Du Guoying is in the spotlight again, this time because of an apology.
A few days ago, the topic of "the founder of the small pot of tea apologized" rushed to the hot search on Weibo. According to the financial magazine Weibo, on June 25, at the 12th anniversary press conference of small pots of tea, Du Guoying responded to the long-term "masterpiece" controversy, saying that the corporate advertising slogan has caused trouble to everyone, and he has reflected on it for many years, solemnly apologized to everyone, and said that he has been committed to digitizing the master's skills for many years, and announced that his 135 tea-making patents are open source to the society free of charge.
It is worth noting that Tianyancha shows that in January this year, Xiaocan Tea also applied for the registration of a "master handmade" trademark, which is internationally classified as convenience food, but in April, the trademark process information has been changed to "Rejection Notice Issued".
Small pots of tea applied for the trademark of "master handmade". Screenshot of Tianyancha
Although Du Guoying announced an apology, netizens didn't seem to buy it, and many netizens questioned its remarketing, which is related to Du Guoying's previous entrepreneurial experience. In the current fierce competition in the industry, does Du Guoying's marketing routine still work?
The price is inflated, and it is difficult for ordinary consumers to accept it
Du Guoying, who once used "masterpiece" as a promotional point for small pots of tea, has chosen to abandon this label.
Du Guoying's entry into the tea industry began in 2012, when he had just made up his mind to sell the E person E book, and because he was reluctant to give up the original team, he designed a new company structure and launched the 8848 mobile phone. Among them, he did not forget his desire to enter the tea field, and in 2014, Beijing Small Pot Tea Industry Co., Ltd. was established.
The emergence of small pots of tea can be said to have copied the marketing experience accumulated by Du Guoying before. At that time, the small pot of tea invited the endorsement of 8 tea masters, and put a lot of textured advertisements, claiming that "eight tea masters handmade", "each can is handmade by a master of the Taidou level", ...... "small pot of tea masters" became a prominent label of the brand.
Advertisement for a small pot of tea. Screenshot/Screenshot of the small pot tea advertisement video of station B
Soon, the small pot of tea became famous, and with the small and exquisite packaging, under a series of marketing, the revenue of the small pot of tea grew rapidly. According to the "Financial National Weekly", the total revenue of small pots of tea listed in July 2016 was 100 million yuan. In 2017, the sales volume was about 1.1 billion yuan, and it was profitable. Mei Jiang, general manager of the small pot tea market center, also said that the shipment volume was controlled at the end of 2017, and the actual turnover would be greater if it was released. According to the "2018 China Tea Enterprise Development Report", the total number of tea enterprises in mainland China in 2017 was about 60,000, of which only 6 enterprises had total assets of more than 1 billion yuan. In 2018, the sales of small pots of tea reached 2 billion yuan. In contrast, the prospectus of Bama Tea Industry shows that the company's operating income for the year was 718 million yuan.
However, the good times did not last long, and in 2019, small pots of tea fell into a storm of public opinion, and doubts appeared on the Internet, believing that according to the sales of small pots of tea in 2018 of 2 billion yuan, each hand-fried tea master should fry 1466 catties of fresh tea leaves a day. In this regard, the small pot of tea issued a clarification note, saying that "'master work' is a work that represents the master's skills, not the master's hand-roasted tea." ”
Small pots of tea issued a statement. Image source/Xiaocan Tea's official Weibo
In addition to the marketing "masterpiece", the price of small pots of tea has also been criticized by many consumers, and the market price of small pots of tea gold cans was once as high as 6,250 yuan / catty.
"I think [the price] is quite high." On June 27, Zhang Le (pseudonym), a tea merchant from Henan, told upstream news reporters that the quality of tea can be judged from the price, brewed tea base, taste, smell and other aspects, and its price range ranges from tens of yuan to thousands of yuan and tens of thousands of yuan. "You get what you pay for." Zhang Le said.
"Small pots of tea have occupied a place in the tea market with its high-end positioning and unique packaging, and its target consumer groups are mainly middle and high-end consumers who pursue quality life." On the same day, Wang Peng, an associate researcher at the Beijing Academy of Social Sciences, told upstream news reporters.
Zhang Le said that she had tasted small pots of tea, and she thought that the quality of small pots of tea was acceptable, but the price was inflated. She told reporters that in the tea industry, the 200 yuan/jin and 500-600 yuan/jin ration tea sold by themselves are sold well, and the price of small pots of tea is too high for ordinary consumers to accept. Around 2020, a small pot of tea salesperson contacted her and hoped that she would engage in the distribution of small pots of tea, but considering the high price of small pots of tea and the fact that it is mostly positioned in the high-end market for social gift-giving, Zhang Le refused to engage in related business because of the poor sales.
"I basically buy 300 yuan-400 yuan per catty for my own drinking." On June 26, tea lover Xiao Yang told upstream news reporters.
In order to understand the specific sales of small pots of tea in recent years and other relevant information, on June 26, upstream news reporters sent an interview outline to small pots of tea, but did not receive a reply as of press time.
Small pots of tea are questioned as "IQ tax"
For a long time, due to the "masterpiece" and "high price", the small pot of tea has been described by netizens as an "IQ tax", and the founder Du Guoying has also been labeled as an "IQ tax master".
"Someone even said in front of me that the term 'IQ tax' was born from you, Du Guoying." In an interview with a reporter from Time Weekly, Du Guoying said that it was difficult for him to accept it at first, "The mood is relatively bad." ”
This is related to Du Guoying's work experience. In the nineties of the last century, the tide of Xiahai swept the country, and Du Guoying gave up his job as a teacher to join the Xiahai army. He joined a company in Tianjin to engage in sales, and gained a lot of turnover by persuading the leader to invest 2,000 yuan to put a radio advertisement, which also made him feel the charm of "traffic" and the sweetness of "marketing".
With greater "ambitions", he chose to resign and start his own business. In 1997, 24-year-old Du Guoying aimed at a posture correction product, and by placing a large number of advertisements and inviting celebrities to endorse, the product quickly became popular and swept the country. To this day, the memory left by Beibeijia to the post-80s and post-90s groups is still profound.
There is nothing wrong with marketing, but when combined with Du Guoying's name, it is always questioned by the outside world. Now, Du Guoying apologizes for the controversy of the "masterpiece", saying that he has been committed to digitizing the master's skills for many years, which has also made it difficult for many netizens to accept.
Zhang Le told upstream news reporters that many tea manufacturers now use machines to process tea, and she does not understand the meaning of "digitization of master skills". "It will only make customers who used to buy small pots of tea feel that they have bought an 'IQ tax'." Zhang Le commented, "It's quite empty, I actually don't believe it all along." ”
At the same time as getting rid of the "masterpiece" label, Du Guoying seems to be interested in changing the inherent impression of "high price" in the minds of consumers, he revealed that two months later, the "small pot tea garden" brand will be re-released, and the ration tea of 100 yuan - 300 yuan / catty will be launched, and the cost of a brew of tea will be controlled at 1.5 yuan.
"The price of ration tea is relatively down-to-earth, and the price is okay." Zhang Le said that it depends on the quality of tea. She told reporters that at present, most of the customers she has contacted are ordinary consumers, and most of the tea purchases are for self-drinking, and there are fewer customers for gifts.
What is the future of small pots of tea?
The upstream news reporter noticed that at present, on the Tmall platform, the small pot tea flagship store has both the classic commemorative version of the ecological Banzhang Yunnan Pu'er tea priced at 24,200 yuan and weighing 10 kilograms, as well as the mini bag with a price of 59 yuan and the 4-flavor tasting tea gift box. In this store, the price of the top-selling products is mostly more than 100 yuan.
The top-selling products in the small pot tea flagship store on the Tmall platform. Screenshot of Taobao APP
In fact, in addition to selling small pots of tea through online platforms, there are also offline stores, but the number of stores is declining. Xiaoxiang Morning News reported that the monitoring data of the Jihai brand showed that 33 new stores and 59 new stores were closed in the past 90 days. From December 2023 to now, the total number of its stores has dropped from 1,002 to 626. According to this calculation, 376 stores of small pots of tea were closed in half a year.
"In 2023, affected by the overall consumption environment and the production and marketing situation of famous and high-quality spring tea, the domestic sales of raw leaf tea will be unsatisfactory, and the market will enter a period of phased stock competition, and most tea companies will be under great pressure." The China Tea Circulation Association said in the "2023 China Tea Production and Marketing Situation Report".
According to Lin Xianping, secretary-general of the Institute of Cultural Creativity of Zhejiang University City College, the current problems faced by small pots of tea include a highly competitive market environment, the rising cost of high-quality tea, and challenges in rapidly expanding the market.
According to the "2023 Taobao Tmall Tea Industry Consumption Trend White Paper", from the perspective of the two major tea categories, substitute teas based on herbal tea and fruit tea have a large user base, accounting for 70% of the total number of consumers; However, the sales scale of the overall tea industry mainly depends on raw leaf tea, and Pu'er, green tea, and oolong tea occupy the TOP3 of raw leaf tea sales.
Bai Wenxi, vice chairman of the China Enterprise Capital Alliance, pointed out that with the upgrading of consumption and the pursuit of tea quality and taste by young consumers, small pots of tea need to continue to innovate to meet the needs of consumers.
At a time when entrepreneurs are frequently creating personal IPs, Du Guoying has also come to a new traffic field. Two years ago, he opened a Douyin account, and so far he has published 109 works, but only 265,000 followers.
Du Guoying's personal Douyin homepage. Screenshot of Douyin APP
"Small pots of tea have achieved remarkable results in marketing strategies in the past, but with the changes in the market environment, it is necessary to constantly adjust and optimize marketing strategies to maintain market competitiveness. For example, branding and marketing campaigns through social media and online platforms. Wang Peng believes that small pots of tea also face challenges in terms of marketing strategies.
At present, there is still a broad market space in the tea industry. According to iiMedia Consulting, it is expected that by 2025, the scale of China's new tea beverage market will expand to 374.93 billion yuan.
Lin Xianping told upstream news reporters that the current chaos in the tea market mainly includes problems such as opaque prices, non-standard brands, and plagiarism in packaging design, which affect consumers' purchase decisions and hinder the healthy development of the industry. He believes that it is necessary to strengthen supervision and standardize industry standards, and consumers also need to improve their ability to distinguish and choose high-quality brands and products.
"It is recommended that tea enterprises strengthen technological innovation and quality management, enhance the added value of products, and also need to pay attention to brand building and protection of intellectual property rights." Lin Xianping further said.
Upstream news reporter Qi Xin Part of the content is based on Phoenix.com's "Eye of the Storm", Southern Metropolis Daily, Times Weekly, Xiaoxiang Morning News, etc