Fenghua’s 79-yuan meal set is selling out. How can old domestic brands retain traffic after the carnival?

This article will introduce the precise marketing strategy of the domestic brand Fenghua on Douyin, and explore how to achieve long-term growth through product quality, marketing methods, product research and development, and packaging design.

"I'll buy it! I'll use it!"

"Regardless of whether wages have increased or not, the price of Fenghua has not increased."

"This overwhelming wealth finally belongs to Bee Flower"·······

Recently, Fenghua successfully broke through the circle with the 79-yuan package in the Douyin live broadcast room, and once rushed to the hot search on Weibo. In addition, data shows that at 12:00 on September 12, the number of fans of Fenghua's official Douyin was 2.574 million. As of the afternoon of September 15, the number of fans of Fenghua's official Douyin reached 4.349 million. Judging from the discussion and the increase in fans, Fenghua has carried out a successful "precision marketing" this time.

Image source: Tik Tok screenshot

Back to the Fenghua brand itself, Fenghua is often called "the pride of domestic products" and "conscientious merchants", and its representative product, hair conditioner, has a very high cost-effectiveness. In the context of increasingly fierce competition in the daily chemical industry, Fenghua needs to increase the proportion of online sales, and precision brand marketing around young users is a must.

Since the "rumors of bankruptcy" two years ago, Fenghua has always been able to keep up with the latest trends and expand its communication effects. What is the core of Fenghua's ability to grasp the traffic code? What enlightenment does this have for other old domestic brands?

1. Fenghua’s cost-effective package breaks the circle

In the process of Fenghua’s precision marketing, Fenghua tried to use a “weak” response and cost-effective products as keywords to impress users and audiences.

Some time ago, some netizens said that Fenghua's express boxes are all from other brands. "They pick up other people's boxes everywhere, and they are frugal." Fenghua's official flagship store commented in the live broadcast that "the boxes are all picked up, and they were still good when they were picked up." This slightly "shabby" reply was an invisible "show of weakness", which attracted a wave of support and support from netizens.

On the evening of September 11, Fenghua’s Douyin live broadcast room listed three shampoo and conditioner sets for 79 yuan overnight, claiming: “For 79 yuan, you can buy 5.5 kilograms here.” A day later, on the evening of September 12, more than 10,000 people flocked to Fenghua’s Douyin live broadcast room, and the number of fans has soared since then.

Since then, the "79 yuan package", the extreme cost-effectiveness and the recent public opinion environment have brought discussion to Fenghua, and the long live broadcast in the live broadcast room and the real-time response of the account have further extended the topic of Fenghua. According to the data of Relang, the official flagship store of Fenghua started a 94-hour live broadcast from September 11, during which the estimated sales volume was 26.905 million.

In addition to the official flagship store, Fenghua has also opened related accounts on Douyin, such as Fenghua Personal Care Selection Account and Fenghua Cleaning Flagship Store, and live broadcasts. As of 5 p.m. on September 15, Fenghua's official flagship store ranked first on the Douyin flagship sales list.

Image source: Tik Tok screenshot

This is not the first time that Fenghua has gone viral. As early as 2021, Fenghua was criticized for its price not rising for decades and its "ugly" packaging design. Fenghua responded and quickly went viral with #Words don't say poverty, words reveal conscience#. After that, in May 2022, Fenghua came out to refute the rumor that "the boss did not live broadcast with tears", which once again sparked heated discussions among netizens and topped the hot search list. Fenghua founder Gu Jinwen said in an interview that in 2021, Fenghua's sales exceeded 1 billion yuan.

On September 16, the live broadcast room of Fenghua was still broadcasting. Judging from the data, the popularity of Fenghua is still continuing. However, based on the previous "wild consumption", the brand, as a carrier of consumer emotions, always comes and goes quickly and is difficult to sustain. However, the popularity at this time can increase the brand's discussion and real-time sales, and to a certain extent, it also paves the way for subsequent category expansion.

2. The online journey of traditional domestic brands

This wave of Fenghua’s popularity, to some extent, represents the renewal of traditional domestic brands.

For old domestic brands, they used to be better at offline distribution. However, from traditional shelf e-commerce to live streaming e-commerce, the consumer environment is changing rapidly, and old domestic brands also need to break the shackles and get involved. Fortunately, the long-term brand reputation and mostly affordable prices make consumers have a good impression of the image of old domestic brands.

Young online consumers are a must-win for Fenghua. Gu Jinwen, founder of Fenghua, once said in an interview with Xinhua Finance that the online and offline sales ratio of Fenghua was 26:74 in 2020, and the online and offline sales ratio reached 38:62 in the first quarter of 2022. In the future, Fenghua will continue to increase the proportion of online revenue, actively adapt to the consumption habits of the younger generation of consumers, and provide high-quality, low-priced products with aesthetic packaging.

Not only Fenghua, but also Hongxing Erke and Li Ning want to seize this hot spot in this domestic brand trend. Sports brand Hongxing Erke launched a 79 yuan package and launched a live broadcast of a large platter of domestic brands. In the live broadcast room, in addition to Fenghua, many well-known domestic brands such as Mixue Bingcheng and Huiyuan also appeared, and the anchor used Fenghua to wash his hair with shoes, which also caused heated discussions.

This series of actions by ERKE also attracted many consumers, and some netizens even said, "In ERKE's live broadcast room, you can buy everything, not just shoes."

Image source: Tik Tok screenshot

As old domestic brands explore self-broadcasting, their voices are gradually appearing on the Internet. From the popular Coco Tree some time ago to Fenghua and Hongxing Erke, old domestic brands are constantly exploring the online path that suits them, achieving sales growth, and constantly breaking the traditional brand image and embracing young consumers.

3. How to retain rather than consume

When a wave of traffic comes, companies need to think about how to continue, retain and convert this wave of traffic.

Relying on emotional marketing to incite viewers' emotions is difficult to retain traffic and achieve long-term growth. In 2021, after Hongxing Erke became popular, its fans dropped significantly. Public data shows that by November 2021, Hongxing Erke's number of fans on Douyin live broadcast dropped by 430,000 in a single month.

Fenghua's marketing has always been very restrained. After the "picking up boxes" incident fermented, Fenghua customer service responded: We are not that miserable, the chairman's original intention was to make small profits but quick turnover. Judging from past behavior, knowing when to stop is a major reason why Fenghua's marketing does not seem to be offensive. Consumers do not completely reject the brand's marketing behavior, and even everyone will voluntarily join in such a "carnival", provided that the product quality is good and the marketing is moderate.

In addition, whether it is the popular Fenghua or Yumeijing, although consumers are willing to pay for sentiment and cost-effectiveness, some negative voices frequently appear on social platforms and live broadcast rooms: "The packaging is really ugly" and "Can you change the packaging?"

If domestic brands want to open up the young market, they cannot just stick to the marketing side, the product side should also be in line with modern aesthetics.

In fact, as early as 21 years ago, Fenghua held the "Fenghua National Innovation Packaging Design Competition" based on netizens' suggestions on packaging design. On the one hand, it absorbs innovation, and on the other hand, it retains classics, and launched two types of packaging, red and yellow, using customer data and analysis to make decisions that better meet consumer needs.

In terms of product research and development, Fenghua has also launched the high-end product line Fenghua Jiuzun series to meet the more diverse needs of users. In 2022, Fenghua founder Gu Jinwen said that in the early days of listing, Fenghua Jiuzun sold more than 25,000 bottles on the Douyin platform in 5 days.

The continued popularity of domestic brands represented by Fenghua is the result of decades of accumulated brand image. Consumers start with emotional value and actively explore brand stories, thereby further expanding the communication influence and ultimately completing the communication. In fact, it is not just Fenghua. More and more old brands are constantly exploring ways to expand the young consumer market. How to find a brand building path suitable for their own development is a common problem.

Author: Guang Ye

Source: Marketing Kanke (ID: yingxiaokanke), a public account of Clour, focusing on new media, social media, platforms, brands, and KOL marketing case analysis