Baijiu, or Chinese white spirits, remains one of the hottest industries during the Spring Festival.
Firstly, on the highly anticipated stage of the Spring Festival Gala, the legion of baijiu once again made frequent appearances, continuing the momentum from the 2023 “Spring Festival turning into Spring Candy”. According to media statistics, out of more than ten commercials aired approximately five minutes before the CCTV Spring Festival Gala in the Year of the Dragon in 2024, six were from baijiu brands.
Secondly, in terms of sales dynamics, multiple securities firms have issued research reports indicating that the performance of the baijiu market during the Spring Festival has exceeded expectations, with sales momentum being good and channel inventory pressure decreasing. Of course, this is not unrelated to the promotional activities launched by liquor companies across various regions.
Reporters from China Business Journal noticed that during the Spring Festival, the excellent performance of the baijiu industry had also been conveyed to the capital market. On February 21, 2024, A-share baijiu stocks surged, with the stock prices of 20 baijiu companies all seeing gains. Among them, Yanjing Beer, Shede Wine Industry, and Jinzhuangjiu even hit the daily limit; Wuliangye, Fenjiu, Luzhou Laojiao, Yanghe Shares, and Gujing Gongjiu all saw gains of over 5%.
Gifts and Banquets Drive Sales
Recently, several securities firms have collectively issued research reports stating that from the perspective of distribution channels, the baijiu industry has seen good and stable sales performance during the Spring Festival, especially in high-end gift-giving scenarios, with banquets and gatherings also performing well.
From the perspective of payment collection by liquor companies, according to the post-Spring Festival research report by Huachuang Securities, the pre-holiday payment progress of Maotai, Wuliangye, Fenjiu, Yanghe, Gujing Gongjiu, Shuijingfang, and Zhenjiu has reached at least 30%, with most of Wuliangye’s payments completed reaching 60%, and Gujing Gongjiu’s provincial payment completion reaching 55% to 60%.
Additionally, an individual close to Wuliangye Company told reporters that during the Spring Festival, both the shipment volume and sales volume of Wuliangye achieved double-digit growth.
The online market is equally hot. During the JD.com New Year Festival, there were activities including discounts, giveaways, and a “billion subsidy” section for alcoholic beverages. On live streaming platforms, official live streaming rooms of various liquor companies, as well as celebrity live streaming rooms, directly engage with consumers for live sales.
However, from the overall market perspective, there is still a certain degree of segmentation in baijiu sales. According to a report by Huajin Securities, this segmentation mainly manifests in three aspects: firstly, price segmentation, with mid-range baijiu sales performing better than in previous years, while sales of high-end baijiu are slightly slower; secondly, brand segmentation, with baijiu brands such as Wuliangye and Fenjiu performing well, while sales of mid-high-end baijiu brands are slightly lower; finally, regional segmentation, with regions of stronger economy and better consumption habits having less influence on baijiu consumption.
Baijiu expert Cai Xuefei believes that currently, although there is slight fluctuation in prices in the overall liquor market, the overall sales momentum is good, and regional leading brands such as Yanghe, Gujing Gongjiu, Shede Wine Industry, and Shuijingfang are experiencing high growth rates, significantly alleviating inventory pressure, and the market is showing a stable growth trend.
Baijiu Companies Employ Various Sales Promotion Techniques
Reporters noted that the above performance is not unrelated to the sales promotion policies of liquor companies. During the Spring Festival, many liquor companies focused on increasing the “opening rate” of their products. Reporters learned from a distributor of Wuliangjiu that consumers who purchase a bottle of Wuliangjiu can scan six bottle caps, and when collected, they can exchange them for a set of exquisite gift boxes for Wuliangjiu at the terminal; Shuijingfang also launched the “Scan to Win Gifts” activity; Yanghe Shares launched the “Yanghe Chinese New Year Dragon Travel” activity.
Baijiu industry expert Xiao Zhuqing believes that currently, many liquor companies are deploying Spring Festival marketing strategies mainly to help channels reduce inventory. Whoever can capture more consumption scenarios during the Spring Festival can reduce inventory, so mobilizing to increase the opening rate is a very important marketing feature at this stage.
In Cai Xuefei’s impression, in 2024, the promotion efforts of leading baijiu brands and regional industry leaders were very significant. “Sponsorship, red envelopes, buy-give, package seat with wine, bundled sales, prizes in boxes, and point redemption and other promotional activities are frequent. Leading liquor companies use their own brand, channels, scale, quality, and other advantages, especially using red envelopes as a driving force to carry out a large number of promotional activities to enter the sinking market, continuously squeezing the market of regional second- and third-tier liquor companies, expanding into new price segments, and maintaining a stable growth trend.”
Different from the past, more and more companies are starting to focus on formulating marketing plans based on local characteristics.
Reporters learned from Yanghe Shares that they have implemented personalized Spring Festival sales policies in different regions. For example, in the Jiangsu market, Yanghe Shares launched activities such as ordering Chinese New Year’s Eve dinner and receiving a gift of Mianrou Haojiu; in Harbin Ice and Snow World, they combined with ice sculptures for cultural IP dissemination.
“In general, the strategy focuses more on Hanzhonglan and Crystal Dream within the province, while maintaining the foundation with Haitian Series outside the province and focusing on the Dream Series.” China Merchants Securities summarized Yanghe Shares’ personalized approach in their research report.
In addition, Shede Wine Industry told reporters that in market layout, they have implemented “one policy for one place” based on the market level of each region, conducting refined market operations; in channel construction, they have improved the Spring Festival atmosphere in thousands of terminal stores; in terminal promotions, they have conducted relevant buy-give activities.
Furthermore, the online sales battle in the baijiu industry is also very intense. According to Fenjiu, from January 29th to February 8th, 2024, the “We Love Fenjiu” TikTok challenge exceeded 630 million views. According to Yuan Qingmao, chairman of Fenjiu, the effective method to enhance Fenjiu’s market competitiveness is to master scientific management capabilities and release quality, brand, and cultural potential. Obviously, this TikTok challenge is an effective move where these three potentials are concentrated.
Regarding Langjiu, they introduced to reporters that in 2024, Honghualang has formed a more comprehensive, high-density, multi-touchpoint, and closer-to-consumers three-dimensional marketing pattern from online to offline.
“Young consumers have already accepted live-streaming sales, or purchased personalized, low-unit-price baijiu and internet-famous baijiu brands online.” Xiao Zhuqing cited an example: Before the Spring Festival, Mingpin World sold more than 3,000 cases of Jin Liufu liquor through live e-commerce every day, and the products were in short supply. It can be seen that the competition for e-commerce live streaming by baijiu companies will also become increasingly fierce in the future.
In addition to specific marketing actions on the ground, baijiu brands once again dominated the Spring Festival Gala in the Year of the Dragon, with Wuliangye, Langjiu Honghualang, Gujing Gongjiu, Xifengjiu, Guizhou Maotai, Shuijingfang, Fenjiu, and Jinjiu all making appearances. It is understood that during the 2024 Spring Festival Gala, Wuliangye continued to offer 100,000 interactive gifts, including core products such as the Eighth Generation Wuliangye and Classic Wuliangye. According to calculations based on data released by CCTV, the total value of interactive gifts is approximately 110 million yuan.
Wang Chuancai, Chief Researcher of Chuancai Strategic Think Tank, believes that firstly, the Spring Festival is the largest “consumption scene” for Chinese baijiu. Embracing the Spring Festival Gala helps to promote the brand, create consumption implants, leverage both the B-end and C-end markets, and create a positive resonance between the brand and the market.
Secondly, the Spring Festival is a product of agricultural civilization and also a spiritual journey for Chinese people to seek spiritual belonging. As a super-symbolic product of agricultural civilization, baijiu, by choosing to integrate with the Spring Festival Gala, can maximize brand value and awaken consumers’ feelings of patriotism.
Finally, for the vast grassroots audience, the Spring Festival Gala is still a super media platform with golden traffic value. Being able to appear on the CCTV Spring Festival Gala or dominate local satellite TV Spring Festival Galas can obtain enormous traffic value, which will long-term impact the growth of a baijiu company’s brand and market.
“Doing marketing around the Spring Festival Gala is very conducive to establishing positive brand associations, promoting product sales, driving market consumption, and is conducive to big brands completing brand image output and expressing brand value, which has the value of laying the groundwork and promoting sales for the whole year.” Analysis by Cai Xuefei.