The 500ml Moutai Lichun Liquor was fired directly to 1.6 million.
The original price is 2899, which is a premium of 533 times. Compared with the limited editions that mostly stopped at the speculative price of 10,000 yuan in the past, this surge is not due to the production volume, but to catch the fast lane of the metaverse.
On January 1 this year, Moutai launched Xunfeng, the metaverse platform. This APP deeply combines online gameplay and offline rights and interests, directly driving the secondary market of new wine products crazy, and also making the brand attention in the battle of scolding and competition. Go all the way in the competition.
The high premium comes from Xunfeng’s gameplay. In the station, users need to earn points by doing tasks, and obtain corresponding digital collections according to the ranking of the scoreboard, and the core rights and interests corresponding to these digital collections are the qualifications to purchase physical Moutai at the original price.
With the help of such online purchase rights, Moutai has exclusively bound the purchase rights of several limited edition liquors with the Xunfeng APP, and a flock of users have heard the news, wanting to purchase limited edition Moutai liquors through online games coupon.
However, as the heat continued to ferment, users with hindsight began to realize that things were not simple. Many netizens said on social platforms that completing tasks alone cannot get enough points, “If you want to really qualify for the purchase, you still have to krypton gold.”
Some players said that they failed to get an “admission ticket” after charging thousands of yuan in Xunfengli. Moutai has not only obtained a higher premium space in the metaverse, but also faces many doubts such as “cutting leeks” and “less gameplay”. One is willing to fight, but the other may not be willing to suffer. Angry netizens put Moutai’s “fraudulent marketing” on the hot search in one fell swoop.
After reviewing the matter, the owner found that although Moutai was facing a crisis of public opinion, relying on the actual performance of millions of registered users in three days and the marketing of new products out of the circle, the profitable Moutai had already “hidden merits and fame “, completed a textbook-like Metaverse marketing.
Amidst the scolding and discussion, Xun Feng lived up to its name, and a violent gale blew up among Yuan Universe and the Baijiu crowd.
1. Cut leeks? Make high-premium products in the Metaverse
Among all the controversies that Moutai faced, “cutting leeks” is undoubtedly the biggest voice. Behind “cutting leeks”, Moutai is actually creating a high premium product in the Metaverse. With the help of the Xunfeng APP, Moutai completed a top-down cultural popularization, overcame an important hurdle in the marketing process, and successfully transformed online marketing power into purchasing power, and the fire of Yuan Universe finally fell on the sales performance .
First of all, in the Xunfeng APP, all the gameplay settings and elements are in line with the Moutai culture, and are subtly extended, so that the wine culture is naturally implanted in the minds of users through the gameplay. Taking Xunfengzhong’s game tasks as an example, each user starts from collecting the raw materials for wine making, not only needs to grow sorghum by himself, but also needs to control the wine making environment, and finally experience the brewing steps of Moutai in the Metaverse. In the step-by-step brewing process, Moutai not only shortens the emotional distance between the brand and users, but also hopes to enhance the brand recognition of users through soft means.
In addition to the task link, the treasure chest that assists users to break through has also become a unique “advertising space” for Moutai. Moutai took advantage of this opportunity to complete the popularization of brand culture and tradition, demonstrating the brand power accumulated over the years.
Secondly, the Xunfeng APP is also verifying the effectiveness of Moutai’s aggressive online tactics.
Compared with traditional offline distribution channels, the online consumption habits cultivated by e-commerce platforms have also brought a second bonus period to wine companies. Unfortunately, most wine companies only regard online as “new”. Sales channels, the potential of online channels are naturally limited. However, in the Xunfeng APP launched by Moutai, the online enthusiasm not only smoothly transmitted to the offline sales link, but also completed two-way empowerment, and greatly improved the marketing conversion rate.
This is mainly due to the rational use of Xunfeng APP for digital collections. In Xunfeng’s gameplay settings, the core rights and interests of digital collections are deeply bound to the purchase qualifications of Moutai liquor, empowering online gameplay with physical value, and increasing users’ interest in digital collections. In the same way, the rare nature of digital collections also gives Moutai a greater premium space, which increases users’ valuation of physical goods.
It is worth noting that Moutai also cleverly used the means of hunger marketing in the metaverse, which added fuel to the popularity of Moutai this time. Moutai Lichun Liquor, which has recently been sought after by users, is a limited edition liquor released by Moutai on the Xunfeng APP on February 4. Unlike the previous joint efforts of multiple sales channels, Lichun Liquor has neither been launched on iMoutai, nor has it been released online. Under the dealer channel, you can only purchase it by points in the Xunfeng APP.
Only limited edition luxury goods are more expensive than luxury goods. The limited edition Lichun Liquor sold online has also received a higher valuation. Once launched, it has been snapped up by users. However, under hunger marketing, speculators are most likely to breed, and it is the same in this wave of Moutai. What many players are fighting for is not the simple commodity value, but its second-hand resale value. It can be seen that this gust of wind in the second-hand market has indeed made Moutai more and more loud.
Second, the game is childish? Let the Z generation enter the pit of Moutai
Moutai’s launch of the Xunfeng APP this time is clearly intended to impact the Yuan Universe with all its strength, that is, to expand the consumer circle, reach and attract young consumers, especially Generation Z consumers, and lay the foundation for the future market. If we evaluate Moutai’s marketing method from this purpose, then Moutai is undoubtedly successful in terms of marketing strategy and marketing effectiveness.
Unlike their parents, who uphold the concept of “rich and frugal”, Generation Z is more tolerant of price thresholds. Even consumer products with a unit price as high as Moutai can impress the hearts of young consumers. At the same time, Generation Z, which has a more flamboyant personality, does not stick to tradition, and pays more attention to the unique value of commodities. “Rarity” and “uniqueness” are the keywords of Generation Z’s consumption preferences.
Therefore, in Xunfeng’s gameplay settings, the concept of “limited edition” has been repeatedly emphasized. In the sale of Moutai Lichun Liquor this time, Xunfeng APP only released 110,000 digital collections of Lichun Liquor, including 30,000 copies of 500ml and 80,000 copies of 100ml. Only by successfully obtaining the digital collection can it be possible to snap up physical Moutai. It can be seen that not only the digital collection is released in limited quantities, but also the purchase quota of Moutai is even rarer.
This method of emphasizing rarity through limited sales fits the consumption concept of Generation Z, and Moutai has successfully attracted a group of young consumers.
In addition, the online game-style gameplay also provides Moutai with multiple ways to reach young consumers. In the traditional wine sales methods, offline distribution channels are still the mainstream. Although offline sales channels have a higher market coverage, they also have obvious shortcomings, that is, offline channels are far from young consumers, and have long been unable to reach the main force of future consumption. Therefore, under the predicament, wine companies represented by Moutai have to use online channels as a breakthrough to find out the interests of young users in order to break through.
The Xunfeng APP with gamification thinking is a practical implementation of the rejuvenation route of the Moutai brand. The game setting of Xunfeng APP integrates popular gameplay such as game quiz and social interaction. Although some players criticize the game content as low-level, it does allow young users to know and understand the culture of Moutai in the game, which effectively stimulates Generation Z. consumption power.
In fact, the rejuvenation of the Moutai brand has already become an important part of the Moutai brand strategy. Since the rush to buy Feitian Moutai triggered by i Moutai, Moutai has felt the consumption potential of online channels. Immediately afterwards, Moutai ice cream stood out from the “Ice Cream Assassin” and attracted the pursuit of young users, making Moutai truly realize the value of the youthful route.
Based on the experience of the previous two attempts, Moutai is obviously more comfortable in the landing of Xunfeng, and it has further aimed at the consumption psychology of young people. Ding Jianjun, chairman of Moutai, even said bluntly, “Xunfeng will do 100 billion Moutai in the digital world again.” From the perspective of short-term effects, Moutai has shown great potential in the Metaverse.
3. Less social gameplay? Moutai Metaverse can wait a little longer
Of course, in the overwhelming negative public opinion against Xunfeng, it is not difficult to see that the Metaverse created by Moutai still has many limitations.
For example, the setting of purchase qualifications is not reasonable enough, and the game level design is single. Some players pointed out that Xunfeng’s game content is naive, and the same set of game content is repeated every week. Some players expressed dissatisfaction with the Moutai advertisements flooding the site, believing that it affected the game experience. At the same time, Xunfeng currently only allows players to complete a one-way task line, and has no specific landing functions for the interactivity and co-creation emphasized by the Metaverse.
1.6 million bottles of Moutai were snapped up in the Metaverse
What is certain is that Xunfeng does have a lot of room for improvement in some details, which is why Moutai is currently infamous. However, from the perspective of multi-level effects, Maotai Xunfeng’s test of the water can still be regarded as a successful model in the metaverse field that is still a blue ocean.
Under the scolding, as a high-value consumer product, Moutai’s meta universe did not shake the enthusiasm of its own consumer groups to buy, but it really reached a group of young consumers through Xunfeng and expanded its own consumer groups. Greater market coverage has been achieved. From this perspective, the attempt of Moutai Metaverse has successfully completed the real purpose of the brand.
In fact, many wine companies have taken advantage of the general trend of the metaverse, bowed into the game, and made a digital turn. Liquor companies such as Jiangxiaobai, Wuliangye, and Jiannanchun are all starting to explore the metaverse one after another. Digital collections, virtual humans and other digital games have become the direction of vigorous development of wine companies.
Based on the case of Moutai Metaverse, all categories with a certain price threshold can achieve brand digitalization and youth transformation in Metaverse, and Moutai Xunfeng is also a replicable sample.
In the market where the metaverse was being boiled, many concept players who claimed to embrace the metaverse took this opportunity to speculate in the market, but after the bubble faded, they only ended up with a lot of feathers. Although the Maotai metaverse is not perfect, it has already begun to show its trajectory, and it is worth waiting for more development.