Moutai, which has been played as "cooking wine", has stopped co-branding. What lessons can this bring to the brand?

From Moutai's joint venture carnival to the suspension of joint ventures, the rapid development of brand joint ventures has inspired a nationwide carnival, but it has also presented a series of problems. Let's read this article together to see what unique insights the author has on cross-border brand joint ventures!

Moutai has seen through the joint branding routine.

It took less than a month from the time when Moutai’s collaboration with Luckin Coffee sparked a nationwide frenzy to the time when Moutai stopped all collaborations and returned to the altar.

Some time ago, Moutai Chairman Ding Xiongjun announced that he would stop developing "Moutai" peripheral products and would no longer engage in any brand collaborations.

Moutai waved its sleeves and left without a cloud. Some industry insiders believe that this farce of self-depreciation has finally come to an end, while others believe that this is the perfect ending of a phenomenal marketing campaign.

It is interesting to note that not long after Moutai paused its cross-border collaboration, it resorted to its most ruthless move - price increase. Moutai officially announced late at night that it would increase the ex-factory prices of Feitian and Five-Star Kweichow Moutai liquors from November 1, 2023, with an average increase of 20%.

Moutai's joint venture has started a brand rejuvenation strategy, which is intended to cultivate the next generation of young consumers; while Moutai's price increase has made young people further away from Moutai. This wave of "push and pull" shows that cross-border joint ventures are common, but Moutai obviously does not want to just do marketing.

In recent years, the marketing methods of brands have quietly changed, and various marketing methods that cater to young consumers have emerged one after another. Among them, cross-border joint ventures are a representative marketing method that leverages the "maximum benefits" for brands at the lowest cost.

"The industry is becoming more and more inward-looking, the market is becoming less and less demanding, consumers are becoming more and more picky, and products are becoming more and more homogenized. Under such a situation, through the mutual blessing of IPs, brands and products can generate new potential energy. It can be said that co-branding is a very effective way to increase presence and influence." Xu Xiaohui, founder of Wanwu Tianze Marketing Consulting, told "New Consumption Think Tank".

So how can we better find the points of convergence between brands and reach each other's customers? What points should brands pay attention to behind the joint marketing?

1. The reason behind Moutai’s suspension of joint ventures: the strong “sauce aroma” cannot withstand repeated dilution

Jiangxiang Latte has become a hot search topic, Mao Xiaoling's chocolate with liquor filling is sold out, and various brands have taken turns to take advantage of it. Social media is full of jokes:

"Moutai seamlessly transitioned from Swiss to Dove so quickly?"

“Rui: Dear Xue, when you read this letter, I have become your ex.”

Whether it is "coffee lovers" or people who are into white wine, they all participated in this joint carnival to a greater or lesser extent.

In terms of the publicity of cross-border collaborations, Moutai is undoubtedly successful.

At this hot moment, Moutai suddenly suspended all joint ventures. This result was actually expected.

First, let’s go back to the starting point and analyze what did Moutai and Luckin Coffee gain from this collaboration?

As for Luckin Coffee, there is no need to elaborate. Among all the previous joint ventures, this is the strongest brand exposure. As for Moutai, its main consumer group is relatively fixed. When talking about Moutai, everyone will think of "high-end". The emergence of "Sauce-flavored Latte" has made Moutai's exposure and topic discussion soar. The "national liquor" Moutai seems to have briefly stepped down from the altar and briefly shook hands with ordinary consumers with a new look.

Image source: Photographed by the author

"Moutai wants to become younger and use joint ventures to make the brand more youthful and cultivate the next generation of users. In the alcohol consumption market, young people prefer low-alcohol products that are suitable for multiple scenarios. For these old brands, only by catering to the needs of young consumers can they attract young people to take steps towards them." Xu Xiaohui explained that the same logic as Nike and Adidas launching campus activities, brands are preparing to reserve the next generation of consumers.

Wang Xin, a marketing analyst at Aiga, believes that although Moutai has also increased its presence among young people through joint ventures, in this round of joint ventures, Moutai was taken advantage of by weaker brands such as Luckin Coffee. The main winner of this joint venture is Luckin Coffee. For Moutai's business and commercial logic, this does not have much value, but instead brings certain potential public relations pressure.

Moutai’s joint venture is intended to cultivate young people’s interest in Moutai, but in fact, after young consumers grow up, they may not necessarily become consumers of Maotai-flavor liquor.

The same problem happened to Heytea and FENDI. The joint drink "Yellow Joy" by Heytea and FENDI was very popular. On the first day of its launch, the Heytea mini program crashed due to a large number of orders. The joint venture brought Heytea a lot of benefits, improved its brand image, attracted more consumers, and stood out in the fierce new tea marketing. On the other hand, FENDI did not get any obvious benefits, and even felt like it was being pulled down from the altar.

Image source: Photographed by the author

At the same time, in the interview, the two expressed a common view - for a brand of Moutai's size, cross-border collaboration is useful, but it must not be "greedy". In fact, a careful comparison shows that compared with "Moutai Coffee", the popularity and influence brought by "Chocolate with Liquor" are not satisfactory.

With two major collaborations in January, Moutai has begun to lose its mystery, and some netizens have even joked that it has "turned itself into cooking wine," questioning whether it is overdrawing its brand power.

Moutai, the benchmark of high-end liquor, has strong luxury attributes. Occasional joint ventures can bring surprises, but as consumers' sense of novelty disappears, it is bound to affect the brand's tone.

After achieving its core strategic goals, Moutai's timely withdrawal is the best choice, which can not only stabilize its own style, but also maintain its high-end image in the minds of consumers.

2. Although cross-border collaboration is good, brands should not be too greedy

On the road of cross-border collaboration, many brands have begun to join or catch up.

In the past, there were Balenciaga and Lays potato chips, Gucci and Adidas, and in the future, there are LV and MANNER, Algebraist Coffee and Meitu. No wonder some netizens joked: "It is not your peers who can kill you, but the sudden change of industry."

Xu Xiaohui believes that the core of business is, first, whether the brand awareness can be expanded and more people can be reached; second, conversion , which mainly depends on the product and brand power itself. At a time when products are becoming more and more homogenized, brand loyalty is getting lower and lower, and brands are beginning to work hard to increase the number of people reached. Under such circumstances, cross-border marketing has become an important way to innovate brand image and expand new consumer groups.

In the current market, most brands adopt two cross-border methods:

1. They produce products that are not part of their core business , such as daily chemicals for catering businesses and beauty products for beverage companies;
2. It is to cooperate with brands in other industries to launch joint products.

In this process, brands always hope to achieve the effect of "1+1>2". For an "effective" collaboration, both volume and sales volume must take a priority. However, among thousands of collaborations, there are not many "effective" collaborations that can truly create memorable moments or bring in revenue.

Take the coffee and wine collaboration as an example. Luckin Coffee and Moutai are not the first, and the method of jointly launching a product is not the first. Previously, Wuliangye and Luzhou Laojiao have cooperated with coffee or tea brands such as Yongpu and Chabaidao to combine various types of wine with coffee, but they did not go viral.

Looking at more marketing examples, the flavor of childhood candy is incorporated into lip balm and perfume, and cocktails are put into bottles of toilet water, but the results are not satisfactory.

Cross-border collaborations and new product innovations have begun. Recently, there have been many weird collaborations or innovations in the coffee circle, such as M stand sesame latte, Lao Gan Ma latte, Tom Yum latte, aged vinegar Americano, coriander coffee, tofu pudding coffee, etc., which have made many young people gasp and say that there is no need to force it.

What really leaves an impression on people is the contrast and the right taste. Some "forced bundling" joint brands that are more hype than substance can only gain short-term popularity and provide little benefit to the brand.

The sudden cooperation between two companies that have nothing to do with each other is indeed very controversial, but such influence and attention cannot be converted into brand potential. In the final analysis, the brand must return to the simplest logic: the product is good enough, users will repurchase, and there will be a specific user group that will pay a premium for you.

3. In a world where “everything can be co-branded”, how can you be the one to be remembered?

In the view of many industry insiders, co-branding should not be a simple battle for traffic. It is a means, not the ultimate goal of the brand. Co-branding for the sake of co-branding will ultimately fail to achieve a real breakthrough.

So, how to avoid invalid co-branding, truly capture users, and maximize the benefits of co-branding? Two marketing experts gave relevant suggestions:

1. The purpose of the joint venture and the purpose of the promotion should be unified. Don’t just show your presence for the sake of showing your presence.

The joint venture between brands should be directional and strategic, and we should think clearly about what the core competitiveness of the brand is. Take Cezanne Dairy as an example. In this round of joint venture, Moutai and Luckin Coffee made a lot of efforts in the front-end research and development, and Cezanne Dairy spent a lot of effort on the back-end research and development. It should not only stay on the surface, but also combine with the product, so as to better convert the traffic of cross-border marketing into "retention".

2. Let users become the third role in the collaboration

Start from the user's perspective and think about what users want and what they can get in this carnival. Too many joint ventures only consider the main points between the two brands, but fail to involve consumers. This is a point that is particularly easy to overlook in joint activities. Involve them and create a more spreadable "social currency", so that users can become important roles in the carnival.

3. Cleverly combine brand characteristics to create "wow moments"

A successful collaboration is not a simple superposition of brand logos, but a careful study of product innovation and user experience, so that each other's users can remember the brand, attract them to make effective consumption, and achieve a win-win situation for the brand. The two brands should find the integration point of the brand tone and concept of both parties, match it with the needs of consumers, and create new products with both feelings and creativity.

4. Design keywords to improve communication power

An interesting and meaningful slogan or product name can often leave a deep impression on people. By extracting a suitable slogan based on the product's selling point, positioning, features, etc., it can play a good role in subsequent promotion. Sometimes, just because of this keyword, it can be distinguished from other products and firmly attract the attention of users.

Xu Xiaohui believes that the purpose of doing joint ventures is to extend one's own brand power. One must understand one's current situation and know in which areas one hopes to improve. By doing so, one can make up for one's own shortcomings and enhance the brand image through joint ventures with different brands.

At the same time, in the marketing process, it is necessary to integrate and utilize the resources and channels between brands in order to gain exposure to the greatest extent and allow co-branded products to enter the user's field of vision.

Although cross-border is good, it also requires thinking. With the development of the market, brand marketing methods are also constantly upgrading and updating. In order to be better remembered, it is necessary to consider from multiple angles such as brand and user to ensure that it can bring fresh and satisfactory experience to users, so that the marketing road can go smoother and smoother.

Author: Lele, Editor: Zhu Tian, ​​WeChat Official Account: New Consumption Think Tank