2014 in Review: Brand Agriculture Industry Trends
Looking back at the brand agriculture industry trends of 2014, the market surged, capital was active, and brand building was in full swing. Whether in capital investment, e-commerce, agricultural product processing, or the leisure agriculture industry, one could see many figures and steps striving for innovation, creativity, and progress; cross-sector operations, integration of primary, secondary and tertiary industries, direct sales from production areas, "cultural and creative" thinking...... Agricultural market players excelled in exploring new models with great versatility and bold inquiry, showing full charm and brilliance on the runway of brand agriculture building.
Reviewing the performance and achievements of market players in 2014, their brand market strategies, novel marketing methods, and the formation of market synergies all made people exclaim, marvel, and applaud. Turning the page on 2014 and stepping into 2015, brand agriculture will set out anew, and the power of the agricultural market is even more eagerly anticipated!
⟦NL> Methods "New"——
Sellers rush to "get online," e-commerce giants layout rural markets
Compared with traditional distribution methods, e-commerce has incomparable advantages, especially in terms of information symmetry. In the sales process, buyers and sellers can "meet" on an open platform. In the production and sales chain, e-commerce networks can conveniently and effectively collect market demand information and feed it back to farmers, promoting the balance of supply and demand for agricultural products. "Getting online" and internet thinking became the breakthrough move for agricultural enterprises seeking transformation.
In recent years, agricultural product e-commerce has been flourishing and advancing at high speed. First, online platforms expanded rapidly and in huge numbers. Sellers of agricultural products on Alibaba's platform reached 394,000 in 2013, and agricultural product retail sales surged from 3.7 billion yuan in 2010 to more than 40 billion yuan in 2013. Second, the range of agricultural products involved grew larger and larger; besides products that are easy to store and transport such as dried fruits, more and more fresh agricultural products were included. Third, it entered the field of production factors, such as the "Land Treasure" that appeared in Anhui, pointing directly at the basic factor of agricultural production——land, exploring reform of the rural land system.
At the same time, while traditional enterprises were busy moving their business "online," e-commerce giants opened physical service stores in the fields, playing the service card. Starting in May 2014, SF Express successively opened 74 "Heike stores" in Chengdu, laying out an urban community O2O network. According to SF's public plan, no fewer than 4,000 stores would be opened nationwide in 2014. In addition to seizing the offline entrance of e-commerce O2O in more economically developed areas, SF was also advancing O2O integration in less economically developed township areas. In addition, there was the similar "Cat House" that started in Shenzhen. In the second half of 2014, JD.com, Alibaba, and Suning successively announced strategic plans for rural e-commerce. Among them, Alibaba stated it would invest 10 billion yuan to develop rural e-commerce, establishing 1,000 county-level operations centers and 100,000 rural service stations; Suning Commerce hoped to build 10,000 Suning Tesco service stations within 5 years, covering 1/4 of the country's townships.
E-commerce going to the countryside not only allows rural consumers to enjoy the same convenient door-to-door delivery service as urban consumers, but also finds a broad space for development for agricultural products, creating new performance growth points. Looking ahead to 2015, the e-commerce era of posting a few pictures on a webpage to sell agricultural products has passed, and through new internet technologies and new thinking, there are more and more new ways to market agricultural products. How to make this industry refined, detailed, and thorough is the new proposition given by the industry.
Strategy "Precise"——
Emphasis on consumer awareness, investment trending toward precision
In 2014, agricultural investment showed some new characteristics. Agricultural investment had begun to extend from the original production field to the entire agricultural industry chain, including production of means of production, agricultural socialized services, agricultural leisure and sightseeing, and agricultural product logistics and trade. In Zhejiang, by the first half of 2014, among the nearly 5 billion yuan of completed agricultural investment, projects involving the entire agricultural industry chain accounted for 66%. Looking ahead to 2015, from the general understanding of the investment industry, it is difficult for agricultural investment to have an explosive period; against the broader background, it is a process of steady growth, but this does not rule out partial breakthroughs: in technological innovation, information innovation, and service innovation, it may also bring explosive growth to a certain segmented industry or specific enterprise.
Since last year, personalized agricultural product brands represented by "Chu Orange, Liu Peach, Pan Apple" have become popular on the internet, setting off a storm of agricultural product e-commerce. Why were "Chu Orange, Liu Peach, Pan Apple" widely sought after by netizens? The story-based marketing methods and personalized brand building hidden behind the fruit are the key. Taking Chu Orange as an example, echoing Chu Shijian's experience, Chu Orange is often endowed with the meaning of an inspirational orange. Using the story behind Chu Orange to hit the point at the bottom of consumers' hearts is precisely the most extensible part of the marketing process.
Concepts such as the "fan economy" and experiential marketing were also talked about with great relish, attracting the industry's attention and emphasis. Relevant experts pointed out that in the process of brand communication for agricultural products, the value of loyal "fans" was sharply amplified, becoming the most attractive consumers. However, the "fan economy" is only "laying the foundation"; operating and maintaining various forms of fan communities is "building the frame structure"; only by exploring effective ways of experiential marketing on the basis of the "fan economy" can a closed loop from virtual to physical and from online to offline be established.
These agricultural investment and agricultural product marketing strategies and methods were very precise. In last year's agricultural market, some brand enterprises skillfully used the "fan economy" and experiential marketing to create sales miracles. Looking ahead to the new year, more effective and highly precise marketing strategies will attract attention, and appropriate market strategies will also bring more favorable market benefits to market players.
Synergy "Strong"——
Government guidance, enterprise as the main body, jointly advancing
China's agricultural market has quite a few brands. According to statistics from relevant departments, registered agricultural product trademarks grew from 600,000 in 2008 to 1.25 million in 2012, doubling in 4 years. However, due to a late start and a weak foundation, many products have relatively low competitiveness, and the influence of most brands remains limited to local areas. There are not many cross-provincial or cross-regional brands, and even fewer internationally renowned brands.
If enterprise brands are not well known, it is very difficult for agricultural enterprises to enter the market fighting alone. The cultivation of public brands often has government support and promotion. Public brands integrate the strength of production entities, enabling regional production entities to band together for warmth and leverage momentum. The greater the fame of a public brand, the more consumers trust the production enterprises within the region. At present, governments across China have recognized the importance of public brand building, and many regions spare no effort to build and promote the development of public brands.
In 2014, the agricultural exhibition industry also increasingly demonstrated its important role amid transformation. Agricultural exhibitions play an important role in promoting agricultural product trade, optimizing industrial structure, advancing industrialized development, and driving regional economic growth, and are an important part of the efforts of the government and other relevant parties to promote agricultural branding. In early 2014, the Ministry of Agriculture issued a requirement to hold exhibitions frugally. Agricultural exhibitions changed in scale and duration, but because costs were lowered, the burden on participating enterprises was correspondingly reduced, especially beneficial for small and medium-sized enterprises, and the enthusiasm of small and medium-sized agricultural enterprises to participate increased. This trend of frugal exhibition holding is also conducive to the healthy and orderly development of the agricultural exhibition industry.
Looking ahead to 2015, the challenges currently faced by agricultural market players remain enormous, and the government's supporting role is indispensable for agricultural market players; therefore, it is imperative to continuously strengthen the brand agriculture building momentum of "government guidance, enterprise as the main body, joint advancement, and formation of synergy."