Nongfu Spring's "Ice Cup" is a big hit, boosting its unpopular products and revealing new offline marketing ideas

This article explores how Nongfu Spring drives brand growth through innovative marketing of ice cups, provides new ideas for offline marketing, and solves the problem that traditional marketing has difficulty attracting young consumers. It is recommended for marketing professionals and brand strategy planners to read.

Only half of 2024 has passed, and Nongfu Spring has already been popular three times. The first time, the dispute with Wahaha caused Nongfu Spring's stock price to plummet, attracting abuse from the entire network; the second time, it launched green bottled pure water, and was questioned for declaring war on Yilibao; the third time, Nongfu Spring's newly launched ice cups became popular in convenience stores, which can be regarded as saving the brand's reputation.

Ice cups are a popular item every summer. They are usually accompanied by the popularity of topics such as #convenience store cocktail challenge# and #convenience store DYI drinks# on Xiaohongshu, and their sales increase significantly. In previous years, the focus of these challenges was on the "formula", alcohol, juice, cold brew tea... in what proportion, and the essence was the small wine plate inserted on the ice cup. The ice cup is a convenience store's own product (represented by 711 and Convenience Bee) or a vertical edible ice brand (represented by Binglida, Bingjixian, and Bingququ). But this year, consumers focused on the container, and the essence was the white Nongfu Spring logo that was set off by various liquids and looked particularly artistic.

Morketing visited several convenience stores and found that there are roughly three types of ice cups: one is pure cube ice like Nongfu Spring, which costs about 4 yuan; one is ice balls, which are mostly used for cocktails and cost about 9 yuan; and the other is a cube ice cup with fruit inside, which costs about 6 yuan. A Lawson clerk told Morketing that many people would buy Nongfu Spring ice cups because they think they are of better quality.

1. Nongfu Spring is betting again, this time with other products

What exactly is Nongfu Spring's intention in making ice cups? From an operational perspective, it hopes to find a new growth curve through the ice cup category, and from a marketing perspective, it is to boost sales of other products.

1. Operational level

Let's first look at Nongfu Spring's 2023 financial report. Data shows that Nongfu Spring's share of China's packaged drinking water market reached 23.6%, ranking first in the industry, far exceeding competitors such as Yilibao, Jingtian, Wahaha, and Master Kong. In 2023, revenue reached 42.667 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 28.36%, and the net profit margin was 28.15%, far exceeding the industry average.

Nongfu Spring's outstanding performance has made its founder Zhong Shanshan the richest man in China for the fourth time, with a total wealth of 450 billion yuan. The reason why Nongfu Spring has performed so strongly is inseparable from the matrix approach of products and brands. Nongfu Spring is very good at expanding categories to build a moat for the brand. Currently, Nongfu Spring products cover multiple categories of drinking water, tea drinks, functional drinks, juices, coffee and other beverages. The product matrix effectively helps Nongfu Spring reduce the risk of competition from relying on a single category, making the entire brand more dynamic.

How to choose the category? The underlying logic of developing new products is to meet market trends and consumer needs. Nongfu Spring is good at this. Take Oriental Leaves as an example. Although the market feedback of Oriental Leaves was not good in the early stage of its launch, and it was even called "the most difficult drink" by consumers for six consecutive years, as the healthy mentality gradually penetrated and consumer tastes changed, Oriental Leaves quickly achieved a reversal of word-of-mouth, and now it has successfully occupied the leading position in the sugar-free tea market. The ice cup may be the next "Oriental Leaves" that Nongfu Spring has bet on without the six-year embarrassing period. According to the data of the "2023 Instant Retail Ice Products and Ice Drinks Consumption Trend White Paper" jointly written by Oliver Wyman and Meituan Flash Purchase, the growth rate of ice products and ice drinks in the instant retail channel is expected to reach 39% in the next three years, far exceeding the 8% growth rate of all channels.

It is estimated that by 2026, the sales volume of iced drinks in instant retail will more than quadruple, and is expected to exceed 63 billion yuan. Iced drinks are expected to become a landmark category of instant retail. In May last year, Nongfu Spring applied for a patent for the label (ice cup). In July, product pictures appeared on the Internet. In February this year, the first cold chain logistics truck of Nongfu Spring ice cup was shipped. However, it was not until May that it really gained attention in the summer.

2. Marketing

Shifting our focus from the company to the convenience store, the launch of the ice cup has a driving effect on the marketing of many brands under Nongfu Spring, among which charcoal, water-soluble C100 and NFC have made the most profit. As mentioned above, DIY has a classic formula. The pure version of Nongfu Spring is charcoal + NFC of various flavors = fruit coffee, alcohol + water-soluble C = cocktail. The most noteworthy of them is water-soluble C, which appears in almost all convenience store cocktail guides. It can be paired with vodka and Erguotou. With its extremely high adaptability, water-soluble C has successfully made a brand launched in 2008 still have so many young audiences.

This combination marketing method has successfully boosted the sales of Nongfu Spring's marginal brand, Tanqi. Looking carefully at the notes on Xiaohongshu, eight out of ten people who bought Nongfu Spring ice cups used Tanqi coffee. It has to be said that matching is engraved in the cultural genes. Without a favorite coffee brand, many people are willing to try Nongfu Spring ice cups with Nongfu Spring coffee. Moreover, for DIY drinks that have social media communication value, the entire Nongfu Spring series is itself a communication gimmick. In order to deepen the bundling, many convenience stores have directly launched limited-time activities, "Buy a bottle of Nongfu Spring NFC/Oriental Leaves/Water-soluble C series + 1 yuan, get a Nongfu Spring ice cup", a combination of punches.

2. If you want to stand out in the convenience store industry, brands must grasp these two key points

Convenience stores are one of the important offline scenarios for brands and are the closest place to direct conversions. With the growth of convenience stores, brands attach more importance to this channel.

The "2024 Convenience Store Development Report" jointly released by KPMG China and the China Chain Store Association shows that in 2023, the global convenience store industry market size will rise to US$1,133.7 billion, an increase of 11.7% from 2022; in China, the convenience store industry has continued its four-year growth momentum, climbing to 424.8 billion yuan in 2023, an increase of 11% from 2022; at the same time, the total number of stores in 2023 will rise to 320,000, a year-on-year increase of 6.9%.

The popularity of Nongfu Spring ice cups actually took advantage of the scene characteristics of convenience stores and carried out marketing around workers in commercial entities. What does young people + non-minimum consumption mean? As long as the product is interesting, pricing is not a problem. Therefore, if a brand wants to be popular in convenience stores, it must grasp these two key points.

1. Experience

A cup of Luckin Orange C Americano costs 9.9, while a cup of Nongfu Spring Orange C Americano replica requires 4 ice cups + 6 charcoal + 7 NFC, a total of 17, which is 7.1 more expensive than Luckin. Why? It’s all about the experience of making it yourself and the fun of creation.

Searching for ice cups on Xiaohongshu, there are more than 40,000 related notes. Before going to work, I bought the ingredients at the convenience store and sat at my workstation to start "experimenting" with coffee. After overtime, I went to the convenience store downstairs and opened my notes to mix alcohol. I personally participated in the day of early coffee and late alcohol.

Young people don’t like to cook, but they like to use convenience stores as kitchens. This scene of people asking for recipes has also appeared in the past few years. The popular Mark set meal at that time also made the Qingjingyuan rice cake, Samyang turkey noodles, Meiji Lando cheese, and various brands of crab sticks and soft-boiled eggs popular. This trend may be a spontaneous behavior of netizens, but for brands, how to replicate the trend is worth paying attention to.

The key is to create a sense of experience, and brands should actively provide customers with the possibility of hands-on experience. Experience marketing is equivalent to lengthening the customer's purchase process. It is no longer just about selection-payment-use-end. After adding the experience, customers have more opportunities to understand your products and have a deeper emotional connection with your products. After all, this cup of coffee or wine is made by "myself", adding my own creativity and labor. The same is true for DIY condiments in milk tea shops and DIY dishes at Haidilao. Moreover, experience marketing is often shareable, and it is a means for consumers to show themselves to the public and gain recognition, which further expands the influence.

2. Packaging strategy

Compared with online marketing, the advantage of offline marketing lies not only in timeliness, but also in the appeal of senses. Among them, vision must be the focus in convenience stores. When the products are similar and the prices are similar, consumers will definitely choose the better-looking and more conspicuous ones. Therefore, if the packaging design is good, it is not a dream to stage a real-life version of buying the casket and returning the pearl. Virginia Postrel wrote in "The Economy of Aesthetics 2": "In a crowded market, aesthetics is often the only way to make a product stand out." In convenience stores, attracting attention is the first priority.

Excluding the brand effect, why do so many people check in on Nongfu Spring's ice cups on Xiaohongshu? Because the design alone is much better than other brands. A more refined cup shape + a more textured logo make Nongfu Spring's ice cups more photogenic and get more likes when posted online. As mentioned in Marketing Management: "Excellent visual design can change consumers' perceptions and make brands more valuable."

Of course, there are many ways to make packaging eye-catching. As long as it is different, it can stand out. For example, the giant marketing of Weilong spicy strips, the super-large packaging is placed in a conspicuous position, which no one can ignore. Driven by curiosity, everyone wants to buy it to see what is inside. Another example is Baixiang’s previous hit coriander noodles, the all-green packaging with coriander printed on it, which is particularly eye-catching among the red and yellow instant noodles.

Changing packaging according to the time is also a good way. For example, during the cherry blossom season, products are collectively changed into pink sets, and convenience stores have set up cherry blossom areas. Or launching exclusive packaging at the event node. In the last European Cup, Heineken, as an official partner, launched a customized version of 24 national bottles at one time. Coca-Cola is even more playful. It has launched the World Cup Tour Bottle, the 22nd World Cup Team Theme Cup, and the Star Cup, which has the player's head portrait printed on the aluminum can. Which fan would not be tempted? What's the difference between this and buying peripherals? You have to search all the convenience stores and supermarkets in the city to collect a team. This case also tells us that joint names and endorsements must be shown on the packaging. It always sells better with people on it than without people.

In fact, these ideas are not only applicable to convenience stores, but also to offline scenarios such as supermarkets. Brand offline marketing will definitely pay more and more attention to emotional connection with consumers. Whether it is eye-catching packaging before consumption to stimulate interest, or DIY food and beverages after consumption to deepen the favorability of the product, it can mobilize consumers' emotions. Emotion is one of the most useful keys to start the consumption journey and draw closer the relationship between brands and consumers.

Author: Tiana; Source public account: Morketing (ID: 1083455)