I'd like to add my voice to the conversation, based on some of my personal fragmented observations and subjective thinking, and based on my respect for Xibei as a company, I've written this article, and I hope that it will be inspiring to all of you.

First of all, pull the timeline back to 2010, before Article 8, when Xibei is still a Northwest local food and beverage as the characteristics of the enterprise, the highest time nearly a dozen brands, annual revenue of nearly 5 billion. The main source of profit is still the main business banquet Xibei U noodle village and ninety-nine felt room.

After 2010, the launch of the National Eight Policy, the original premise is invalid.

Xibei is like many traditional catering companies. Started to enter a long years of strategic transformation, hoping to explore a more suitable for the new era of development.

Starting in 2010, Xibei from the initial oat village, to the Northwest folk cuisine, to the Xibei Northwest cuisine, and then to the cooking sheep experts, and finally returned to the Xibei oat village. Only to find a match system that meets the current survival structure of the development of the matching system, and from then on embarked on a ride on the road of high-speed development. This tossing course is very informative for the whole industry. So far, it seems that no one really speaks clearly and thoroughly.

So, this article, from the following two questions at the beginning.

First, why Xibei's strategic positioning adjustment so many times did not run through? What are the reasons?

Secondly, why did you change back to oat noodles village instead of running through? And what is the reason?

My personal conclusion is that "strategy is not to mind cognition as the origin to do a positioning, the essence of the strategy is to dominate the enterprise resource allocation of input and output efficiency".

An effective strategy must first get through the four chains.

The demand chain, the value chain, the supply chain, and the connection chain. When all four chains are united, it is a strategy.

Why?

First of all, I would like to explain the four chains.

The so-called demand chain, the key is the chain. It is not a single point, but both overlap, compatibility, and conflict. Multiple demand points cross together to be called a demand chain.

Grandpa Mao once said, the first question of the revolution is, who is your enemy, who is your friend.

Similarly, the primary issue in running a business. It is also important to understand who is your main customer base? Who is your non-primary customer base?

16 to 25 of the young customer base and 25 to 45 of the customer base, spending power, consumer attitudes, needs and preferences are completely different.

Boys, girls, middle class, white-collar, petty cash, small town youth, etc., their consumerism and consumption preferences, consumption ability is also completely different.

Secondly, different groups of customers in different consumer scenarios, the demand is completely different. Eating at home, eating on the road, sitting in the store, eating alone, eating with family, eating with friends, eating with leaders, the core needs are different.

Some are in pursuit of fast food, some are in pursuit of specialties, some are in pursuit of indulgence, and some are in pursuit of social benefits.

If the pursuit of meeting customer needs, it is easy to get stuck in a dead end. How to define a clear chain of needs from these invisible, variable, uncertain, complex and multiple pan-demands is the first step of the strategy.

Because this demand chain is the origin of all the resource allocation of the enterprise. It is also important to consider the base size of the demand chain, the frequency, and the strength of the competitors.

If you do catering today, you still just think that catering is just a need, it only proves that you have not started.

The value chain is the solution to the demand chain.

It's about meeting the core needs of the primary customer base. The entire value of the experience delivered, including product innovation, product line design, product presentation, product structure planning, pricing system, dining space scene, service system and so on.

The core of the value chain is more and different. More, that is to provide deeper and more extreme solutions than other competitors. But different is not the goal, the unique value of different is the goal.

Behind the "more" and "different" is the weight, is the trade-off, is in what place to do real, what place to do virtual. Where to be real is where your core competencies are, and where to be virtual is where your profits come from.

Because behind the value chain is the supply chain, the supply chain corresponds to the cost structure.

The core of the supply chain is how to use lower cost and higher efficiency to build out the value chain.

Behind a value chain is the question of what is the highest input-output ratio for a single-store model? How many tables? How many people? How many dishes? How much rent? How much does it cost to invest in decoration? Should we build a centralized kitchen? Should we build a production plant? Distribution center? Where to do the real? Where to do false? Behind each of these is a real and significant cost investment.

If you want to do everything real, you are all false, even if in order to do real regardless of the cost of investment, corresponding to the cost is too high. The high cost of the price will be high, the price is high, the base of the customer base is small. The base is small, to say that the ceiling of the business is limited, to say that in many business districts may not be able to support the single-store profit model.

Because ultimately, no matter what your strategy is, it's all about getting down to the real ping efficiency, people efficiency, net profit and other financial data.

The so-called connection chain is to create the unique value of the enterprise and the values behind the extraction into the core information, through the dissemination of information to connect the consumer's cognition, memory, trust, emotion.

All of the information dissemination actions need to comply with the consumer's existing cognition, to strengthen the consumer's memory of the brand's core values. To build consumer recognition and trust in the brand, the output of values to trigger the emotional **** song.

The development process of a brand is through the continuous dissemination of information diffusion, so as to produce a strong connection with the minds of more consumers, memory, emotional process, so that when he produces the relevant needs, the first to think of you, trust you, choose you.

▌Demand chain, value chain, supply chain, connection chain, all through to call strategy.

Translated in plain English, it is how to use lower cost and higher efficiency to create a deeper and more unique value chain, and in a competitive price band to fit the core needs of the main customer groups, and then through the brand marketing to talk to more potential consumers to recognize, remember, emotionally and emotionally. Then through brand marketing, we can create a strong connection with more potential consumers' cognition, memory and emotion. This is the underlying logic of the strategy.

I call it the four chains of strategy. The so-called total cost leadership strategy, value leadership strategy, differentiation strategy, etc., is just a different weighting of resources in the four chains.

Understanding the underlying logic, then look back at the four strategic adjustments why Xibei did not run through, you can see the essence at a glance.

▌First, why did you change from Xibei Oat Village to Xibei Folk Cuisine?

Because it couldn't get through the connection chain.

Xibei dry 20 years, many people still do not recognize this oat character, many people read as (xiao), cognitive barriers, this brand is difficult to link the consumer's mental memory, the brand is difficult to be remembered and spread. This is a problem that Mr. Jia has had for many years.

Trout is specializing in the study of mental cognition. Directly changed to Northwest folk cuisine, this cognitive barrier problem is naturally solved.

▌Secondly, then why didn't it work when it was changed to Westbay Folk Cuisine?

Because it doesn't get through the supply chain.

Trout, positioned Xibei as, Xibei Northwest Folk Cuisine: "Mainly 90% of the ingredients come from the countryside and grasslands of the Northwest."

This positioning, done for a period of time, the entire team, including Mr. Jia are particularly difficult.

Why?

Because the enterprise to be in accordance with 90% of the raw materials from the northwest countryside and grassland, will be subject to a lot of constraints. For example, a pepper, Sichuan pepper is particularly good, but in order to achieve 90% have to use the Northwest pepper, which is very disturbing, a lot of product development and production and operation are subject to a lot of constraints.

Then the internal team explored a number of times, decided to take out the concept of 90%. From Xibei folk food to Xibei Northwest food, focusing on "grassland beef and lamb, countryside grains and cereals".

▌Thirdly, why did the change to Xibei Northwest Cuisine not work?

Still can't get through the supply chain.

Because the concept of Northwest cuisine is too big. The scope of the Northwest is also too large, the team lost focus in the product development process, the big dish of chicken, meat buns, cold skin, etc. are extremely classic Northwest dishes, in the end to be on the menu, this thing has become extremely entangled and troublesome.

That is, there is no logical thread in the product design and product structure.

Later, we went back to Reese's and re-did a positioning. Focus from the Northwest cuisine into the West Bay beef and sheep experts.

▌Fourth, why did it still not work to go from Xibei Northwest Cuisine to Xibei Cooking Sheep Specialist?

Because it didn't even break the demand chain.

First, in those days many places didn't eat lamb in the summer, which meant they could only do business for six months of the year.

Secondly, the cost of lamb itself is too high, the natural unit price is high, the unit price is high, the demand base of the customer base is small, the frequency of consumption is low. Then a popular business is likely to become a niche business. To the small said can not support the single store profit model, to the large said there is no volume of today's Xibei.

Once again, cooking sheep experts landed, customer traffic plummeted. So, hurry to change back again, essentially strategic strength is not enough, the inner subjective sentiment will still be on the oat surface.

▌Fifth, why the final return to the West Bay oat village, but instead embarked on a high-speed development of the road, a ride.

Because of the re-opening of the demand chain, value chain, supply chain.

The core key person is a general manager within Xibei, called Wang Longlong, based on his own experience in the front line for many years to figure out, in the original Xibei thousands of square feet of large stores on the basis of the original value chain, extract the original value chain, and opened a 300 square feet of the model of the shopping mall store with the experience of the previous sense of great difference. The store is a 300-square-foot mall store with a very different experience. To make a ping effect and human effect are extremely high single store model.

This new model does not have the assistance of any external forces, it is completely internal bottom-up emergence.

In the end, Huahua and Huahua helped Xibei open up this chain of links.

Through the i love you symbol, solved the oat recognition cognitive problem, and then through the red checkered tablecloth, tongue on the tip of China, into the United Nations, handle Ban Ki-moon, kiss mouth discount festival, parent-child activities and so on. Let Xibei brand and more consumers have a cognitive, trust and memory links. The brand awareness and potential of Xibei has been raised.

Ultimately, the four chains in one, to find the survival of the new era of the structure of the matching system, only to have the back of the life of the mad dash, just a few years to run out of hundreds of stores.

Understanding this underlying logic, you understand:

Whether it is the positioning of the school of cognition to the consumer mind as the origin of the allocation of resources,

or to the core needs of the target group as the origin;

Or to the enterprise's own value gene advantage as the origin;

Or to the internal cost structure as the origin;

are not important, the important thing is that the four chains are all to be able to get through, the four chains are united. The strategy is only effective.

This is why I once stood up and disliked the positioning. It is because I feel that most of the pan-industry positioning experts, themselves do not have the industrial chain perspective, but also do not have the ability to get through the four chains, and one over-advocating amplification of the cognitive weight of the mind. And many bosses in the face of new knowledge and no ability to judge, so that excessive superstition, this phenomenon is actually the whole industry is a kind of killing.

Dining is an experience-driven industry with repeat business at its core. Experience can produce perception, perception can be converted into cognition.

For example, after you go to the bottom of the sea after the experience, through the experience of perception will be able to capture more information, and come up with its environment is good, good taste, good service, etc. cognition, and it is "with high, bottom of the sea" not half a penny. The first is the "Hai Di Liao", the "Hai Di Liao".

So the premise of building a cognitive advantage is, how to use lower cost and higher efficiency to build a unique value chain, to get the experience perception. And then convert this unique value into cognitive advantage can be, to achieve the four chain is the core of the strategy.

For some catering companies, the product is aging, the experience is old, the price is low, the model is bulky, the human efficiency is low, etc., the demand chain, the value chain, the supply chain are not through.

Just rely on doing a mind scan, occupy a mind empty space, through a large area of advertising to manipulate the mind. This is useful? Only in the tourist attractions are useful, because after the experience of one does not have to repurchase.

The above is just a four-chain strategy model that deconstructs the reason why Xibei has not run through four adjustments.

But this is only the basic elements of the strategy, really let Xibei high-speed development, the key core or eat the following three major dividends.

1, channel dividends

Looking for so many strategic consulting firms, the whole macro trend of natural look particularly understand, Xibei can be said to be the earliest into the shopping center of the batch of brands, ate a new channel rise of the complete cycle of dividends.

2, category dividend

A few years ago, the national shopping center, can point to the name of the northern food brand is almost very few, want to eat the northern food only choose Xibei. At the same time macro dining data catering perennial to maintain more than 10% of the incremental market, the Mission's data show that the Northwest cuisine is the fastest growing category in recent years.

3, advertising dividends

Advertising is a kind of game theory, we all do not invest in advertising, you first cast, you can eat a wave of dividends, if others are followed up, this dividend is flat.

Xibei is more than ten years ago to taste the sweetness of advertising enterprises. Knowing that consumers are who's voice is big, he will choose who, especially for the catering industry, consumers are not tired of the old, have not eaten want to try. Xibei so many years of advertising bombarded down, half of the 300 million middle class to try once, are 20 billion in revenue.

Four chains in one, plus three major dividends, is the real reason for the success of Xibei. In addition, the most important thing is Jia and the entire core team, diligence, hard work, talent and strong organization and operation execution ability.

Understanding the essence of the problem of Xibei's transition period, but also understand the true cause of Xibei's success, and then look back at the current Xibei, it will be easy to see his current problems.

Why the performance will gradually decline?

On the surface, it was the epidemic, but in reality it was a failure of boundary conditions.

1, three major diminishing dividends

First is the diminishing channel dividend. Rents are getting higher and higher, and foot traffic is getting lower and lower.

Secondly, the category dividend is diminishing. The first one is that the first one is the first one to be used, and the second one is that the first one is the first one to be used.

Again, the advertising dividend is diminishing. Many people have recognized Xibei, also remembered his red gingham and oat symbols, but remembered these symbols and how, there is no recognition. After experiencing once there is still no driving force for continuous repurchase.

2, the core value chain of the leading edge of the diminishing

Xibei from 2010 on the start of the transformation of the toss, run through the power of the time, the entire catering industry is still in the transition of the country's eight exploration of the early stages of the competition pattern dimensions are not high. Can be said to eat to a prophetic foresight first leading edge. At the same time that era, shopping centers have just risen, the psychological threshold of consumers is not high.

Today, consumers go out to eat has become the norm, a variety of novelties in the shopping malls of the beauty of the brand blossomed, what is delicious, good-looking, fun, have seen a lot, the psychological threshold is also increasingly high.

Secondly, a lot of upstarts, including Big Brother, Old Bowl, Real Old Shaan, Cut Flower Lady, etc. stepped on the shoulders of the predecessor, through continuous innovation, upgrading, differentiation, providing more and more deeper and more extreme solutions. The leading edge of the entire value chain of Xibei is diminishing year by year.

Again, the cost structure of the supply chain, rent, ingredients, employee costs are increasing every year.

That is to say, the consumer demand chain and psychological threshold is climbing; the average level of the industry's competitive landscape is climbing; the cost structure of the back-end supply chain is climbing;

And the core value chain of Xibei did not migrate with time, with the times, and continue to maintain a leading edge. One could even say that it is still eating the same old food from five years ago.

So there is no such thing as a successful business, only a business of the times. This is the reason for the decline in performance of Westbay.

This is why we look at Xibei's dishes are getting lighter and lighter, because of the need to reduce costs and increase efficiency; this is also the reason why we have to push the cattle big bone, because of the need to open source and raise revenue; but this series of self-centered action, can not solve the fundamental problem, but instead of Xibei gradually pushed into a negative The first time I saw this, it was a very good thing that I was so excited.

The above two points are not really the core of the problem, the real problem is its "three charms".

Because a lot of fatal problems are often hidden under those advantages that make you proud.

3, "three charms" firmly locked Xibei

▌ The first charm, i love oat .

In order to solve the problem of the Northwest cuisine is too general, so focus on the oat, trying to use a unique value point to produce a strong link with consumers, in order to solve the oat cognitive recognition of the oat, to create the brand symbol of i love oat.

This symbol does solve the oat recognition problem, but also let consumers remember the oat, but also let Xibei and oat firmly painted on the same number.

But the direction is not right, the result is the opposite of what you want, half the effort.

First of all, categories are inherently unequal. Oat noodles is a weak cognitive, weak demand for vulnerable categories, even if the health value is still a pasta, a staple food.

Avena sativa is like the ice powder in the hot pot, the husband and wife lung slices in the Sichuan cuisine, and the okra in the Cantonese cuisine for the Northwest cuisine. Use a product like this to hang out and do the hook for customer acquisition. It's like a small horse-drawn cart, it's hard to pick up hundreds of square feet of profit model and more than a hundred customer unit price. This point look at the oat noodle sales share data of Xibei, and repurchase data to know that the data is objective.

Secondly, the results of the market phenomenon is also objective. Xibei for many years, advertising investment so fierce. Oat girl, toon oat festival, children's oat activities, organic oat festival, into the United Nations, Jia Guolong recommended a variety of advertising and public relations, such as sparing no effort to invest, but you will find that for more than a decade, the market followers are few and far between, to the national scope can not be found several main oat food and beverage brands.

Why? Because the ship is not man-made, the ship is made by the sea, are sunk to the bottom of the sea. On the contrary, in recent years, Xinjiang, Shaanxi and other Northwest cuisine sub-categories of the emerging brands such as sprouting up, but also almost open a fire one.

Again, the broad perception of oat village, is a noodle shop. But into the door recommended and beef bones, lamb chops, big fish and other hard dishes, often the price of a single customer over a hundred. This is in the name of fast food to sell meals. Consumers are prone to psychological dislocation, resulting in the perception of Xibei oat village is too expensive.

Finally, the above is common sense, many people know that the main oat noodles is like standing in a gold mine to pick up garbage, but the reason why Xibei has been insisting. In addition to may have personal feelings in it, more is in oat noodles this point of investment for many years, creating sunk costs are too large, in the small alley can not come out. So much so that more and more deep, a road to black.

▌ The second charm, red plaid cloth.

Xibei's core value is nutrition, health and good ingredients, willing to pay for this core value of the main customer group is 25 to 45 years old, and have a certain consumption ability of the middle class, because this wave of people with the age of the body muscle energy in the gradual decline of the health consciousness in the awakening. They are also willing to pay a premium for healthy and good ingredients.

With the accelerated pace of life, this wave of people high-frequency consumption scene, there are about three:

?

At this time the second talisman came. The red plaid cloth, this talisman a paste really also let everyone remember the Xibei, but this talisman a paste the whole restaurant dining scene, live on a family fast food restaurant, you do not drag children with mouth are embarrassed to go in.

Obviously, this dining scene is not suitable for the main customer groups, with girlfriends, couples, friends, colleagues, light socializing when the pursuit of leisure scenes. It is also not suitable for the light business social banquet to pursue the sense of class and privacy.

In the end, only the family dinner scene will be preferred Xibei.

Because the family meal really does not pay attention to what the environment class, more is the pursuit of clean, healthy flavor ingredients service. But the family meal is more cost-effective, because many elderly women that are pinching the fingers of the people who live.

This time the third charm came.

▌ The third talisman, the cow's big bone.

Niu Da Bone directly pushed up the customer unit price, short-term view of the revenue is pulled up, but also directly to the Xibei original small expensive boundaries to poke. The wave of loyal family customers to Xibei directly out, so that now all around the rumor Xibei from small expensive into the old expensive, in essence, is the brand trust asset overdraft realization.

This 'three charms' are posted. The cognitive label is clear, but customers are driven away.

Once the three charms are posted, excluding the fresh-tasting customer base, there will be a wave of wealthy families with wives and children who often patronize Xibei.

So, labeling is risky, posting need to be careful, everything to use dialectical logic to look at the problem, to see from the victory in the defeat, defeat in the defeat to see the victory. The fatal problems of many companies, in fact, are often hidden in those who make themselves proud of the advantages, only in the incremental market are covered by the bubble.

To summarize,

The above is the core of the real problem of Xibei.

Finally, to return to the theme, how in the end, Xibei strategic breakthrough? How can we find the survival structure matching system in line with the current era?

Personally, there are only two directions.

First, bottom-up, four chains in one.

That is, according to the cost structure of the existing supply chain, backwards to reconstruct a new value chain out. This includes re-product development, product line design, re-establishment of the price system, re-modeling of the dining space scene, to dock the main customer groups more consumer scenes and core needs.

But the core of this program is to weaken the red gingham, ilove oat, cattle big bone these three symbols.

With a new brand strategy to re-command the entire Xibei of these brand assets, to re-construct the advantages of consumer perception of Xibei.

Otherwise, in the framework of the three symbols, how to toss, all belong to the internal action behind the decimal point.

Specifically what is the brand strategy, I first sold a secret, not to say. Anyway, certainly not Northwest cuisine, nor oat village, can be sure is the need to move big action.

Secondly, from top to bottom, four chains in one.

According to the current cognitive chain, the demand chain, the value chain, backward reconstruction of the cost structure of the back end.

This program does not need to lose the "three talismans", and do not need to turn too big, just from the original single-store model of Xibei, cut out one or two hundred square feet to do a new brand. Under the premise of the existing revenue remains unchanged, the cost structure can be reduced by one-third. Then all the problems are solved.

But this program raises new questions. Cut out the one or two hundred square feet, what category of business to do?

Personal advice, no matter what category, the premise is the need to form a mismatch with the existing value chain of Xibei competition, preferably in line with the genes, and the back-end of the supply chain of food ingredients can also form a complementary.

So, the best program advice, you can consider doing lamb hot pot, how to do? It is to redo the little fat sheep again.

Finally, to summarize.

1, four chains in one, is my personal through years of practice summarized. It is a framework for strategic diagnostic analysis. Similar to the 4p of marketing, it can actually be applied to all industries. It's just that the dynamic weighting ratio is different for different industries and different strategies.

2. The law of the business world is to become a king or a loser. Become, put a fart have reason; defeat, and then have reason are fart. Even so, I still suggest that we should think and summarize, failure and success behind that cause, with dialectical logic to see the problem. From the winning battle to see the losing move, from the losing battle to see the winning move.

A lot of fatal problems, in fact, are often hidden under the advantages of those who make themselves proud, and a lot of business opportunities are often hidden in those places where others can not see and look down.

3, the ship is not man-made, the ship is made by the sea.

The "boat" is the enterprise, "man" is the entrepreneur, "sea" is the objective law of the market. The market, in turn, changes over time, which means that the boundary conditions of this law also change.

So there is no successful business, only the business of the times. How to keep pace with the times, find the survival structure matching system in line with the current new era, is every enterprise to go to the depth of the problem of thinking.

Dining brand top design, strategist, business elite, strategist, craftsman.