The two joint brandings in a month made netizens joke that Moutai is almost playing itself like cooking wine. It can be added to anything, and the price doubles with a drop. The Mao Xiaoling Liquor Heart Chocolate launched this time is nearly 20 yuan, which is 10 times more expensive than Dove's ordinary chocolate. "It is true that it is a bit unaffordable." Compared with the sauce-flavored latte that hit the Internet at the beginning of the month, this joint branding did not cause much splash on social platforms.
Maotai co-branded, worth 10 times more
“Knowing that I couldn’t afford a whole bottle of Moutai, I started selling it drop by drop.”
On September 16, Maotai and Dove jointly launched Mao Xiaoling wine-filled chocolate, which was officially launched and was sold out in multiple channels. What everyone complains about the most is not only hunger marketing, but also price. "It's too expensive, two are 39 yuan, and that one is the same price as a cup of sauce latte (19 yuan)."
Different from the previous launch of Moutai ice cream and the co-branded sauce latte with Luckin, this time Moutai and Dove co-branded, there were many different voices.
▲(Picture source/cut from Xiaohongshu)
Mao Xiaoling's wine-filled chocolate comes in two flavors - classic and sugar-reduced, each in three specifications. Among them, the classic flavors of 20g (2 pieces), 60g (6 pieces), and 120g (12 pieces) are priced at 35 yuan, 99 yuan, and 169 yuan respectively, while the sugar-reduced flavors are priced at 39 yuan, 109 yuan, and 179 yuan respectively.
According to the product details page, "sugar reduction" means that the sugar content is reduced by no less than 50% compared to dark chocolate products of the same brand. According to Moutai, the energy value per 100g of the classic flavor is 2194 kilojoules and the sugar-reduced flavor is 1990 kilojoules.
After calculation, one piece (10g) of the classic flavor is about 17.5 yuan, while one piece of the sugar-reduced flavor is about 19.5 yuan.
"It's true that I can't afford it. It must be because I haven't worked hard enough." Some netizens joked.
Compared with several products with higher sales volume of Dove chocolate, Mao Xiaoling wine chocolate is much more expensive. For example, a 252g package of Dove Silky Milk Chocolate is priced at 30.9 yuan on JD.com, and there are about 18 pieces in this package, so the price of one piece (14g) is about 1.7 yuan.
One is worth more than ten times the other. So, where is the price?
Regarding Mao Xiaoling’s wine-filled chocolates, the official introduction said, “Each chocolate contains 2% of 53%vol Kweichow Moutai.” According to Moutai, the partner purchased Kweichow Moutai for processing. The purchased product was 500ml 53%vol Kweichow Moutai, and the purchase price was in accordance with the official guide price.
Calculated by weight, a piece of Mao Xiaoling Liquor Chocolate contains 2% Moutai, which is 0.2g. What is this concept? The wine glass that comes with Feitian Moutai is about 7.5g, and the Moutai in a Mao Xiaoling chocolate heart is less than 3% of a cup of Moutai.
This can really be described as "selling by the drop."
▲(Photo source/Mao Xiaoling wine chocolate)
Based on a rough calculation based on the official guide price of a bottle of Feitian Moutai, which is 1,499 yuan, the cost of Moutai in each piece of Mao Xiaoling liquor chocolate is less than 0.7 yuan.
What's more, this is calculated based on the retail price of Feitian Moutai. When the ex-factory price of Feitian Moutai was 969 yuan, Kweichow Moutai's gross profit margin was already as high as about 90%. Therefore, if calculated based on the actual cost of Moutai, the cost of Moutai in this chocolate is even more negligible.
In fact, wine-filled chocolate has been around for a long time, and is even a childhood memory of many people. Moreover, other liquor brands have also launched co-branded wine-filled chocolates, but they have not made much waves.
Although the collaboration between Moutai and Dove has caused some discussion, compared with the previous launch of Maotai Latte, this collaboration is no longer so lively. Many people in the liquor industry and consumers told "City Circle" that in the two days after the Maotai Flavor Latte was launched, the WeChat Moments were all over the place, and it felt like everyone was consuming and discussing it. However, since the launch of Mao Xiaoling Liquor Heart Chocolate, the WeChat Moments and social platforms were flooded with content related to this, "but there is much less in comparison."
"It's soft, and it feels like a normal chocolate flavor, with a very light alcoholic flavor." Wang Yang said that after seeing Moutai co-branded with Dove, she wanted to try it. She had eaten wine-centered chocolate when she was a child, but she didn't like eating this kind of flavor. This time she wanted to try something special, but it didn't seem to be anything special.
Wang Yang is a senior chocolate lover. Having studied abroad, she has "checked in" various chocolates in the UK, Switzerland, Italy, Germany, Spain, Japan and other countries. Regarding Mao Xiaoling’s wine-filled chocolate, she commented that “it tastes similar to other wine-filled chocolates and the price is indeed not low.”
Two weeks ago, Wang Yang also followed the trend and tasted the sauce latte. "The first bite felt okay, but after it was left for a while and the ice melted, the taste started to become weird. I threw away most of the remaining cup."
Moutai's co-branding came one after another, so many netizens ridiculed Moutai as a "scumbag". Wang Yang said that it felt like Maotai was being added to everything. “Such a high-end wine is almost like cooking wine.”
There are almost not enough young people.
iMoutai, a digital marketing platform launched by Kweichow Moutai, is one of the first channels for Mao Xiaoling wine-filled chocolate. On i Maotai, the product introduction page of Mao Xiaoling Liquor Heart Chocolate says in large letters: "Young people's sense of ritual."
Yes, young people again.
▲(Picture source/cut from i Maotai)
From Moutai ice cream - "young people's first mouthful of Moutai", to sauce latte - "young people's first cup of Moutai", to Mao Xiaoling wine-filled chocolate - "young people's sense of ritual", Moutai is frequently teasing young people.
However, Luckin is a brand that is highly talked about among the "workers" group. Many young "workers" even start their day with a cup of Luckin coffee worth 9.9 yuan. Therefore, the joint branding of Moutai and Luckin has attracted a lot of discussion and participation. The single-day sales can exceed 100 million, but Dove and even the chocolate market are different.
Chocolate is often marketed in conjunction with love, and gift giving is also the main consumption scenario for chocolate.
A Zhiyan Consulting report stated that China’s chocolate market is mainly dominated by foreign brands. In the retail market, foreign companies account for more than 90% of the market share. Mars, the parent company of Dove, Snickers, and M&M brands, has always occupied the first place in the chocolate market, Ferrero occupied the second place, and Nestlé ranked third.
As the leader in liquor, Moutai often looks for leaders in other industries for co-branding. This is the case with Luckin and the same is true with Dove.
China's chocolate market can be divided into three major camps: the first camp is high-end brands represented by Godiva, Lindt, Basil, etc.; the second camp is mid-range brands represented by Dove, Ferrero, Hershey's, Mondelez, etc., which are characterized by winning through marketing; and the third camp is low-end products represented by Hsu Fuji, Yake, Golden Monkey, etc.
Although there are many brands, the market is not large and has almost stagnated.
Data from OC&C Consulting shows that since 2014, the size of China’s chocolate market has stagnated at more than 20 billion yuan, stagnating, and consumption is still declining.
China's chocolate sales in 2021 will be approximately 251,600 tons, compared with 256,500 tons in 2016.
The leading Dove was not spared either. Data from Euromonitor International shows that from 2018 to 2021, Dove's market share in China fell from 22.8% in 2018 to 22.4%, while Ferrero fell from 8.7% to 7.6%.
Zhiyan Consulting report analyzed that the overall sales of chocolate in China are in a downward trend. On the one hand, the ever-increasing number of snack brands has diverted the chocolate market to a certain extent; on the other hand, due to people’s increased attention to health, most chocolates contain too much sugar, calories and fat, and people have become cautious about it.
In the eyes of many young people, chocolate has become "bitter sweet".
As for the joint branding between Moutai and Dove, I can only say "it's hard to comment". Moreover, the main consumer group of chocolate is women, and a large proportion of them are minors. Mao Xiaoling's wine-filled chocolate contains alcohol and is not recommended for use by minors.
Some product managers said frankly that if you eat too much of this kind of traffic bonus, you will become addicted. Innovation in product co-branding must be encouraged, but you still have to be relaxed and careful to be careful of backlash.
Judging from these two joint brands, whether it is the "Maotai Latte" co-branded with Luckin or the "Mao Xiaoling Liquor Chocolate" co-branded with Dove, Moutai avoids the word "Moutai" in the names of co-branded products. Maotai flavor is a flavor of liquor, and Mao Xiaoling is the IP image of Moutai ice cream.
Ding Xiongjun, chairman of Kweichow Moutai, said at the launch ceremony of Mao Xiaoling Liquor Heart Chocolate that the cooperation between Moutai and Mars is a brand alliance between a Chinese time-honored brand and an internationally renowned brand. At this point, Moutai has completed the extended development of peripheral products for drinking, eating, tasting, drinking and taking, and the development of "+Moutai" peripheral products will also come to an end.
The liquor industry competes in the existing market, and Kweichow Moutai has been trying its best to "embrace" young people in recent years.
In fact, whether it is Moutai ice cream, sauce latte, or Mao Xiaoling wine-filled chocolate, at present, their contribution to Kweichow Moutai's performance is negligible. The important thing is that Kweichow Moutai wants to connect young people and let them gradually become consumers of Moutai liquor.
Ding Xiongjun has previously said that cultivating the taste of Maotai sauce among young consumers and promoting the youthfulness and fashionability of the Moutai brand, "grasping young people is to seize the future of Moutai."
Moutai tries every means to “please” young people, but young people may not necessarily pay the bill.
Wang Yang said bluntly: "For loyal chocolate lovers, there are too many choices. As for liqueur chocolate, many times I only taste it occasionally and do not consume it frequently. I feel that this joint brand may pass by in a flash. Isn’t the heat of the sauce latte gone quickly?!"
There are also young consumers who have tasted the taste of Moutai, and their curiosity about Moutai has since disappeared.
"I've always heard about Moutai liquor. A bottle is hard to find and very expensive. I tried to buy it on e-commerce platforms, but I didn't get it or drink it. I've always been curious about it. During this period, from sauce latte to wine-filled chocolate, after tasting it, I felt that it was nothing more than that. My previous curiosity has since disappeared."
(Wang Yang is a pseudonym in the article)
Author |Lei Yanpeng
Source|City Boundary