On the banks of the Qianjiang River in winter, the lights were bright. On January 18, at the award ceremony of Fengyun Zhejiang businesspeople, known as the "Oscar" in Zhejiang economic circles, Zong Fuli, dressed in a light blue suit, appeared under the spotlight of the red carpet, becoming a warm color in the cold weather.
At the scene, Zong Fuli responded to rumors from the outside world that in addition to the president of Hongsheng Beverage Group, Zong Fuli had a new identity in 2018: the head of the brand public relations department of Wahaha Group.
Many people suddenly realized that during this time, Wahaha has been making frequent moves, first launching Wahaha AD calcium milk-flavored moon cakes, and then rebranding the Nutrition Express that has not been packaged for 10 years, launching limited colorful versions of packaging and makeup plates. Not long ago, Wahaha also announced that it will focus on first- and second-tier cities in 2019. It turns out that Zong Fuli is the one behind the scenes, and Wahaha is becoming more and more capable of playing.
Fathers are like eight-treasure porridge
Zong Fuli and Zong Qinghou confessed
The annual Fengyun Zhejiang Merchants Selection event is guided by the Propaganda Department of the Zhejiang Provincial Committee of the Communist Party of China, sponsored by Zhejiang Radio and Television Group, and co-organized by Zhejiang Jingshi, Qianjiang Evening News, and Zhejiang Merchants Magazine. This year is already the 16th.
Zong Qinghou, chairperson of Wahaha Group, is an old friend of Fengyun Zhejiang businesspeople and comes to the award ceremony almost every year. In the first annual Fengyun Zhejiang businessperson selection in 2003, Zong Qinghou won the Senior Zhejiang businessperson award. In 2009, Zong Qinghou was re-elected as the annual Fengyun Zhejiang businessperson.
When Zong Qinghou won the first "Fengyun Zhejiang Business", Zong Fuli was still a student in the ivory tower. In 2012, Zong Fuli became the first "post-80s" entrepreneur to win the honor of Fengyun Zhejiang Business. In this father and daughter, "Fengyun Zhejiang Business" completed a beautiful connection and inheritance. At the award ceremony that year, the host asked the elected Zong Fuli, is your father your idol? Zong Fuli replied: "Yes, and no, my father has many things to learn, but more than him."
At this year’s Fengyun Zhejiang Business Awards, a highlight was that Zong Qinghou and Zong Fuli shared the same stage, and the father and daughter chose to walk the red carpet this time.
Not only was Zong Fuli the only post-80s woman on the red carpet, as the daughter of Zong Qinghou, the chairman of Wahaha Group, her every move was always closely watched. When taking over the host’s microphone, Zong Fuli responded that she had become the head of the brand public relations department of Wahaha Group.
If you use a Wahaha product to describe your parents’ Zhejiang merchants, Zong Fuli thinks it is: eight-treasure porridge.
Why is it eight-treasure porridge? Zong Fuli didn’t explain much at the scene. However, the reporter noticed that the night before the award ceremony, Wahaha’s official WeChat account posted a heartwarming video titled "I actually miss you a lot", which tells about the common problem of young people today: being cared for syndrome. They are accustomed to the meticulous care of their parents, and even feel a little bored. When they really left their parents’ shelter and were hungry, a jar of eight-treasure porridge in the refrigerator made them suddenly realize that the precious things they had missed were homesick.
Is this confessing to his father with eight-treasure porridge?
Zong Fuli smiled and said, "I worked so hard to help him make money, he should confess to me."
32-Year-old Wahaha
To build emotional bonds with young people
This heart-to-heart video of Wahaha Eight Treasures Porridge may express Zong Fuli’s own heart.
After graduating from junior high school, Zong Fuli went to the United States to study. In 2004, Zong Fuli returned to China after completing her studies. In 2007, she left alone under the blessing of her father and began to take charge of Hongsheng Beverage Group. Zong Fuli, who is very independent, did not "touch" the traditional beverage business of Wahaha, but expanded into new fields.
Zong Fuli has made a major effort to integrate resources and promote the transformation and upgrading of traditional industries in Hongsheng, a company that used to be just a processing business. Four emerging enterprises, including Songyuan Machinery Manufacturing, Songyu Printing and Packaging, and Hengfeng Food Technology, have been established successively, turning Hongsheng Group into a beverage production enterprise with a full industrial chain.
At the 2012 Fengyun Zhejiang Business Awards Ceremony, Zong Fuli was elected as a dark horse and became the first female Zhejiang businessman born in the 1980s since the event was held. This may be a footnote to Zong Fuli’s years of hard work.
Zong Fuli had really "worked hard" along the way. Now, in addition to the president of Hongsheng Beverage Group, Zong Fuli was also responsible for the packaging and brand promotion of Wahaha products. "In Hongsheng in the morning, in Wahaha in the afternoon" became her new normal job.
On Weibo, Zong Fuli referred to Wahaha as her little sister. Indeed, as a post-80s generation, the reporter noticed that since then, under her control, Wahaha, which is already good at channels and end points, has begun to give more inner power to the brand.
Last June Day, Wahaha let adults take a holiday with their children, paying attention to the power of companionship, and being a "caring" beverage company; to the Mid-Autumn Festival, cross-border launched AD calcium grandma heart moon cakes to pick up forgotten happiness; then, the limited edition of Nutrition Express was born, cross-border makeup plates escorted, excellent self… Wahaha focuses on how to build emotional bonds with young people again and find resonance.
At a reading party in October last year, when Zong Fuli read "Shepherd Youth Fantasy Journey" in English, the post-90s and post-00s college students in the audience gave "English 666" praise. There were more than a dozen applause at the scene, and the students were completely fans of Zong Fuli. They felt that Zong Fuli was very frank, even anti-routine, breaking the stereotype of entrepreneurs.
Growth resumed in 2018
The more "new" Wahaha in 2019 is here
Not long ago, at Wahaha’s new product launch this year, Zong Qinghou revealed that in 2018, with the efforts of all dealers and sales staff, Wahaha has resumed growth. Although the industrial restructuring has had a certain impact on economic development, for Wahaha, the opportunities outweigh the challenges.
It can be said that Wahaha has not only stood firm in the face of difficult economic conditions, but also created contrarian growth. This provides huge confidence to both entrepreneurs and corporate employees. For a mature company founded for many years, confidence is more important than anything else.
30 is not confused, and the old private enterprise Wahaha hopes to prove to the outside world that they have found the next direction to move forward.
The reporter noticed that in the new product strategy of Wahaha in 2019, the first milk category is still Wahaha’s right-hand man. The first milk category camp is not unknown. According to the 2017~ 2018 our country dairy sales and yogurt market size analysis, the size of the room temperature market has reached 3 times that of low-temperature yogurt, breaking through the scale of 30 billion yuan.
Water products have always been the focus of Wahaha, and soda water is undoubtedly a sub-category full of opportunities. According to Nielsen data, from 2017 to 2018, the overall soda market sales increased by 36.9%, much higher than the 3.1% of beverages as a whole. According to reports, Wahaha launched its first soda product in 2010, and after years of market cultivation, it has entered the top three in the soda market. Next, Wahaha will also launch an upgraded version of soda water, which is very in line with the "light health" needs of modern people. In addition, Wahaha has reserved the third camp of new product launches in 2019 for ready-to-drink tea, and has taken the lead in laying out the pure tea category.
In general, Wahaha’s products released this year have their own characteristics, especially the packaging has been improved a lot compared with before, and it is full of fresh vitality. Whether Wahaha can turn these "new" into sales and brand reputation, let’s wait and see. (Qianjiang Evening News reporter, Chen Jie)
