Chapter 834 – Lucky draw promotion
Coca-Cola and Pepsi did not expect Jianlibao, which they had suppressed in the North American market, could enter the supermarkets, and it was all major supermarket chains!
Coca-Cola and Pepsi were global beverage giants, and while they were attacking the Chinese market, a Chinese brand had hit them in their own backyards.
The beverage giants’ progress in the Chinese market was slow, and they thought the Chinese do not like carbonated drinks. But why did Jianlibao, Refreshing, Rising Sun Group soft drinks were selling better than them?
Lehaha’s Refreshing series were copying their drinks and had better sales!
Coca-Cola and Pepsi tried Lehaha’s Refreshing series of drinks, and the taste was nowhere close to them.
The main reason is Lehaha’s sales distribution channels are better than Coca-Cola and Pepsi. Lehaha can deliver their goods to any town in China within 3 days. This was not what Coca-Cola and Pepsi could do. Currently, they can only sell their products in major cities.
Their sales in the cities were not as good as they expected because many of the distributors were not willing to bring in their products. Even Tai Hua Supermarkets took their products off their shelves. Many Chinese consumers thought something was wrong with Coca-Cola and Pepsi’s products. This made them regret to place their products in Tai Hua Supermarkets in the first place!
These were because of Feng Yu. Tai Hua Supermarkets were not affected by removing some products from their shelves, and Feng Yu told all the distributors related to Tai Hua Trading to forbid them from distributing Coca-Cola and Pepsi products. Those distributors chose to follow Tai Hua Trading’s instructions as they were making more profits with Tai Hua Trading.
In a competitive environment, companies will make such requests to their distributors, and the distributors could relate with Tai Hua Trading. Furthermore, Tai Hua Trading gave them 1% more profits on Songjiang, Wind and Rain, Aiwa, etc. products. The distributors will surely stand by Tai Hua Trading forever because of this benefit.
Coca-Cola and Pepsi had failed to expand their presence in the Chinese market, and Chinese brands had entered their primary market. This made them furious.
But Coca-Cola and Pepsi did not think these Chinese brands can do much harm to them as other than Jianlibao, the rest of the brands were unknown in the US. Although those Chinese brands had successfully entered the supermarket chains, they felt it was just a gimmick and will not affect their sales.
But very soon, Coca-Cola and Pepsi realized they had belittled these Chinese brands.
……
“Another bottle! Another Can! Chinese Beverages sales promotion! If initials are found in the bottle caps or can ring, you can exchange for the same product from where you buy it!”
All the major US newspapers published full-page advertisements for a week.
This sales promotion had caught Coca-Cola and Pepsi off guard!
This was forgoing profits in exchange for market share. Usually, this strategy is used by stronger companies who had the upper hand.
The cost of this marketing tactic is higher than advertising and needs the cooperation of the retailers and distributors. The company behind this tactic also has to pay the retailers and distributors a sum of money.
Coca-Cola and Pepsi had not expected these Chinese beverages to use this marketing strategy! Where did they get so much money?
But Coca-Cola and Pepsi were still confident as their products taste better and have loyal consumers. They will not be affected by these Chinese brands.
After that, the newspapers published new advertisements announcing that the Chinese beverage sales promotion will be upgraded!
Jianlibao, Qili, and several canned drinks increased the value of their prizes. Other than another can, could win Aiwa CD players, Wind and Rain Super fans, Wind and Rain Super VCD players, etc.
These prizes were provided by Feng Yu for free and he also benefited from it. Wind and Rain and Aiwa products also appeared in the advertisements, and consumers will take note of them.
What Coca-Cola and Pepsi could not accept was the grand prize in the lucky draw. Other than the electronics products, the grand prize is a Songjiang car!
Drinking a beverage can win a car. The prize is too grand, and all the consumers were excited!
Within a few days, Jianlibao, Qili, Refreshing, etc. products were selling like hotcakes. These few products also help increase the sales of other Chinese beverages.
The supermarket chains also helped with the promotions by putting up giant posters. Anyway, the supermarkets do not need to pay for this promotion, and this promotion can increase their customer traffic.
Feng Yu used Songjiang – Offroad, as the grand prize. Through market research, only this model’s exterior design and specifications are most suitable for the North America market. Songjiang Redstar and Olympic models were not as popular in the US as the Americans felt the designs were not beautiful and the performance is just average.
Just like Wind and Rain and Aiwa products, Songjiang Motors can increase their brand awareness in the US through this lucky draw.
To support China’s Olympic team, Feng Yu had shipped a few hundred Songjiang vehicles over to the US. Some of these vehicles will be used by the Olympic team and the rest will be used as advertisements.
Feng Yu did not expect Songjiang to become popular in the US overnight. He just wants to increase the Songjiang’s brand awareness.
Feng Yu also contacted one auto-distributor in every state and left 3 models of Songjiang vehicles with them. These vehicles were for display and test drives by customers. Feng Yu had no use for the remaining cars and decided to use them to advertise.
Feng Yu also want to know how the Americans will react to Chinese manufactured cars. Even if the profit for each vehicle is 1,000 USD, he will get 10 million USD in profits when 10,000 vehicles were sold!
One week after the lucky draw promotion prizes were announced, there is an article in the newspaper saying this lucky draw is a scam. No one had won any cars from it!
Some customers had won CD players, Super Fans, Super VCD players and were reported in the papers. But no winners of the anticipated grand prize are announced.
Feng Yu was also frustrated. He had placed the winning can on the shelves, but no one had come forward to redeem the grand prize? In the end, Feng Yu had no choice but to arrange a winner!
A winning bottle of beverage was arranged to be bought by a customer!
That customer opened the bottle and jumped up in surprise! People started to crowd around him and saw he had won the 30,000 USD Songjiang Offroad!
The newspapers immediately report on this winner and announce that there are 19 more vehicles to be won. This increases Chinese beverages’ sales further.
Although the US’s economy is better than China, not everyone can afford to buy cars. Also, African Americans like this Songjiang Offroad model. This vehicle looks majestic, has excellent performance, and most importantly, they might get it with only 59 cents!
After the newspaper reports, the sales of these beverages increased by 800%!
China beverages had established a foothold in North America!
