5 billion coconut trees, growth curve

For 10 years, they have been resolute in admitting their mistakes and paying the fines, but have refused to change. In addition, their sales have remained stable at 3.5 to 4 billion yuan over the past 10 years. Let's listen to the brand story of Coco Tree Coconut Juice.

01

Is there any company that has been able to admit its mistakes and pay fines for 10 years without changing its ways? And has been able to maintain a stable sales volume of 3.5-4 billion yuan for 10 years, accounting for 30-35% of the total market share? Perhaps only Coco Tree Coconut Juice is one of them.

1. In 2006, Coconut Tree began to launch original advertisements: attractive curves, white and plump
2. In 2009, because of the plump papaya, I was found to be in violation of the rules and fined 1,000 yuan
3. In 2019, Coco Tree + Xu Dongdong's "I have been drinking since I was a child" was fined 200,000 yuan
4. In 2021, the same issue was fined 400,000 yuan

Coconut Tree has taken the original style to the extreme. Not only the extreme, but also the extreme that is appreciated by both the refined and the popular. Guo Degang said: The most vulgar is the most elegant, and the most vulgar is elegant. However, the vulgar that Guo Degang is talking about is the vulgarity of the common people, not the vulgarity of the mediocre.

Coco Tree Coconut Juice goes from vulgar to popular: attractive curves, white, tender and plump.

• From common to popular: Drinking since childhood
• From vulgarity to elegance: Coconut Tree Coconut Juice Live Room

Yes, you can definitely trust the aesthetics of Coco Tree Coconut Juice, or you can trust the aesthetic ability of Wang Guangxing, the boss. It is said that people with different world views, life views, and values ​​are difficult to get along with. Nowadays, the three views can be combined into one view, aesthetic view; one view is greater than the other three.

Coco Tree Coconut Juice has evolved from vulgar to vulgar to elegant. In the past 20 years, other drinks (such as Jianlibao) have disappeared along with Coco Tree, but Coco Tree Coconut Juice still maintains its original flavor and charm.

Wang Guangxing, the owner of Coconut Tree Coconut Juice, believes that marketing is about doing three things and three principles: packaging, products, and beautiful women. The packaging design must be able to promote sales and sell goods when it is placed on the shelf. Therefore, the words should be large, the colors should be bright, and the contrast should be strong.

Boss Wang, who is a graphic designer, said that although the words (three things and three principles) are cheesy, they are also down-to-earth. Design, advertising, marketing, communication, and strategy all serve a purpose.

• What is the purpose? To promote sales
• Sell ​​the goods. It would be funny if you don't.

For example: Durex played a meme on Weibo and became very popular, but Okamoto 001 sold more than Durex. Another example: after watching the ad, consumers said that the ad was great, but did not remember your product. Such ads can win creative awards, but bosses who understand business do not like them - because what we want is to sell the product.

02

Where does Boss Wang’s simple idea come from?

After a little searching, it turns out that Boss Wang is really this kind of Boss Wang.

In 1958, 18-year-old Wang Guangxing was transferred to Haikou Cannery, where he worked as an artist.

In 1983, Mr. Wang became a boss for the first time. His position was director of Haikou Beverage Factory.

However, this is a loss-making factory. According to online information, when Boss Wang took over, there were more than 800 tons of unsold red date wine in stock. However, in less than a year, Boss Wang not only cleared the red date wine inventory, but also achieved a million-dollar profit.

You have to say there is a type of boss who is born.

Boss Wang is a natural business person with a business sense in his bones.

In 1983, Wang Guangxing took one year to turn the Haikou Beverage Factory from loss to profit. In 1985, Wang was transferred to the Electronic Industry Corporation, which was also on the verge of bankruptcy. As a result, Wang once again turned the loss into profit in one year.

Repeating the same thing over and over again is a skill and a natural gene. Remember, Boss Wang, who has successfully completed the task of turning losses into profits, will start the story of Coco Tree Coconut Juice's 30 years of original flavor.

From Haikou Beverage Factory to Electronic Industry Corporation, Boss Wang came to Haikou Canning Factory, the predecessor of Coconut Tree Group. What kind of factory is this? In four words, everything is in ruins and needs to be rebuilt.

This is a canning factory, how can it be rebuilt? Work 4 months and rest 8 months. Because of the production cycle of canned food, it takes 4 months to produce and 8 months to rest. How does Boss Wang solve this problem? Simply put, he changes the product. Just like when Steve Jobs returned to Apple in 1997 -

Let's start with the product: close, stop, merge, and transfer. So, the visionary boss Wang set his sights on Hainan's specialty: coconut.

As the old saying goes, if you live by the mountain, you can eat the mountain; if you live by the water, you can eat the water. Relying on Hainan to do coconut milk business, it not only has the geographical advantage of production, but more importantly, it has the advantage of consumer mental cognition. For example: Shanxi's vinegar, Maotai Town's sauce wine, Hainan's coconut of course.

At this time, the first problem that Boss Wang faced was: if he wanted to make natural coconut milk, he had to solve the problem of keeping it fresh (there was no cold chain transportation at that time). In addition, 35% of the coconut meat is coconut oil, which can easily cause diarrhea if not handled properly.

How did Mr. Wang, who graduated from junior high school, solve this problem? A big reward would bring a brave man. Mr. Wang painted a big pie - whoever can realize the oil-water separation technology, Mr. Wang promised: 3% to 5% of the sales profit of the new product (oil-water separation technology application product). I don't know how much this is. But it sounds like a lot. The important thing is that the oil-water separation thing really worked.

03

Anyway, the world belongs to others when you conquer it, and it becomes yours only when you conquer it.

You have to be able to draw a pie in the sky at the critical moment. A good pie in the sky can change the whole world.

On the morning of June 5, 1988, the China Association for Science and Technology held a press conference in the Great Hall of the People in Beijing to announce the successful development of Coco Tree Coconut Juice, announcing to the world that this technology is in the world's leading position, the first of its kind in the world, and unique in China (this information comes from Baidu)

In the same year, Coco Tree Coconut Juice, which uses oil-water separation technology (the world's first and China's only one), was launched on the market. Since 1988, Coco Tree Coconut Juice has been insisting on the original flavor. This insistence has been maintained until now in the Douyin live broadcast room.

The product is genuine and has no additives. It is freshly squeezed from fresh coconut meat in Hainan Island. “No coconut milk” and “no flavoring” are used. These words have been printed on its packaging. It is very rustic and effective. After a long period of persistence, Coco Tree Coconut Juice has achieved its own style.

This actually illustrates a problem. The essence of brand communication is repetition. Repetition creates familiarity, familiarity leads to trust, and trust is the brand. The persistence of Coco Tree Coconut Juice is worth learning from for the No. 1 brand. Few people persist. As the saying goes: People only care about what will change in the future, but few people really care about what will remain unchanged.

What is the thing that never changes? For an enterprise, perhaps the thing that never changes comes first from its own persistence.

From 1988 to 1993, under the leadership of Boss Wang, Coco Tree Coconut Juice made rapid progress and overcame all difficulties. At that time, Coco Tree Coconut Juice was so powerful under the leadership of Boss Wang: the output exceeded 100,000 tons, the sales exceeded 1 billion yuan, and the tax payment exceeded 100 million yuan.

100,000 tons, 1 billion yuan... What is this volume? Let's take a specific brand at that time as a benchmark. In 1994, when Jianlibao was at its peak, its sales were 1.8 billion yuan. Today, Jianlibao is gone, but Coco Tree Coconut Juice remains as it was before.

Yes, after all, it is too easy to change and too difficult to stay the same.

04

There are new trends every year. You will find that the people who said the trend was coming 10 years ago may still be saying the trend is coming 10 years later; the trendsetters 10 years ago are still setting the trend 10 years later.

——This is a sad story, but also a story that is not worth being sad about. As time goes by, Coco Tree is still the same Coco Tree Coconut Juice. Over the years, Coco Tree Coconut Juice has always adhered to this taste - original flavor, with its own style.

Author: Lao Gao (Houshan Keju), Source: WeChat public account “Lao Gao Business and Brand”.