Wufangzhai, a “marketing genius” among traditional brands

How did Wufangzhai transform from the king of zongzi to the pioneer of Chinese festival food? This article analyzes its innovative marketing strategy and explores how time-honored brands can be renewed. It is recommended for marketers and brand managers to read.

As new trends accelerate, the first to face challenges in the food and beverage industry are actually those classic brands that have been in the market for many years. They not only have to face the "brand problems" that most time-honored brands have, such as inaccurate corporate positioning, unclear image, and declining popularity and consumer loyalty, but also have to think about how to create relevance between the brand and young consumers and how to compete with the new consumer brands that are currently popular.

However, among all the brands that are trying to revitalize themselves, the one that attracts Mr. Bingfa the most is Wufangzhai. In this Internet age with extremely fragmented attention, it is very difficult to catch the attention of young people. However, Wufangzhai has transformed itself from the former "king of zongzi" to the "advocate of Chinese festival food" today by relying on its cases of breaking out of the circle again and again.

It has made Qingtuan, a seasonal snack from the Jiangnan region, a new internet celebrity sought after by young people; and has made Zongzi, a "special offer" for the Dragon Boat Festival, a new choice for daily purchase and gift giving to relatives and friends.

Although many of Wufangzhai's popular cases have many remarkable points, if we look at it from a time perspective, we will find that there is a clear thread behind these marketing actions. It is this marketing thread that can connect all the seemingly scattered gameplays together and leave consumers with a unified perception. Today, let's talk about it in detail.

1. Creating new products and engaging in joint ventures are the first step for traditional brands to communicate with young people

In the process of revitalizing time-honored brands, the explosive growth paths of many new consumer brands have become ready-made methods for them to learn from. For example, Wang Xiaolu, which created the hit single product Tiger Skin Chicken Feet, cut into the snack scene that young people like with small packages, so Dezhou Braised Chicken also launched its own sub-brand "Lu Xiaoji". And after various mixed coffees became popular, Tong Ren Tang also launched "Chinese medicine coffee" that can maintain health.

These gameplays that follow demand can indeed gain a lot of attention in a short period of time.

However, in the food and beverage industry, which is crowded with brands and investment institutions, following in "form" is far from enough. As Wufangzhai once mentioned in an interview, they have been looking at brands that young people like. This breadth is not limited to the same category or industry. They have studied Perfect Diary's content and product design, and learned about Li Ziqi's oriental cultural implications.

They also learn some very youthful language styles from the up-masters on Bilibili. Therefore, the rejuvenation of Wufangzhai is not just youth in "form", but a complete subversion from the inside out, and youth in "content". Simply put, they did not regard many youthful gameplays as "explosive points", but regarded them as "infrastructure". Whether it is in Wufangzhai stores, online stores, or official microblogs on major social platforms, the overall impression given is very young. We can always see many high-value new products and joint names with major brands.

When these gameplays are high-frequency enough, the scattered reach and curiosity about the brand will leave a unified cognition through repeated reinforcement.

2. Breaking traditional concepts with out-of-the-box cases and refreshing the public’s consensus on brands

Wufangzhai, which originated in 1921, once had a famous name - the King of Zongzi. However, Wufangzhai's exploration in marketing in recent years is not just to "sell more Zongzi". What they want to do is to be the "initiator of Chinese festival food", hoping to create a food kingdom that includes Zongzi, moon cakes, Qingtuan and other Chinese festival food.

The current commercial market is different from the past. It is difficult for consumers to fully accept the "positioning" of a brand that is output in one direction. Positioning is just a starting point, and consensus is a goal. Simply put, no matter how many times Wufangzhai outputs itself as the "initiator of Chinese seasonal food", it is useless. Only when most consumers think of the brand Wufangzhai when buying seasonal food, the brand positioning will really take effect. How did Wufangzhai turn positioning into consensus? If I use one sentence to describe it, it is to reach out and communicate repeatedly.

In fact, there are many specific ways to do this, such as celebrity endorsements, expert recommendations, cross-border collaborations, etc., but Wufangzhai chose a very time-consuming and long-term approach, which is to allow the "unprofessional" Wufang Pictures to be discussed, and let everyone see and recognize the brand again in the discussion of these popular short films.

If you think about it carefully, Wufangzhai entered the public's vision with a younger attitude, starting with the Double Ninth Festival advertisement in 2018. They re-edited the advertisement with the retro style of the 1980s, coupled with the simple and simple online sand sculpture copywriting, and added the classic elements in the short film such as frog glasses, afro hair, and floral shirts, and the short film quickly became popular on the Internet.

After the "1989 Documentary" became a hit, Wufangzhai continued to follow the retro route. They froze the scene of the 2019 Spring Festival advertisement in the Republic of China era, using the successive appearances of celebrities such as Lu Xun and Ruan Lingyu to string together a New Year scene unique to the Republic of China.

After leaving the label of "fun and interesting" to young people, Wufang Pictures has never looked back on the road of making things happen. From "Time Ridge Guesthouse" in 2019, "Looking for Li Xiaofen" in 2021, "Cone Universe" in 2022, to "Back to the Golden Age" last year and the recent "World Model", Wufangzhai chose to make itself a content IP with storage function, turning seasonal delicacies such as zongzi into a cultural symbol.

After people become interested in the brand, they will also discover how solid Wufangzhai’s infrastructure is, which is the second step towards rejuvenation.

3. Use trendy shell packaging culture to meet consumers’ advanced needs

In fact, if you review Wufangzhai’s marketing methods in recent years, you will find that all the brand’s actions have a clear thread. The “shell” of those popular cases can be nostalgia for history, philosophical thinking about the metaverse, and reflection on artificial intelligence. No matter how fresh and eye-catching these shells are, the “fillings” are a tribute to traditional food culture and respect for consumers. This way of communication is very humane.

As a time-honored brand that wants to be recognized by young people and revitalize itself, Wufangzhai has always been at the forefront of brand marketing, hoping to make more consumers feel its youthful attitude. However, as a time-honored Chinese brand, Wufangzhai has also been committed to inheriting and promoting festival culture, actively participating in and leading many folk activities, allowing more people to feel the charm of traditional festivals, which is also a key step in Wufangzhai's rejuvenation.

Because Wufangzhai discovered early on that the traditional way of celebrating festivals was unlikely to leave a good visual and taste memory for the public, and traditional food that had not been improved was also less attractive in an era of material abundance.

So from the very beginning, what the brand wanted to do was to create a brand that combines traditional charm with a youthful attitude. They are actively reshaping the charm of traditional festivals, hoping to make more new generation consumers feel favorable towards traditional festivals and seasonal foods, and to meet the differentiated needs of different people for seasonal foods.

4. Final

In the process of rejuvenation, Wufangzhai did not fall into the dilemma of clinging to the old and being self-satisfied, nor did it regard the century-long accumulation as a burden for rejuvenation and want to abandon it all at once. Instead, it made its own interpretation of "keeping to the right and being surprising" - the brand first built a distinctive brand "infrastructure", and then repeatedly "communicated" around a unified theme, while also allowing consumers to see the cultural "core" beneath its trendy "shell".

These three elements complement each other, just like a person's bones, muscles and blood, and ultimately make the current time-honored brand a flesh-and-blood, tangible and recognizable brand. Wufangzhai may have many communication actions that can be imitated, but they have the courage to break the previous content tone, continue to export traditional culture while rejuvenating the brand, and create their own content marketing system. This kind of courage and courage is indeed unique.

Perhaps under the influence of Wufangzhai, more time-honored brands will be able to achieve their own success in the new consumption era.

Author: Mr. Bingfa; Source public account: Marketing Bingfa (ID: 1075056)