between Wuliangye and Wuliangye is much larger than the gap between Wuliangye and Maotai.

　　While holding on to chasing soldiers, whether Wuliangye still has the dream of returning to the top is still unknown.

But in the view of lawyers, if the "choice of two" situation is true, the anti-monopoly law and anti-unfair competition law may already be waiting for Wuliangye.

　　"In any case, the emergence of'choose one out of two' indicates that vicious competition in the liquor industry is about to come." Xiao Zhuqing believes.

　　What wine do you usually drink?

Under the dispute over how strong liquor is, who do you stand for?

(Finish)