seimitsubuttons| Ding Xiongjun stepped down and Zhang Deqin took over the baton. How could Moutai, whose coach was changed,"leave"?

Maotai changed his coach and entered the era of Zhang Deqin.

Reporter Kui Ning Xiaomin

Trainee, Tu Ling

Product (ao Tou Finance and Economics)

Recently, Tianyan check APP information shows that industrial and commercial changes have taken place in China Guizhou Moutai Distillery (Group) Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Maotai"). Ding Xiongjun stepped down as legal representative and chairman of the board, and Zhang Deqin took over. At this point, Maotai officially completed the change of coach and entered the era of Zhang Deqin.

As the leading enterprise in the liquor industry, Maotai's every move has attracted the attention of the industry. During Ding Xiongjun's tenure as chairman of Maotai, he outlined the development strategy of Maotai with the "five-line strategy" and constantly promoted the rejuvenation of the Maotai brand, such as introducing popular products such as Maotai ice cream, Maotai chocolate, Maotai latte coffee and so on. Let Maotai brand earn enough topics and eyeballs.

Maotai got mixed praise and criticism from it. Some people believe that the younger action of the Maotai brand shortens the gap with young consumers, but some analysts believe that lowering the tone of Maotai is not conducive to maintaining the price of Maotai and is of little help to the company's performance.

In the current deep adjustment of the entire liquor industry, destocking has become the focus of the industry. At present, Maotai Group's direct sales channel revenue growth is slowing down, bulk bottle Feitian Maotai market prices are falling, after the new "number one" is in place, how to continue to promote the high-quality development of Maotai deserves continuous attention.

01

Ding Xiongjun leaves office

Where does the "five-line strategy" go?

Two years and eight months, this is the time when Ding Xiongjun served as party committee secretary and chairman of Maotai Group. According to APP, although Ding Xiongjun has stepped down as the legal representative of Maotai, he is still the legal representative of Guizhou Moutai Liquor Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Maotai Co., Ltd.").

As a leader from across the border, Ding Xiongjun is considered to be a reformist. During his tenure as chairman of Maotai Group and Maotai shares, he was most familiar with the blue, green, white, purple and red five-line development strategy, outlining the blueprint for the future development of Maotai from many dimensions.

The blue line represents Maotai's goal vision and blueprint.SeimitsubuttonsThe green line represents unswervingly taking the path of ecological priority and green development, protecting the ecological environment on which Maotai depends for survival and development; the white line represents maintaining a zero mentality, grasping innovation and reform, and writing articles on white paper; the purple line represents Maotai culture and maximize the influence and cohesion of Maotai culture; the red line refers to the bottom line of environmental protection and safety.

Ding Xiongjun has repeatedly expounded the "five-line strategy" in public, upgrading it to a more ecological and systematic high-quality development line.

Under the leadership of Ding Xiongjun, Maotai has continuously developed around the "five-line strategy" and made a series of achievements, the most representative of which is the continuous growth of Maotai shares. Data show that from 2021 to 2023, Maotai's revenue was 1094 respectively.Seimitsubuttons64 billion yuan, 127.554 billion yuan and 150.56 billion yuan, with an average annual growth rate of more than 10%. In the same period, the net profit of returning home was 52.46 billion yuan, 62.716 billion yuan and 74.734 billion yuan respectively, with an average annual growth rate of more than 15%.

Not only that, Ding Xiongjun also vigorously promoted the expansion of Maotai direct marketing channels during his term of office, which became the focus of its channel reform. During this period, "I Maotai" APP, as an important online direct channel of Maotai, promoted the revenue share of Maotai direct channel from about 20% to 45.52% in 2023, supporting the rapid growth of Maotai's net profit.

Zhang Deqin is an executive who has grown up from within Maotai. According to public information, Zhang Deqin started from the front line of production and rose all the way from technician to workshop director in 10 years. In 2010, Zhang Deqin served as assistant to the general manager of Maotai Distillery and Deputy Secretary of the Party Committee, Chairman and General Manager of Guizhou Moutai Distillery (Group) Xi Liquor Co., Ltd. In 2019, he was transferred to be a member of the party committee and deputy general manager of Guizhou Modern Logistics Industry Group.

In July 2022, after "flying solo", Zhang Deqin was transferred to Xijiu as chairman, and led Xijiu to achieve 20 billion yuan in sales income (including tax) that year, which greatly enhanced the brand value and market awareness of Xijiu.

Back in Maotai, outsiders are concerned about how Maotai under the leadership of Zhang Deqin will develop and whether it will formulate a new development strategy for Maotai. Therefore, the Maotai shareholders' meeting to be held on May 29 may be an excellent window for observation.

02

After the fashion craze

The rejuvenation of Maotai attracts attention

Under the "five-line strategy" plan, promoting the rejuvenation of the brand is also a focus of Ding Xiongjun's efforts when he is at the helm of Maotai. In September 2023, Maotai successively partnered with Luckin Coffee, Dev and other brands to launch joint products in an attempt to break the public's stereotype of Maotai. This move is also seen by the outside world as an important starting point for Maotai to move closer to young consumers, cultivate the Maotai sauce taste of young consumers, and then promote the rejuvenation of the Maotai brand.

Judging from the market reaction at that time, the joint activity of Maotai and many brands was indeed successful, which was pursued by the majority of consumers and brought a lot of traffic and attention to Maotai. For example, when the Maotai latte co-signed with Luckin Coffee was first launched, it attracted a large number of consumers who tasted fresh, resulting in the phenomenon that "one cup is hard to get".

However, the launch of a series of joint activities did not significantly boost Maotai's performance. On the one hand, Maotai, as a leading brand in the field of soy sauce and wine, has a high market awareness among consumers, and co-signing with other brands is the icing on the cake. On the other hand, the joint name plays a limited role in driving the sales of Maotai related products, and the fact that the market price of Feitian Maotai products is much higher than the manufacturer's guiding price has not changed, and some consumers can only look at "Mao" and sigh.

Not only that, after the consumer taste craze triggered by the joint product, it finally became insipid, such as Maotai and Dev's joint product "Mao Xiaoling Wine Heart Chocolate", which sold out so quickly that it had to be restricted when it first went on sale. The heat has dissipated, and this chocolate is now easily available through Dev's official online flagship store. Another popular style joint product, "Maotai latte", which has been popular for a period of time, has returned to normal and can be bought in Luckin Coffee's many offline stores.

Some industry analysts believe that although Moutai's cross-border co-branding has received widespread attention and popularity, it is only a drop in the bucket compared to the volume of Moutai liquor, and the attention is too high, risking brand overdraft. Moutai seemed to have expected this result. After cooperating with Dove for a joint product, Moutai announced that it would stop co-branding activities and would no longer launch new "+ Moutai" peripheral products.

So, will Moutai's brand rejuvenation continue to advance, and how to promote it? How will Zhang Deqin face it after taking charge of Maotai?