Rebirth in Hong Kong: From Dessert Shop to Industrial Empire

Chapter 136 Another Bottle (Second update of 10,000 words per day, please vote with monthly tickets and recommendations, and please continue reading)
The two shook hands, and Matsumoto Kiyoshi rose to take his leave.

After they left, Ling Peiyi and Li Ming finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Ling Peiyi couldn't help but exclaim in a low voice, "Mr. Chen, you're amazing!"
"A five-year partnership covering all of Asia and all product categories—if this deal goes through, Momoe Yamaguchi will become the soul of our entire 'Chen Ji' brand!"

Looking out the window at the dazzling Tokyo night view, Chen Bingwen said confidently, "A high premium must be matched with high value."

"Either don't sign, or if you do, let all of Asia remember that for healthy drinks, only Chen Ji, only Yamaguchi Momoe."

There were some things Chen Bingwen didn't say; he wanted to take this opportunity to squeeze every last drop of commercial value out of Yamaguchi Momoe.

If Momoe Yamaguchi announces her departure from the entertainment industry next year, public sentiment will explode instantly.

The last advertisement, the last poster, the last business face—anything related to her will become a collector's item.

At that time, television stations, newspapers, and magazines throughout Asia will repeatedly broadcast footage of her farewell.

And Chen Ji's products will be the only mass-market brand that accompanies her to the end.

Consumers won't remember her movies or her songs.

It will only be the words on the poster: Choose vitality, choose pulse; choose health, choose Chenji.

The following day, the air in Tokyo still carried a hint of the chill of early spring.

Instead of staying at the hotel to handle documents, Chen Bingwen decided to personally lead a team to conduct random inspections of the distribution and sales of "Pulse" and bottled sugar water in the streets and alleys of Tokyo.

This not only verifies the explosive data from the first week, but also provides first-hand evidence for subsequent market strategy adjustments.

Chen Bingwen, Ling Peiyi, Li Ming, Zhao Gang, and their Japanese-speaking assistant Kobayashi rode in two rented Toyota sedans, avoiding the bustling Ginza and other core business districts, heading straight for more residential areas and the business district on the edge of Shinjuku.

First stop: Shinjuku Ward, a community convenience store.

This is a convenience store located at the entrance of a residential area. It is not large, but it has a steady flow of customers.

Chen Bingwen and his group entered the store disguised as ordinary customers.

Li Ming quickly scanned the refrigerated beverage section.

In the prime spot closest to the cashier, on the top shelf of the freezer door, two rows of light blue "Pulse" beverages were neatly arranged.

Next to it were bottles of "Chen Ji" sweet soups, with mango pomelo sago and coconut milk sago each occupying a row. The amber and milky white liquids looked particularly tempting under the light.

"The location is excellent, with ample display space," Li Ming reported to Chen Bingwen in a low voice.

Chen Bingwen nodded slightly, his gaze sweeping over the price tags: "Pulse" was priced at 120 yen, and "Chen Ji" sweet soup was priced at 150 yen, both reasonable prices.

At that moment, an office worker in a suit and carrying a briefcase hurried in, went straight to the refrigerated section, grabbed a bottle of "Pulse" without hesitation, and then grabbed a bottle of mango pomelo sago, before going to the cashier to pay.

"Boss, how are the blue drinks selling lately?"

At Chen Bingwen's prompting, the translator, Xiaolin, casually asked the cashier a question.

The cashier, a middle-aged man, answered while taking the money: "Oh, 'Pulse'?"

It's selling very well! Many office workers and students come to buy it, saying it's very effective at boosting energy.

The sweet soup next to it is also good, especially for girls.

"Is the restocking timely?" Chen Bingwen asked again.

"It's alright, Suntory's delivery truck comes once a day in the morning. But yesterday afternoon we almost sold out of 'Pulse' (a popular Chinese sports drink), thankfully we restocked this morning," the cashier replied.

Chen Bingwen and Ling Peiyi exchanged a glance, understanding each other perfectly.

Terminal sales are indeed booming.

Second stop: Shibuya Ward, vending machine cluster at subway station exit.

There is a huge flow of people here, and more than a dozen vending machines of different brands stand side by side.

Chen Bingwen's gaze was fixed on a Suntory machine.

In the machine's cargo lanes, "Pulse" occupies two entire lanes (out of a total of 8 lanes), in a prominent position.

Next to it are Lipovitan, Coca-Cola, Suntory juice, etc.

They observed from the side for about ten minutes.

There was a constant flow of people in front of this machine, and within just ten minutes, five people bought "Pulse"!
Three of them were young men and two were young women.

"How often do you restock?" Chen Bingwen asked Li Ming.

Li Ming whispered, "According to Suntory's data, the restocking frequency of these core site vending machines is 1.5 times that of other beverages."

But judging from the sales speed, we'll probably need to increase the encryption even further.

At this moment, a high school girl in a school uniform ran to the machine, inserted coins, and pressed a few buttons on the "Pulse" dispenser. The indicator light flashed, showing "Sold Out".

"Huh? They're all gone again?" the girl muttered in disappointment, then chose the juice next to her.

Chen Bingwen frowned slightly: "Did you see that?"
At key locations, restocking still can't keep up.

This is a potential reputation killer.

Ling Peiyi nodded and replied, "I will focus on following up with Suntory and ask them to increase the frequency and efficiency of restocking vending machines at high-traffic locations."

Next, Chen Bingwen and his entourage visited cinemas, shopping malls, and other places.

Finally, they arrived at Matsumoto Kiyoshi, a large chain drugstore located in Minato Ward.

In Japan, drugstores are not only places to buy medicines and cosmetics, but also an important channel for the sale of functional beverages, especially for consumers who value health and energy.

Chen Bingwen and his group entered a fairly large Matsumoto Kiyoshi drugstore.

The store is bright and clean, and has a wide variety of goods.

They went straight to the beverage refrigeration area next to the health products and medicines.

The "Pulse" was placed on the middle shelf of the freezer, a decent location, but right next to it was a prominent promotional display for Lipovitan! A striking yellow "Buy 2 Get 1 Free" label was affixed to Lipovitan's signature brown bottle, and the display was much taller than the "Pulse," making it very eye-catching.

A well-dressed middle-aged woman, who looked like a housewife, hesitated in front of the freezer.

She picked up a bottle of Lipovitan, carefully examined the promotional label, then picked up a bottle of Pulse, flipped it over, and diligently read the ingredient list and efficacy description.

"Auntie, do you need any help?" A shop assistant in a Matsumoto Kiyoshi uniform walked over at the right time and asked with a professional smile on her face.

"How effective is this 'Pulse'? How does it compare to Lipovitan?" the woman asked uncertainly.

The clerk was clearly trained and answered quite fluently: "'Pulse' has a more refreshing taste and a good energizing effect, making it suitable for daily consumption."

Lipovitan is an established brand of ours, with a slightly stronger formula and a longer-lasting energizing effect, depending on your needs.

And right now, Lipovitan is on promotion: buy two get one free, it's a great deal!

Although the salesperson mentioned "Pulse" in their words, the focus was clearly on health supplements, especially emphasizing the established brand and the good deals.

After listening, the woman compared the prices again and finally put the "Pulse" back in the freezer, took two bottles of Lipovitan and went to the cashier.

“Mr. Chen, it seems the competitors have started their counterattack.” Li Ming stood behind Chen Bingwen and said in a low voice, “Lipovitan is offering very strong promotions, and the sales staff are clearly biased towards them.”

Our products are sold through drugstores, but there's a lack of proactive outreach.

Chen Bingwen nodded slightly and said calmly, "As expected."

His gaze swept over the eye-catching promotional display of Lipovitan and he sneered, "If Taisho Pharmaceuticals doesn't react to this, then their entire marketing department should resign."

"Do you think about how many years Lipovitan has dominated the Japanese energy drink market?"
It is Taisho Pharmaceutical's cash cow and flagship product, with an incredibly deep market share and distribution network.

It's like a giant shark in this sea; any new intruder, especially one as aggressive as us from the start, will inevitably alert it and trigger an attack.

Therefore, Director Ling, the training of sales promoters and competitor interception strategies for the drugstore channel should be put on the agenda immediately.

We cannot rely solely on natural sales.

We need to train our own sales promoters or partner with drugstores to provide incentives so that their staff are more proactive in recommending 'Pulse', emphasizing our product features and differentiating it from Lipovitan.

in addition,"

Chen Bingwen looked at Ling Peiyi and said seriously, "Establish a sensitive and effective market monitoring mechanism to keep track of sales data at core terminals, competitor promotional efforts, and consumer feedback at any time."
Sales data cannot rely solely on Suntory's weekly reports; we need our own sources of information.

He paused and continued:

"In addition, we must take the initiative in the market."

I devised a promotional plan to leverage our existing technological capabilities and launch a successful counterattack at the retail level.

Write this down and immediately have the marketing department and Suntory prepare, develop contingency plans, and be ready to activate it at any time.

Ling Peiyi immediately took out her notebook, her expression focused.

"This promotion is called 'Open the cap and win a prize, get another bottle free'."

"The core gameplay is very simple and straightforward: on the inner wall of the 'Pulse' bottle caps produced in the next batch, we will use a mold to imprint the words 'One More Bottle'."

The overall winning rate is controlled at around 25%. Consumers who purchase a winning product can immediately redeem a new bottle of "Pulse" at the retail point by showing the winning cap after unscrewing the cap and seeing the words "Win Another Bottle".

For every winning bottle cap collected by the store owner and handed in during the next Suntory distributor delivery, in addition to receiving a bottle of the same quantity as restock, we will give the store an extra 5 yen/cap sorting subsidy.

If businesses can make a small profit, they will be motivated to actively redeem prizes, rather than refusing customers because they find it troublesome.

Suntory's distributors are responsible for collecting all winning bottle caps, transporting them back to the bottling plant, and having them destroyed under our supervision to prevent counterfeit or defective caps from re-entering the market and disrupting the promotion.

Looking at Ling Peiyi and Li Ming, whose eyes showed realization and admiration, he further explained: "The advantage of this model is that it is based entirely on existing conditions, and it is simple, direct, and effective."

It is extremely attractive to consumers.

Offering a free bottle is the most direct incentive, greatly stimulating the desire to buy and try, quickly boosting sales, and spreading positive word-of-mouth rapidly.

For every prize redeemed, the store not only incurs no loss but also earns a net subsidy of 5 yen.

The more he sells, the more he wins, and the more extra subsidies he earns.

This will encourage them to actively recommend 'Pulse' and redeem their prizes, preventing customers from being turned away due to inconvenience.

Our costs mainly consist of the cost of the complimentary beverages and subsidies to the retailers, with a total cost of approximately 20 yen per redemption.

The entire process is completed through bottle caps and distributor delivery and collection, ensuring that promotional benefits reach consumers and retail stores directly, maximizing efficiency.

“But Mr. Chen,” Li Ming interjected with a hint of worry, “isn’t a subsidy of 5 yen too high?”

"Won't the cost pressure become too great in the long run?"

Chen Bingwen gave Li Ming an approving look and explained, "This 5 yen isn't given forever. It's to quickly create channel momentum before the effects of the Lipovitan product wear off."

Once our sales surge due to the event, and consumers develop a natural sales habit at the retail level, or even actively request to buy the product because they like it, the subsidy can be gradually reduced, for example, to 3 yen, 2 yen, or converted into other forms of rebates.

Be aggressive in the early stages, then play it safe later.

He concluded by saying, "Director Ling, you must get this done immediately and strive to implement it as quickly as possible. We must crush Lipovitan before it devours our market share!"

"Understood! Please rest assured!" Ling Peiyi nodded solemnly.

Chen Bingwen took one last look at the prominent display of Lipovitan in the drugstore, a cold smile curving his lips.

The business world is like a battlefield; there is no right or wrong, only the victor and the vanquished.

Taisho Pharmaceutical's Lipovitan aims to maintain its dominant position, while Chen Chi's Pulse seeks to expand its territory—this is a blatant struggle for commercial interests.

He knew that the first shot in this battle for the terminal had already been fired by his opponent.

And now, it's his turn!
"Taisho Pharmaceuticals. Your counterattack will only accelerate the rise of 'Pulse'."

"This battle has only just begun."

(End of this chapter)