During last year’s Spring Festival Gala, the “Chinese Baijiu Legion” led by Wuliangye (SZ000858, stock price 133.59 yuan, market value 518.544 billion yuan) and Gujing Gongjiu (SZ000596, stock price 220.00 yuan, market value 116.292 billion yuan) seized the high ground of viewership. This year’s Spring Festival Gala seems to still be buzzing with wine.
With the declining trend of television viewership, CCTV Spring Festival Gala, with its long-standing and unique intellectual property, continues to distribute/broadcast through major internet and video platforms, and its viewership remains significant. Therefore, major baijiu enterprises still hope to make a strong start by leveraging the high traffic stage of the Spring Festival Gala and a series of actions during the Spring Festival.
Industry insiders believe that the industry still faces issues such as high inventory and low turnover, making 2024 potentially challenging. Chinese baijiu companies are vying to appear on CCTV to continuously demonstrate their corporate strength, instill confidence in channel partners, and enhance public brand awareness.
Several leading companies “team up” for the Spring Festival Gala
According to incomplete statistics from “Jiangjinjiu,” a reporter for the Economic Daily, among the more than ten advertisements that appeared approximately five minutes before the Spring Festival Gala this year, six were baijiu brands, including Moutai (SH600519, stock price 1706.00 yuan, market value 21.4 trillion yuan), Wuliangye, Yanghe Shares (SZ002304, stock price 98.50 yuan, market value 148.385 billion yuan), Langjiu, Gujing Gongjiu, and Shuijingfang (SH600779, stock price 46.82 yuan, market value 22.865 billion yuan).
It is understood that Wuliangye appeared for the second time as the exclusive interactive partner of the CCTV Spring Festival Gala 2024 under the theme of “Harmony and Good Gifts.” They conducted activities where the audience could win Wuliangye’s dragon-year gift boxes worth hundreds of millions of yuan through the official lottery platform “CCTV Video App.”
In addition, Langjiu announced early that its brand Hong Hua Lang would be the cooperative brand of the CCTV Spring Festival Gala 2024; Yanghe Shares’ Dream Blue, after being the midnight announcer sponsor of the Spring Festival Gala in 2020, once again became the exclusive partner of the midnight announcer; Gujing Gongjiu participated in the CCTV Spring Festival Gala as an exclusive sponsor.
In the Xi’an sub-venue, there was also the appearance of Xifeng Liquor, which had just achieved billions in sales.
Furthermore, this year’s appearances of baijiu companies have also spawned many hot topics, sparking secondary dissemination among netizens.
During Liu Qian’s magic performance, the entire audience participated using poker cards printed with the name and logo of “Wuliangye.” Netizens jokingly commented that they initially thought “AD Calcium Milk” was the biggest product placement in this magic show, only to discover that “Wuliangye” was the true behind-the-scenes winner.
Following last year’s gathering of baijiu brands on the Spring Festival Gala, this year baijiu brands once again appeared together, marking the formal replacement of internet brands by baijiu brands and their return as regular sponsors of the Spring Festival Gala.
Based on the revenue estimates of major baijiu companies in 2022, it is not an exaggeration to say that in one night, it is a solid “two trillion” market.
Cai Xuefei, General Manager of Zhiqu Consulting and a baijiu expert, told the reporter of “Jiangjinjiu” through WeChat that baijiu is a social consumption product, a typical conspicuous consumption item where confidence and expectations are crucial. The investment of enterprises in the Spring Festival Gala can boost consumer confidence, stimulate market demand, further expand the market, drive market consumption, and major baijiu brands cooperating with Spring Festival Gala IP and related marketing efforts can greatly empower channels, enhance the promotional power of salesmen, enhance channel centripetal force, strengthen product competitiveness, and enhance channel sales confidence throughout the year.
Marketing warfare has spread beyond the Spring Festival Gala
Behind the large-scale “internal competition” of baijiu companies actually reflects the current situation of the baijiu industry.
“This year is a bit worse than last year.” In January this year, a baijiu distributor told reporters, “Last year, a customer might buy 5 or 10 cases (1 case contains 6 bottles), this year, they might only buy 10 or 20 bottles. It’s still busy this year, but we’re just not making money.”
As the peak season for baijiu sales, the Chinese baijiu market performance before this year’s Spring Festival was not as good as last year. Reducing inventory and improving channel profits may be the main tasks of liquor companies in 2024.
At the same time, the current baijiu industry has entered a mature market where some companies grow while others decline. In such a context, famous baijiu brands still have enhanced momentum, and baijiu companies with advantages in brand, quality, production area, and scale still have good development space.
Therefore, “To C” (consumer-oriented marketing) has become the main task and goal of major baijiu companies. Since the end of last year, baijiu companies have started “New Year marketing” early, increasing brand visibility and seizing consumers’ mental resources.
The reporter of “Jiangjinjiu” noticed that the marketing battle for Chinese baijiu during this New Year’s Day and Spring Festival market was particularly intense, with the smoke of war spreading beyond the Spring Festival Gala.
It is reported that, in addition to being the exclusive special sponsor of CCTV Spring Festival Gala 2024, Gujing Gongjiu is also the exclusive special sponsor of CCTV Lantern Festival Gala 2024 and the exclusive title sponsor of CCTV Spring Festival Opera Gala 2024; Wuliangye Strong Aroma Baijiu Company follows closely, joining hands with CCTV’s four famous hosts Sa Beining, Ren Luyu, Yang Fan, and Chen Weihong to tell its brand story.
A person from Shede Winery said that at the beginning of this year, the CCTV New Year’s Day drama “The Years Like Song of the Great River” featuring Shede Wine as the chief brand was broadcasted during the prime time of CCTV-1. This drama has also become an important platform for the company to seize the high ground of New Year’s communication. With the high traffic and high recognition of this drama, the company penetrates its brand culture into a wider range of consumers, helping the company achieve a double leading edge in brand culture dissemination and market sales during the Spring Festival peak season.
A person from Langjiu Shares told reporters that this year, Hong Hua Lang, with the theme of “celebrating the Spring Festival in a festive manner,” from the response to CCTV Spring Festival Gala, Sichuan-Chongqing Spring Festival Gala, and Luhu Spring Festival Gala, to the linkage of the Chengdu Thousand People Thousand Tables Reunion Dinner and the nationwide linkage of thousands of buses and city landmarks, has formed a more comprehensive, high-density, multi-touchpoint, and closer-to-consumer three-dimensional marketing pattern from online to offline.
Xiao Zhuqing, a Chinese baijiu expert, suggests that brand communication has shifted from the big screen of the TV to the small screen of consumers’ mobile phones. Famous baijiu companies should plan activities with warmth, interaction, and integrated effects for precise consumer groups to continuously enhance brand value, maintain brand popularity, and sustain brand momentum.