by At the Guizhou Moutai 2022 Annual Shareholders’ Meeting, Ding Xiongjun, the Secretary of the Moutai Group Party Committee and Chairman, proposed the “Five Ecological Systems” of sustainable development with Moutai aesthetics as the core value. These systems encompass “Beautiful Life,” “Power of Beauty,” “Scientific Inheritance of Beauty,” “Technological Innovation of Beauty,” and the “Seven Degrees” aesthetics of sustainable development in Chinese liquor. These “MEI” concepts will continue to guide Moutai towards its next glorious chapter.
Facebook, X (Twitter), Instagram, Pinterest, LinkedIn, and YouTube, the six major overseas social media platforms, consistently revolve around the rich connotations of Moutai‘s “MEI.” Guided by the “Five Ecological Systems,” they deeply implement the “Five Coordinated Marketing Strategies,” showcasing Moutai’s charm from various aspects such as time, ecology, distillation, and marketing. These efforts pave the way for new communication methods and promotional paths for Moutai’s internationalization. Additionally, they focus on conducting a series of marketing and promotional activities during the Mid-Autumn Festival to spread Chinese traditional festival culture and Moutai culture.
The diverse “MEI” studies interpret the “Ultimate Liquor Culture”
Telling the cultural story of Moutai’s internationalization is an effective approach to implementing the “going global” strategy. Moutai’s overseas media platforms combine creativity and ingenuity to carefully plan monthly themed events and interactive games. Through exquisite post designs and interesting captions, they showcase the “Five Core Competencies” consisting of quality, brand, craftsmanship, environment, and culture, as well as the “Four Core Potentials” composed of unique geographical protection, irreplicable microbial colonies, centuries-old distilling techniques, and high-quality base liquor resources. These efforts are presented to Moutai’s overseas fans.
Moutai’s liquor distillation is closely related to the 24 solar terms, emphasizing the importance of following the seasons and the harmony between nature and humans. Moutai’s overseas media platforms design posters based on the 24 solar terms and release related posts. This not only strengthens the close connection between Moutai’s distillation techniques and the solar terms and phenology but also promotes the Chinese traditional culture of the 24 solar terms to overseas fans.
The diverse and creative posts of Moutai attract the attention of overseas fans and spark enthusiastic discussions and interactions among global “Moutai fans.” This enhances fan loyalty and further improves the marketing and promotional effectiveness of overseas media platforms.
Interactive games explore innovative interactions
Moutai’s overseas media platforms have specially planned periodic online gaming activities, increasing the participation and interaction rates of overseas fans. These activities also add creativity and fun to Moutai’s marketing and promotion in the international market, exploring more possibilities for Moutai’s internationalization. Recently, Moutai’s overseas media platforms have conducted two fun periodic online activities: “Little Mao’s Staircase” and “Maze Tasting.” These activities cleverly incorporate Moutai ice cream and Moutai’s products available overseas. Both activities received enthusiastic responses from fans, bringing fans closer to the Moutai brand and increasing their awareness of Moutai’s brand and products.
Brand collaborations achieve brand “youthfulness”
The launch of the “Soy Sauce-flavored Latte” in collaboration with “Luckin” created a wave of discussions. Through brand collaborations and crossing over into daily life scenes, the Baijiu industry breaks through boundaries. The “Moutai MEI Studies” vigorously breaks through barriers and gradually opens up the youthful market. Following the “Soy Sauce-flavored Latte,” Moutai collaborated with the international brand “Dove” to launch liquor-filled chocolates, attracting the attention of fans both domestically and internationally. Moutai’s overseas media platforms promptly promote these collaborations, synchronizing the news of new brand collaborations to global fans while promoting the rejuvenation of Moutai’s international market.
Mid-Autumn Festival: Internationalization of Chinese Culture
The Mid-Autumn Festival is a culturally representative traditional Chinese festival with widespread influence. Moutai’s overseas media platforms focus on the festival’s essence of “reunion” and carry out a series of marketing and promotional activities under the theme of “Shared Moonlight, Shared MEI.”
Unlocking the map, exploring the world
During the Mid-Autumn Festival, Moutai’s overseas media platforms meticulously designed a creative H5 with a Mid-Autumn Festival theme. Fans only need to click on “Guizhou” and follow the “Moon Rabbit” to unlock information about an international distributor each day. Through the interactive form of creative H5, various overseas media platforms engage with global fans, enabling them to fully understand Moutai’s international market layout, explore different cultures, and strengthen the connection between Moutai and its international audience.
Puzzle Fun, Enjoying Reunion
Cultural significance is the most beautiful backdrop of the Mid-Autumn Festival. During the Mid-Autumn Festival, in order to promote Chinese Mid-Autumn customs and share Mid-Autumn stories with overseas fans, Moutai’s overseas media platforms organized a fun “puzzle” activity. They took a complete Mid-Autumn-themed illustration and divided it into nine parts, including the flying goddess, Mid-Autumn food, family reunion dinner, lantern riddles, making wishes with sky lanterns, and poetry from literati from around the world. Each part was posted separately, and in the end, fans were invited to participate in an interactive puzzle game. Throughout the activity, Moutai gradually showcased the traditions and customs of the Mid-Autumn Festival to its global fans, and the process of “puzzling” expressed the symbolism of “reunion” during Mid-Autumn. The posters of the activity incorporated Moutai elements, reinforcing the memories of the Moutai brand among overseas fans and further deepening their understanding of the “MEI” connotation of Moutai.
Moutai’s “MEI” culture has rich connotations, and actively disseminating Chinese traditional culture and Moutai culture is an important part of implementing Moutai’s internationalization. In the future, Moutai will empower its international development with culture, tell the story of Moutai’s “MEI” culture, and interpret Moutai’s liquor culture, aesthetic genes, and aesthetic power. Moutai will continuously enrich the cultural expression of “MEI” and actively promote cultural exchanges and mutual learning between Chinese culture and cultures from around the world. Moutai will lead Chinese Baijiu to better integrate into the world.
Julian Lopez is professor emeritus of finance, served as the founding academic affairs dean and founding chair of the finance department.
Disclaimer: The views, suggestions, and opinions expressed here are the sole responsibility of the experts. No journalist was involved in the writing and production of this article.